The latest data from BrandKeys, a marketing consultancy, found consumer loyalty to the Jose Cuervo brands was up 9%, to Jack Daniel’s , up 10%, to Miller Light, up 5%, to Svedka Vodka, up 4%. Ominously, perhaps, for Constellation Brands, loyalty to Corona Extra was flat.
Brand loyalty has evolved in a more sophisticated bev/al marketplace, says Robert Passikoff, president of Brand Keys, who notes that consumers are more complex, connected, and complicated. They connect with each other before even considering connecting to a brand and assess loyalty relative to how they envision an “Ideal”brand, said Passikoff.
Brand Keys measures consumer engagement, which leads to brand loyalty.
“It only takes a nanosecond for consumers to note how well a brand is ‘seen’ to meet their expectations. Brands that can meet consumer expectations will always see higher levels of engagement, loyalty, and sales,” he says.
“Categories and brands are not static,” Passikoff notes. “They change, and how consumers view, compare, and buy, are governed by the order and level of expectation of the key loyalty drivers in any category.”
Disruptive market forces, technology, innovation and relentless competition all play a part in how the order of loyalty drivers shifts and why consumer-value components become more complex. “But the end results are predominantly driven by consumers’ attitudes and desires, much of which is unarticulated and virtually all of which is emotionally-based,” he says.
As an example, in 2019, regular beer drinkers said these were the path-to-purchase drivers for regular beer (numbers indicate the importance): Brand for me & all occasions (28%), formulations & drinkability (25%), social & full-value bodied (24%) and image and self-image, 23%.
Just a year later, the key driver is “it’s the brand for me and all social occasions (27%), exclusive formulations and brewing expertise (26%), reflects my good taste and judgement (25%) and social and full-bodied, more drinkable quality overall, 22%.
“Not only has the order of the loyalty drivers changed (and how consumers assess these brands), but the attribute, benefit, and value components that make up the drivers have become more complex, representing a genuine consumer perspective because the output of the model obviates the fact that consumers don’t think how they feel, they don’t say what they think, and don’t do what they say they will,” Passikoff says.