Brand building? Hardly!
16 August 2023
Ping! An email from my mobile phone operator tells me I’ve received a loyalty bonus. How marvellous!
But elation turns to disappointment on discovering my reward is a downloadable Just Eat voucher (in the interests of impartiality, other food providers are available).
Now, I’ve nothing against the meal delivery service but as I live and work from home in a rural location outside its catchment area, the personalised voucher on offer is useless.
Surely the phone operator could have chosen a different incentive or offered alternatives to be more inclusive. Or does it show how city-centric their business is? Indeed, in my area 5G is light years away – sometimes just getting a decent signal is an achievement.
So by now, instead of feeling flattered by their gesture, I’m frustrated, which rather defeats the object.
Mind you, this was eclipsed by another unexpected email recently, this time from the bank where I’ve had an account for... well, longer than I care to remember.
“Thank you for being with us,” it gushed in bold type. “You’re one of the customers who has been with us the longest. We appreciate your loyalty, thank you for banking with us over the years.”
After this build-up, I’m expecting a knockout gesture confirming their gratitude. A preferential savings rate perhaps? Or a complimentary fiver credited to this account I’ve held so long, at a time when banks are positively raking it in by offering high mortgage rates and very low savings returns?
Sadly no. All that followed was a link to a web page trumpeting... the bank’s own history. So who’s more important here: their client or themselves?
If you’re going to offer something to customers, loyal or otherwise, ensure it’s genuinely meaningful to them. Otherwise an attempt to build a brand could simply tarnish it.
Photo: Mohamed Hassan
