Comments on: a brand loyalty 180 http://deniseleeyohn.com/bites/2009/05/14/a-brand-loyalty-180/ stuff for your brain to chew on Thu, 02 Feb 2012 20:37:28 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Len Herstein http://deniseleeyohn.com/bites/2009/05/14/a-brand-loyalty-180/comment-page-1/#comment-2623 Len Herstein Tue, 19 May 2009 20:56:54 +0000 http://deniseleeyohn.com/bites/?p=1618#comment-2623 Great post Denise. I love the idea of looking at the concept of loyalty from a different perspective. In that spirit, I'd like to submit some thoughts I've been working on lately as it relates to loyalty. The interesting thing about loyalty 'programs' is that, oftentimes, they are handicapped from the start. With the goal of making all customers more loyal, they face an uphill battle as most customers are not capable of being loyal. It's just not in their DNA. Think about friends or colleagues you've known through your life. Doesn't it seem that a select few are just more pre-disposed towards being loyal? Most of the time, it has little to do with what you have actually done for them - they are just 'loyal' people...it's in their DNA. The holy grail, in my opinion, lies in redirecting some of the time, resources and dollars that are spent trying to MAKE people loyal towards finding out the qualities and indicators in the sub-group of folks that are pre-disposed towards being loyal within your category....and then focusing on making it as easy for them as possible to act that way with you. For example - one way to look at Apple is to say that everything they do in terms of their product design and service model is designed to MAKE consumers more loyal. However, most devout Apple-ites know that much of what Apple does contradicts that. The Macbook you buy today will likely be outdated in less than 2 years and folks who bought the first iPhone were basically required to get back in line less than 12 months later. However, another way to look at it is that there is something in the core DNA of devout Apple users that makes them pre-disposed to being more loyal to Apple. They are, mostly, people who desire to identify and surround themselves with creativity and design and those that are anti-establishment. And so, they are willing to wait in line for days and trade up their hardware and software frequently and pay more without requiring much from Apple other than it remaining true to itself... Net-net...perhaps by spending more upfront in identifying how to reach the customers most likely to be loyal to you, you can avoid bigger costs on the backside trying to instill loyalty in those for whom the concept makes no sense... A long comment in a moment of contrarianism...sorry! :) Great post Denise. I love the idea of looking at the concept of loyalty from a different perspective. In that spirit, I’d like to submit some thoughts I’ve been working on lately as it relates to loyalty.

The interesting thing about loyalty ‘programs’ is that, oftentimes, they are handicapped from the start. With the goal of making all customers more loyal, they face an uphill battle as most customers are not capable of being loyal. It’s just not in their DNA. Think about friends or colleagues you’ve known through your life. Doesn’t it seem that a select few are just more pre-disposed towards being loyal? Most of the time, it has little to do with what you have actually done for them – they are just ‘loyal’ people…it’s in their DNA.

The holy grail, in my opinion, lies in redirecting some of the time, resources and dollars that are spent trying to MAKE people loyal towards finding out the qualities and indicators in the sub-group of folks that are pre-disposed towards being loyal within your category….and then focusing on making it as easy for them as possible to act that way with you.

For example – one way to look at Apple is to say that everything they do in terms of their product design and service model is designed to MAKE consumers more loyal. However, most devout Apple-ites know that much of what Apple does contradicts that. The Macbook you buy today will likely be outdated in less than 2 years and folks who bought the first iPhone were basically required to get back in line less than 12 months later.

However, another way to look at it is that there is something in the core DNA of devout Apple users that makes them pre-disposed to being more loyal to Apple. They are, mostly, people who desire to identify and surround themselves with creativity and design and those that are anti-establishment. And so, they are willing to wait in line for days and trade up their hardware and software frequently and pay more without requiring much from Apple other than it remaining true to itself…

Net-net…perhaps by spending more upfront in identifying how to reach the customers most likely to be loyal to you, you can avoid bigger costs on the backside trying to instill loyalty in those for whom the concept makes no sense…

A long comment in a moment of contrarianism…sorry! :)

]]> By: Judy Hopelain http://deniseleeyohn.com/bites/2009/05/14/a-brand-loyalty-180/comment-page-1/#comment-2520 Judy Hopelain Sun, 17 May 2009 03:22:04 +0000 http://deniseleeyohn.com/bites/?p=1618#comment-2520 Great points, Denise. Love your ideas for going out of our way to do something for customers. And totally agree with the need to treat existing customers well and as if they matter. Thought you might be interested to read a story I wrote last month about the difference between real customer loyalty and points-based loyalty programs. http://retailhitsandmisses.blogspot.com/2009/04/5-must-dos-in-building-customer-loyalty.html Thanks for writing. Great points, Denise. Love your ideas for going out of our way to do something for customers. And totally agree with the need to treat existing customers well and as if they matter.

Thought you might be interested to read a story I wrote last month about the difference between real customer loyalty and points-based loyalty programs. http://retailhitsandmisses.blogspot.com/2009/04/5-must-dos-in-building-customer-loyalty.html

Thanks for writing.

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