Brand loyalty is a funny old thing. Personally, I don’t think I’m brand loyal so much as product-loyal but I can definitely name a couple of brands that seem to attract super-fans.
Liz Earle is the one that always initially springs to mind. Their supporters go crazy for the brand, the products, the shows… infact, both the brands that I had in mind when considering this post present on QVC. Coincidence?
When I went to the Isle of Wight last year to attend Liz Earle’s 15th Anniversary Event… it opened my eyes. I didn’t realise that us women could be so passionate about a brand. Beauty in general? Yes. But a single brand? A company? A business? I was left bemused by the (literally hordes of) women doing their utmost to maintain a sense of middle-class decorum while simultaneously clambering to get close to ANYONE at the event who looked like they were representing the brand. It was the politest scrum I’ve ever been in!
Of course, it helps that at the head of this company… is Liz Earle. Instantly likable on screen, she always appears effortlessly chic, calm and collected. When she opens her mouth, she’s eloquent, charismatic… engaging and most of all, appears interested in what others have to say. Yes, I’ll admit – I’m under her spell too. Infact, I won’t name names… but I was in the company of a perfectly intelligent blogger (kinda) who’s words as we left the room in which we’d been introduced to Liz went something along the lines of… “OMG… I want a mummy Liz. Do you think I can get her to adopt me?” Of course, it was said in jest… and incited a riotous giggle amongst a group of women who are old enough to know better but it showed the Liz effect in full force!
I suppose that the phenomena could be attributed directly to the products. If you find the solution to a skincare problem that’s plagued you for years within your Cleanse & Polish, your interest in everything the brand releases is going to be piqued. And in all honesty, as superficial as we’re told all this beauty nonsense is… it runs deep for many of us.
Infact, as I write that last paragraph, I’m beginning to feel a little shame-faced and hypocritical. I may not be evangelical about Cleanse & Polish (I don’t get the hype) but there is a certain product that I will forever hold in the highest regard and as such, it’s had a knock-on effect to the rest of this particular Antipodean brand. My fangirl self even gets annoyed when I hear of other people not loving their products as much as I do! Common sense? Where did you disappear to?!
In analysing my own feelings for this brand, I can stem my cheerleading from the moment one of their products worked wonders on an issue that was troubling me in a way that did go deeper than the superficial. In solving the physical issue it also removed a weight from my shoulders.
Oh dear… I’ve just thought of another brand that encourages my inner rah-rah girl. Sigh, there goes my delusions of being even just a tiny bit cool.
Perhaps, before scoffing at what I perceive as other people’s foibles… I should remind myself that we all have a fangirl inside of us just waiting for that miracle product to bring her out, pom-poms flailing.
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Which brands do you think attract super-fans? Do YOU have the potential to be a fangirl?
