Are British consumers truly looking past the Starbucks tax flap in the nation and staying as loyal to the brand as the global chain recently claimed?

Some analysts say they don't think so.

In autumn, it was revealed that the company had paid only £8.5m ($13.8 million USD) in tax in the U.K. since entering the market there 14 years ago, despite having £3bn ($4.8 billion) in sales over the same period. 

Starbucks has pledged to pay an extra £20 million ($31.48 million) to the British government in corporation tax over the next two years to help repair the damage.

In a Jan. 25 earnings call, the chain said that British customers had "stayed loyal" through the contoversy. But an Agence France Presse report this week casts doubt on that claim.Continue reading...

Throughout a series of recent mishaps, Ford executives have seemed confident that their brand and products would come through in fine shape with American consumers.

Now, a couple of new assessments of automotive brand loyalty indicate  their confidence was well-considered.

Ford has placed No. 1 in loyalty rate of any brand among consumers in 2012, according to a tracking of car-registration data by Polk Automotive. Ford sported a 61 percent loyalty rate while the industry average hovered at 48 percent.

The automaker also finished No. 1 in brand loyalty in an annual survey by Experian Automotive, which found 44 percent brand loyalty overall for Ford, seven of its models in the top 10 of the survey overall.Continue reading...

Whereever you look in America, you're likely to see teenagers walking around with some form of Abercrombie & Fitch clothing on them. It’s easy to tell because the company sticks its name all over pretty much every stitch of clothing that it sells.

If all those walking billboards don’t show that there is already enough loyalty to the A&F brand out there, the company would like to keep a little closer track of just who is in the club and who isn’t. Its U.S. stores will now have a loyalty program, Columbus Biz Insider reports. A&F-owned Hollister already has its own loyalty program that goes by the only-attractive-to-teenagers name of Club Cali. Continue reading...

The outsourcing of jobs to foreign countries has been a constant presence for U.S. politicians, pundits, and the H.R. departments as they lay off Americans in recent years. The perception among consumers is that pretty much nothing is made in America anymore. And anything that is, isn’t totally high-quality.

This, of course, is completely bogus. While plenty of jobs have been shipped out of the country, there many companies that do all they can to make quality products and proudly hoist the "Made in America" banner. Those companies now have a major cheerleader in the American Brand Project, a patriotic social startup that rates just how American different companies are in order to help consumers make informed decisions on what to buy.Continue reading...

FanCulture is a short film that explores the relationship between fans and brands and the methods used to harness that enthusiasm in marketing.

Featuring interviews with leading academics, brand strategists and fans including Dr. Matt Hills, Sony PlayStation, Fred Perry, UK broadcaster Channel 4, Polydor Records, the Kaiser Chiefs and "superfans" of brands from Nike to Marmite, it explores the issues at the heart of the brand-fan relationship such as: Is there a formula to creating fans, how much can fans be worth to a brand, and why engaging enthusiasts and brand ambassadors should become more than just buying "Likes" on Facebook.Continue reading...

Loyalty programs are pretty much everywhere now: your wine shop, your shoe store, your gas station. With all that loyalty out there, airlines need to shake things up on the rewards front they pioneered, just to keep customers interested.

It isn’t enough just to use your air miles to build up to a future ticket on the same airline. A new study from IdeaWorks chronicles just how far airlines are going to keep passengers aboard, the Montreal Gazette reports. Want a wine-of-the-month club membership? Fly Qantas. Want a leather vest autographed by George Clooney? Fly Air Canada. Want a galactic sub-orbital space flight? Fly Virgin (and amass 25 million points).

The Gazette notes that Virgin even has a Flying Without Fear class as a possible reward for those who have fly a lot but have got some issues that they have to deal with every time they do. Continue reading...

AT&T is testing a new loyalty program: AT&T Plus, billed as "your pass to more possibilities — one that delivers a personalized customer experience."

For now, it’s a trial limited to a handful of markets in the U.S. (Minneapolis, Colorado and Texas for starters), offering free access to a special 1-855-ATTPLUS customer service line, no upgrade fees, no activation fees for second phone lines, a 25% discount for non-Apple phone accessories, and a $10 Starbucks gift card.

Customer loyalty for mobile carriers is an increasing challenge. A recent survey from PwC reports that customer loyalty is continuing to decline and the average length of "postpaid customer relationships" dropped to 48 months last year from 59 months in 2010 as reported by CNET.Continue reading...

Brands must understand that customer service is an important part of the "value equation" for consumers these days even though it might seem that price remains their most important criterion for brand satisfaction because of the continued financial struggles of so many Americans.

Apple, Cadillac, Four Seasons, JetBlue, Kohl's, Saks Fifth Avenue, Scotttrade, USAA and Wegmans are among the brands that understand the importance of people as a driver of service excellence has increased substantially these days, and that's why they were among the 50 brands named this week by J.D. Power & Associates as 2012 Customer Service Champions.Continue reading...