By Sajag Karki

Brand Loyalty depends upon several factors such as a product’s utility value, brand association, nostalgia and consumer behaviour. People have preferences from one brand over the other with similar product benefits. The Nepali populace too has started to become brand conscious and the presence of various multinational brands to choose from has made brand loyalists consume their favourite brands. Especially, the youngsters seem to be hooked to their favourite brands and cannot do without them. An example could be the Apple’s iphone with every other person aspiring to carry it. Gadgets such as laptops from Sony or mobile handsets from Nokia are similar examples. Clothing brands such as Levi’s, Benetton, Giordano and many others are popular among the brand conscious consumers in Nepal.

It may be worthwhile mentioning here that well known brands with high awareness levels are liked by people. Why an Apple computer lover does always wants the same brand over and over again? Brands that have been established over a long period of time have huge loyal following as the users of these brands have several positive associations with them. Several brands such as Vaseline, Dettol, Mercedes, and Surf etc have various nostalgic attachments in our minds that cannot be easily erased from our memory. These names have become generic over the years which depict the trust such brands have created. Personal care products such as close up, Sunsilk, Lux and Vaseline etc have become a part of our daily lives. We cannot imagine spending a normal day without some brands that are close to our hearts. It is quite tough for newer products competing to make a mark in the minds of consumers loyal to their respective brands. Convincing a consumer to use a new brand over established ones is extremely challenging and if accomplished, could be termed quite an achievement.

To understand brand loyalty, the consumer buying behaviour should also be considered. There are six stages in the buying process: trigger, consider, search, choose, buy and experience. Trigger is the first and most important process as this takes place when a consumer’s mind clicks for a need of a product. For example, a person may want a new phone that can browse the internet and help him with his work. After this, he starts considering whether to buy a new phone or to enhance the features in his current phone.If he decides to buy a new phone, he enters the search stage where he explores the best option by doing an in depth analysis on product attributes, price and popularity. He then buys the brand he chose and finally experiences a sense of happiness if satisfied with the product he bought. This process works for all types of products and all demographics. Nonetheless, the duration of the consumer buying process varies upon the type of product and is different for a high involvement product such as a car, TV or a low involvement product like toothpaste, shampoo etc. Therefore, it is very important for a brand to at least be in the consideration set of its intended consumers. For this, the consumers must be aware of the brand and be able to recall it via regular communication mediums. 

Over time, companies have used smart strategies to retain and build brand loyalties. Some examples could be opening clubs and giving loyalty points for regular users. QFX Cinemas in Nepal has recently introduced a club card which can be used for online ticket reservation and it gives two free tickets with the purchase of every ten tickets to its members. Hence, the club card benefits regular movie goers as they get free tickets encouraging them to go exclusively to QFX Cinemas instead of any other movie theatre in town. Similarly, airline companies too offer frequent flyer points to regular flyers with which these flyers get free tickets and other facilities on flying a certain number of flights or miles. In Nepal, Yeti Airlines has introduced a club card that encourages its trusted clientele to fly more with the airline. Banks too offer club cards with bundle of packaged facilities such as discounts in selected shopping outlets, free ATM service and other ancillary benefits.

It certainly makes a lot of sense to become brand loyal and enjoy a host of benefits provided by companies who encourage brand loyalty!!!