If it’s true that, as Jim Mullen said, “[b]rand loyalty is the only sound foundation on which business leaders can build enduring, profitable growth,” then marketers might be having some trouble. Writing for Businessweek, Avi Dan observes that the technological advances in our new media world are generating consumers who are driven to make a purchase primarily on price.  All of the technology has created a “more informed and demanding consumer”. What can a marketer do to preserve brand in this environment?

1. Use technology to get into consumers’ heads and figure out what they’re thinking.
2. Maintain a presence in more than one media form. Consumers are on the Web via their home PC, but they’re also accessing data via iPod apps and mobile phones.
3. Connect with super-influencers who write blogs or have hundreds of Facebook friends.
4. Engage customers in a positive experience instead of trying to sway them with a traditional message.
5. Invest in social ideology.

On this last item, Dan highlights the case of Pepsi which did not advertise in the Super Bowl this year. The company is instead using its Facebook page to solicit consumers to vote for the funding of their favorite social projects. It’s just one more way for marketers to turn the negative tendencies of technology – when it comes to loyalty – into a positive for the brand, the consumer and the social cause.

[Source: Avi, Dan. “It’s Time to Rebuild Brand Loyalty.” Businessweek. 22 Feb 2010. Web. 3.8.2010.]