Brand Loyalty: Starbucks' Die-Hard Customers

Some more on branding here, with the coffee that made many of us feel a bit out of our league the first time we stepped foot inside a store and the aficionado in front of us ordered his "tall, nonfat, iced caramel machiatto, upside down - oh and no whip." When I entered my first Starbucks, my palms were sweating as I looked the sizes up and down. That guy just ordered a tall, but it looks kiddie-sized.

"Can I take your order, miss?" I'm interrupted by the service rep, oops, I mean the tan, preppy yet punk, barista with the green apron, stylish glasses and nose ring behind the counter.

"Umm," I stutter. I fumble. I fear exile if I order wrong. "A medium coffee?" She doesn't blink, she just gets her cup and writes my order on it. Did I order correctly? What about cream and sugar?

Okay, I eventually figured it out. And now I can order my fancy drinks with the best of 'em. But what kept me coming back for more after that initial culture shock? I think it's got a little something to do with the focus on the experience more than the actual product. The brand experience creates loyal, committed customers.

As committed customers, these die-hards don't just view Starbucks favorably, but they tend to actually undervalue competitors. If you ask a Starbucks customer if they’d like a coffee from Dunkin’ Donuts, you're likely to receive a dirty look, and possibly a small amount of judgment as they quickly answer “No.” Starbucks doesn’t just make coffee, they’ve created a brand with steadfast enthusiasts. Customers like this are valuable in times of crisis. It's probably why Toyota came up with the ads about "Asking someone you know who drives one." This was conveniently right after the recall crisis last spring. They relied on their committed customers to defend their experience with Toyota.

When you walking into a Starbucks, there's a certain mood and ambience. There's a sense of reciprocity that if you're loyal to your cup of Joe in the morning, it won't let you down. It's also about the human connections that Starbucks has created in the store. Unlike some coffee shops that are more about getting in and getting out, Starbucks has a more inviting atmosphere with their friendly baristas. And after you leave, the interaciton continues through its many social media channels. They have committed Tweeters who answer questions, plenty of engaged Facebook fansand they were one of the first retailers to offer rewards through Foursquare. Starbucks does this because they tend to know their audience, the ones who are likely to interact and crave that extra attention through a shout-out in a Tweet. They're the trend-savvy early adopters who like change and innovation. Sitting in a Starbucks today, I even looked around to notice that out of the five of us on our laptops, four of us had Macbooks. (Maybe there's a potential partnership opportunity in the future for Starbucks and Apple?)

Brand loyalty isn't brand popularity. It's long-term dedication from a large number of customers. It's what separates Starbucks from Dunks, and all of their other competitors. That's my PR thought for the day.

*Image found through Google image search.

*Disclaimer: I'm impartial to Starbucks or Dunks - I drink both.

Brand Loyalty: Apple's Awesome Experience

Some more branding here, with one of my favorite companies that is no stranger to anyone - Apple. Apple is one of the most innovative and influential technology companies in the world. How did they do it? I'd love to give you my opinion from a branding perspective, though there's a lot more to it. With its products, and with customer service, Apple enhanced the level of loyalty its customers feel toward the company.


A few months ago, I was lucky enough to attend a guest lecture at the Syracuse University's Whitman School of Management. The lecture with Jerry McDougal, Vice President of Retail for Apple, provided me with some great insight into Apple's brand and strategies.

Experience with a brand strongly affects brand loyalty. Apple embraces the idea of customer experience by creating a tech-savvy and hands-on environment in its stores. Customers are encouraged to come into the stores to work, and to play. As McDougal says, “99% of stores that sell phones have dummy phones that don’t work. At Apple, you can really test the product." Apple does this with all of their products and they don’t limit the amount of time you can use these products for free either. Here's a fun fact for - there have even been authors who don’t own computers who have written entire books in an Apple store on a test-drive computer. Many stores wouldn’t have allowed this to happen, but Apple strives to foster good customer experience. These authors didn’t have to pay Apple anything, and they weren’t asked to leave after a few hours. Instead, Apple employees helped them out when they needed a coffee or had a technical issue.

What else has helped Apple's branding? Oh right, Steve Jobs the wonder-CEO. Literature on brand loyalty has stressed the importance of CEOs in brand management. Steve Jobs has always been the face of Apple, even during his hiatus when he wasn’t the CEO. People in the tech world love him and here's what I love about him; he unveils each new Apple product personally, so customers are hearing about the new technology directly from the source. Okay, maybe the iPhone 4 unveiling wasn't perfect, but at least if was straight from Jobs himself. Jobs even has such dedicated fans who admire him as a hero, like the fan who created a site, allaboutstevejobs.com.

Even more proof of Apple's incredible branding is a research study conducted by Cornell University, which revealed that the Apple store in Manhattan was the fifth most photographed place in New York City, and the 28th most photographed in the world. Loyal customers are the best marketing tool a brand can have, and Apple’s dedication to customer experience has created just that.

Satisfied customer will act as marketers without even realizing it. Apple enthusiasts rant and rave about their technology, and they make people who don’t have Apple products jealous. They think they are the best because they have Apple; and they tell people they are best because they have Apple. The evidence is all over the virtual world, with blogs dedicated solely to discussing Apple, and Facebook pages such as "We Love Apple." Apple Inc. didn’t ask its customers to rant and rave; they just provided the products that compelled its loyal customers to do so. Simply by providing a good product experience, Apple enhanced its brand loyalty.

