In a world where one corporate misstep can trigger a social media furor, brand loyalty has an almost unicorn quality to it. It can seem a mythical goal that businesses can only hope to achieve — and then keep.
However, five local brands seem to have found the sweet spot with consumers who not only like what they’re offering but will chose to come back again and again.
For the second year in a row, British Columbians have chosen London Drugs as their favourite brand.
Guilhelm Vellut/Flickr
In a poll conducted by Ipsos and BCBusiness, 1,300 B.C. residents rated 65 businesses in the annual Brand Love online survey.
B.C.’s top five most loved brands for 2018 are:
- London Drugs
- Save-on-Foods
- YVR
- A&W
- White Spot
“Trust is one of the biggest drivers of Brand Love, and people in BC feel like they can trust London Drugs,” says Ipsos’ executive vice-president in Western Canada, Michael Rodenburgh. “Because of its vast selection of items, people will visit the store frequently, which helps build trust. And, because many people use their pharmacy and photo developing services, they are trusting London Drugs with their well-being and personal memories, which also strengthens the relationship.”
In the highly competitive fast-food market, Rodenburgh says A&W “has done something many companies struggle to do — they read the needs of their customers and successfully executed an effective marketing strategy through mainstream and social media.”
As A&W’s marketing program proves, they’ve tapped into the healthier eating trend by focusing on better ingredients, such as hormone- and steroid-free meat.
It might come as a surprise that one company that’s gaining traction in the hearts of people in the Lower Mainland is, wait for it, Translink.
Image: TransLink
Public transit used to be the thing that people like to complain about — think transit referendum — but Translink’s popularity had the biggest increase from last year. It shot up 23 per cent to take 24th spot. And the Courier gives a tip of its hat to our media colleagues at The Province. The newspaper sits in the 23rd spot, thanks to a 13 per cent increase.
However, the poll also shows that there are brands that British Columbians are losing love for. Ipsos says Kit and Ace experienced the biggest slip, with a 32 per cent drop, followed by ICBC and Flight Centre.
The Most Loved Brands study was conducted by Ipsos between February 7 and February 15, 2018. It uses composite metric based on several questions to determine the extent to which a brand resonates with consumers at both an emotional as well as functional level. All Brand Love scores for all brands are standardized against each other, with the average BC-based brand receiving a brand love score of 100.
