Trust has become the connective tissue between brands and loyalty, says Robert Passikoff, president, Brand Keys. Expectations for trust are up an average of 25+% year over year across all product/service categories and brands, he says. Meanwhile, customer concerns regarding privacy, security, and brand transparency have reached a tipping point.
Alcoholic Beverage Loyalty Generators
Top brands customers rated highly at creating emotional engagement and loyalty in Alcoholic Beverage categories are:
Beer (Regular)
- Corona Extra
- Coors
- Miller
- Michelob / Budweiser
- Dos Equis / Busch
Beer (Light)
- Miller Lite
- Coos Light
- Natural Light
- Bud Light
- Busch Light / Michelob Light / Amstel Light
- Sam Adams Light
Bourbon
- Maker’s Mark
- Four Roses
- Knob Creek
- Woodford Reserve
- Buffalo Creek
Single Malt Scotch
- Macallan
- Lagavulin
- Glenfiddich
- Glenmorangie / Jonnie Walker
- Aberlour / Oban
Whiskey
- Jack Daniels
- Ballantine
- Suntory
- Fireball
- J&B / Crown Royal / Chivas
Tequila
- Jose Cuervo
- Sauza
- Patron
- Don Julio
- 1800
Vodka
- Zubrowka
- Krupnik
- Svedka
- Gray Goose
- Absolut / Smirnoff
- Skyy / Stolichnaya / Tito’s
Today, loyalty is a fusion of emotional engagement, trust, and an ability for a brand to engage; to meet or exceed expectations consumers hold for their Ideal product or service. The brands on top of this year’s category lists know that, said Passikoff. More importantly they know how.
Loyalty’s Fiscal Bottom Lines
Marketers relying on a definition of loyalty and engagement as something they’ll recognize when it impacts their brands will be disappointed, said Passikoff. Brand awareness is not loyalty; satisfaction is not loyalty; entertainment is not loyalty.
In 2019, and for the foreseeable future, there are three concrete fiscal realities of loyalty and engagement that marketers should keep in mind:
— It costs 9 to 11 times more to recruit a new customer than to keep an existing one.
— An increase in loyalty of only 7% can lift lifetime profits per customer by as much as 85%.
— Depending upon the sector, an increase in loyalty of just 3% is equivalent to a 10% across-the-board cost reduction program.
Decision-making has become increasingly emotionally-driven over the past decade, said Passikoff. But the addition of increased expectations for brand trust has radically altered the category landscape. Neither business as usual nor more social networking will cut it in this new brandscape, he says. Brands have to move loyalty to the top of their to-do lists.