Apple is awesome, and their loyal brand enthusiasts prove it. That's my PR thought for the day.

Brand Loyalty: Avon's Cause-Related Marketing

For those who don’t know, Avon is a cosmetics company dedicated to the betterment of women’s lives through beauty, health, fitness, and self-empowerment. The company has a very well known, worldwide Avon breast cancer campaign, which has raised over $660 million in over 50 countries. Avon has developed and implemented a very important cause-related marketing campaign for breast cancer awareness, which has helped increase brand loyalty. Choosing this cause was important for Avon because it is something that resonates very personally with its target audience - women.

According to its website, Avon has a history of CRM dating back to 1942 when the company began donating 40% of its output to military manufacturing. This move was strategic because the war was a current event that was affecting every American citizen in some way.

In 1989, the company launched its first breast cancer awareness campaign in the U.K, with a U.S. launch the following year, enlisting over 500,000 sales representatives to raise awareness and funds through the “pink ribbon” product line. For every purchase of a “pink ribbon,” product, a percentage of the sales went to breast cancer awareness and fundraising. Over the years, that percentage has varied, and is currently at 68% of the sale price.

The most important part of Avon’s cause-related marketing is the company’s choice of cause. Avon describes itself as an organization dedicated to the empowerment of women. With such a clearly defined vision for the betterment of women, and product lines that are created for women, it was imperative that Avon chose a cause that resonated with women. Considering that there is a new breast cancer diagnosis every three minutes and a life lost to breast cancer every 14 minutes, breast cancer was a logical choice for Avon (www.avoncompnay.com).

Avon achieved its loyal customer clientele, in part, because of its connection with a cause that is important to many women. Avon aligned its whole company with the cause. Breast cancer’s color is pink; so is Avon’s, which helps to remind consumers of Avon’s dedication to the cause. Avon created a three-day walk for the fight against breast cancer, which takes places annually in different locations across the United States. This is directly linked to the company because the highly publicized event is titled “Avon Walk for Breast Cancer.” This name is plastered across banners, signs, blogs, websites, T-shirts, bags, pens, water bottles, etc. The brand is everywhere and it’s associated with an admirable and necessary cause, which resonates strongly with Avon’s customer base.

In the CEO’s message on the corporate Avon site, she mentions the Avon Foundation’s dedication to breast cancer awareness within the first paragraph. The bottom line is that Avon works hard to make sure no one ever forgets its dedication to bettering the lives of women and the fight against breast cancer. Whether you are on its corporate site seeing links to the breast cancer campaign, or on the Avon Foundation website with links to the corporate site; the two are branded together. Avon’s name is plastered all over the Foundation’s page. And if you type in breast cancer awareness on Google.com, you’d find that three of the top ten hits are related to Avon. That’s successful CRM.

A good marketing campaign is especially important for Avon because it is a direct seller company, so it needs to be creative in how it reaches consumers. Reaching women through breast cancer awareness drives them to the Avon site and creates a sense of familiarity and trustworthiness with the brand.

Avon cements its brand loyalty through the telling of personal stories. On the Avon Foundation site, people have the opportunity to share about their experience with breast cancer, whether that is fighting it personally, or participating in a walk in support of someone else. With the Avon name at the top of the page, or in the corner of a video, the Avon brand is even further engrained into the viewer as they connect with the brand through an emotional appeal. An emotional connection is a strong way to build brand loyalty.

Cause-related marketing can be a highly-effective tool for increasing brand loyalty. Avon did it best by choosing a cause that was important to its audience. That’s my PR thought for the day.



All information regarding Avon was found on Avon's corporate website, www.avoncompany.com. I am in no way affiliated with Avon

The Value of True Brand Loyalty

A good brand is almost as important as the product or service itself. It helps make consumer decisions easier. It's a marker for trust, for reliability. It separates one company from the next. The relation of a good brand to sales is evident, and companies must make managing their brand a top management function.

True brand loyalty is what every company strives for, or at least it should be. An increase in brand loyalty not only boosts reputation, but it directly affects sales. Brand loyalty is different than having a popular brand. A popular brand can lead to increased sales, but it may not last forever. Brand loyalty means developing a strong customer base dedicated to your brand. Committed customers are a huge asset to a company, defending the company if there's a crisis and generally having a more negative view of its competitors, incidentally engaging in word of mouth marketing.

Brand management has often been viewed as a marketing function more than a public relations function. The three brands I have recently studied, however, took a personal approach, building relationships with their customers. Building relationships? That sure sounds like PR to me. The truth is that every department and every employee helps build the brand. Perhaps the most important employee to help build the brand is the CEO, but we'll discuss that in a later post as we look at a company with a brand not unfamiliar to anyone living in this century; Apple. The next three posts will take a closer look at three organizations, Avon, Starbucks and Apple, to see how they were successful in achieving brand loyalty.

True brand loyalty is an asset to every company, and a vital PR function, so it's important to looks at companies who have done it well. That's my PR thought for the day.