Creating Brand Loyalty

Marketing communications company Wunderman recently completed research on what drives women to remain loyal to certain brands. In a nutshell, "women stay loyal and pay more for brands that perform, treat them well, and offer a sense of community." According to the Wunderman Brand Experience Scorecard, the top ten brands for women are: 1) Starbucks, 2) Tylenol, 3) Chic-fil-A, 4) Google, 5) Fisher Price, 6) Microsoft, 7) Kraft, 8) Avon, 9) Discover, and 10) Home Depot.

"Motivating women to stay loyal to and pay more for the brands they buy centers around three important areas," said Kasha Lewis, vice president, Wunderman. "It's all about empowering her, not rescuing her; appealing to her holistically instead of just as another one-dimensional consumer who buys a product to serve a need; and building her esteem."

Home Depot is the perfect example of a company that has figured out how to enhance a woman's experience with the brand, the study points out. Home Depot makes the shopping experience inviting and comfortable for women by providing safe, women's-only teaching environments to show them how to use products in a relevant, fun way that inspires a sense of community.

Avon not only provides women with cosmetics that enhance her outer beauty, they offer other products to address her more holistic needs. And, Avon's dedication to the causes that are relevant to women, such as breast cancer, enables her to feel part of a community.

Conversely, brands that leave women behind, or those with the biggest negative gap between female and male experience scores, include 1) Hyatt, 2) Hertz, 3) Adidas, 4) Radio Shack, 5) Avis, 6) Dunkin Donuts, 7) Southwest, 8) Diet Pepsi, 9) Timberland, and 10) Play Station.