Are You Irrationally Loyal to the Idea of Loyalty?

Advertising agencies need to remember that, for most of their clients, tangible growth is achieved by getting more people to buy their products, year in, year out.

To best help growth in the long term, agencies and marketers need to end their current fixation with building ‘emotional relationships’ with so-called loyal customers.

Although this may feel good because you’re concentrating on people who theoretically like you, really you’re just wasting money.

This is because a brand’s growth potential doesn’t come from these fabled loyal customers.

“Sales growth won’t come from relentlessly targeting a particular segment of a brand’s buyers. Yet this marketing fantasy continues to appear in marketing plans... This fantasy is harming marketing effectiveness.” Professor Byron Sharp, How Brands Grow (Oxford University Press). 

Long-term, robust growth is achieved by constantly bringing in new customers and light customers. 

Agencies would better serve the interests of their clients by targeting as many users in the category as possible, rather than concentrating on a particular niche group. 

Our new book ‘How To Make Better Advertising and Advertising Better – The Manifesto for a New Creative Revolution’ – is available exclusively at the Design Museum.