Brand loyalty is likely a familiar concept: a consumer’s propensity to consistently purchase a particular brand. You may be aware of your own brand loyalties, much as I recognize it as the reason I purchase Colgate toothpaste (just as my mother has done for decades), or why I’m faithful to Hellmann’s mayonnaise (OK, I strayed once for Duke’s but went back).
But as I’ve learned from Pace’s recent white paper, brand loyalty is just the beginning.
Beyond brand loyalty is the holy grail, the big kahuna, the ultimate achievement unlocked in marketing: brand attachment.
The attachment can stem from a number of things — accountability, transparency, trust or other factors — and occurs when a brand has successfully bridged a consumer’s thoughts and emotions. At that stage, sentiment will influence a consumer more than logic. In fact, when a person experiences attachment, he or she will favor a brand even when better opportunities exist.
It’s a compelling phenomenon that got me thinking.