Loyalty and Brand Diversification

7th December 2011

Do you need a credit card? Try Marks and Spencer. Looking for flights? Try Virgin. Need car insurance? Get yourself to Tesco.

If you had said these things twenty years ago, chances are people would have looked at you in a slightly sympathetic way. Of course, all of the above products and services (as well as many more) are now available from the likes of Tesco, Sainsbury, Marks and Spencer, and Virgin amongst others.

But why is this?

Quite simply, once popular retail brands develop a reputation for delivering impressive levels of choice and quality, satisfied customers are willing to remain loyal to them and show faith in any cross-over endeavours that they may undertake. This means that, even though car insurance is far from Tesco’s original grocery roots, loyal Tesco customers who see a point of sale display promoting it in-store will be more likely to invest in it than they would if they saw an independent company advertising the same product.

Some people believe that such habits stem from the fact that the general public have lost faith in traditional public institutions and now prefer to give their loyalty to entities that can repay it materialistically. Other people believe that it is just a matter of convenience and that shoppers simply prefer to source all of their needs from under one roof.

Regardless, next time Tesco’s designated retail designers put up a retail display advertising flights into space; you can be sure that they will go like hotcakes!