Loyalty
Confession – I learned this week that I am a bad fan, a scoundrel of the worst kind. After two very embarrassing losses I had written off last year’s almost perfect team. I was ready to switch my focus to basketball for the rest of the fall and impending winter. Then, something happened.
During that primetime-first-night-of-the-work-week game between the almost perfect team and the stallions who normally play at 5000 feet above sea level a miracle happened. The team who normally plays at sea level performed incredibly well, even with their leader out on the west coast enduring an unsuccessful knee surgery. And I was really pumped
So, I feel pretty shallow. My loyalty is based on winning. What a scoundrel.
My question to you is how many of your customers are shallow like me. Are they good customers if you give them a discount (the business equivalent of a win)? Do they root for a different team when the discounts disappear?
When I was a kid I grew up a Cubs fan. Winning was an unexpected treat. However, I was extremely loyal and remain a dedicated fan today, 800 miles away. Why so much loyalty in the face of such adversity?
There is quite a bit of research that shows that brand loyalty is highly influenced by whether the individual can identify with the brand – how well the product fits with how the individual views him or herself. I identified with the Cubs. WGN was my everyday channel before it became a superstation. The Cubs were the guys I watched on TV or if I got on the YMCA bus with a tuna fish sandwich and watched the game at Wrigley. Ernie Banks was a good guy, as I aspired to be. When I got older the idea of quaffing an Old Style while watching the Northsiders was as cool as it could get.
Well, I guess the more important question is whether your customers identify with your brand, if they do business with you because you fit with their self image? Don’t laugh – statistics don’t lie.
But I did not set out to write this entry to discuss loyalty and personal identification. I want to raise the newly discovered connection between loyalty and social media. While the stuff out on this connection is fairly recent, it appears that this has legs. I think it is the equivalent of being a more loyal fan because you often watch the game at the local watering hole where everybody has a C on their cap. You are a part of something bigger.
Everybody seems to be jumping on the social media band wagon. It is certainly a topic that is getting a lot of press. I would like to get more direct experience with it to be in a position to provide more point-of-view. But, I do think this is worthy of getting a lot of attention.
Just to get back to the whole identification thing – I suspect part of the power of social networking relative to a product is connected to identifying with that brand. More connections cause more identification. It is just a hunch. Stay tuned.
Next year Cubs fans.