Good question Merrill. I am still thinking about that!

My own brand loyalty is based on a confluence of factors, and each factor has a different relevant value based upon the product or service provided. For example, I’m currently trying to determine what kind of external hard drive to buy. My principle drivers (no pun intended) are cost and quality. Quality can be difficult to ascertain, since many hard disk enclosures use different distributors for the actual hard drive itself. Generally speaking, the general consensus in the geek community is that the two best drives on the market as far as quality go are Seagate and Western Digital. One way to determine this is by looking at the warranty information. 5 years. That far out-distances the life-expectancy of other manufactures’ drives. That tells me something.

Other of my loyalties are not so pragmatic. Take for instance gasoline. I associate the gasoline provided by a 7-11 as somehow inferior to that of a Shell station. Why? Both conform to minimum government standards. Both provide cheap snacks, drinks, and facilities for people on road trips. But 7-11 *markets* itself as providing cheap food and products for those on the go, something all well and good when you’re talking about corn chips, but not so great when you’re talking gasoline. There is an illogical part of me that whispers in my ear, “They’re selling on the cheap; ergo, they must sell cheap products…I’m not putting that stuff in my $$$ car”). So it’s an associative response – the product’s impact is bundled with those other affiliate products of the same purveyor, a victim of association.

I’ve moved around a lot, and I’ve noticed regional biases. I’m reminded of Hannibal Lector saying, “We covet most what we see around us every day.” In Atlanta, I don’t think it’s much of a hard sell for Coca-Cola. In Dallas, Dr. Pepper is king. In Beaumont, TX, practically everyone directly or indirectly has familial ties to workers at Exxon Mobil (try picking a jury in Jefferson County sometime. Q.E.D.).

When am I *not* brand loyal? I’m looking at a device on my desk that props papers upright and holds them in place so I can refer to them when I work on the computer. I have no idea who made it. If it broke, I wouldn’t care who made the replacement. Why? Because the item itself is so idiot-proof, that I cannot fathom a company *not* making a nearly identically performing product for the same price, give or take a cent or two. If I’m at Target looking at blankets, I’m not saying to myself, “Well, I like this color, but this other manufacturer’s blanket has kept me warm for so many years…” I don’t doubt that no one has the foggiest idea who the manufacturer of any of their blankets are. When I think “blankets,” there is no identity, to either the product or the company who manufactures them. Running with this example, I’m curious as to how a marketing agency would tackle targeting an audience of blanket-buyers. Even assuming that the blankets were sold by, say, the Sony equivalent in bedding products, I don’t think with a product like a blanket a manufacturer could leverage its history in the bedding industry as Sony could in the, say, portable electronics industry. Would make a good interview question for Analysts…