IMPORTANCE OF BRAND

LOYALTY
Sajjad Ali

The notion of loyalty is broadly speaking divided in to two major types that are Personal
and Commercial. The personal kind is rather intimate, permanent and long term, this
sort can only be found in family relationships or in close friends. There are not much
rules, a lot of the shortcomings can be excused and it is taken for granted.
The other which is the commercial one is rather stern and unforgiving which occur
between the companies or their brands and their consumers. There is always almost
something exchanged between the two parties, mutual understanding is established
and a persistent top-up is essential to keep the relationship going on perpetually.
In such uneven time of economic unrest and declining businesses, where the priority is
sustainability rather than moving forward with force as was the case in the 90s, all major
brands are still pushing for one major thing, increasing the brand loyalty. Since it
increases the sales exponentially faster and for a much longer period of time. (Duffy,
2013)

Value
Consumers usually associate high level of expectations with the brand they are most
close or loyal to, with the value being the driving force rather than just the quantity
Therefore, the increasing trend of 'showrooming' is no surprise, so the companies
should make sure they are offering the best of their goods in the best of prices available
in the market. (Prior, 2015)
What is further leading to in the cause to increase the brand loyalty is the increased use
of multi-channel to muster the audience.
It is the emerging markets which are at the forefront of this venture with 35% of Chinese
and 29% of Indian consumers are engaged with an app to interact with the favourite
brand, in contrast to a lowly 17% and 14% of US and UK respectively. (Buckingham,
2013)

Rewards
From a consumers point of view, the benefit of brand loyalty are increased rewards.
The indicators show that in nearly all countries the pivotal agent are the rewards that
needs to be integrated when planning the optimum strategy. It is to be noted that
rewards need to prompt yet malleable and they should be able to use them at their

convenience like K&Kns rewards points in a number of ways. The only way in the
contemporary era is to figure this in the equation to achieve the maximum, although this
may be seem to be financially burdening in the short term but does turn out to be
profitable in the longer run.

Returns
Therefore, the financial gain of securing a loyal customer are cannot be rivalled with a
new customer who may be spending big in the first place but is not guaranteed to
continue to do so. A whopping 72% consumer confide in the fact that they are likely to
make a purchase again form the same brand when they are loyal to it, here UK and
USA consumers lead form the front with a 79% chance of repurchase. (Buckingham,
2013, p. 3)

Customisation
Moreover, in this ever expanding global village, the need to feel personalized has been
higher than ever. Brand loyalty is not merely a product of increased rewards and the
best price, but also the inclusion of uniqueness. The consumer must feel that his or her
point of view has been taken in to account. For example the inclusion of chicken tikka
flavour in the Knorr noodles line explains this idea of realizing the local needs of the
consumer.
Thus eventually it should not be just about imitating the global strategy, but also infusing
the local culture in as well that can make the consumer associate the brand as his own.
It is also instrumental that the marketer knows where the consumer stands at this
moment. (Young, 2011, p. 3)

Conclusion
Building loyalty in this era is an integral investment long term, there should be legitimate
reason for the consumer to stick to your brand only, as when you put customer first, and
they will also do the same in return. (Prior, 2015, p. 5)

References
Buckingham, M., 2013. Brand loyalty: Time for a rethink. Admap, Issue June 2013, pp. 1- 5.
Duffy, M., 2013. Brand loyalty: Disloyalty in banking. Admap, Issue June 2013, pp. 1 - 7.
Prior, J., 2015. Six routes to brand loyalty. Admap, Issue January 2015, pp. 1 - 5.
Young, L., 2011. How to foster brand loyalty effectively. Warc Best Practice, Issue December
2011, pp. 1 - 8.