Exploring Brand Loyalty and its Significance: Insights from Biblical Verses

Question

Task: How does the concept of brand loyalty align with biblical verses and what role does it play in today's competitive business landscape?

Answer

Introduction

In this competitive business environment, organisational leaders are constantly focused on developing strategies that can gather attention of customers. Focusing on brand loyalty is one such strategy that helps in enhancing customer satisfaction. When customers repeatedly purchase a product or avail services from the same brand despite having several options proposed by other competitors it is known as brand loyalty. A renowned author and strategist named Frederic Richfield worked on strategies that help in customer retention and ensure brand loyalty (Oblander, et.al., 2020). This report aims at analysing brand loyalty and various concepts associated with brand loyalty.

Brand Loyalty

Overview of Brand Loyalty

In marketing, strategists describe brand loyalty as positive feeling of consumers towards a particular brand. Organisational leaders are focused on enhancing positive brand experiences because it helps in ensuring brand loyalty. Brand experiences of customers can be enhanced with the help of improved product quality, product packaging and by modifying the product or service as per the change in the need of the customer (Hwang, et.al., 2021). Apart from that, brand loyalty among customers can also be enhanced with the help of engaging promotional activities and enhancing the goodwill or reputation of the firm.

Importance of Brand Loyalty in the current scenario

The concept of brand loyalty is still not dead. However, with the evolving needs of customers loyalty towards a brand is currently becoming more fragile. Brand loyalty in the modern business environment is still important because it help a firm to gain competitive advantage and increase share in the market. The business world is highly customer-centric. Thus, to win in this world of customer-centricity, increasing customer satisfaction and loyalty is of utmost importance (Reichheld, et.al., 2021). There are many companies who have engaged with their customers to enhance their loyalty towards the brand. For example, Jeffrey R. Immelt who was the CEO of General Electric company conducted a famous customer survey. In the survey, customers were asked only one question. The objective of the question was to understand whether customers of General Electric Company will recommend this brand to their acquaintances. This has further helped the CEO understand the rate of customer satisfaction (Reichheld, 2011). This is how global organisations have given importance to the customer satisfaction and brand loyalty. Thus, from the above discussion it can be found that the concepts of brand loyalty are still important because it helps organisational leaders to stick to the organisational value.

In addition to this, trust is positively correlated with brand loyalty. When customers start trusting a brand, the value of the brand along with its loyalty enhances. In the current business scenario, marketing practitioners are focused on leveraging various social media platforms in order to build trust. Brand loyalty can be enhanced by promoting products and services among more prospects. Social media platforms help in brand communication. Currently, marketing strategists are developing social media campaigns that help customers enhance their positive feelings (Ebrahim, 2020). This is another process in which customers are focusing on enhancing brand loyalty.

Biblical verses and brand loyalty

Biblical verses in Christianity have also spoken about brand loyalty. One such verse is “But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit” (Jude 1:20). This verse says that it is the responsibility of every individual to build their own personality. They should be self-discipline and create boundaries for themselves that can further help them to grow spiritually, emotionally, physically and morally. As per this biblical verse it is the responsibility of an individual to have clear conscience so that they can live with confidence and grace. This biblical verse can also be linked with brand loyalty. Apart from individuals, it is also the responsibility of a brand to increase the level of brand conviction. When customers have strong attachment towards a brand it is known as brand conviction. Image of a brand can be created with the help of customer insights and brand convictions (Zia, et.al., 2021). It is the responsibility of the organisational leaders to set their own boundaries with confidence and competence.

In addition to this, brand loyalty can also be enhanced with the help of spiritual marketing. Organisational leaders who are also spiritual marketers sell products that focus on causing no harm to the people of the society (Bambang, et.al., 2021). Such marketing practices help in enhancing the goodwill of the firm and contributes to the brand loyalty. Moreover, as per the verse an individual can build themselves with the help of strong emotions. There is no exception in case of brand. Brand loyalty can only be enhanced if the leaders of the firm develop strong relationships with customers. Thus, brand leaders can use emotions and focus on story-telling to develop customer relationship. This will not only increase customer engagement but it will also have an impact on brand loyalty.

Finally, ethics must be the primary goal of an individual as well as the brand. Brand loyalty can also be achieved with the help of ethical branding. It is the responsibility of the brand leaders to take actions that are morally correct. For example, eliminating exploitation of suppliers, empowering employees within the workplace can help a firm enhance their goodwill. This is how a brand can become attractive among a greater customer that further contribute to brand loyalty.

Conclusion

This report aimed at discussing about brand loyalty and aligning it with biblical verses and Christianity. The report concludes the brand loyalty still holds importance in the current business environment because it help firm leaders to increase the share of their company in the market and gain competitive advantage. Moreover, it is the responsibility of a brand to develop itself emotionally, morally, and spiritually. Such development can further contribute to the success of the firm, enhance customer satisfaction, and increase the attention of customers towards the brand. Finally, it can be concluded that conviction of a brand is very important. A brand must focus on setting boundaries that further contribute to the stakeholder satisfaction.

References

Bambang, A., Kusumawati, A., Nimran, U., &Suharyono, S. (2021). The effect of spiritual marketing and entrepreneurship orientation on determining sustainable competitive advantage. The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business, 8(2), 231-241. 10.13106/jafeb.2021.vol8.no2.0231

Ebrahim, R. S. (2020). The role of trust in understanding the impact of social media marketing on brand equity and brand loyalty. Journal of Relationship Marketing, 19(4), 287-308.https://doi.org/10.1080/15332667.2019.1705742

Hwang, J., Choe, J. Y. J., Kim, H. M., & Kim, J. J. (2021). Human baristas and robot baristas: How does brand experience affect brand satisfaction, brand attitude, brand attachment, and brand loyalty?. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 99, 103050.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2021.103050

Oblander, E. S., Gupta, S., Mela, C. F., Winer, R. S., & Lehmann, D. R. (2020). The past, present, and future of customer management. Marketing letters, 31, 125-136.https://doi.org/10.1007/s11002-020-09525-9

Reichheld, F. (2011). Harvard Business Review Press. https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/the-microeconomics-of-customer-relationships/

Reichheld, F., Darnell, D., & Burns, M. (2021). Winning on Purpose: The Unbeatable Strategy of Loving Customers. https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=WhsaEAAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PT10&dq=winning+on+purpose,+frederick+reichheld&ots=WKygMMZv-y&sig=AuuVTqx3Oc4EXsUgtYW5sum3fFo

Zia, A., Younus, S., & Mirza, F. (2021). Investigating the impact of brand image and brand loyalty on brand equity: the mediating role of brand awareness. International Journal of Innovation, Creativity and Change, 15(2), 1091-1106.https://www.ijicc.net/images/Vol_15/Iss_2/15273_Zia_2021_E1_R.pdf