Why do your customers value gifts from brand partners more than gifts you provide directly?
For businesses that have never considered developing brand partnerships as part of their marketing strategies, it might be difficult to understand why you would want to work with other brands to give customers rewards rather than simply giving them something yourself.
Cherry London's chief executive officer Tamara Gillan.
We recently surveyed 1000 people in the UK and 30 per cent told us that the rewards that have the biggest impact on their loyalty are NOT rewards coming directly from the brand they are shopping with but, rather, rewards that that brand leverages from other brands. As counter-intuitive as it may seem, many people actually prefer rewards from brand partners.
These findings surprised me a little at first - despite the fact that I am the founder of Cherry London, a marketing agency that specialises in brand partnerships - then I thought about my own Christmas.
My favourite present was a pair of covetable red soled Louboutin’s from my husband. I love these little red soled shoes that reveal their identity only to those in the know. I also adore my husband - perhaps even more so since the shoes arrived.
How would I have felt, though, if he had simply customised just any old shoes with a little red paint instead? A little bemused and feeling that although he had tried, he didn’t really get it or understand the importance of Louboutin heritage and the right they have to create their distinctive red sole shoes. Sadly, my husband doesn’t have the brand equity or craftsmanship to create beautiful red sole shoes.
And here in lies the opportunity with brand partnerships. Brand partners enable you to offer the rewards and unique experiences that your customers really want; that you perhaps don’t have the right to offer, and that complement what you offer them. They can lend your brand their credibility, their expertise, their cache, their craftsmanship and reputation, their value, their products and unique experiences.
If you are a coffee shop brand, you could offer your customers a book to read while they enjoy your product. If you are an automotive brand, why not offer your customers music to enjoy while they drive? If you are financial services brand, you should consider rewarding people with authentic experiences that create stories for them to share.
By working with brand partners, you are showing your customers that you care about them, that you are investing in the relationship and that you are prepared to go that extra mile. Some 58 per cent of the people who say rewards make them more loyal want you to invest “heavily” in offering them, while 49 per cent want you to show that you care and understand them. By working with carefully selected brand partners to create unique and stand-out rewards you can demonstrate both those things.
Here are a few tips on what makes for a successful reward programme:
1. Be clear on what you want to achieve from the outset;
2. Determine what people really want;
3. Show you care by rewarding in ways they care about;
4. Offer real value and be enjoyable.
For readers interested in learning more on this subject, Cherry London recently published a new white paper on the subject of brand partnerships and customer loyalty which can be downloaded for free.
Tamara Gillan is the founder and chief executive officer of Cherry London.
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Cherry London
Cherry London is a new breed of marketing agency with a story about the power of collaboration. Independently owned, it is based in London and works globally. As...
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