Brand loyalty

[shadesong]

Every time I go to Starbucks, I feel like I'm cheating on Caribou.

The Caribou people are cool, they're friendly, they know us. They know I want little to no ice in my chai. They ask about Miss Kid. They know that I always know the trivia.

But, dammit, Starbucks' venti is bigger than Caribou's extra-large. And sometimes I just need more caffeine.

What are you brand loyal to?

Comments

[waymerich.livejournal.com]

Folgers! j/k I am a man

[gothwalk.livejournal.com]

I'd be brand loyal to Starbucks and Borders, if I only could. They're one thing I really notice as being outright better in the UK. (Don't know about US ones - didn't find Starbucks in Boston as good, I have to admit.)

There are plenty of coffee shops here, but they only do a few limited coffees - or charge the earth - and the service is often surly. Bookshops here get ticked off if you browse, and many of them don't have great selections.

Starbucks, however, have a vast range of coffees, very very comfortable shops, and good service. Borders have tables for you to sit at while you read thier books, and a vast and wonderful selection.

Other brand loyalties... Bulmers cider (that's hard cider to you folks, sold in the US as Magners). Wizards of the Coast. Baen Books. www.greenwoodgames.com. :)

[branwynelf.livejournal.com]

Sadly, I must admit Starbucks is an addiction when I want a cold coffee drink. I'm addicted to Carmel Frappacinos. But I really despise them as a company, so I often try to divert myself with an icecream cone or something.

Ice cream is a Haagen Dahz thing for me, yah I know, I'm spoiled.

Cider - Blackthorne if if's plain apple, but the only people who make raspberry cider is Wyders, so them too.

When I can't do an independent, I'll do Barnes & Nobel over Borders or Amazon. More for personal preference, employee attitude, and the B&N is closeby and simply HUGE. If I lived in or near Portland I'd be a Powells girl all the way though.

Can't think of any others right now ...

Caribou

[songwind.livejournal.com]

I like Caribou a lot better than Starbucks, up here. The people at my local Starbucks can't seem to grasp that drinking coffee should not feel like being hit in the mouth with a hammer. :P

One of my coworkers swears by Smith Bros, though, so I'll have to try it. I'm not brand loyal at all - what have they done for me lately? :)

[mister-wolf.livejournal.com]

Well, I don't drink coffee (can't - caffiene makes me sick), but I'm so loyal to IBC rootbeer that I'd fight in a war for them. =;)

[voltbang.livejournal.com]

Our starbucks is like your caribou. They know us, they know our order, the big events in our lives. They have given me the employee discount a few times.

The best though is happy guy at McDonalds. He works mornings at the McDs around the corner, and he's always happy to take my order, happy to see me at the window, happy to make change just for me.

Cider, I'm a bad person. I like hardcore, and I like woodchuck. I also like that french stuff in the wine bottles they have at greens, and cider jack sometimes, and oh yeah, K is real good sometimes, and strongbow is nice if a little dry, and hmm, you know, I have next to no brand loyalty when it comes to cider. I don't much like Hornsbys, it tastes too, yeasty, to me.


Now I have brand loathing. I loathe pepsi products. I won't eat at Chick-Fil-A (chicken with extra jesus for straight white christians). Olive Garden won't see one dollar of my business. I've been holding a grudge against my local dominoes, partly because I worked at a dominoes and I know exactly how bad this one is.

[sogi.livejournal.com]

i avoid corporate cofee houses in every way possible

[ilexx.livejournal.com]

acme.

[edie22.livejournal.com]

You just had to get darkmattr started. I and adellyna heard this rant last night.

good luck. =)

I love Starbucks. I don't care about their company, they seem to treat their employees well and I'm not into all that corporate bullshit. I am also a Pepsi drinker. When we're in Atlanta, if we have time, we're thinking of going to the Coke Factory. I'm not sure they'll let me in, what with the Pepsi in the veins. I'm sure I'll set off a detector or something.

[iroshi.livejournal.com]

The only particular "brand loyalty" I know that I have consciously is Tylenol. I try not to buy generic acetaminophen, but rather get Tylenol BRAND. Because they were the first drug to get tampered with, and they never played the blame game: they pulled their product the instant they had rumors of a problem. They pulled it *universally*, not knowing whether it was a local problem or an internal one. They were more concerned about the safety of their customers than their bottom line, and I try and reward them for that: I buy their product.

I like Amazon.com, and continue to recommend them, no matter how big they get, and how people have taken them out of the "little guy" category, because I respect what they had to do to get where they are: they had to please their customer. They are the first, best, and therefore biggest, online bookstore. They've learned from mistakes, changed things around, expanded...because they do good business. They had the sense to pull in used bookstores into their umbrella, so now you can go through them to find used books, too; they get paid for their service. I'm not "brand loyal" to them: I'll go anywhere to get a good deal. But I use them regularly, because I still get a good deal from them. They're convenient, their customer service has always been good to me, the few times I've needed them (books arriving damaged were always replaced promptly and without grudge), and I respect the effort involved to come as far as they have.

[azurelunatic]

Soy sauce. Kikkoman's.

[voltbang.livejournal.com]

Oh right, BBQ sauce. Stubbs.

[sambear.livejournal.com]

I am "brand-loyal" to certain brands in the grocery store. Kraft Mayo. Kraft Mac n' Cheese. Hamburger Helper (not the fake kind). This is because the same people make the same stuff. It's not just a label. I don't care what anyone says. It tastes *different*.

