By Scott Shamberg, VP Marketing
What does it really mean to be loyal?
Big brands have come a long way from the punch card system, which was invented to drive loyalty by dangling the ultimate carrot – free stuff. Free stuff is a big draw, certainly, but is someone really loyal to your store or brand if the only reason they come back again and again is for the free sub or t-shirt? Real loyalty, and real loyalty programs, are about two things. I’ll get to them in a minute.
When Steve Jobs came back to Apple, as the story goes, he sat his management team in a room and asked everyone what they thought the problem was. When they were done talking, he shook his head no, cursed (again, so the story goes) and said, famously, “It’s the products. They suck.” And from that day on, Apple was all about products people would be passionate about. It’s passion that gets people lined up around the corner to shell out $400 twice a year. Free subs do not invoke passion.
Ah, but it’s a fickle society in which we live and breath. We may crave a product but we want more reward than just the benefits the product provides. Don’t we tell everyone how great the product/brand/experience is if we are passionate about it? Sure we do. Why? We want more recognition. Do we pull our (insert Apple product here) out at parties to show them off? Sure we do. Why? We want to be seen as someone with more status. Do we track our points/miles/spend at the places we like the most? Sure we do. Why? Because those things can be redeemed for more money, or a function of more money in the form of upgrades, free hotels or cash back. Do I like to ask questions out loud and answer them myself? Yes. Yes I do.
Passion + Reward(recognition*status*more) = Loyalty
See, marketers can do math.
The aforementioned brand understands this. Today, it’s enough. But tomorrow it won’t be. This Internet thing has changed people’s perceptions about loyalty. Brands have more data as a result of real-time feedback in social shopping and consumers have a forum to tell those brands exactly what they expect. If those brands don’t respond, or at the very least engage in conversation, the consumer will have no problem moving on. Not every brand is Apple.
This means the “more” part of the loyalty equation is greater than the sum of the equation itself. Your loyal customer expects more of you. You need to find a way to give it to them when they want it and how they want it if you want them as an advocate and more than just someone punching the clock, I mean card.
What does it really mean to be loyal? I don’t know if there is one answer but I do know there is more to it than there was yesterday. I’d like to hear your opinons…feel free to share in the comments section.
