Because believe it or not, there are brands out there that’ve managed to build real, emotional, durable loyalty. Not because they bribed people.
Brands That Actually Earn Loyalty (Without the Gimmicks)
Here’s an update, sports fans: when last you read me, I was hiding out in a bunker of Chinese take-out boxes, trying to avoid an angry dumpling salesman. My ties to dumplings brought me into a roving fan-tan game, where I now owe a blind man some fifty thousand Yuan, and I cannot escape this game until I pay him.
I attempted the classic “Hey, what’s that over there?” routine, hoping to make a quick getaway. Unfortunately, being blind, he didn’t really care for what was over there. So, here I sit in my makeshift cell—which, to be clear, is just a chalk line on the floor that I’ve been told not to cross under threat of having my liver eaten out by dragon mice. Also, my thumbs will allegedly be removed and replaced with asparagus plants.
I have no reason to doubt these fine fellows.
And so, while I await my release, I figure there’s no better time to move on to Part 4 of this series.
Because believe it or not, there are brands out there that’ve managed to build real, emotional, durable loyalty. Not because they bribed people. Not because they shouted the loudest. But because they did the hard thing: they showed up consistently, honestly, and in a way that made people want to stick around.
In this installment, we’re looking at the loyalty unicorns. The brands that make people say, “Yeah, I know there are other options… but I like these guys.” The ones who’ve cracked the code by focusing less on gimmicks and more on giving people a reason to care.
Let’s meet the ones who are getting it right.
What Sets These Brands Apart
Loyalty is tricky. We’ve spent the last three posts picking apart what doesn’t work—fake transparency, shallow perks, and points programs that feel like they were designed by a bored accountant. So when a brand actually earns loyalty—real loyalty—it’s not just refreshing. It feels borderline mythical.
But it’s not magic. These brands aren’t casting spells. They’re just doing things most others aren’t willing to do.
The brands that inspire deep, lasting loyalty don’t chase trends or trick customers into sticking around. They focus on four things that are deceptively simple:
Clarity of purpose – These brands know why they exist—and it’s not just to sell stuff. There’s a throughline, a reason for being, that shows up in everything they do. That purpose might be bold and world-changing (like Patagonia’s environmental mission), or it might be playful and irreverent (like Liquid Death’s mission to make water funnier than soda). But it’s there. And that “why” gives customers something to latch onto—something to believe in, align with, or simply enjoy being part of. People don’t stick with brands because they offer the cheapest product. They stick with brands that feel like they stand for something—even if that something is just “we see the world the same weird way you do.”
Consistency in delivery – They don’t just make a great first impression. They show up again and again, with the same energy, same quality, and same weird voice (looking at you, Liquid Death). People know what to expect—and that predictability builds comfort.
Emotional relevance – They connect on a human level. They don’t talk at customers; they talk with them. They understand the role they play in a customer’s life—and they lean into it, with humor, heart, or just a little humility.
Cultural presence – These brands are more than companies. They become part of a customer’s world. People wear the merch. They post the memes. They send the email screenshots to friends. The brand becomes shorthand for identity, for belonging, for taste.
None of this is new, exactly. But it’s rare. Because it takes time, patience, and the willingness to be authentic even when no one’s watching.
These brands didn’t earn loyalty by asking for it. They earned it by being something worth coming back to.
The Loyalty Equation
Loyalty isn’t luck. And it’s not just about quality, either—there are plenty of great products that inspire zero emotional investment. The real magic happens when a few key ingredients come together to create something bigger than the product itself.
If we had to boil it down to a formula (and we’re going to, because formulas make things feel very official), it might look something like this:
Clarity of purpose + consistency of delivery + emotional relevance + cultural presence = brand loyalty
This isn’t a one-time checklist. It’s an ecosystem. Each piece reinforces the others, and when they’re all working together, customers don’t just buy—they belong.
Here’s how it plays out:
A brand knows why it exists and communicates that clearly (clarity of purpose). It consistently follows through on that purpose, whether through product, service, or experience (consistency). It connects with people on a personal or emotional level, tapping into identity, humor, nostalgia, or values (emotional relevance). And finally, it becomes part of culture—something people reference, wear, share, or just feel good being seen using (cultural presence).
The brands that earn loyalty don’t force it. They make it easy to feel. They create a rhythm of trust, recognition, and emotional payoff. It’s not always loud. It’s not always flashy. But it’s always there.
That’s the equation. And while it might not fit neatly into a campaign slogan, it’s a far more reliable blueprint than hoping a double-points weekend will make people fall in love.
The MVPs of Loyalty
Let’s give it up for the brands that actually get it right. The ones people stick with not because they have to, but because they want to. These brands don’t rely on tricks, traps, or tiered memberships. They create experiences, communities, and emotional connections strong enough to keep people coming back—even when cheaper, faster, or shinier options are available.
Trader Joe’s – No loyalty program. No flashy app. No algorithm tracking your frozen gyoza habits. Just a consistently great in-store experience, helpful employees, quirky product names, and an unspoken promise that shopping there will never feel like a chore. Trader Joe’s earns loyalty the old-school way: by being pleasant. And in a world where most grocery trips feel like a speed run through late capitalism, that’s saying something.