I've had "California Raisin" chocolate-covered raisins, and they don't taste as good as Raisinettes, which are my favorite candy these days.

Other stuff because it demonstrably works better or has features I like/need/want: Microsoft Natural Keyboard. Arm & Hammer Baking Soda Deodorant, Pjur Eros Women Bodyglide Silicone Lubricant (which is latex-safe but doesn't promote yeast infections like Astroglide or KY Liquid).

On the other hand, I don't have brand loyalty for: dishwasher detergent, laundry detergent (although I do have brand loyalty for dryer sheets, go figure), cotton underwear, granulated sugar, loaf bread, canned biscuits, unsalted butter, condoms (although I'm thinking I will eventually go with Gold Circle Coin, I've not tried out these new, tremendously expensive super-sensitive ones yet).

I'd say I'm about 80-20 in the branded/not-branded world.

However, for restaurants I'm almost the opposite. I tend to focus on what items they have. I have no brand loyalty, for example, to chinese food. But we go to a specific chinese food place (I always call all chinese food places "Happy China" because they're all some derivation of "Happy" "Lucky" "Golden" "China" "Buddha" "Dragon" etc. Just mix and match the names) because it's not far and because they treat us like kings there. Gives us free food alla time, because of the sheer volume we give them.

I'll go to *any* Mrs. Winners if I want breakfast biscuits (have you tried their new formula cinnamon rolls? OMG!), and if I want coffee, either a Starbucks or a Caribou are both welcome. (Actually one of my favorite Caribous has a Einstein Bros Bagel shop grafted onto it, which means that I can get Einstein Bros plain ol' coffee if I like with my cinnamon-raisin bagel (which I have *no* brand loyalty to, although I do have brand loyalty to cinnamon raisin *bread* - which is to say, I'll only accept Cobblestone Mill's kind, because they are the raisinest!) or I can get Caribou-ness for a real caffienated treat. Or I can get plain ol' coffee and a delicate Caribou-licious strawberry cream-cheese croissant, if I'm feeling delicate and flakey.

Basically, a store can hold onto my business by doing what they do with you, 'song: knowing me, knowing my likes, dislikes, knowing my family. Not in a spooky way, just a nice, friendly way. Yay capitalism. Sorry, I just had to say that.

[voltbang.livejournal.com]

You are always delicate and flakey in my book.

[eudaimonia.livejournal.com]

Ravensbrew coffee. We order it online at make it at home. Yummmm...

http://www.ravensbrew.com/

They have very cool graphics too. Check out the Three Pecker billy Goat variety.

[tikimama.livejournal.com]

Shopping and spending money is the most important political thing you can do! Vote with your dollar!

I'm loyal to Clover-Stornetta Dairy () our local dairy, not only because they have great ads, but because they were awarded the Free Farded award from the Humane Society (the only dairy to be awarded). I also try to buy meat exclusively at our locval market, which uses local and free range meat. Those aren't taste issues so much as political.

Uh, what else? Levi's, Ricola, Doc Martens, Playtex tampons, Mitchum's deodorant...

I prefer Target over K-Mart or Wal-Mart (I only go to Wal-Mart if forced). Target cares about community, the others do not.

[crimmycat.livejournal.com]

I am a poor broke colllege kid. I have survived in chicago on $500 a month, including rent.

That said, I have no brand loyalty. I can't afford to.

The closest thing I guess would be I usually prefer goodwill and salvation army over other thrift stores. They usually have better prices than places where stuff's sold on comission. Of course, for an office attire, the commision shops usually have better stuff. Here, in San Fran, there's a lovely store in the east bay called Thrifttown where I got the latest office wardrobe for $30. I need to stop getting larger.

Oh! I know! I vastly prefer AMD processors to Pentium - I built my 'puter with an AMD Athlon. There - brand loyalty for ya.

[toratigris.livejournal.com]

Horizon Organic dairy products. Cruelty/hormone/antibiotic free eggs and dairy from animals fed only organically grown grass/feed, cheese without rennet, etc. Plus they support care2.com's click-to-donate charity site.

I'm with

, vote with your consumer dollars. :)

[ariadnesthread.livejournal.com]

I used to be loyal to St. Elmo's Coffee Pub for my caffeine consumption. It's a very nifty independent coffeehouse in Alexandria, VA. They have comfy furniture (most of it cast-off living room stuff and what looks like old school tables/chairs), they have live music lots of evenings, they're open till 10 most nights, and the coffee and noshes are good. Downside--flaky staff that doesn't always notice you at the counter (but is nice once you are noticed). It's now waaaaay too far away to be anything but a specific travel destination. Oh, they serve Seattle's Best there.

The local independent coffee place, Lake Anne Coffee House, is nice, has good made-to-order sandwiches, has good coffee, and has a nice outdoor seating area (with a view of the lake). However, it's only open until 8pm, which is usually when I want to START my coffee evenings. Hence, I frequently end up at the Starbucks next door to the B&N. Do you know how dangerous it is to live one mile from a B&N? It's done wonders for my self-discipline. I feel all ascetic-monk-like because I haven't even been in the place in nearly a month!

[skylion.livejournal.com]

reading your lj now. brand loyalty is weird, i would go to the same comic book store forever, and a new one would open up a block away from where i lived. so i had to give it a go. made me feel weird.