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Marketing Roundtable March 2021 meeting

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The Changing Face

of Brand Loyalty

Rising to the Demands

of an Evolving Landscape

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When:             Wednesday, March 17                                                        Click HERE to register.

12:00-1:30 p.m.

 

Where:            Online

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Host:                 Jennifer Higgins – Data I/O Corp.

                         (425) 319-0401

                         Rick Bechtel:  (206) 351-8604

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Moderator:      Aimée Damman – Swansons Nursery

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(206) 838-2750)

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                             Note the change in meeting time - 12:00-1:30 p.m. 

                        This will be a virtual meeting.  Please register using the link above.  

                        You will receive the link to join closer to the meeting date.

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 Description:

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Brand loyalty had been very much on the rise – prior to last year.  In a 2019 Yotpo survey, 90% of respondents reported they were more brand loyal than the year before – good news considering that, according to the Harvard Business Review, just a 5% increase in customer retention can deliver up to a 95% increase in profits.

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But that was before.

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The pandemic has changed both consumer and company behavior, and customer loyalty has become trickier to achieve.  For one thing, e-commerce grew as much in three months as would previously have taken ten years (McKinsey)!

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As a result, consumers have had more options to find businesses that more conveniently offer the products and services they want, and loyalty has tapered off accordingly. An estimated three out of four consumers have tried a new shopping behavior, and most plan to continue on that path, even after COVID-19 subsides. Customer issues have increased accordingly, and companies must adapt quickly or risk losing out to competitors.

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Can customer loyalty programs provide some protection? A May, 2020 study by Wharton found that, while loyalty program members had remained loyal from Q1 to Q2, non-member loyalty had dropped off some 15%. In fact, participation in a retailer’s loyalty program was shown to double the likelihood of subscribing to emails and notifications, and triple the likelihood of engagement with social media.

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In our March meeting, Aimée Damman will lead a discussion to explore the advantages and challenges of customer loyalty programs during these times of uncertainty. We’ll look at how businesses, including Swansons Nursery, have adapted, and what future trends are likely in a world where some consumer behaviors may have changed permanently. A short presentation will be the jumping off point for a group discussion, so bring your case studies, issues, and questions!

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Discussion questions:

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• Does your organization have a customer loyalty program? If so, what are your top 2-3 goals for the program? If not, what's kept you from that?

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• How have the pandemic and economic issues of 2020 affected your customers’ behavior? Have you altered your loyalty program or customer retention strategies?

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• How do you assess the value of your loyalty program to your business and your customers?

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• What obstacles or problems have had the most impact on customer loyalty? What are you doing to address these issues?

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• Before the pandemic, many companies were shifting to experiential customer loyalty rewards over monetary rewards. Was this the case for your business? How has the pandemic affected your rewards strategy?

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