Customer loyalty has become one of the most valuable competitive advantages in financial services as banks, payment providers, and digital wallets compete for stronger emotional connections with consumers. New research from Brand Keys shows that financial brands are making significant gains in customer loyalty rankings by focusing on engagement, convenience, and personalized experiences. Companies such as PayPal, Discover, Google Wallet, and JPMorgan Chase are among the financial firms benefiting from investments designed to deepen customer relationships and strengthen long-term brand loyalty.
Financial Brands See Big Dividends From Loyalty Investments –Vanguard, Google Wallet, JPMorgan Chase, Discover Big Winners–
NEW YORK, NY October 10, 2017 – Financial brands represent eight percent (8%) of the 2017 Brand Keys Loyalty Leaders List in the 21st annual survey conducted by Brand Keys (brandkeys.com), the New York-based brand and customer loyalty and engagement research consultancy.
Financial Brands Work Harder For Loyalty
“Financial brands have been working to create higher levels of emotional engagement – the ability to be perceived as meeting consumers’ expectations for their brand Ideal in the category in which the brand competes. Today emotional engagement is predictive of real-world loyalty, market share and profitability, including a category that has traditionally been thought of as ‘rational’,” Robert Passikoff, Brand Keys founder and president. . “Want to know what consumers are going to do? Measure loyalty and emotional engagement.”
2017 Top Loyalty Leaders in Finance
Numbers in parentheses represent actual rankings among the top 100 Loyalty Leaders.
- PayPal (#19)
- Discover (#28)
- Google Wallet (#42)
- Vanguard (#44)
- American Express (#60)
- USAA (#64)
- JPMorgan Chase (#68)
- GEICO (#88)
“These assessments provide a cross-category perspective of today’s brand loyalty landscape,” noted Passikoff. “And while financial brands may not be as entertaining or diverting as other categories, smart brands have been able to engage customers and deliver against very high category expectations. This sector has shown some of the largest loyalty growth we’ve ever seen.”
For 2017 Brand Keys examined a total of 740 brands in 83 categories. The Financial category was comprised of eight categories, including: banks, credit cards, online investing, and payment systems, for a total of 81 brands, which explains the tremendous competition for brands to be included in the top 100 rankings.
Category Loyalty Leaders, Digital and. . .
Digital had the most Loyalty Leader brands, and represented 36% of the 2017 list. But other brands were well-represented cross-category, and included:
- Retail: 16%
- Automotive: 12
- Restaurants: 9%
- Automotive: 8%
- Financial: 8%
- Cosmetics: 7%
- Alcohol: 7%
- TV News: 2%
2017’s Changes in Financial Loyalty
“The stronger the brand loyalty, the more positively consumers behave toward a brand. The better consumers behave, the better the brand does in the marketplace, which ultimately shows up on brands’ bottom lines,” said Passikoff. This year, among digital brands, the greatest loyalty gains were for: GEICO (new to the 2017 top 100), Vanguard (#44, +56), Google Wallet (#42, +38), Discover (#28, +28), and JPMorgan Chase (#68, +31).
Loyalty’s Bottom Line
When it comes to loyalty – no matter the category – brands that understand that emotional connections serve as surrogates for added-valueadded value will succeed. “Brands that have made loyalty and emotional engagement a strategic priority,” noted Passikoff, “always appear high on the Loyalty Leaders List. More importantly, they always appear at the top of consumers’ shopping lists.”
Methodology
Brand Keys Loyalty Leaders analysis was conducted in September 2017 and includes assessments from 49,168 consumers, 16 to 65 years of age, recruited from the nine US Census Regions. Respondents self-select the categories in which they are consumers, and the brands for which they are customers. The 2017 Loyalty Leader assessments examined 83 categories and evaluated 740 brands. Unlike economic use models, which rely heavily on historical data and profitability conjecture, the “Brand Keys Loyalty and Engagement Model and rankings are 100% consumer-driven and can be quantified and predicted,” said Passikoff. “And, today, knowing what’s coming down the road from a category and competitive perspective is an extraordinarily powerful advantage that brands shouldn’t really pass up.”
For more information regarding the Brand Keys 2107 Loyalty Leaders List, your brand’s position on the list, or general information about integrating predictive loyalty and emotional engagement metrics into your marketing and research efforts, contact: Leigh Benatar at 212-532-6028 or [email protected].
