A Shift Towards Creating Value

Some marketers like to bemoan the decline of brand loyalty. But how can you expect loyalty unless you’re providing real value to your customers? Especially when the value becomes more and more transparent with the proliferation of information and distribution through new communication tools.

There’s no logical reason for somebody to be loyal to a brand. The brand is there to provide a product or service and get paid something in exchange. Whether the price is $5, $500 or $5 million, there’s a value exchange involved.

If they’re acting logically, customers will be loyal as long as there’s a compelling exchange for the price. The challenge arises when the value is no longer compelling enough or there are equal alternatives. Just because somebody always used Tide detergent in the past does not necessarily mean they always need to use Tide. Consumers know that there are alternatives and there will always be more alternatives.

Niche products have less to fear from alternatives, however, and this is important. More niche products and more SKUs mean a longer tail economy – one that serves the customer in a different way. This changes a basic dynamic.

It no longer makes sense to spend so much on brand marketing. Just raising the recognition of your brand and reinforcing the perception of your brand won’t increase brand loyalty. The way to increase brand loyalty is to have the best product, solve the problem in the best possible way and provide the best value exchange for that user who fits your core value based on their unique needs.

In the most basic terms, the old way of brand marketing was an exposure model that pushed messaging on people. Brand value and trust used to be proxy for real information. But with the Internet, users were suddenly able to pull the world to themselves on their own terms. This means more than empowerment for audiences, although that’s certainly part of it. It also means that a good deal of consumer intent that had been hidden is now exposed. Simply by stating their interests – through the navigation of category selections, through consumption patterns, and via search – consumers revealed a wealth of data to advertisers. Not just what they were looking for, but also how they looked for it.

Although search certainly helped accelerate the shift, this change actually began as soon as consumers were able to express choice in a dense enough market to perpetuate that activity – meaning they got what they were looking for, and not just because they had a tool to do it. Then, with search, consumers were not only able to find the things they were looking for, but also the things they didn’t know they wanted. Even mistaken searches opened new horizons.

The world hasn’t changed totally; you still must have a compelling product that fills a need in order to thrive. But what is fundamentally different is this: people are now telling you exactly what they want and need.

Moreover, in the current landscape consumers draw out pertinent value – whether that’s a product, content or a connection. They choose. Therefore, unique value is paramount.

Consumers now create their own vacation experiences rather than relying on vacation packages. They research product intensely and know prices high and low before making an offer. They can connect with people like themselves immediately whenever they want to, even if they’ve never met anyone like themselves before. And they consume niche lifestyle/mindset-related entertainment such as heavy.com, vbs.tv, and surfline.com.

How does a marketer deal with this? By offering something uniquely compelling that builds upon the core value of the goods or services offered. Give consumers a reason to engage with your brand.

Of course, while you want your online presence to be attractive and pull people in, you should always make sure that the incentive is related to your company’s core value in some way. You also want to be sure not to get too caught up in technology for technology’s sake. If it doesn’t help a user in the lifestyle where your brand lives, don’t offer it. In today’s market, alienating even one person can throw a monkey wrench into your efforts – because it’s so easy for that one individual voice to make itself heard.

And one more thing – you always want to ask yourself whether your product is good enough. Because the best way to achieve marketing success today is not to trump your competitor’s ad strategy – it’s simply to provide a better product. Your customers will spread the word for you.