Ever walked into your mum or grandma’s bathroom and gazed at that same blue Nivea tin, or iconic Estée Lauder brown bottle?

Maybe pinched a few drops?

It was almost like you’d never see the product run low- because if it did- another would magically appear.

That’s brand loyalty.

The comfort, the trust, and the prized repurchase.

Before new launches flooded our feeds, a product drop from the brand that already had a secured spot on our vanity felt special, exciting and something you’d bookmark to purchase- or even join a waitlist for.

In a world of endless launches and TikTok dupe culture, does brand loyalty still matter, and should you have it?

Why We Get Attached to Brands (Even If the Results Are Just ‘Okay’)

Believe it or not, It’s not all skin result focused.

Many of the legacy and luxury brands that have a chokehold on their users grew their following for less obvious reasons.

Just some include:

Packaging
Branding
Marketing (including tone of voice and their target market)
Price point
Where someone purchases (stockists and retailers)
Textures and scents

And many more factors all contribute to grow (or shrink) someone’s brand worship.

For a stint I worked at a legacy luxury brand and I remember a meeting dedicated to a new product launch.

There was a slide about the olfactory nerve (our sense of smell) that detailed the layers of fragrance they had mindfully incorporated in the product.

The slide showed a pyramid- base notes, middle and top- just like a perfume.

*Image: A glance at the perfume pyramid that has head (top), heart (middle) and base (bottom) notes.*

I knew the brand had fragrance- but to be so specific about notes, how it wore down on the face and how it sat in their range- especially in a time when fragrance free felt more the norm- was surprising.

The demographic for this brand was 50+, and the feedback from regular customers was yes, they adore the results- but nothing smells like *insert very expensive night cream name here*.

The jar?

Heavy, weighted glass with a matte embossed gold lid.

Not everyone’s style- but the product is iconic, makes a statement, and has a cult following.

What About Gen Z and Millennials?

The level of education around ingredients and percentages has skyrocketed in the last decade thanks to brands like Paula’s Choice, Medik8 and The Ordinary, who were among some of the first to invest in educating their customers first, before traditional marketing.

The idea?

If the consumer was making an educated decision for their skin- they’d get the results they’re after- and would hopefully come back for that prized repurchase.

In this new era of statistics and knowledge, words like “niacinamide” and “skin barrier” became commonplace amongst skincare buyers- and hard to miss.

Empowering and educating directly to consumers, almost stepping in place of skincare experts and making the knowledge more accessible, left much of the celebrity adjacent and feel good marketing fluff behind.

It was clear: If brands push results and an ingredient first approach, you can get pretty bare bones with formulations- but there are problems with bare bones.

Read: Copying cult beauty brands won't make you cool.

When Brand Loyalty Pays Off

Brands commonly have a thread through their ranges which brings cohesion.

When one product works for someone, there’s a good chance the rest of the range- or even the line- might work too. This builds trust, which is the foundation of loyalty.

Yours Only, founded by Ashli Templer Hammond, is hyper focused on sensitive and reactive skin types- which means they stick around through countless bottles in someone's routine.

People with skin concerns that affect their day to day lives tend to avoid the risk of reacting to a new product- the price point, packaging, quality and customer forward marketing seals the deal.

Did you know Yours Only shows their real customers in all their photography and marketing?

Their community regularly shares their near miraculous before and afters, ready to scream from the roof tops about how a product finally worked for their skin.

*Image: Screenshots of Yours Only socials showing founder Ashli*

Naked Sundays, founded by sun safety advocate and former news reporter Samantha Brett, sun safety advocate and former news reporter, created the world’s first SPF50+ Top Up Spray that disrupted a previously stagnant space- with a focus of reapplying sunscreen that didn’t ruin your makeup.

Bold packaging helps set them apart in a sea of millennial pink, and helped solidify a change in culture towards sun safety. The Australian born brand has continued to innovate many more industry firsts.

Founder forward brands like Boring Without You, founded by Davey of @skincaredavey, started connecting to an online audience after the conception of his brand.

Davey regularly engages with his community in both comment sections and scheduled calls- getting honest, no BS feedback and even new product requests from his most engaged followers.

Seeking feedback from his audience form formulas to the colour of packaging- this inclusive take brings his community along for the ride.

*Image: Davey on camera alongside some product requests in his comment section.*

Brittany Saunders, founder and CEO of Australian women's fashion brand Fayt, OG influencer and podcast host of Big Business- shows up face first, through the thick and thin, creating connecting content through some of the toughest times in her business.

Brittany regularly shares her insights and learnings on running a successful business- connecting to like minded founders and growing the loyalty of her community through her honest takes.

The behind the scenes approach helps connect consumers directly to the founders, where they can hear their pain points, and create based on community needs and feedback- but it’s not without its drawbacks.

Read: Are Influencer Beauty Brands Over, or Are They Evolving?

The Downsides of Sticking to One Brand

Brand loyalty that means someone purchases everything from one brand can become problematic, especially when products might be out of someone’s budget, are hard to access, or don't work for their skin type or concerns- or my favourite, there might be a better fit for someone’s skin concerns.

In some cases, the pressure to purchase a whole brand’s range can bring unnecessary steps into a skincare routine for the results they’re after.

I asked James Vivian, Dermal Therapist and founder of cosmeceutical skincare brand Viviology, his thoughts on brand loyalty and using one skincare brand.

James shared “Utilising one brand often has benefits beyond the skin.

Aligning with a brand, shopping it in-store, displaying it on the bathroom counter or showcasing it on an Instagram story can give users a sense that they belong to skincare brands philosophy and associated community…

When it comes to the skin, however, one brand cannot be everything to everyone and a curated offering across multiple brands to target each individual skin will often get the job done best.”

Why Does Brand Loyalty Matter?

Why does brand loyalty matter in marketing, strategy and product creation for brands and for consumers?

Businesses aren't your friends- I get it.

That is something I know many of us need to remember and maybe ground ourselves with.

But the reality is that marketing, people that work in the industry like creators, and the infusion of founder-led content that connects us beyond the brand products (and even sometimes to the employees working there) can change the tune.

Content creator and skincare commentator Sam from @sambythecounte raised an important point in a recent post: Brand loyalty is vital to brand longevity.

“Brands have lost a desire to cultivate loyalty and no longer care about establishing a brand identity.” Sam shared in a recent article written for White Rabbit Social.

“They seem to just copy each other, use the same ingredients, try to copy the same textures- even packaging design. There is no conviction in philosophy, just trend chasing.”

Highlighting the potential crux of the issue, Sam shares “This means we have far less innovation, and they have far less incentive to do so. When trends rule, nobody is willing to risk trying something else.”

Innovation is a byproduct consumers get to enjoy for their pay to play in capitalism- so when that’s not there- everything starts to look pretty grim.

This can also discourage investment into consumer education if brands are piggybacking off common knowledge.

Read: 18 Reasons Why the Skincare Industry is Worse Now