Brand Keys, a brand consumer research consultancy, has unveiled its 27th annual Customer Loyalty Engagement Index (CLEI) assessments. The latest findings underscore that brands surpassing consumer expectations not only secure market share and loyalty but also establish themselves as “Loyalty Juggernauts,” possessing formidable economic influence.
In various industries, notable Loyalty Juggernauts, defined by their exceptional ability to meet or exceed consumer expectations, are identified, emphasizing the transformative impact of customer satisfaction on brand dominance.
What brands are Loyalty Juggernauts by sector?
| Industry | Brand 1 | Brand 2 | Brand 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Automotive | Hyundai (89%) | GEICO (72%) | Uber (78%) |
| Broadcast & Entertainment | Netflix (85%) | Fox & Friends (83%) | NFL (81%) |
| CPG & Personal Products | Flonase (90%) | Häagen-Dazs (92%) | Chobani (86%) |
| Digital & Online | Google (94%) | Spotify (82%) | TikTok (89%) |
| Electronics | Apple (95%) | Samsung (87%) | Konica-Minolta (90%) |
| Finance | Discover (88%) | Chase (85%) | PayPal (90%) |
| Food & Beverage | Coca-Cola (87%) | Tito’s (92%) | Dunkin’ (93%) |
| Restaurants | Domino’s (88%) | Chipotle (85%) | McDonald’s (91%) |
| Retail | Amazon (96%) | T.J. Maxx (79%) | Walmart (82%) |
| Technology | WhatsApp (88%) | ChatGPT (96%) | HP (80%) |
| Travel | Delta (86%) | Expedia (89%) | Ritz-Carlton (89%) |
A complete list of the 2024 CLEI Brand Juggernauts in their categories can be found HERE.
Loyalty Works Differently Today
“The loyalty paradigm has changed dramatically since the Cola Wars of the ’70s,” observed Passikoff. Today, loyalty – and consumer choice – don’t come down to one or the other options. Today’s loyalty bottom line comes down to consumers’ deepest expectations and how they feel about which brand measures up best. “Customer behavior and brand loyalty are now almost entirely governed by emotional values related to expectations, and expectations grow constantly,” noted Passikoff. This year’s results validate customer expectations as the most accurate and predictive loyalty indicators, proving that better-addressing consumer expectations turn everyday brands into “Loyalty Juggernauts.”
The latest Customer Loyalty Engagement Index (CLEI) emphasizes that consumers are increasingly demanding, especially regarding emotional expectations, which are challenging to quantify but immensely valuable. The survey reveals a 34% rise in cross-category expectations, yet most brands have only matched an average increase of 8%. Notably, Loyalty Juggernauts bridge this gap by up to 50%, ensuring a significantly higher likelihood of sustained and unwavering customer loyalty.
The ‘Super Glue’ of Customer Loyalty
Being a Loyalty Juggernaut moves brands beyond the primacy of product, distribution, ad budgets, and even pricing. Being a Loyalty Juggernaut essentially commands category leadership. “The ability to meet those very high consumer expectations better than the competition acts like the ‘super glue’ of loyalty,” said Passikoff. “Brands create a virtually unbreakable bond with customers.”
The Economics of Expectations
“Identify what consumers expect – create strategies, advertising and experiences that meet those expectations, and your brand can transform into a Loyalty Juggernaut. Customers will be six times more likely to engage, buy and buy again. They are six times more likely to think of you first, pay more attention to your marketing and social networking activities and actively engage with your brand,” noted Passikoff. “That’s the real payoff – blockbuster category leadership and more effective marketing.”
A few 2024 economic facts substantiate the cost-and-effort effectiveness of brand loyalty strategies:
- It costs 16 times more to recruit a new customer than keep an existing one.
- A 5% increase in loyalty lifts lifetime profits per customer as much as 78%.
- A 5% loyalty-increase is equal to a 12-21% across-the-board cost reduction program.
Recognizing Real Loyalty
The results of the 2024 CLEI offers up something more concrete than the accumulation of points and more to actual, behavior in the marketplace. “Real loyalty isn’t as nebulous as you might think,” suggests Passikoff. “Unfortunately, it isn’t something that just visits itself upon your brand. It’s not awareness, not satisfaction. It isn’t something you find on a 10-point scale. Those metrics only allow brands to bask in mediocrity.
Loyalty is more complex in the same way the consumer and marketplace have become more complex. Loyalty is the consumer-to-brand bond, the bridge between emotional engagement and ensuring future purchases. From a measurement perspective it’s the degree to which a brand meets expectations that consumers hold for the Ideal product or service in its category. It’s the ultimate answer to the question, “Do you know what consumers truly desire and how well does your brand deliver on those expectations?”
