Samsung Tops Customer Loyalty Index for Smartphones
Samsung Tops Customer Loyalty Index for Smartphones by UCStrategies Staff
Brand Keys’ 2013 Customer Loyalty Engagement Index reveals that not only is Samsung the current lead when it comes to overall smartphone sales worldwide, the Korea-based company also clinched the top rank in customer loyalty and engagement. According to the same study, Samsung is followed by Apple. And in order of decreasing brand engagement and loyalty, there’s LG, a tie between Nokia and Sony, Motorola, HTC, and RIM’s BlackBerry.
The study spearheaded by Brand Keys, Inc., a brand research consultancy firm, also uncovered the level of customer loyalty in other mobile devices, such as laptops and tablets. In laptops, a tie exists between Apple and Samsung. The two companies are also tied for second place in the tablets category, with Amazon (for its Kindle Fire) showing the highest level of customer loyalty and engagement.
“This is a big turnaround,” said Robert Passikoff, founder and president of Brand Keys, in a statement to Marketing Daily. “Samsung was always strong, but this is a bit of a switchover. It was a surprise. I guess it shouldn’t have been. I’ve been watching their advertising, and I thought it was really good.”
Passikoff notes Samsung’s promotions for the Galaxy line and their “anti-Apple” stance – scoffing at the eagerness of Apple fans for the iPhone 5. “I think they’re making real inroads,” Passikoff remarked. “I think [some of it] is the technology. But a lot of it has to do with how they’re positioning themselves in the marketplace, [particularly for] the younger marketplace.”
The 2013 Customer Loyalty Engagement Index also tracked other categories, ranging from wireless service providers (with AT&T topping the list) to e-readers (with Kindle on the lead, followed by Nook).
Marketing Daily’s Aaron Baar bemoaned the loss of Apple’s iPad to Amazon’s Kindle Fire in the tablet category as Apple was the company that “basically invented the modern tablet.” Also, Baar said that Sony’s customer loyalty and engagement ranking was particularly “worrying,” considering Sony was once the dominant brand in consumer electronics.
And when it comes to AT&T’s showing in the topmost tier of wireless providers, Brand Keys head, Robert Passikoff, has this to say: “A lot of people bitch and moan about AT&T, but if you look at their retention rates, they have the highest levels in the category.”
“The fact is, when it comes to real numbers that [we use to] say what are people doing, they’re sticking with AT&T,” Passikoff concluded. (KOM) Link. Link. Link.