Putting power back in the hands of the consumer

Rob Anderson, CEO of Brand Hubb

He suggests encouraging customer feedback and engagement with brand content by creating surveys and a user database and says that this in turn this will create loyalty and a better understanding of your customer, which should result in better brand communication and ultimately an increase in sales.

Here, he goes on to share his views on the value of meaningful customer interactions and building brand loyalty and explains how Brand Hubb puts power back in the hands of the consumer…

Comment on the importance of customer loyalty and optimising this to achieve business results.

Loyal customers are easier to sell to and act as fantastic brand ambassadors.

Our platform allows for brand message dissemination via customers’ own social media channels, leading to highly credible and increased reach. We offer brands the opportunity to show appreciation for customer loyalty whilst gathering valuable data and receiving constructive feedback.

Brand loyalty protects brands from competitors and allows for better brand communication, which leads to increased levels of trust.

We believe that having loyal customers creates opportunities for extremely targeted messaging and tailored campaigns resulting in increased ROI.

Consumer attitudes towards fuel loyalty programmes in SA

Marius Wait  10 Sep 2020

Briefly tell us about Brand Hubb.

Brand Hubb is a platform where we reward consumers for engaging with brand content. Consumers are rewarded by clicking, watching, sharing and completing surveys.

After accumulating Me Bucks (My Earning bucks) consumers can spend what they’ve earned at the store. If they can’t pay the full amount, they can add in the difference with their MeBucks.

Brand Hubb has also launched an API which allows any company to create their own rewards programme with the same benefits as Brand Hubb.

We have also recently launched Chip In where consumers can create a wish list of items they’d like and share with friends and family who then ‘chip in’ an amount towards the product and the consumer can then purchase the item of choice. This does not necessarily have to be for gifts but can also help those in need who have been affected by Covid-19 and can support communities.

What is the problem you’re trying to solve or the gap you’re trying to fill with your Brand Rewards solution?

We are trying to give back to consumers for engaging with brand content as they are doing all the work. Currently big corporates are making all the money and the consumers are not getting anything back for their brand loyalty which creates a negative brand perception. The marketing is pushed to the consumers which is invasive and intrusive whereas ours is a pull marketing strategy where the consumers choose to engage with the content and get rewarded. Consumers can then also spend their Me Bucks they have earned on the brand’s products. Brands can now measure their return on investment. It’s a 360-degree approach from awareness all the way through to selling of the product.

Regarding the API, this is great for the brands to have their own rewards system and the money that they spend on the consumers stays on their platform where the consumers can spend it only on their brand. This way they are not wasting their marketing money but reinvesting their money within their own organisation where consumers can purchase their product and spend more.

These types of rewards will change consumers behavior because they will engage more frequently with brand content and are interested in buying that product. They will first spend their bucks earned before looking at competitors.

In a press release sent to Bizcommunity, you said you believe brands are directing their digital advertising spend to the wrong recipients and challenge them to rethink their digital marketing strategies. What would you advise and why?

I don’t know why brands invest in digital and social platforms when they cost so much money and are really hard to manage with all the negative comments and feedback. They could rather reward consumers for their feedback by creating surveys and wouldn’t have to worry about the negative publicity they would receive on social platforms. When consumers are on their platform, they are creating a database of their own followers and not just ‘click followers and likes’, but real engagement. In turn this will create great brand loyalty and understanding of what your consumers really like and need from the brand which will hopefully lead to more sales of products and sending the right marketing material to the right people.

So what’s in it for brands? Comment on the value of meaningful customer interactions and building customer loyalty through loyalty programmes.

The value for brands is that they’re getting greater consumer insight and creating a bigger database and understanding of their consumers needs and wants. The brands can correct and change their product/service accordingly from the feedback given to ensure they are catering for their customers’ needs.

Brand Hubb is on a mission to try and get the brand rewards API on any platform or site as we know this is the future of digital marketing. Brands and organisations need to move with the times and stop using current digital marketing platforms just because they are the norm. They are doing more brand damage on the current digital marketing platforms than good. Brands must stop using KPIs and general marketing measurements as an indication of how good their campaigns were and put the customer first.