Consumer loyalty is often overestimated

Although they might be your buyers today, consumers are still always on the lookout for something new or better. A NielsenIQ analysis on consumer loyalty suggests that only 8% of global consumers are committed to the brands they purchase. On the other hand, 46% are more likely to try new brands and 49% claim to prefer shopping around and seeking new options.   

Brands can’t assume that current customers will remain faithful; the decision to repurchase your product will always be that—a decision.   

When your buyers start leaving, it’s too late 

Declining sales are a lagging indicator that a renovation is needed. In a recent BASES survey of 240 industry professionals, “declining sales” arose as the main driving force to consider a brand renovation, with 65% of marketers identifying this as one of the most frequent restage triggers.    

BASES refers to a brand change that’s initiated by negative sales as reactive renovation. While often a necessary reaction to course-correct, in BASES experience, 90% of considered restage executions fail to reverse a negative sales trend on their own (that is, without an accompanying increase in marketing support).    

The key is to stay fresh, rather than ‘re-fresh’ 

Just like riding a bike, brands have to push forward to avoid falling.  If it is important to build from strength and not wait until your brand is declining, how do you get ahead of things?    

The key is constant monitoring and consumer engagement.  When you are consistently and actively researching your consumers—buyers and non-buyers alike—to understand their met and unmet needs, you identify the opportunities that lead to strong restages.  

This is proactive renovation, a protective revision of brand elements to evolve the proposition to be stronger in the long term, before a brand starts to decline.    

A great example of doing this well comes from Dove body wash in the US.  Over a 6-year period, they restaged 3 times to improve their benefits and formulation. Their result? Growth at rates 1.5 times the category average.     

Execution is crucial 

Now that it is clear why brand renovation is important, the questions still facing marketers are: Which renovation opportunities will benefit my brand the most?  And how much do I stand to gain by renovating?  

Fortunately, there are solutions available to help you understand the potential of your renovations by assessing the financial potential, competitive evaluation, and strategic outlook or your opportunities. Our next article will cover how to renovate a brand.