Brand loyalty is a tenet as old as the ages

For longer than I can care to remember, marketers have tried to dictate brand loyalties to consumers and foster this within them. Our earliest retail purchases perhaps end up setting the tone for years to follow. I loved Adidas as a kid, and the love affair was strong for many a year. Then, for a long time (and even now), it is Puma for me. Perhaps it is something else you love as a brand. Over in Australia, my friends down under tell me that as a man or a motorsports enthusiast, you either follow Ford or Holden. Brand loyalty is a powerful thing, and it is what brands use to hold sway over us.

The older we get, the less we try to experiment, and by the time we hit our stride and become older marketers know exactly what customers are willing to do and not do. And this in turn is used against them. Younger customers, conversely, are older and more open about their choices. They are still formative in a branding sense, and in them brand loyalty must be bred. But brand loyalty and age has not gone a connection that is steely and impenetrable. More than age, it is perhaps experience that makes us brand loyalists. I remember switching from my cell phone service provider of years based on the fact that they were harsh towards me on one occasion. Little things like this dictate our brand loyalty.

With age, we can do one of two things. We can become a creature of habit that does something because he (or she) knows that it is liked through experience or we become more open since our experience teaches us that sticking to something is not the right thing to do. We end up asking questions about brands sometimes, seeking the truth and proof of claim. Experience really can be the double edged sword that makes us more experimental or closed to our choices. The way you proceed is down to your individual personality really. Indeed, even something like category breeds brand loyalty.

I know cigarette smokers that will not switch brands no matter what. I know of some fashionistas that will happily switch brands if the price point is right and a demonstrated difference is shown. There are patterns of brand loyalty in all of the madness and across categories everyone has at least one brand towards which brand loyalty is demonstrated. Ignore the benefits and the stark realities that brand loyalty offers at your own risk.