Brand Loyalty

At a recent beer-fueled meeting with a client/friend last week he asked what brands I was loyal to. My general response to that sort of questions is more consumer-oriented brands -- Jeep, Nikon, Toro, Weber BBQ. But it got me to thinking about loyalty to outdoor brands. Those brands where I start for a new purchase. The "default" setting. Didn't take long to generate a pretty long list:

• Scott fly rods
• Ross reels
• Simms waders, boots, and clothing
• Daiichi hooks
• Nordica ski boots
• K2 skis (and their associated Line brand)
• Mountain Hardwear clothing and other items
• Giant bicycles
• Merrell footwear

What's interesting to me as a marketer is why are these brands "sticky" for me? After some reflection I realized that all of them have two things in common:

1. Their products consistently outperform my expectations. I've never cast a Scott rod I didn't like. Every Nordica boot I've owned was top-notch. And so on down the line.
2. Each has a solid brand in its outbound marketing efforts. I routinely use Simms as an example of solid brand marketing. It starts with their positioning as the choice of guides. But their advertising is excellent, as is their web site and literature.

This says to me that the best outdoor brands are a combination of consistent product quality and brilliant brand-driven marketing. As an example of the other side is Orvis. While I've had some very good Orvis products (my BLA V large arbor has been a great reel), I've also had some less satisfying products (my Silver XT waders). And their marketing has been rather stodgy. They seem to have positioned themselves as the brand for dry fly elitist geezers. But this seems to be changing lately -- some excellent new products, as well as a bit more attitude in their marketing. We'll see how it plays out, as brands change slowly at-best.

-Sean-