“Big L” vs. “Little L” Loyalty

Nov 15, 2022

Kobie CMO, Bobby Greenberg, was recently interviewed on Demandbase’s podcast, “Sunny Side Up” Episode 342, to discuss how marketers can measure “Big L” and “Little L” loyalty, creating a more engaging customer experience. Click here to listen to the full podcast. 

What is “Big L” and “Little L” Loyalty? 

When you hear the words customer loyalty, what’s the first thing that comes to mind? For most, our minds automatically think of rewards programs like Sephora Beauty Insider, Chase Sapphire Preferred, Hilton Honors, etc. This type of loyalty is what Kobie refers to as programmatic or “Little L” loyalty. 

But there’s something bigger at play when it comes to customer loyalty, and that’s brand love – the overarching emotional connection that consumers have with a brand. Otherwise known as, you guessed it, “Big L” loyalty.  

Like wine and cheese, “Big L” and “Little L” loyalty work best when paired together. Kobie works with brands to optimize their customer experience by converging the two together. So, which brands are doing it right when it comes to this dynamic duo? Kobie CMO Bobby Greenberg uses American Airlines as an example: 

“All of the communications I receive from American, are actually from American Advantage – their loyalty program. They’ve effectively and automatically enrolled 100% of their customers in their programmatic loyalty initiatives.” 

Greenberg notes for Retailers, QSRs, and Financial Institutions, that’s often not the case.

“This is where Kobie helps brands realize the full potential of “Little L” loyalty, and how it ultimately drives “Big L” loyalty.” 

For brands who are not able to enroll every customer as a loyalty member like American, understanding what drives their customers from a loyalty perspective becomes crucial. 

What are the Loyalty Drivers and how can marketers tap into them? 

Qualified by 30+ years of strategic experience and data, Kobie’s framework identifies the six universal drivers of loyalty:  

  1. Brand Affinity – focuses on how well consumers associate with your brand
  2. Product Value – focuses on your product and the perceived value of your offering
  3. Rewards – focuses on transactional and non-transactional benefits, given in recognition of high-value consumers’ engagement
  4. Convenience – focuses on how easy your brand is to interact with for your high-value consumers
  5. Special Access – focuses on how brands makes their consumers feel special through elevated access or experiences – your brand’s ability to make them feel recognized with a sense of belonging
  6. Personalization – focuses on how the brand shows its high-value consumer that it knows them. They feel grateful for how the brand is treating them and want to continue this relationship  

Back to wine metaphors: if you’ve ever been tasked with selecting the perfect wine for a group, you know it’s both daunting and expensive. For brands, figuring out how to deliver on these drivers is the same.

But according to Greenberg, “the key is to prioritize by considering where you are and where you want to go”.  

Kobie’s proprietary Loyalty Assessment tool utilizes the Loyalty Driver framework to benchmark brands’ current state against their desired future state and against competitors, determining how and where to invest. 

To learn more about driving brand love through programmatic loyalty, get in touch with our team by hitting the “Connect with Us” button in the top right corner of your screen.