If brand loyalty is a simple concept, achieving it is anything but. It’s a long and careful process for a brand to reach a position where its consuming community always prefers its offer over all others. Brand loyalty is far more easily damaged than built.

And while it’s often expressed by consumers as favoring A over B because A makes better products, it’s never that simple. Like most things in branding, the relationship is more emotional than transactional. It all comes back to the long-established concept of magical thinking, where a consumer makes brand choices not for some inherent quality but because it says something about them, their good taste, and their social standing.

Many moving parts

It doesn’t matter if it’s the coffee you drink, the car you buy, or the projector you prefer: true brand loyalty has many moving parts that all need to work in harmony. With a widening media landscape and the advent of social media influencers, it’s become doubly complex. Full-page ads and prime-time TV slots are no longer enough to win consumers over.

One company that understands this well is European agency, UPPartner. With services that range from live and digital events to communications and visual design through digital to PR and influencer marketing, their skill lies in creating lasting emotional bonds with audiences. And part of that mix, as valuable as any other, is live and digital events. Rui Batista, UPPartner’s Live and Digital Events Director, says their immediacy and immersiveness are unmatched for engaging brands with audiences.

NESCAFÉ Dolce Gusto NEO

We caught up with Rui Batista shortly after Nescafé launched its new NESCAFÉ^® Dolce Gusto^® NEO coffee machine with a live experience that involved artificial intelligence, human avatars, video projection, tasting areas, and exclusive personalized animations. Aided by Christie^® partner ADLC Audiovisuais, Rui says they were involved since the beginning in a process between their team and the Nescafe brand team.

“Because this was not just a presentation in isolation; it was part of an entire experience-driven campaign,” Rui explains. “If you consider social media today and the success of tools like TikTok and Instagram, it’s all about experiences — with consumers showing their interaction with the brand.”

That’s why the event was deliberately designed to be repost friendly, with a 22.5m (74′) wide by 8.20m (27′) long wraparound screen lit by five M 4K25 RGB pure laser projectors, live performances, and auxiliary screens lit by two D13WU2-HS 1DLP laser projectors. As Rui explained, the show had to have a life outside the auditorium because that’s how and where the brand’s community communicates. This experience had to cascade further experiences created by consumers themselves and delivered via social media.

Constant reinforcement

Social media means the bonds between brands and their consumers are probably closer than ever. However, those communities are not fixed and certainly can’t be taken for granted. They require constant reinforcement, and the brand message needs continuous refinement. Live events seed that process like no other means of communication, providing unique experiences for an experience-driven world.