THEIDEAOFTRUE LOYALTYISTO CREATE ACONNECTION THAT TRANSCENDSFROM SOLELY TRANSACTIONALTO IDEOLOGICAL . IT ’ S HARDTO EXPLAIN : W HILEALLOFMY RATIONALMINDTOLD MEMYNEXTCAR SHOULDBETESLA .
LOYALTYGOES BEYONDA
RATIONAL ‘ TITFOR TAT ’ EXCHANGE
theNetPromotorScore ). Athird growthbeliefistheoneoutlined byByronSharpinhisbook ‘ How Brands Grow ’, taking penetration as the ultimate indicatoroffuturesuccessand growth . According to Prof . Sharp , brands should always take a brand repertoire reasoning and be focused on geting noticed and being remembered as a prime conditiontoreapthebenefitsof brand loyalty . Make sure your measurementapproachfolows the growth belief you are embracingasabrand .
Doyouneedtozoom inorout ?
W hatisthe aggregation level youwanttomeasureloyaltyat ? There is a big diference between assessing relational loyalty , takingahelicopterand holistic perspective on the buyer-seler relationship and trtransactionalloyalty , zooming inononespecificelementfrom the broadercustomerjourney and experience . In both cases , clearly consider the role context is playing when measuring . Together with JacobsDouweEgberts ( JDE ), a multinational tea and cofee company , we recently tested the impact of context in concept validation research anddiscoveredthatdependent on the contextpeople are in , conceptscoresaresignificantly impacted .
W hatrelationship ( s ) wouldyou liketobuild ?
Relationships are multiplex phenomena . Susan Fournier ( Journal of Marketing ) distinguished no less than fifteen meaningfulrelationship forms such as ‘ arranged marriages ’, ‘ casual friends / buddies ’,‘ kinships ’ and ‘ best friendships ’. Together with these relationship forms , she also describes alternative brandrelationshipdevelopment trajectories . Thinkclearlyabout what type of loyalty or relationship you are trying to achieveanddevelopaseparate loyalty strategy for each of them .
W hoareyoutalkingto ?
Nayar , former CEO of HCL Technologies and author of ’ Employees first , customers second ‘, valuestheopinionsof employees above those of customers . By puting employeesatthe heartofhis company about10 yearsago , he turned itinto one ofthe fastest-growing technology companies in the world , even during the depths of the economic downturn . Brand loyaltyisindeednotonlyabout the consumer ; it also makes sense to include opinions of employees as an important pre-condition for consumer loyalty . By integrating the voicesofemployees , brands canmovefrom beingfocused to becoming obsessed with their everyday performance andexperiences .
Are you bypassing the rationalbrain ?
Loyalty goes beyond a rational ‘ titfortat ’ exchange . Dan Ariely speled it out nicely : “ Ownership is not limitedtomaterialthings (…) Oncewetakeownershipofan idea (…) we have trouble leletingitgobecausewecan ’ t standtheideaofitsloss .” The idea of true loyalty is to create a connection that transcends from solely transactionalto ideological . It ’ shardtoexplain : whilealof myrationalmindtoldmemy nextcarshould beaTesla , I stilremained loyalto BMW , the brand I have been emotionaly connected with overthelast25years .
Thinkaboutre-inventingyour brand-tracking KPIs , moving away from brand-centric ones such as brand consideration towards consumer-centric and more emotional ones like brand ididentificationasdescribedin detailinourbook ‘ How Cool BrandsStayHot ’.
Is whatyou are measuring outputorinput ?
Strong and long-term relationshipsarebased ona vicious circle ofexchanging customer information for customervalue , driving rich customerinsights , improving profitability and increasing