Many companies are jumping on the interactive, consumer-oriented web portal bandwagon. Disney, ever at the forefront of such things, has taken it one step further. It has launched a digital wristband that engages with in-park features and with an online portal. The impetus behind such endeavours is to build brand loyalty by engaging with an audience and bringing customers into brands’ digital communities.

Disney’s existing approach toward brand loyalty focuses on the consumer, not the brand itself, with the objective of personalising the Disney experience based on personal data and preferences.

While companies from Coca Cola to Coats, a textile group have launched web portals for customer use, the Disney MyMagic+ scheme will simultaneously allow Disney to collect personal data about its customers. By tailoring an experience, both in the parks and online, the company hopes to engage visitors more with the Disney brand thereby creating stronger brand loyalty.

Various university studies and other research have found that word-of-mouth to be lacking as a component of brand loyalty but that community building, particularly online, creates loyal brand followers out of consumers. Some companies have created gamified rewards-based systems while others rely on social media. Either way, marketers agree that understanding the customer and its needs are key to building brand loyalty. If nothing else, it will be easier for visitors to buy a burger at Disneyland.

To read more about brand loyalty, see the following links:

http://www.communicatemagazine.co.uk/news/4281-media-agency-develops-gamified-operating-system

http://www.communicatemagazine.co.uk/news/4335-terms-not-taxes-enrage-consumers-this-week

http://www.communicatemagazine.co.uk/news/4299-brand-loyalty-relies-on-customer-service