How Do Brands Keep You Coming Back For More?
Brand loyalty is extremely important to a business and can be derived from many factors – from company values and customer service to the angle the company takes in it’s marketing. The psychology of consumer behavior can help explain some of the methods used by brands and how they keep customers coming back for more.
(source: @stcom via Twitter)
The Emotive Factor
When it comes to ensuring brand loyalty, the emotive call to action that a brand exudes can be key in staying both on brand and on the company’s message. Part of building brand loyalty is down to customers engaging with the ideals of the company. Customers are certainly fickler nowadays than before so brands are looking to create an emotional connection and to tap into the feelings of their customers, for that reason is so important to know the branding types and learn how to use them. For example, Lloyds Bank developed a TV ad that featured their famous black horse as it was by the customer’s side for centuries. The heartfelt song and powerful images combined to create an emotive connection that the bank was always there for the customer. Similarly, Facebook employs emotive connections in their ads that reflect the type of content posted on Facebook – which is largely emotional (births, marriages, engagements, celebrations, commiserations etc.). It taps into our own connections with our friends. Facebook’s emotive pull also comes from the transparency of Mark Zuckerberg. By learning that he wears the same jeans and t-shirt each day, we develop a kinship kind of connection.
(source: @openmediauk via Twitter)
The Nostalgia Factor
Playing on nostalgia is another trick that brands use to keep consumers loyal. For example, to celebrate 50 years of the Big Mac, McDonald’s released a series of billboard ads that reflected the ads that launched the Big Mac. The campaign serves to remind consumers how much they love Big Macs and to encourage new customers to try them. Given how most millennials – and those most likely to be Buzzfeed writers – were born in the 1980s and 1990s, the site frequently publishes content that refers to those decades and the staples one might recognize having lived through them. Moreover, as Betway Online shows us, online slots also tap into nostalgia by playing on the psychology of familiarity to launch branded slot games. They use the example of the Jurassic Park slot that will help attract those unfamiliar with slots or ensure loyalty with the clout of a big brand behind them. The fact that companies are using well-known brands to launch products shows how effective brand loyalty can be, especially by combining sectors that are otherwise unrelated.
(source: @tssstweets via Twitter)
The Responsible Factor
Corporate Social Responsibility is a key factor affecting business, and many are eager to jump on the bandwagon – not just to boost their own good PR but to help the planet. Brand loyalty can be gained through a company being transparent about their practices and going a step further and instigating positive programmes. For example, for every pair of espadrilles bought, Toms shoes promise a pair will be donated. When shoe shopping, this fact will come into a consumer’s mind and may sway their decision positively towards the brand. Moreover, SUAVS Shoes, minimalist footwear designer, is paired with Sole4Souls, which donates any pair of shoes that don’t match their stringent criteria e.g. through tiny factory imperfections, rather than throwing them away. In a small county in Maryland, a branch of franchise Mr Handyman was launched to help renovate a local fire station. A study found that 57% of consumers would purchase a lesser quality product to help the environment – so not employing strong CSR could actually harm brand loyalty. More and more companies are committing to giving back to the planet and, for some, this may help boost their brand loyalty more than any other strategy or tactic.
Brand loyalty can be achieved through a number of methods and almost every marketing campaign has a feature that resonates to achieve this brand loyalty. Whether it’s overt or more of a sub-conscious pull, next time you’re thinking of using a certain brand, ask yourself why you’ve chosen that brand and whether they’ve used their psychology to make you feel that way. The connectedness of social media allows for customers themselves to help a brand’s loyalty. Influential people singing genuine praise for a brand allows others who view their opinion as important to be more likely to become loyal too.
