Tattoo Projects Born to Blog

July 28, 2010

Loyal to the Very End. . . and Beyond!

Not every company made it out of the recent recession. It not only swallowed up countless numbers of small businesses, but it also bankrupted brands we have known for years.

 

However, many brands that were forced to declare bankruptcy have refused to stay down. Companies like Sharper Image, Polaroid, Saab, and Circuit City have found unique solutions their business failures, and they are ready for business again. But how did they manage to get back into the game when so many others are done for good? These brands had an edge that smaller business didn’t possess: loyalties.

 

People are creatures of habit. Marketers have been working to reach the hearts and minds consumers to build brand loyalties for generations. Building brand loyalty has two sides to it: keeping consumers and attracting new consumers. Too often brands focus on only attracting new consumers, and miss out on the real benefits of having an established brand loyalty. Repeat customers can actually be far more important than new customers. Not only has a recent study by Retail Active found that for the same cost of getting one new customer, you can keep five old ones loyal, but also, though it varies depending on the industry, repeat customers typically spend 30% more per transaction.

 

Loyalty is powerful. It can bring a company back from the brink of bankruptcy and can take some of the risk out of running a business. Companies depend on their consumers every period to reach their sales projections. When customers already know the value of the company, they are less likely to go to the competition, and those projections become much more attainable. These repeat customers are also a lot easier to identify and communicate with. Working together is not limited to intra-business relationships. Companies can make lasting relationships with each of their customers. Though in the recent recession the companies may have failed, they had a strong foundation to help them back to their feet: the loyal customers.

Tags: advertising, Culture

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