Is brand loyalty in decline? Trends in packaged goods offer hope to traditional brands

Stephen Whiteside

Research by the Advertising Research Foundation (ARF), the industry body, suggests that brand loyalty may be more robust than is widely assumed.

There is a widespread perception among marketers that traditional brand loyalty is in decline.

“In most categories, direct brands are stealing share from the incumbents,” Paul Donato, chief research officer at the Advertising Research Foundation (ARF), the trade body, said in describing this viewpoint.

Echoing that perspective is a study released by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) last year that argued “direct brands are stealing share from the incumbents”, a trend observable everywhere from beer and beauty to mattresses and furniture.

Consumer surveys from polling company CivicScience and research firm Nielsen seemingly confirm the same notion. The former...

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