Not all brand-loyals, are THE loyals that a company should be looking for

Interestingly enough, I haven't previously heard companies distinguish between different loyal consumers. But it turns out that no all loyal customers - are THE loyals customers we should be looking for. Cmpany is interested in cognitive loyals - the people that love and trust its brand, follow it thru the years, look for it in store, recommend it to friends, try its brand extentions etc. Companies rely on loyal consumers as they help grow the business and get stable revenue, thus further invest in the company and product innovation, deliver higher quality products and services, even charge premium price to keep loyal customers even more happy.

But please, don't confuse loyalty with repeated purchase. As there are brand users that buy your brands because of convenience, price or for other reasons. But if one day you are not on the shelf where consumer expects you to be, if your competitor comes up with a new bright packaging, or if you increase your price - your so-called loyal user will easily switch to buying other products or brands.

Repeated purchasers - is a good start that a company can build upon, understand true reasons behind loyalty. It should try to win these people's trust and convert them into true loyals that is not an easy job, but is definitely worth the fight :)

(c) Prof. Troilo
SDA Bocconi