In the world of brand marketing, times are changing. Gone are the days when a catchy jingle or a bold logo could instantly turn a product into a household name.
Professor Scott Galloway, marketing professor at NYU, hit the nail on the head: the digital age, with its “weapons of mass diligence” like Google and TripAdvisor, has changed the game.
Today, everyone can easily discover a product’s real quality with a few clicks, making branding alone seem almost… obsolete. But don’t panic; there’s still a winning formula. It’s just changed.
So, what should your focus be if traditional brand marketing isn’t working like it used to? The answer lies in two essentials: a great product and an customer experience. In this guide, we’ll dive into how you can transition from old-school brand marketing to a strategy that wins customer loyalty by delivering real value.
Customer reviews have replaced ads as the ultimate authority on quality
Traditional brand marketing may have built icons, but today’s customers are smarter, savvier, and more demanding.
From the post-war era to the mid-90s, branding was like a golden ticket.
A mediocre product could be made legendary with the right “brand codes”— think of “American vigor” for cars or “maternal love” for peanut butter. You didn’t need the best product, just the best story. But now? Consumers are smarter, more informed, and, frankly, more skeptical.
Today, they care about the actual experience. In fact, a survey by PwC found that 86% of customers are willing to pay more for a great experience.
And with a powerful arsenal of reviews, comparison sites, and influencer testimonials, your product can’t just be good on paper; it has to be great in person.
The brand loyalty is built not because of the branding but because of how well you treat your customers.
Here’s the reality: customer reviews have replaced ads as the ultimate authority on quality. People aren’t just sold on what you say about your product—they’re sold on what others experience with it.
Take Tesla, for example. Elon Musk built the brand without a penny on traditional advertising, relying instead on a powerful customer experience: revolutionary products, community, and buzz-worthy experiences that fans happily promote for free.
(Read more on Tesla: Driving Brand Loyalty: Lessons from Tesla’s Unmatched Customer Experience)
Result? Tesla outsold long-established car brands purely by word of mouth, fueled by a product and experience people loved.
And it’s not just about quality; it’s about being responsive.
A study by HubSpot shows that 93% of customers are likely to make repeat purchases with companies that offer excellent customer service.
