A recent survey by Rueters/Ipsos on loyalty found that Americans are more loyal to their favorite soft drink brand than they are to their employer. This can be attributed to the increasing individualistic perception of employment. Employees are seeing their relationship with their employer as transactional – “the company pays me to do a job.” Soft drinks are also a transactional relationship – “customer pays for my product.” It’s seems that soft drink brands are doing something else to build loyalty.

Taste and brand association play a large roll in a customer’s decision to purchase a particular beverage and ultimately their loyalty. Beverage companies, like any business, understand the importance of customer loyalty. These beverage customers are your employees, so what are these companies doing to earn their loyalty?

One way that beverage companies promote loyalty is through rewards. Under the cap contests offer rewards completing desired behavior – purchasing their products. Everyone loves seeing the “buy one get one free” on their bottle cap. For better engagement, brands require the person to take action, like entering a promo code for redeemable points, merchandise, or sweepstakes chances. Redeemable points allow the customer to reward themselves in a way that fits their lifestyle. For example, one beverage company offered free song downloads from iTunes. Of course, iTunes offers a diverse and exhaustive range of music available. The benefit was that the company could engage and stay relevant to a larger audience with diverse musical tastes.

Employers can build employee loyalty and improve engagement by rewarding employees for desired outcomes. A Years of Service recognition program designed to reward specific employment anniversaries places a value on tenure and can reduce turnover. Performance rewards align corporate objectives with the individual objectives of an employee. The employee becomes a stakeholder which improves their engagement. Redeemable performance award point’s platforms give employers flexibility in engaging diverse workforces with rewards that fit their lifestyle.

Don’t discount the marketing value of branded merchandise as rewards. Beverage promotions often include, sometimes exclusively, branded apparel and merchandise for redemptions or giveaways. Merchandise reminds the customer of event and becomes an endorsement of the beverage company. Branded merchandise improves employee loyalty by serving as a reminder of the recognition event while acting as an endorsement of the employer.

To close, another Ipsos study found that less than 30% of employees say that they are loyal to their employers. Even worse, only 25% felt that their employer earned their loyalty. Meanwhile soft drink companies enjoy some of strongest brand loyalty. Rewards and recognition provide that positive experience that builds loyalty.

Of course there are other ways to build loyalty in the workplace. Please discuss below.