Brand Loyalty – Blackberry & BMW

Creating brand ambassadors from your customer base is a tough challenge to meet. People enjoy great products on a daily basis that they don’t think twice about. There are however a few exceptions. For me, it typically comes down to what I rely on most, communication and transportation. I make it a point to invest in the latest and greatest tech so my phones have to be top notch or I tend to replace them rather quickly. I’ve also been a big car buff since an early age so my vehicle is more than a way to get from point A to B, it reflects my sense of style and taste. There’s nothing quite like purring pistons of a powerful sports car.

Creating an iconic brand that people are proud to sport is a great way of gaining a customers loyalty which tends to convert them into a free advertisement in the form of an unofficial brand ambassador. Several factors come into play when creating an iconic brand. Quality and reliability is often at the top of that list. Functionality and style also earn high marks with most buyers. These are all reasons why I chose to purchase Blackberry and BMW products. Not only will my next phone or car be from those companies, but I will express my experience in the form of storytelling with others in hopes to inspire them to experience the benefits of choosing these brands as well.

I’ve always enjoyed the functionality of a physical keyboard on my phone. There’s nothing worse then having fat finger typos on touch keyboard devices. It has a massive impact on the speed of productivity. When I want to type something quick my Blackberry has been instrumental. It’s also well known for security. I make most of my purchases online so it’s great to know that my device isn’t riddled with security gaps that expose my financial data to potential hackers and identity thieves.

I’ve also never had one quit working on me so it gets high marks with reliability in my book. I tend to drop phones every so often and its nice to know they’re solidly built with quality and don’t break easily upon falling. For as long as the company is around, my first smartphone and last smartphone will always be a Blackberry.

When it comes to BMW I cant say enough to do this brand justice. I’ve never had a more responsive, reliable, comfortable and stylish car. I’ve always loved 007 movies and particularly Goldeneye because I spent countless hours as a kid playing the famous n64 shooter. It was also that movie where James Bond started to sport the BMW brand in the form of the Z3 Roadster. Fast forward to my late twenties when I found myself behind the wheel of that very same car in a test drive, nearly a classic by that time. Despite having been on the road for nearly two decades, the thing drove like a dream and was in perfect condition.

I ended up walking away that day with a hell of a deal. To this day, that car has been a workhorse while remaining a daily mode of transportation. It hasn’t once broken down and every dollar put into it was spent on improvements and standard maintenance. It’s also getting compliments all the time as the design is still very striking despite its age. I’m currently looking at getting another car. This time I’ll be purchasing the Z4 Roadster, a newer more powerful and sharper design of the same class of car. I’d say BMW has definitely earned my respect as a brand by building solid, reliable and comfortable yet sporty cars.

Positive Brand Experience – Blackberry

Brand loyalty is important for companies to achieve not only because of revenue generated by repeat business but it creates highly effective free advertising through brand advocates or customers who have had a good experience with your brand and want to share that with their circles by recommending your brand or even writing an online review in favor of your brand. A company I’ve had a great experience with has been Blackberry. I’ve always enjoyed their products and their unique designs as well as security features. This has resulted in the company earning my respect and repeat business by going back for new products. I have confidence in the quality of their products, so I’ve recommended them to others. As the only smartphone company to feature consistently high levels of security and a hardware keyboard on their devices along with a hub that organizes content, this brand has had no problem standing the test of time while separating itself from its competitors.

At one point, the company almost shut down because they struggled to adapt. As a loyal customer to their brand, I was sad when I heard the news. Fortunately, in the last couple of years the company has restructured itself to become more current and competitive. One of the major ways they did this was by moving away from using its own operating system which did not have access to the apps on Google Play drastically reducing the availability of apps to users, to operating using the android platform. This was the best thing they could have done to improve. They’ve also continued to offer a keyboard for their original base while creating full touch screen models as well to appeal to new customers while competing with brands like Samsung, Apple and LG. Overall, I’ve been happy with their products from when I first started using them in the early 2000’s until now in 2018. That’s a long time to keep a customer so they’re doing something right.