How to build their brand loyalty

BRANDS in general have experienced ongoing disruption for the past 20 years as a result of the internet. This trend will accelerate as mobile-first generation Z unleashes the full power of the smartphone and looks to brands to provide instant, personalised, on-thego experiences.

“Around 76% of South African generation Z respondents told us they would be more loyal to a brand that lets them give input or help shape its products and services, compared to 69% of all South African respondents,” says Rachel Thompson, insights director at GFK South Africa. “And 22% said they like fully automated products because they can be personalised to their needs.”

Thompson says research shows brands will need to relook at some of their approaches to ensure they remain relevant as generation Z comes of age and its spending power grows.

She advises brands to shift from:

• Offering new things to buy to inspiring new things to do. Wrapping a great experience around a product can help inspire loyalty. New experiences such as virtual and augmented reality find favour among generation Z consumers.

• Telling your story to starting a conversation about their story. Interact with young customers. Listen to them and learn from them. They love to be involved and continuously look for the ability to customise or personalise anything they get.

• Telling your story to allowing them to tell it for you. Generation Z consumers use social media to get opinions while shopping, and make decisions based on feedback from their network. That makes their feedback and endorsement your most powerful sales tool.

• Old disruption to true disruptive innovation. Design experiences knowing that generation Z is connected and your brand is one of many options. Design e-commerce experiences with a mobile-first mindset and keep marketing messages to-the-point.