When addressing B2C audiences, one cannot ignore the rise of the informed and empowered ‘angry citizen’ and the role of technology in magnifying human emotions – all of which have implications for brands and their custodians. Brands need to understand the prevailing mood of an audience, connect to them with real human insights and build transparent and authentic relationships.

From a B2B perspective, represented on the panel by the CMO of one of Europe’s largest technology companies, there was consensus on the relevance of good, old fashioned networking and face-to-face relationship-building to strengthen customer loyalty.

There are three key considerations for customer loyalty:

 1)      Loyalty is driven through connection & conversation, not campaigns

In the age of the ‘always on’ consumer, brands are no longer in complete control of their narrative:  those brands able to engage with consumers on their own turf, through the right channels and with content that creates a connection through education or entertainment stand a better chance of being relevant. Purchasing decisions, once impacted by conversations over the neighbour’s fence or over a drink in the pub, have now moved online. In that sense, the brands that join the conversations over the ‘digital fence’ are the ones that will avoid going the way of the dodo.

From a B2B perspective, a recent spate of research by industry analysts has shown that customers are increasingly bypassing the traditional sales cycle and making upto 60 % of their purchasing decision before even speaking to a sales representative. The challenge for brands is to make relevant, compelling information easily available to customers at the right stage in their buying cycle, without ‘interrupting’ their space.

 2)      Loyalty begins at home

Whose job is marketing? That age-old debate. It’s everybody’s. Brands must have a clear purpose and employees must not only buy into, but ooze that purpose. This will drive stronger loyalty with customers and external audiences.

One of the biggest drivers of the success of a brand campaign lies in an organisation’s ability to rise above internal silos and rally around a common business purpose, unshackled by segmented job functions and narrow agendas. The implication for marketers and business leaders is simple – think beyond boundaries and keep customers and employees at the core of your actions.

 3)      Loyalty is partly a function of the availability of suitable alternatives

The disconnect between fickle consumer intentions and their behaviour is significantly impacted by the presence of suitable alternatives in the market. For example, Amazon and Starbucks have been in the news for the same ‘tax shaming’ reasons. Yet, Amazon continues to enjoy strong sales in the UK whereas Starbucks has taken a beating with consumers going beyond protesting to actually switching their latte provider of choice. Paul Flatters, CEO of Trajectory Partnership (an agency) and one of our panellists said, “One of the reasons I do not expect the Bangladeshi clothing factory disaster to affect Primark’s UK sales too badly is that people know that most other clothing companies have been using similar methods of production. The danger for Primark would be if a new rival emerged that could just about match them on price, but offered better standards for clothing factory workers.” Some sectors simply do not lend themselves to better alternatives: for example, if you were tempted to boycott BP because of the Deepwater Horizon disaster, would you really feel that switching to Shell or Exxon made a statement about your ethical intentions?

Actively listening to what customers value, the issues that cause them to leave and those that encourage them to recommend your brand to others remain key loyalty levers. Sort this and you’re on your way to building lasting customer relationships.

The panel was the second in a series planned by The Economist Group and Waggener Edstrom. If you’re a senior marketer and grappling with the challenge of customer loyalty and brand relevancy, we’d love to hear your views on what’s working and what keeps you awake at night. Feel free to leave a comment below or contact [email protected] to get involved in a future panel discussion on the subject. You can reach Chris directly at [email protected]  

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited (EIU) or any other member of The Economist Group. The Economist Group (including the EIU) cannot accept any responsibility or liability for reliance by any person on this article or any of the information, opinions or conclusions set out in the article.