Brand loyalty is dead, says WE Buchan’s general manager
Brand loyalty is dead and the focus for marketers in the finance industry should be on making sure customers want to hear from finance brands again, WE Buchan’s national general manager, Gemma Hudson, has told a room of marketers.
Speaking at Mumbrella’s Finance Marketing Summit, Hudson said: “This idea of brand loyalty as we’ve long played around with is certainly quite dead and it’s actually no longer about loyalty.
Hudson and Ryan explained why brand positioning is dead
“The question that we need to ask ourselves as marketers is what are we going to do to make sure that our customer wants to hear from us tomorrow regardless of what we do today.”
Hudson said unsurprisingly brands are loved one day and shamed the next and should focus on making sure their customers still want to hear from them regardless of their day-to-day actions.
WE Buchan’s national general manager added businesses shouldn’t be “stuck in stone” instead they should have flexibility as well as consistency in delivering what the customer needs and wants.
“That is what stability is these days. It is not all about the heritage and it is not all about the innovation, it is about the balance of those two things together.
Drawing on WE Buchan’s Brands in Motion study, the national GM of the PR agency said customers want to know brands are pushing boundaries and moving forward.
“Brands who are seen as cutting edge are more likely to be seen as loved which talks to brands and how they’re acting with their customers.
“They were more likely to be seen as having a positive impact or positive experience and also if you are seen as cutting you are more likely to be seen as having social impact in the world.”
Abigail Dawson was Mumbrella's senior content journalist covering event content. She left Mumbrella to move into an agency role in 2020.
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Surely it is the complete opposite?
The biggest problem in financial marketing is excessive brand loyalty (whether due to inertia or not).
The challenge for everyone is to pry customers away.
Also, when it comes to financial brands, customers do not want cutting edge/moving forward/saving the world.
They want their money to be safe.
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Brand loyalty is dead? What a ridiculous thing to say. Brand loyalty is, has, and always will be the main thing that makes ‘customers want to hear from us tomorrow.’ Two reasons it’s more apparent (and important) than ever? First, financial institutions in Australia have visibly done the wrong thing by their customers and leeched them for every cent – but the vast majority haven’t or won’t changed banks. Too hard basket. Second, with more ‘noise,’ more channels with more messages than ever before – the opportunity for brands to realise the mecca of all brand loyalty measures (auto-pilot decisions) is more important than it ever has been. And how do you get customers to make decisions on auto pilot? Brand loyalty. Sure, the finance sector needs ‘innovation,’ customer service, cutting-edge delivery and all that BS, but that’s cost of entry. Brand Loyalty is now more important than it ever has been, and to suggest otherwise is defeatis, and plain wrong.
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While the sound bites out of this appear to be thought-provoking they come across a moronic.
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