What a 90s Toy Taught Me About 2025 Brand Loyalty
Let me take you back to 1997. I’m in the backseat of my mum’s Honda, clutching a Tamagotchi. That pixelated egg blob was fed more than I was. I remember being irrationally loyal to it. I feared for its digital life. And yes, it died often. Fast-forward to 2025, and here's the question: where did that kind of brand loyalty go?
We like to say brand loyalty is dead. But it’s not. It’s evolved. It’s mood-based now. Emotional fidelity without the long-term baggage. You’re only as good as your last dopamine hit. For marketers, that means your audience doesn’t need you to be perfect. They need you to be comforting, consistent, and occasionally delightful. Basically, be their Tamagotchi.
Here’s the kicker: we’ve overcorrected into hyper-personalisation. We buried charm in data. Brands that once made us feel something now algorithmically guess what we want, then fill the feed with beige. But look at brands like Whittaker’s or even local underdogs like Me Today—there’s a warmth, an identity you recognise in the dark. Not just smart targeting. A vibe. A tone. Something memorably human.
The brands that win in 2025 aren't the most visible or the ones buying the most space. They’re the ones that feel like your Tamagotchi at 3pm on a rainy Tuesday. Small moments, big care. So maybe it’s not that loyalty is dying. It’s just finally growing up. Kinda like us.
We like to say brand loyalty is dead. But it’s not. It’s evolved. It’s mood-based now. Emotional fidelity without the long-term baggage. You’re only as good as your last dopamine hit. For marketers, that means your audience doesn’t need you to be perfect. They need you to be comforting, consistent, and occasionally delightful. Basically, be their Tamagotchi.
Here’s the kicker: we’ve overcorrected into hyper-personalisation. We buried charm in data. Brands that once made us feel something now algorithmically guess what we want, then fill the feed with beige. But look at brands like Whittaker’s or even local underdogs like Me Today—there’s a warmth, an identity you recognise in the dark. Not just smart targeting. A vibe. A tone. Something memorably human.
The brands that win in 2025 aren't the most visible or the ones buying the most space. They’re the ones that feel like your Tamagotchi at 3pm on a rainy Tuesday. Small moments, big care. So maybe it’s not that loyalty is dying. It’s just finally growing up. Kinda like us.