Brand Loyalty

I have discovered a fundamental flaw in the concept of brand loyalty. IN theory you support a brand because they provide a quality product at a reasonable price and you feel that you can depend on them to continue doing so. As such, you will continue consuming their product in preference to other similar products. But the reality is that any given company with more than about fifty employees will, probably, dick you over with a smile on their face in search of greater profit.

such is the american dream...

I'm a brand loyalty whore for Levi's. Those are the only jeans I will wear. They always look good and last long.

I think the problem at hand, Cassiel, without all of the anti-corporate/anti-capitalism drek to dress it up is this:

If all you wear are Levi's, how do you know other jeans don't last longer or look better?

I'm not going to lie, there are just some brands I've always been happier with. I agree with Levi's jeans. Lee and any other brand I've tried has not been as good for me. Some food brands I've just eaten for so long, any other brand tastes funny.

But when it comes to things I'm not eating, by and large it doesn't matter who makes them. I buy store-brand soaps, detergents, tp, etc. etc. Though there are some things I've come to like. Bath and Body Works body wash, for example. It's a brand that I've come to enjoy as an indulgence for myself sometimes. And cigarettes. I just like the taste of Camels, Turkish Golds in particular, more than any other. It's not that I think they people who make them are better people. I just like their product more than other products.

That is something I would never, ever do. Even when when I was poor as fuck, I refused. I will only buy Angel Soft. I've tried several, but it's the only one I like. Toiletries, in general, are the only things I'm loyal to a company for.

I'm a big fan of their hand soaps, but only buy it occasionally.

The Smiths are infallible. Oh... I thought it said band loyalty.

I'd cut off a hand if Djarum asked me to. Just not mine.
MAC, Lip Service, Tillamook and Boar's Head certainly come to mind.

I think brand loyalty is about avoiding risks. I love odwalla carrot juice, but one day I tried a different brand and it was aweful. I never drank it, basicly wasting my money. Now I stick mostly to odwalla although there are some other brands that are good.

Same thing on a larger scale with my favorite grocer, trader joes. I have never had a bad experioence there so I stick with them, I have had bad experiences with safeway. if I never went to trader joes I wouldn't know if safeway sucked or not, but since I've been there (and bought milk that went bad in a few days) I can guauntee the reader that safeway sucks compared to TJ's

i have very few brand loyalties, mostly because i'm poor. however. i will only buy dove soap and deoderants. oh, and i loves me some converse. that's pretty much it.

HEINZ KETCHUP IS THE ONLY KETCHUP

HUNTS CAN FUCK OFF

Dove Soap, Levi's Jeans, and Heinz Ketchup are all brands I can get behind.

When I used to smoke and drink soda (a lot) I was all about Marlboro Reds and Coke.

Hmm...Orbitz gum, Macintosh, and JetBlue are the only three I can really think of.

Yeah, I'm not going to lie, I prefer Coke to Pepsi and Heinz over any other. I'm so middle-America.

I loved Song Airlines as well.

The flipside is that many companies recognize brand loyalty is not the be-all, end-all, but is one of a variety of marketing options. Companies that've invested heavily in developing loyalty have to recognize how powerful it is for them, and from a basic business perspective, there's a much better return if a company reciprocates that loyalty to their core market. I think it's really only when a company is trying to greatly increase their market that they start to depend less on brand loyalty.

Before I quit smoking I would only buy Nat Shermans, and before I stopped drinking soda I preferred Coke over Pepsi, not just because of the taste but because I found Coca-Cola commercials less annoying than Pepsi's. If any liquor store sells Kirin Ichiban I always buy it. I'm not sure how brand-loyal I really am, but I'm sure it's a comfort issue.

i can't honestly say i've any brand loyalty... there are some brands of some products i like better and go with currently -but the day i find something better they can go fuck themselves, i'm moving on.

i love my Urban Decay eyeshadows, but i'll turn my back on them in a heartbeat if i find a new eyeshadow brand that i like better.

does anyone really ever stick with a brand just because they like that brand? wouldn't everyone drop their current favorite brand if a better one came along tomorrow for their needs? if so, that's not loyalty. loyalty is going "yeah, the New Coke tastes shitty, but i'm sticking by them! they need me in this time of brand hardship!"

you mess with your core (brand loyalists) and they will desert you. which is why when most companies find something that works, they stick with it. just look at new coke. how long did it take for 'classic coke' to come out?

american apparel (if i find a shirt i kind of like and then see the shirt is american apparel, i will buy it.)
sam goody (not really a brand, but i worked for them for so long. of course i don't really buy from them now, since my local store closed, and i no longer get discount.)
simply lemonade/orange
and for the duration of pepsi blue, there was nothing else that i would drink.

Coca Cola will always own my soul.

The idea of a "brand" is that you as the consumer are buying something that has value to you, above and beyond the utilitarian value of the product itself. So people buy Porsche's when they will never use the full performance of the car, and could get where they are going just as easily and comfortably in a Honda Accord, because the Porsche brand helps them self actualize.

Similarly, people willingly and happily pay $200 for a pair of shoes that cost $6 to make because they have the words, "Jimmy Choo" pasted to the inside of them.

People are extremely illogical when they make most purchase decisions, because everybody defines "value" in their own terms.