In 2012, I drew a cartoon of a shopper emptying her purse at checkout, saying “wait, I may have a card showing my loyalty to whatever store this is.”
The loyalty program arms race has only accelerated since then — partly driven by brands trying to collect more first-party data. The checkout ask for an email address or phone number has gone from awkward to aggressive.
According to BCG, the average US consumer now belongs to more than 15 loyalty programs. BCG also found that as the number of loyalty programs has increased, the less engaged and loyal consumers actually are.
A recent report from Media Culture found that only 13% of consumers value loyalty programs, while 85% value price and 38% value convenience.
Marketers frequently overstate the phenomenon of brand loyalty. Generally consumers don’t think about our brands nearly as much as marketers think that they do.
A good reminder is the classic observation from market researcher Andrew Ehrenberg:
“Your customers are really other people’s customers who occasionally buy you.”
Here are a few related cartoons I’ve drawn over the years:
