brand loyalty

I’m really interested in the concept of brand loyalty and the debate as to whether or not it actually exists. I thought I’d take a look into why I’m a massive fan of Sainsbury’s to find out where this affiliation stems from. I really do love Sainsbury’s, ask anyone.

Bonding with my dad - The ‘Big Shop’ in Camden? A nice sentimental idea and although the Supermarket Sweep-like run to get the things left on the list once we reached the end is a fond memory, it could, in theory have been any supermarket and this memory is specifically attached to the Camden Sainsbury’s, not to Sainsbury’s as a brand.

Is it Jamie Oliver’s perky little face? Unlikely.

Is it because I want to Live Well for Less? I love a bargain as much as the next person and fall time and time again for the age old 2 for 1 offers but we all know that Sainsbury’s is not the most “cost effective” way to do the groceries. Also, Try Something New Today is always the tagline that I associate with Sainsbury’s mostly due to it’s epic planning tale of how it came to be.

Is it the soothing satisfaction I get from systematically winding up and down each isle? Do I have a particular affinity with the colour orange? Is it because they “made reusable bags sexy” (their words)? Love me a bit of CSR but again, not enough to pick one brand in favour of another. Is it because I fit into their target audience of Female AB 25-34 35-44? Well, it may be a factor, what kind of strategist would I be if I belittled the importance of having a clear idea of who your audience is.

My feeling is that it’s convenience over brand loyalty. Wherever I move to it tends to be the closest supermarket. I may begrudge having to go to Tesco’s if I moved somewhere where it was closer but the fact is that that sentiment probably wouldn’t last that long and I would adapt, shifting my Nectar card to the back of my wallet.

It also seems to be about managing expectations and sticking with what you know. As Rory Sutherland (yes - referencing Rory again) points out; people don’t want the best hamburger in the world, they want the hamburger that is just like the hamburger they had the last time.

putting the you in ux

last week i went to an #ogilvychange talk in the very snazzy ogilvy offices in canary wharf. rory sutherland hosted the evening to promote matt watkinson's new book, the ten principles behind great customer experiences. this is a summary of some of the points that were discussed.

principles not processes
with business and purchase decisions being emotionally driven, we need to rely on using psychological principles to make decisions about the customer. matt readily admits that the principles are obvious but that they are abundant by their absence. a lot of emphasis is currently put on authenticity and meaning within brands but i believe it's as manageable as making people aware of why you're asking for a certain action, this clarity is really what leads to good will and participation.

ux's part in the customer journey
the customer journey is more extensive than we imagine and provides many more opportunities for brands to be helpful to their customers than the straight forward service they promote. that said, if customer experience is so important why isn't it better? why is it so difficult to make it better? matt believes it falls upon companies to set their customer expectations and to then meet them. by examining what distractions your customers are experiencing you can map out a more streamlined route for them to take - ux should be effortless and stress free.

the objective and the super objective
if your brand is the answer, what is the question? to fully explore this it's interesting to look at the difference between the somewhat obvious objective and then to delve deeper into the super objective that may not necessarily have been thought of by the customer when they set out to fulfil their primary objective. this was illustrated by matt by looking at photography. the objective would be: take a photo. this is solved by a brand such as kodak. however, if we push this a step further to the super objective: share experiences and the way we see the world with others, the real solution would be brands such as instagram and tumblr.

sensory indulgence
according to matt, "great customer experience should indulge the senses" and he demonstrated this with the satisfaction in the textures that come with unboxing the leica. another great example of this, as cited by adam powers, is the little bit of resistance and puff of air that comes when you open an apple product. these relatively minor considerations do a great deal to add to the customer experience of the product and subsequently their perceived image of the brand.

great expectations
the implications for managing people's expectations are really far reaching and vary greatly between brands. as matt pointed out, there are a different set of expectations on apple than there are on android. harking back to a recent blog post by james caig, john lewis don't exceed expectations but you know what you're going to get. people want what they know - they don't want the best burger, they want a burger just like the burger they had the last time.

many other points were raised in the q&a and it made for a really engaging talk. i only wish i'd been able to stay longer. along with matt's book i also managed to pick up a copy of this handy dandy #ogilvychange book, which is beautifully designed and offers interesting insights into behavioural science practice from a range of the best behavioural economics books out there. snap one up at the next #ogilvychange talk.