Brand loyalty is basically the concept of consumers repeatedly returning to purchase a product from a particular brand for a variety of reasons, particularly a high level of trust in said brand.
But in this day and age, it is no longer a given that consumers will automatically return to a product after having tried it once even if they had a reasonably positive experience with it, and definitely not if they did not.
This is because the advent of internet and technology has changed how many different products consumers are exposed to, as well as the speed of this happening — so if they tried a snack and found it ‘okay’ today, they could easily have another option in front of them that they are willing to try the next day so they would not return to said snack.
So even though a brand may have implemented a very successful marketing strategy and secured a consumer’s first purchase of their product, it has become harder to translate this into a repeat purchase, even if this brand is run by a world renowned MNC.
“I wouldn’t say brand loyalty is dead, as in the first place brand loyalty should never be assumed or expected no matter how big a brand we are talking about — it needs to be earned, and earned continuously,” Kraft Heinz China Hea of Data Insight and Analytics Donna Li said during the recent Food and Beverage Innovation Forum (FBIF) in Hangzhou, China.
“Just like any relationship, you cannot just assume it is forever even after becoming confirming the relationship status, there needs to be management and reciprocation, which means that to get this loyalty brands need to continuously ensure they are touching the consumer in meaningful ways, beyond having the biggest advertisement or banner.”
She highlighted the importance for any brand to have its own unique identity in order to make real impact on consumers, no matter what country it is selling in.
“Taking Kraft Heinz as an example, our major products like tomato ketchup are relatively western condiments, so it is even more important to figure out how we can be meaningful and relevant to say, Chinese consumers in China,” Li added.
“Kraft Heinz in this market sets itself apart from the crowd by consistently infusing elements of being witty and humorous into marketing, and this has created a particular brand image that is easy for the consumer to remember. Only with this sort of access will consumers be tempted to repeatedly purchase our products, and only then can there be the brand loyalty that we have been discussing.”
When understanding is not enough
One of the main parts of a marketing strategy has always been for a brand to understand the consumer it is marketing to, but today this is no longer sufficient to make an impact.
“Consumer understanding is a must, but it is a baseline requirement and simply understanding the consumer does not necessarily translate into meaningfully impacting them and gaining acceptance for your product,” she said.
“This comes back to the concept of brand loyalty where understanding the consumer may get you a foot in the door by influencing them to try your product once, but acceptance will only come when they make that return purchase which as we mentioned is harder and harder to guarantee today.”
The only way to get to this point is to increase the value of products in the eyes of the consumer, moving beyond product costs or ingredients alone.
“Value is definitely not just about the price of the item for consumers — it is about providing a certain sense of superiority when they choose your product, and demand will be amplified when you reach that balance of different needs such as functionality, health, convenience and clean label,” Li added.
“There was a time when discounts were king in China, but today we are seeing that this is not the space to play in, given the immense competition and many potential alternative products in the same category that consumers can opt to choose once prices shift. Value is the only thing that will keep them coming back.”
AI not the be all end all
AI is playing an increasingly important role when it comes to grocery purchasing decisions, especially in Asia where e-commerce is particularly pervasive and AI tends to have a major hand in making recommendations to consumers.
Similarly, the food industry is also seeing much higher penetration of AI use in product formulation and innovation, but Li believes that AI is not king when it comes to food.
“AI is able to help speed up processes and accelerate many things, but when it comes to food we need to remember to pay more attention to experience and actual consumer comments instead of relying on tech-based input only,” she stressed.
“Decision making needs that human touch no matter what in this case, to really be grounded in reality and real-life needs, so never discount human input especially if both sides have reached different conclusions.”