Glossier (in its early years) – Glossier didn’t just build a customer base. It built a club. The brand’s earliest fans felt like insiders, not buyers—invited to help shape the product line, share their own photos, and weigh in on what came next. It was a brand that listened and reflected its audience, not one that just marketed to them. That sense of community built fierce loyalty—one that stuck even when competitors rolled out similar products.
LEGO – Here’s a brand that’s been around forever, but still manages to build deep loyalty across generations. The bricks haven’t changed much, but the storytelling has evolved with its fans—from Star Wars sets to sophisticated adult models. LEGO isn’t just selling toys. It’s selling nostalgia, creativity, and the quiet joy of clicking pieces together in a world that rarely makes sense. That’s emotional relevance with staying power.
Liquid Death – A can of water. Just water. But wrapped in the energy of a punk rock energy drink and the ethos of a metal band on a mission to kill plastic pollution. Liquid Death didn’t ask people to care—it made itself impossible to ignore. And through consistent voice, aggressive branding, and surprisingly strong ethics, it built a following that loves it. Not because of what it sells, but because of what it represents: boldness, absurdity, and a deep disdain for bland marketing.
Spotify – There are plenty of music streaming services, but none that build personal connection quite like Spotify. Wrapped, Discover Weekly, your oddly specific mood playlists—it all feels curated by someone who knows you. The brand doesn’t just give you access to music; it gives you stories about your relationship with music. That data-driven intimacy, when done right, creates a subtle kind of loyalty: you stay because no one else gets you like this.
Each of these brands took a different route to loyalty, but the common thread is clear: they didn’t chase customers. They became something customers wanted to be part of.
Common Denominator: They Don’t Chase Loyalty
There’s something wonderfully un-needy about the brands that earn real loyalty. They don’t beg. They don’t bribe. They don’t follow you around the internet whispering “Still thinking about that hoodie?” like a desperate ex.
They just... exist. Confidently. Consistently. Authentically.
None of the brands we just looked at are forcing themselves into your inbox with emotionally manipulative subject lines. They’re not spinning every product launch into a "movement." They’re not latching onto the trend of the week to stay relevant. What they’re doing is showing up for their customers—again and again—in a way that feels natural, reliable, and clear.
They don’t chase loyalty because loyalty isn’t their endgame. Value is. Identity is. Experience is. Loyalty just happens to be what grows out of doing those things well.
And that’s a mindset shift a lot of brands haven’t made. When you chase loyalty directly—when your goal is to “increase retention” or “build stickiness”—you end up designing experiences that try to trap people. You build ecosystems that are hard to leave instead of building relationships that people want to stay in. It’s the difference between building a nice house and building a nice cage.
The brands we admire don’t try to hold their customers hostage. They create something so good, people just don’t want to leave.
Why This Works
There’s a reason some brands feel like they’re part of your identity, while others barely register as more than a line item on your credit card. It’s not just good design or clever copy (though those help). It’s about tapping into something deeper: the human need to feel seen, understood, and connected.
People don’t form brand loyalty because they like being marketed to. They form loyalty when a brand earns a small—but meaningful—emotional foothold in their life. That might be trust. It might be joy. It might be convenience. It might even be a sense of belonging to a slightly weird club that drinks water out of tallboy cans and pretends it’s hardcore.
Here’s the thing: we live in a world full of choices. Infinite tabs. Endless scrolls. Constant comparison. And in that chaos, a brand that can consistently make someone feel a certain way—safe, happy, cool, validated, entertained—wins. Not by shouting louder, but by resonating.
These brands don’t create loyalty by demanding it. They create it by meeting emotional needs. They show up the way a good friend does: consistently, without drama, and with just enough personality to keep things interesting.
There’s psychology at play here. People are wired to seek comfort, familiarity, and meaning. The brands that deliver those things—over time, in their own authentic way—earn something far better than attention. They earn trust. And trust, as we’ve said before, is the foundation of real loyalty.
Not fear of missing out. Not fear of losing points. Not algorithmically-induced urgency.
Trust.
And that trust creates a kind of gravitational pull. Customers stop shopping around not because they can’t, but because they don’t need to. They’ve found their thing. Their people. Their brand.
And that’s when loyalty becomes real.
Summing Up
Here’s the real secret to brand loyalty: the best brands aren’t chasing it. They’re not building traps. They’re not bribing people to stick around. They’re just doing something worth sticking with.
The brands we admire—the ones people talk about, wear, recommend, and defend—aren’t perfect. But they’re consistent. They know who they are. They show up with clarity, relevance, and just the right amount of weirdness or warmth. And because of that, they earn something rare: voluntary loyalty.
It’s not transactional. It’s emotional. It’s not about perks. It’s about presence.
So no, you don’t need a loyalty program to build loyalty. You need a pulse. A point of view. And the discipline to follow through on what you say you stand for, again and again, until people believe you—and keep believing you.
The brands that win loyalty aren’t the ones trying to keep customers. They’re the ones giving customers something to come back to.
Up Next
In Part 5—the final chapter of The Loyalty Problem: Why Brands Can’t Keep Friends—we’ll zoom out and ask the big question: is long-term loyalty even possible anymore?
We’ll look at micro-loyalties, brand fatigue, and whether modern customers are even interested in sticking with anyone for the long haul—or if we’ve all just become serial monogamists with our carts.
Stay tuned.
