My heart belongs to [brand name here]

Market research firm BrandKey has just released their 2008 index of brands that have the highest customer engagement. In laypeople terms: the winners in each category are the brands that most consistently meet whatever consumer expectations they've created. They "engage customers, engender loyalty and drive real profits."

Among the winners: jetBlue and Southwest Airlines; Toyota; New Balance athletic shoes; Sam Adams beer; Coors Light beer; Aquafina bottled water and Fiji bottled water; L.L. Bean; the Olive Garden; Dunkin' Donuts (for coffee!); Apple computer; ABC evening news; W hotels; Wal-mart; Tide laundry detergent; Amazon.com.

The big surprise for me was discovering that Pepsi and Diet Pepsi apparently have higher customer engagement than Coca-Cola products. I know plenty of people who are passionate about their Diet Coke -- indeed, I used to be one of those people -- but I have never met any Pepsi partisans.

It's an interesting list of what brands people feel are worth their while. And it got me thinking about the brands I patronize, despite my fond illusion that I focus on value first, vendor second. I do go out of my way for Method home cleaning products, Lands' End t-shirts, Jones soda and Friskies wet food (prime fillets only, the cats have made clear). Which brand names do you keep an eye out for? Which ones do you feel a little guilty buying when you notice a competitor with a lower price?

Comments

[SP]

Once again, I am so much more mainstream than I like to think I am. JetBlue, check. New Balance, absolutely -- my feet blister in anything else, from which I conclude that my feet also are brand-loyalty suckers. Been an true-blue Apple Computer girl since the Mac was released way back when I was a kid, and resent my office PC. Amazon, oh, guilty as charged...less so for books, since Portland is a haven for independent bookstores.

I also -always- shop first for groceries at a Portland grocery chain, largely out of loyalty (also for the tasty and local produce). I'm a slave to Starbucks, mostly because there are three within about a block of my office and one more down the street from my house and also because the people are SO nice--even though there is much better coffee a little further away. I have always been a Coke girl through and through -- sugared kind as a kid, then Diet as the body-image issues set in -- and, I agree, I don't know ANY Pepsi partisans and know a lot of Diet Coke addicts. And I won't drink Pepsi in any form.

On the other hand, I actively and consciously dislike and avoid the apparently popular Coors Light, Aquafina, Olive Garden, Dunkin, and Wal-Mart, but I suppose that's really just kind of the flipside of brand loyalty. The brands have certainly emblazoned themselves on my consciousness, just not in a good way.

[Rebecca]

Most of my brand preferences are out of loyalty to the Midwest/Wisconsin, despite living on the East Coast now. I try to buy Sargento Cheese (working there during the summer put me through college), Miller Lite, Leinenkugels, and Midwest Airlines. Midwest does have awesome service and the warm chocolate chip cookies are so worth it! They've also got one of the best loyalty programs...I just hope if Northwest takes it over, things don't change too much.

I don't drink as much soda as I used to, but I am a Diet Pepsi fan. My parents always drank Pepsi, and I just grew up to prefer the sweeter taste when compared to Coke. Do I engage with the brand? Not really. But when I need some cold caffeine at work, it's Diet Pepsi I get from the vending machine!

[Kip]

Of all the products in all the categories listed, I can honestly say that I am only "engaged" with Tide and Tylenol. I either have an unrepresented loyalty (Gerolsteiner water!) or will go with whatever is cheapest or most convenient. Perhaps this is why "aged cranks" like myself is not considered an attractive advertising demographic.

Also, I buy a lot of diapers and did not even know that Playskool made them.

[alex]

I am extremely loyal to Advil (and it cannot even be the generic lookalike I'm sure it is just as good $3-less kind), Aquafina (the only Pepsi product I drink) and Air Canada (is there an "A" theme?).

I would say that I'm not loyal because of the greatness of the product, but because I know what to expect, and I like that. I'm even like this in my weekly dinner out. I could try that cute new place down the street, but if I'm going to spend $X on dinner, I don't want to be disappointed, so we go to the same place almost every week.

[Jecca]

I agree with Alex about being loyal because of knowing what to expect. As my friend Amber says, "Who has time for indie coffee?" At SBUX, they know what the drinks are, know how to make them, and are fast, friendly and helpful 99% of the time. I cannot say the same about any other coffeeshop I've ever been to, no matter how good the taste or how great the integrity.

Off the list, I am loyal to Southwest, Coke, Apple, and Amazon. I take Lands End over LL Bean, which I attribute to having lived in the Midwest rather than New England. That Dunkin' Donuts coffee thing is also an East Coast phenom, I think.

Other loyalties: Bonne Maman jam, Method floor (because of your posts, Lisa) and general-surface cleaners, TJ's natural crunchy peanut butter, and TJ's pine pellet cat litter.

Actually, I am just loyal to Trader Joe's in general. The parking lot is a nightmare and the store is always insanely crowded, but the workers are helpful, the checkers bag groceries skillfully and at the speed of light, and the products are good.

[Ky Eliza]

Hellman's Mayonaise. I will NOT eat any other kind of mayo, and yes, I can tell the difference.

Sculpey Polymer Clay, Apple computers and Excedrin Migraine are also things I will stay loyal to. I tell you, I finally found a product that can mostly get rid of my headaches (though, sadly, even EM can't take care of my actual migraines) and I will not buy anything else, no matter how much money I could save.

[Ky Eliza]

Also, how funny is it that Hooters is on the list?

[Shotrock]

I have a theory that I have tested anecdotally with my friends, and it seems to generally hold true: the "last" soda (chronologically) you drink every day on a regular basis is what you're loyal to. So for me:

Childhood: Ginger ale (Mom wouldn't let *sodas* in the house)
High School: Coke had the cafeteria concession. Drank it every day.
College: Pepsi had the concession. Drank it every day.

My soft drink loyalty? Diet Pepsi.

To me, retail loyalty is about selection and service, especially how much of a hassle returns are, especially the whole order-online-return-at-the-store-thing. That's why I prefer Lands' End, Barnes & Noble and Nordstrom's over anything else.

Food-wise, I will not buy any nacho chips but Tostitos, no spaghetti sauce except Prego, no hot dog but Sabrett's and no mustard but Gulden's.

I find Starwood (Sheraton, W, etc.) to be the best at all price points - cleanliness, location, service, etc. And I'm a Continental fan: they're not perfect but whenever I have to use American or United, I go through hell and think, "Oh, THIS is why people hate to fly."

I love my Subaru, and most Subaru owners do, so I'm surprised it didn't make the cut. And I seriously don't get that Discover card is #1 - jeebus, do people even use those suckers anymore?

I totally get the ABC News thing. Peter Jennings was sui generis, man - the Cronkite of his generation. And Charlie's an excellent heir.

[Becky]

I think there's a difference between being loyal to an individual product, and to a brand in general. There are lots of specific products over a wide variety of brands that I'm loyal to, and it's because I know what I'm getting, the price is reasonable, or whatever.

For me, I think it extends from product loyalty to brand loyalty when I would try nearly anything put out by that brand. Off the top of my head, The Body Shop is the one brand that I am ridiculously loyal to, as my medicine cabinet can attest. I guess I'll try any beer that Bell's puts out, but that's mostly irrelevant as I no longer live in Michigan.