Fans would be, but brands are not exploiting the potential enough, according to research by APRA and NMS.
Consumers want to be fans of brands. But brands are not doing enough to meet them, according to research prepared and produced for the Association of Public Relations Agencies (APRA) by research company NMS Market Research. The representative research on 1,002 consumers aged 15 and over focused on the strength and strength of their attachment to their favourite brands.
A third of the research respondents consider themselves a fan of at least one brand and connect with it. The most common brands are clothing, film, cosmetics, footwear and music. The sixth place was occupied by sports. On average, consumers have six favourite brands, with Nike, Adidas, Samsung, Apple, Skoda and Puma having the most fans.
Consumers can be divided into three similarly sized groups. Active fans (32%) who are very active in their relationship with brands, following them on social media and actively seeking information about them. When rooting for a brand, the values it espouses and represents are key. The second group is Pragmatics (39%), for whom the goal of interacting with brands is primarily profit. Therefore, they interact with them mainly through membership in loyalty programs, registrations on e-shops, etc. Overall, Pragmatics have fewer favourite brands than Active Fans, with a maximum of five. Lidl, which is known for its loyalty programme, was mentioned more often. The third group are the Dormant Fans (29%) who are very passive in their relationship with brands and are not yet interested in staying in touch with them.
"A great interest in connecting with brands was also seen at this year's extraordinary sporting events," says Marek Hlavica, director of the Association of PR (APRA), commenting on the research. And it will undoubtedly be the same for the upcoming Olympic Games."
Some brands are going even further by creating their own fan events - Avon's mass marches or the Harley Days festival are well known examples. But alongside consumers' interest in engaging with brands, the research also revealed that brands are not meeting this interest head on. "Two-fifths (42%) of consumers would be happy to connect with more brands if they offered some form of connection, and 41% of consumers declare they would be even more active in connecting with a brand if the brand offered more," says Kamil Kunc of NMS Market Research.
It is not only sports, but also cultural, scientific, educational and social activities that brands can use to communicate their values. It is the sharing of the same values that determines the retention of a fan's relationship with a brand. "Fans leave brands not only if the quality of the goods drops, but often because the brand supports something that is not in line with the consumer's values," explains Kunc. The research also shows that one tenth of consumers (10%) have already rejected a brand and stopped being a fan precisely because it no longer meets their expectations.
"Active communication of values, thoughtful sponsorship supported by activation campaigns builds an extremely loyal consumer base. This is particularly important in times of crisis when customers are abandoning brands. Indeed, even fans surveyed admitted that they had parted ways with their favourite brand for a while. But they came back. Because they make decisions with their hearts," concludes Hlavica.
Source: mediaguru.cz
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