How Brand Loyal ARE You?

[Gidge Uriza]

I always wonder this, as people rebrand on and off and disappear and reappear - how much do consumers really CARE about branding? Are you brand loyal or are you looking for quality/style/specific items vs. a BRAND?

[Anubis Darkwatch]

It really depends. As much as I love quality in every brand, i do find myself looking for certain brands ONLY because they have a history of quality. And that's the important thing that designers have to deal with. If you start with quality rather than quantity, you may have more loyal fans. Of course, we can't account for everyone's taste, but we CAN account for the quality by which the article is created.. which includes but not limited to, flexi, prims, and now mesh.

[Gidge Uriza]

I think as a new resident I was really brand loyal because I didn't know where to go, so the places I liked - I went back to a lot. These days, I keep a few in my pocket as reliable but it's fun to find new places.

[Cajsa Lilliehook]

I am both very brand loyal and still always searching for the new. What I mean by that is that when I find a store that has excellent clothing, good quality prims and textures and a unique, recognizable viewpoint, I am going to continue to shop there for new releases and for staple investment dressing. 

At the same time, I am going to try new stores that have exciting releases and new shapes and designs and if they please me, they may end up on my list of stores I love. But the new store doesn't get many chances. Two or three bad experiences and they fall off my radar screen. I think sometimes people rush into marking and selling their creations too quickly - and might benefit from making a few more practice pieces to hone their skills so that their first impression is not only a lasting one, but a good, lasting impression. 

[Lily Karlsbar]

The longer I stay in SL, the more I look for "the Unusual", I look for one  of a kind outfits, and have loved the results. Like you, I keep some oldies but goodies in my pocket, but I am not brand loyal as much as I used to be.

[Leela Qissinger]

If one of my favorite stores has something New I do rush to the place, but really love to explore more in SL and surprisingly find more and more interesting stores with amazing designs

[Eloise Baily]

Thinking back, I was pretty brand loyal until the whole RZ thing. 

I used to visit the same dance places, shops and clubs but I'm a principled kinda gal and I've never been back to any of them.

In my mind, that was a good thing because it forced me to go and look outside some of the  "names" in SL and see what was out there.

I only dress in white , silver or thereabouts so looking for nice things has always been a little bit more of a challenge in such a colourful world, but that's what makes it

a) fun

and

b) more eager to make things for myself. So I went from being completely brand loyal to not remotely so in one fell swoop. (Barring Bax of course. You can prise my Bax's off my cold, dead, uninvisiprimmed, clumpy feet!).

[Ceera Murakami]

I'll frequently return to merchants whose work pleases me, and I feel very dissapointed when one of them goes out of business.

For example, if I find one merchant that has hair styles that I really like, I'll go back to them again and again, without even looking at other merchants offerings, until they either are no longer there to buy from, or until I need something thsy just don't sell.

If someone moves their store and changes the brand name, and fails to note in the merchant's profile that they have done this, they would probably lose me as a customer, as I would believe they had quit and closed up shop.

If they move and re-brand, but DO note in the profile of the merchant that they have done this, then I'll check out the new store, and probably update my landmarks.

[Amethyst Jetaime]

Quality and originality and fresh ideas are what keep me coming back. 

I buy regularly from a few stores because that is what they offer but I'm not loyal to a brand for a brand's sake.  I like stores that offer fresh merchandise on a regular basis too.  There are a number of designers that I love and I will buy everything in their shop I like.  Then I'm disappointed when I come back (after a reasonable time) to see nothing new or new items that are basically variations of an older release.  When I come with lindens to spend and nothing is fresh or interesting to buy you lose me.

I am always glad to find new designers that offer more than the template clothing that you see all over the grid with minor variations.

[Coby Foden]

I'm not at all brand loyal per se. What draws my attention is quality and out of the ordinary looks. If I find those I will often visit the place again, but that's not because of the brand.

As a side note: What I find really surprising in SL is that people mostly wear very ordinary and similar clothes. I really would like to see a lot more variety on what avatars wear.

[Ariel Vuissent]

I can only think of one store I'm loyal to based more on the "brand" than the items - but the items are also high quality. I need to branch out a little...

I'm loyal to a few others, but it's because they sell things I like, and I know and trust the quality. I'll go elsewhere if they don't have what I want or need, but I buy a lot from them. One is a very niche clothing store - they do a specific style, and it's what they're good at, but if I want another style, I have to go somewhere else. One is hair, because they have tons of styles and the quality is high. One is skin, again high quality and a lot of choices. A couple are shoes. I find it difficult to branch out once I find something good, because often when I have in the past, what I got was much lower quality than I expected.

[Sasy Scarborough]

I am brand loyal, because of good quality, good customer service and so on, but that does not mean I am only ever shopping at those brands. Brand loyalty also has to come into play if something is released that is not up to the usual, if it can be fixed I believe as a brand loyal customer it is good that you let the designer know what has occured as it may have been a mistake not an intentional thing, and give them a chance to fix it, not just giving them up as a lost cause. 

hugs Gidge 

 

xoxSasyxox

[cherry Ravinelli]

I agree with Sasy.

Brand loyal if I like the design and specially the quality (Chantkare, Lelutka, Miamai, Leezu spring to mind, and many more).

It is not nice if you get an item and the fit is just not good and no good resize options. But I do look for new stores always and am willing to try new designers if I like them.

With skins I am even more brand loyal, good skin is hard to find (for me :-))

[Melita Magic]

Quality.

I only care about brand if it helps me find the place I found some quality in so I can go back for more. 

The type of clothes I want seem hard to find. I tend to like classic monochromatic styles/outfits, and I appreciate excellent texturing.

I really don't care if someone knows which brand I'm wearing. I never got that desire in real life either, though.

[Melita Magic]

---

Coby Foden wrote:

I'm not at all brand loyal per se. What draws my attention is quality and out of the ordinary looks. If I find those I will often visit the place again, but that's not because of the brand.

As a side note: What I find really surprising in SL is that people mostly wear very ordinary and similar clothes. I really would like to see a lot more variety on what avatars wear.

---

I always do a happy dance inside when anyone knows how to spell per se. (Instead of per say.)

On your side note: If you mean quietly unusual I like things like that but they're not easy to find. I notice that more people walk around like parade floats/Christmas trees in their early days but then seem to get sick of looking at all that and tone it way down after being in SL a while.

 

[kattatonia Wickentower]

I'm not sure if I am exactly brand loyal, but If I find that I have received a few free gifts that I really liked from a store, I tend to go back there when I have money in my pocket.  I remember the good stuff and I like to reward the generous creators of good stuff. 

There's another thing I am quite good at remembering and that is when I've been unhappy with something from a brand.  For instance there are a couple of creators who are so paranoid about theft that they go "no mod" crazy and they make it impossible to fit their product to my avatar. Or they use too many unremovable scripts.  I won't even look at their merchandise anymore.

Another one is shoemakers and their convoluted huds for skin matching.  I just don't want to work that hard to match my skin.  I am perfectly capable of making a perfect skin match if they'd only unlock the textures and give me the mod rights to do it.  I'm not a thief, but as I understand it these no mod features won't stop the determined thieves anyway, so why risk making your customers so frustrated?

[Jesica Dragovar]

for, me, if I find a brand that offers quality and I love how they look and/or function I will stick with that brand and promote it myself

 

for example my glasses must always be Solar