The economic impact of brand loyalty strategies is underscored by compelling facts, such as the significantly higher cost of acquiring new customers compared to retaining existing ones. The study reveals that a 5% increase in loyalty can lead to substantial lifetime profit boosts and across-the-board cost reductions.
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GLOBrand Keys, a New York-based global research-based consultancy, has released its 27th annual Customer Loyalty Engagement Index (CLEI) assessments, identifying the biggest “Loyalty Juggernauts” in the food and beverage industry. According to the study, brands that meet or exceed consumer expectations demonstrate the ability to transform market share and loyalty into category and market dominance, earning them the title of “Loyalty Juggernauts.”
The Loyalty Juggernauts for 2024 across various food and beverage categories include:
- Beer (Light): Coors Light (88%)
- Beer (Regular): Modelo (90%)
- Bottled Water: Aquafina (75%)
- Breakfast Bars: Nature Valley (83%)
- Canned Soup: Campbell’s (79%)
- Cheese Snacks: Cheetos (85%)
- Cold Cuts: Boars Head and Hebrew National (79%)
- Corn Snacks: Cheetos (82%)
- Energy Drinks: Red Bull (90%)
- Fast Casual Food: Chipotle (84%)
- Fast Food: McDonald’s (91%)
- Ice Cream: Häagen-Dazs (92%)
- Natural Markets: Trader Joe’s (91%)
- Nuts: Planters (85%)
- Out-of-Home Coffee: Dunkin’ (93%)
- Pizza: Domino’s (88%)
- Potato Chips: Lays (80%)
- Pretzels: Snyder’s (84%)
- Soda (Diet): Diet Pepsi (85%)
- Soda (Reg.): Coke (87%)
- Tequila: Patron (90%)
- Tortillas: Mission (83%)
- Vodka: Tito’s (92%)
- Whiskey: Jack Daniels (91%)
- Yogurt: Chobani (86%)
Robert Passikoff, the founder and president of Brand Keys, emphasized that the ability to meet high consumer expectations acts like the “super glue” of loyalty, moving brands beyond factors like product quality, distribution, advertising budgets, and pricing. The Loyalty Juggernauts command category leadership by consistently meeting or exceeding customer expectations, creating a nearly unbreakable bond with consumers.
Passikoff highlighted the changing loyalty paradigm, emphasizing that consumer behavior and brand loyalty are now primarily driven by emotional values related to expectations. This shift is evident in the 2024 survey results, which show that food and beverage brand expectations increased by 39% year over year, while most brands have only managed to keep up by an average of 7%. Loyalty Juggernauts bridge this gap by reducing it up to 50%, ensuring ongoing and consistent customer loyalty.
The study also provided economic facts to support the cost-effectiveness of brand loyalty strategies, such as the higher cost of recruiting new customers compared to retaining existing ones and the significant impact of loyalty increases on lifetime profits and overall cost reduction.
Passikoff concluded by emphasizing that real loyalty is the consumer-to-brand bond, measuring the extent to which a brand meets expectations for the ideal product or service in its category. The complete list of the 2024 Customer Loyalty Engagement Index Brand Juggernauts in their categories is available on Brand Keys’ website. The methodology involved surveying 95,607 consumers aged 16 to 65, assessing 1,200 brands in 114 categories using a validated research methodology that combines psychological inquiry and statistical analyses.
Source: Brand Keys
