Build loyalty with brand integration

In the world of marketing, it’s important to localize your brand and integrate it into the community. This not only builds loyalty among your customers, but also keeps your product top-of-mind.
The integration could be in the form of a sponsorship, such as partnering with a nonprofit like the local Susan G. Komen affiliate. Or it could be in the form of a cross-promotion, in which you align your brand with a property in the community.

Our agency orchestrated a cross-promotion for a SUBWAY® client in western Massachusetts with the Boston Red Sox, one of the hottest properties in the region. During the months of July and August, hundreds of SUBWAY® restaurants in the New England area will be selling co-branded collectable cups, and sandwich artists will be wearing co-branded T-shirts.

While the Red Sox alignment is significant for the New England SUBWAY® restaurants, cross-promotions can certainly be done on any level. Smaller scale examples include partnering with a local zoo, art museum or minor league baseball team, depending on your target audience.

With economic times being tough, it’s important to continue building relationships with your customers. Integrating your brand into your consumers lives, into things that are important to them, will strengthen their perception of your brand and ultimately their loyalty.

Is there a product that you’ve developed affection for, in part because of its involvement in the community or environmental or health issues?

--Kara W.