brand loyalty - does it still exist?
BRAND LOYALTY - DOES IT STILL EXIST?
31/07/2025
On my grandparents dining table, in their kitchen and bathroom, one would always find the same brands, the same packaging. My grandfather smoked a lot, but only Gaulloise cigarettes. My grandma used only Blueband margarine. On the dining table, a standard product used to be Maggi - basically fluid salt.
Over many decades, they never tried alternative brands. They did not compare prices, they did not know what gluten are, they never heard of saturated fats or proteins. And they especially did not know that some products are healthier than others.
If they wanted to save money, they would grind coffee beans themselves, because beans where cheaper. They would use the coffee grounds twice, dilute it to a maximum, and add coffee-surrogates. Although this made their coffee basically undrinkable, they would never ever consider changing Douwe Egberts to another coffee brand.
Even if they wanted to, there were not a lot of options. The small grocery stores where they did their daily shoppings, mostly had just one brand or kind to offer. Throughout Europe, larger supermarkets with self-service were uncommon even in the early 1960’s.
With the explosive growth of supermarkets - in Western-Europe - an increase in product options appeared. Not just competing brands, but also variations. Coffee: Arabica or Robusta? Decaf, strong, regular, maybe Mocca? Ground coffee or beans, large or small pack? It was a challenge to brand loyalty. Try a different taste, or maybe a cheaper brand?
The 1970’s were an era of booming loyalty schemes - not just by FMCG brands, but supermarkets themselves as well. Known brands presented customers with collectors tins, pins with their logo, or the legendary ‘loyalty points’ when it comes to coffee brands. Those points, if after years you had a million of them, could be exchanged for goodies, electric appliances, gadgets.
There was hardly any household to be found in western-Europe that did not have a drawer full of ‘coffee-points’. Cutting them out from the packaging became a social event, where every member had to participate. Coffee points were even traded among neighbours, friends, or family members.
Some of those loyalty schemes had begun in the 1920’s and where still highly popular in the 2000’s. Collecting points or whatever brands offered, was not only part of a tradition. Consumers authentically felt, that brands cared about them and had something attractive to offer. You had the feeling, you could truly benefit from loyalty schemes.
Loyalty was not just something that had to do only with consumer goods. People showed loyalty towards king and fatherland, or the company they worked for; it was not unusual to work for the same company for nearly half a century. Loyalty was part of a mentality.
If we jump to 2025, what has changed?
Those iconic coffee-points? Jacobs ended the loyalty program in 2017. Amazingly, in the Netherlands, still over one-third of all households collect Douwe Egberts points: It is the most successful loyalty program in the Netherlands ever, having started over a century ago. But participation is declining.
Generation Z, digital natives, are not going to cut out coffee-coupons from paper packaging. And are they willing to collect points through an app, at the petrol station, so they will get a mug after tanking 150.000 liters of fuel? I don’t think so. It looks like they will not be the collecting kind of customer, and something like loyalty might be hard to push on them. Their world is dynamic, fast. Digital.
There are so many competing products to choose from. Why not try something different all the time? Explore something new? Where older clients tend to stick to stuff they know and trust, this does not seem to be an issue of importance to younger consumers. Although there might come a moment that they will suffer from ‘decision fatigue’: too many similar brands to choose from, so let’s stick to what I bought before. But that can not really be called brand loyalty.
The big questions here is: will those young consumers become more conservative over the years? This is an important factor that we can not really predict. Especially since there seems to be a trend going on of youngsters becoming more traditional again. Who could ever predict that old vinyl records could become hot again? Maybe our grandchildren will choose a path of nostalgia towards everything old: technology, cooking, clothing. Who knows. So, does brand loyalty still exist—and if so, in what form?
The future of brand loyalty will most likely have to do with status and image, definitely not with tradition or habit. A company like Apple is well aware of that. Even though their products can be called overpriced, they have scores of loyal customers.
Because their products come with a certain status, in addition to a - theoretically - high quality level. But then again, this concerns other products than FMCG. A pack of milk does not give you any status or upgraded image.
Brand loyalty, as we once knew it, is declining in the FMCG sector and finding new relevance in luxury goods. Consumers today are more price-sensitive, view many FMCG products as interchangeable, and are drawn to the convenience and affordability of private-label brands.
In contrast, luxury brands continue to thrive on emotional loyalty - driven by status, identity, storytelling, and image. Younger generations, especially Gen Z and Millennials, may not stick with everyday brands, but they often show strong attachment to premium brands.
Brand loyalty isn’t disappearing—it’s simply changing shape. What was once habitual is now driven by personal values; instead of passive repeat purchases, today’s consumers expect brands to engage them in more meaningful ways. Loyalty is shifting away from just the product itself and toward the overall experience a brand offers.
But while luxury brands benefit from symbolic value, even their loyalty can be short-term. At the same time, some FMCG brands are adapting, using sustainability, lifestyle marketing, and digital engagement to foster new forms of connections with their clients.
