Back in the good-old days, all it took to earn a consumer’s loyalty were a few well-placed ads, an occasional price markdown and a decent-enough taste to beat out the next-best competitor. These days, that won’t even land your product on the shelf.
The authors of “What Separates the Best Customers from the Merely Satisfied” in the Harvard Business Review write that the key to gaining — and keeping — contemporary consumers’ loyalty is to forge an emotional connection with them. And contemporary consumers, the authors write, “connect emotionally with brands when the brand resonates with their deepest emotional drives — things like a desire to feel secure, to stand out from the crowd or to be the person they want to be.”