FreshNetworks Blog

I’m a member of a number of different loyalty schemes. Virgin Atlantic, BA and Air France for airmiles, a credit card that gives me cashback every time I buy something and cards with a couple of retailers in the UK that give me money off future shopping.

One thing is common across all of these attempts to build my loyalty with the brands - they are market-based, transactional solutions. Am I really going to book my next flight on Virgin Atlantic for any reason but that I’ll then have enough miles for a return flight to Sydney? Do I use one credit card rather than another for any reason but that I’ll earn 1% cashback on everything I purchase?

The brands are effectively buying my loyalty and, to some extent it’s working. Through no conscious effort I susspect I only join the loyalty schemes that I think are financially effective for me. I am very loyal to the supermarket I do my grocery shopping at, for example, but don’t join their loyalty scheme because it’s not worth the effort - the chances of me getting somthing back rather than a real desire to be loyal to the brand or product for any intrinsic reason.

I think it’s disappointing that most loyalty schemes take this transactional approach. They are buying my loyalty rather than earning it and buildingit. There is another way you can build loyalty. Rather than take a market approach you can take a social approach. Make people feel like insiders in your brand and reward their loyalty by giving them access to exclusive events (of the ‘first to know, first to see, first to hear’ variety) or exclusive access to the brand (allow them to interact directly with the brand and feedback the impact of their contributions).

Building a social-based loyalty campaign is relatively easy and could be more cost effective than a marke-based loyalty scheme. It require a serious discussion about what a brand can offer its consumers - if you’re a broadcast media firm it may be previews or access to content before everybody else. If you are an FMCG firm it may be access to new products or products that are in testing so that people feel they are the first to try the new thing. But all businesses can find something - even if its just information or access to individuals in the business.

Whatever your product or service, people buy it; it is part of their life. Find why they use it, why they keep using it and then enhance their experience. Create a reason for them to keep coming back or add to their experience in a way that compliments the product. If you provide vitaminsm, for example, maybe offer tips and advice on healthy eating, exercise and beauty. Doing this online offers a great opportunity for brands to build a social-based loyalty campaign with a large number of people. Get it right and it could even be more effective than the transactional, market-based campaigns we see more regularly.

Take the supermarket I do all my grocery shopping at. I don’t think it’s worth my effort to join their existing loyalty scheme. If, however, they launched a social-based loyalty scheme, maybe one that gave me exclusive access to recipes from their celebrity chef front-man, I might be more enthusiastic

You’ve probably seen the press this week generated by Giovanny Gutierrez and his girlfriend, Lauren Bernat. A video on YouTube shows Lauren being filmed, apparently secretly, by Giovanny as she dances on her Wii Fit in only her underwear. This was picked up by the press in the UK and USA claiming that this wasn’t a spoof video at all but, because Giovanny works for a Miami-based ad agency, it was a viral video created for Nintendo.

There has been discussion all week in the press and online about this video - was it commissioned by Nintendo or is it genuinly just a spoof created by somebody in their spare time. The original version on YouTube has have over 3 million views and has sporned a range of parodies. And endless blogs and forums have been debating the origin of the video.

But does it matter? Whether this is a commisioned piece of viral marketing or a fan video the impact for Nintendo has been the same. If you just measured the value of this piece of social media in column inches alone it must be huge. In terms of equivalent media spend, this video has been an advertising hit for Nintendo. And that’s why I really hope it isn’t a viral.

The power of UGC can be huge. If this video is just a fan creation, then Nintendo, by the power of their brand and the engagement between with their consumers alone, has made somebody want to create huge advertising value for them. It’s the kind of situation all brands would like to get to - create a situation where your consumers do your marketing for you. Using social media allows them to do this more easily but also with greater, global effect than ever before.

The key is to create sustained engagement between the brand (or product) and consumer. Make them feel part of the brand, like real insiders. Reward them for being engaged and being loyal and make it easy for them to create and share their own content. Engage them both where they hang out (on Facebook or YouTube), but critically also in a space that you control. This builds trust and creates the feeling of an ‘insider’ that is critical in creating engagement.

The value of the discussion created this week by the Wii Fit video is without doubt; creating an environment where your consumers could create this kind of value for your brand is something every organisation should be dealing with.

If you’ve not seen the video that everybody’s been talking about yet, see it below.