Today’s loyalty is less about habit and more about meaning — and right now, luxury brands are better at delivering it. But that could change, especially if they grow overconfident and shift from ‘less is more’ to ‘less for more’.
Over many decades, they never tried alternative brands. They did not compare prices, they did not know what gluten are, they never heard of saturated fats or proteins. And they especially did not know that some products are healthier than others.
If they wanted to save money, they would grind coffee beans themselves, because beans where cheaper. They would use the coffee grounds twice, dilute it to a maximum, and add coffee-surrogates. Although this made their coffee basically undrinkable, they would never ever consider changing Douwe Egberts to another coffee brand.
Even if they wanted to, there were not a lot of options. The small grocery stores where they did their daily shoppings, mostly had just one brand or kind to offer. Throughout Europe, larger supermarkets with self-service were uncommon even in the early 1960’s.With the explosive growth of supermarkets - in Western-Europe - an increase in product options appeared. Not just competing brands, but also variations. Coffee: Arabica or Robusta? Decaf, strong, regular, maybe Mocca? Ground coffee or beans, large or small pack? It was a challenge to brand loyalty. Try a different taste, or maybe a cheaper brand?
The 1970’s were an era of booming loyalty schemes - not just by FMCG brands, but supermarkets themselves as well. Known brands presented customers with collectors tins, pins with their logo, or the legendary ‘loyalty points’ when it comes to coffee brands. Those points, if after years you had a million of them, could be exchanged for goodies, electric appliances, gadgets.There was hardly any household to be found in western-Europe that did not have a drawer full of ‘coffee-points’. Cutting them out from the packaging became a social event, where every member had to participate. Coffee points were even traded among neighbours, friends, or family members.
Some of those loyalty schemes had begun in the 1920’s and where still highly popular in the 2000’s. Collecting points or whatever brands offered, was not only part of a tradition. Consumers authentically felt, that brands cared about them and had something attractive to offer. You had the feeling, you could truly benefit from loyalty schemes.
Loyalty was not just something that had to do only with consumer goods. People showed loyalty towards king and fatherland, or the company they worked for; it was not unusual to work for the same company for nearly half a century. Loyalty was part of a mentality.
If we jump to 2025, what has changed?Those iconic coffee-points? Jacobs ended the loyalty program in 2017. Amazingly, in the Netherlands, still over one-third of all households collect Douwe Egberts points: It is the most successful loyalty program in the Netherlands ever, having started over a century ago. But participation is declining.
Generation Z, digital natives, are not going to cut out coffee-coupons from paper packaging. And are they willing to collect points through an app, at the petrol station, so they will get a mug after tanking 150.000 liters of fuel? I don’t think so. It looks like they will not be the collecting kind of customer, and something like loyalty might be hard to push on them. Their world is dynamic, fast. Digital.
There are so many competing products to choose from. Why not try something different all the time? Explore something new? Where older clients tend to stick to stuff they know and trust, this does not seem to be an issue of importance to younger consumers. Although there might come a moment that they will suffer from ‘decision fatigue’: too many similar brands to choose from, so let’s stick to what I bought before. But that can not really be called brand loyalty.
The big questions here is: will those young consumers become more conservative over the years? This is an important factor that we can not really predict. Especially since there seems to be a trend going on of youngsters becoming more traditional again. Who could ever predict that old vinyl records could become hot again? Maybe our grandchildren will choose a path of nostalgia towards everything old: technology, cooking, clothing. Who knows. So, does brand loyalty still exist—and if so, in what form?
The future of brand loyalty will most likely have to do with status and image, definitely not with tradition or habit. A company like Apple is well aware of that. Even though their products can be called overpriced, they have scores of loyal customers.Because their products come with a certain status, in addition to a - theoretically - high quality level. But then again, this concerns other products than FMCG. A pack of milk does not give you any status or upgraded image.
Brand loyalty, as we once knew it, is declining in the FMCG sector and finding new relevance in luxury goods. Consumers today are more price-sensitive, view many FMCG products as interchangeable, and are drawn to the convenience and affordability of private-label brands.
In contrast, luxury brands continue to thrive on emotional loyalty - driven by status, identity, storytelling, and image. Younger generations, especially Gen Z and Millennials, may not stick with everyday brands, but they often show strong attachment to premium brands.
Brand loyalty isn’t disappearing—it’s simply changing shape. What was once habitual is now driven by personal values; instead of passive repeat purchases, today’s consumers expect brands to engage them in more meaningful ways. Loyalty is shifting away from just the product itself and toward the overall experience a brand offers.
But while luxury brands benefit from symbolic value, even their loyalty can be short-term. At the same time, some FMCG brands are adapting, using sustainability, lifestyle marketing, and digital engagement to foster new forms of connections with their clients.
Today’s loyalty is less about habit and more about meaning — and right now, luxury brands are better at delivering it. But that could change, especially if they grow overconfident and shift from ‘less is more’ to ‘less for more’.