Brand Loyalty

The first thing I thought about when I saw the topic was Brand Loyalty was football clubs. However, I had covered this back in April ’22 in a blog about Essence. Here is the relevant section:

‘Originally they (football clubs) were formed to give an expression of a community. They had players, coaches, back room staff and supporters (not fans). There was a place in the structure for anyone in the community to express themselves. Different communities had different values or reasons for starting a club. For instance Arsenal was founded by munitions workers and Birmingham City by a group of cricketers from a local church.

But look at them and many other clubs now. They are international brands with fans who consume their games on television. So will they, if at all, retain their links with their origins, their essence? They must not forget where they have come from, not lose sight of the fact that the strength of a club lies in its connection with their communities and become franchises.’

It became even worse when I read this week that the match between Villarreal and FC Barcelona originally scheduled to be played at the Estadio de la Cerámica in Villarreal will be played at Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium.

It’s too depressing to be thinking about. So let’s have some thoughts on what is Brand Loyalty and more particularly where and when did it start.

I’m taking the next bit with a huge pinch of salt but some historians claim that Ancient Egyptians (we’re talking about 2,500 BCE) used beer and bread tokens as an early reward system for labour. Workers received these tokens as payment, which could be exchanged for food and drink. This represented one of humanity’s first structured loyalty and reward systems, establishing the foundation for incentivizing work and building worker loyalty.

The introduction of copper tokens as rewards for purchasing goods is probably the first proper recorded loyalty programme. In 1793 an American merchant handed out copper coins or tokens to revisiting customers. These tokens were then used to redeem against future purchases in the store. Many companies would then go on to copy this idea in their own stores. Whilst businesses realised the importance of repeat purchases, the cost of copper tokens became increasingly prohibitive.

The second important development in the evolution of Loyalty Programmes is the development of paper-based tickets or stamps. Trading Stamps as they were popularly called were small paper coupons with gummed backing, cut into perforated squares which could be collected by sticking them in a ‘Savers Book’. The most famous were the American Grand Union Tea Company who introduced tickets in 1872 and later in 1892 Sperry and Hutchinson (S&H) who introduced the famous S&H stamps. However, it was not until the early 1960’s that such stamps made their way to the UK with the introduction of Green Shield stamps and I do remember collecting them in a book.

Nowadays the Loyalty card has become synonymous with the UK consumer, apparently 85% of UK households own at least one card whilst 29% of people carry five or more loyalty cards. But loyalty programmes continues to evolve. Technology advances have enabled merchants to shift their means of customer loyalty from paper stamps and plastic cards to mobile apps and other digital forms to send personalised notifications and special offers that enhance customer loyalty. But also allows merchants to gather valuable data for targeted marketing, ultimately maximising profits.

The first verse in the poem below is taken from the poem I used in the Essence blog. That was entitled ‘Writing off the Blues’

Not again

I’ve always said that
I’d never pay a penny
cent yuan dirham
to some multinational
who’s filed us under
Investment Opportunity

Stuff the Premier brands
the overseas money
stadiums named for profit
selling the shirts
selling the souls

If the Blues were taken
then I’d go non league
maybe Forest Green Rovers

Well now it’s done
dollars moving the ground
buying the players
buying the fans

Keep right on to
the end of the road
they know what they’re buying
as my nerves are wrecked
in an away match at Blackburn

Thanks for reading, Terry Q.