Do you find yourself automatically buying brands that you grew up with? I do. My mom was a firm believer that Best Foods is the best mayo. My dad, a former dentist, trusted Crest.
This is called brand loyalty. More specifically generational transfer of brand loyalty.
When I got married I was appalled to discover my husband’s family and mine didn’t share the same brands. It was a battle I mostly won — with the exception of laundry and bath soap. I came from a Cheer family, my husband used Tide. I was raised to believe that “All Temp A Cheer” was a superior product. My husband has sensitive skin and can only tolerate Tide. Now we use Tide Free & Gentle.
Investopedia had some highlights about why brand loyalty is so vital to companies. Here’s an excerpt:
As Harvard Business Review (HBR) has reported, companies with high scores on two often-overlooked (and closely related) market research metrics—brand loyalty and customer loyalty—not only grow revenues 2.5 times faster than industry peers, but also deliver two to five times the returns to shareholders over 10-year time frames.1 The fact that brand loyalty—a long-term commitment to make repeat purchases of a particular brand—is not dependent on price makes this metric a particularly powerful driver of both profit and profitability (i.e., profit relative to expenses).
The primary reason that brand loyalty is so important to profitability is straightforward: 65% of revenue in most companies comes from repeat business with existing clients.2 Not only do existing customers loyal to brands purchase 90% more frequently than new customers, but maintaining the brand-loyal segment is also far less expensive than marketing to attract new customers.
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/brand-loyalty.asp
Here are some of the brands I grew up with that I still use today:
Best Foods
Heinz
Diet Coke
Crest
Cascade
Starbucks
Quaker Oats oatmeal
Lucerne Cottage Cheese
Here are products I’ve given up:
Wonder Bread
Cocoa Puffs
Campbell’s Soup
Chef Boyardee
Dial Soap
Cheer
Joy
What are some of your generational brands? What products or brands have you left?
