Brand Name Loyalty

[The Amish Tyrant]

I'm not particularly loyal to any brand name (except my cigarettes). Generic usually gets the job done for cheaper, allowing me to spend more on vices, projects around the house, or my daughter.

However, my daughter's mother is a name brand junkie who often times buys another product despite already having the generic version at home. Examples include:

Jif peanut butter
Hellmann's mayonnaise
Hidden Valley ranch
Philadelphia cream cheese
Sargento cheese slices

Oddly, she gets generic toilet paper (which doesn't make sense and is the one item I would prefer a brand name, but I digress).

Are you loyal to certain brands? If so, what?

 

[warren]

Deere, Mercedes, Ford, S&W, Nikon, Hasselblad and so forth ad infinitum. And yes Jif, as they seem to be the only provider of a tasty, low sodium peanut butter.

 

[HawkeyeLinus]

Heinz ketchup with no corn syrup
Coca Cola (rare treat anymore)
Iron Bean Coffee (thanks @Streeper541, but I still order some other old favorites)
French’s yellow mustard
Federal pistol ammo
Jeep Wrangler (2 door)
Iowa Hawkeye misc. with the old Flying Herky
Schmelke pool cues
My lovely wife!


Otherwise I’m playing the field!

 

[mso489]

Products you use regularly over years usually reveal distinct or subtle differences that incline one to a specific brand or brands. I prefer Kleenex even when it costs a little more to brands that are either too harsh, as are some generics, or two fluffy or over-scented as are some other name brands. I've owned three different makes of cars, and I can easily rate them overall for my preference; I enjoyed them all, but one brand is definitely more reliable, less prone to warranty repairs, and more durable, so that's fairly definitive.

With food and beverages, it gets into aesthetics and sensory experience, and most people have preferences there. If it just has better taste, texture, etc., you just like it better for your tastes.

I enjoy finding generic items that do as well as the name brand that costs twenty percent more, or two hundred percent more. I don't consider Walmart a bastion of style, but I've bought a few short sleeved shirts there that are 100% cotton or a good wrinkle resistant blend that are better than pricier shirts I've bought elsewhere.

I have distinct ideas about wrist watches, pens, pocket knives, computers, slacks, jeans, TV, washing machines, and many other items.

 

[AJL67]

Apple
Nissan
PAX
Kraft for their shredded cheese, it has a superior melt.
Hebrew National for their hotdogs.

 

[scloyd]

Hebrew National for their hotdogs.

For sure...the best.

 

[cshubhra]

I have my own definitions of quality and value. Once I find something which fits my definition I stay on for sometime, till one of the three events happen.

• I find something better
• The brand drops in quality/value
• My criteria changes

 

[anotherbob]

a few. But it's rare. And it's cases where there is the brand and then the others. My favorite brand of water is tap though, pretty loyal to that one.

 

[canucklehead]

I like Toyotas, I've had 8, one of which had over 600000kms on it (1977 Corolla). In my experience they are much more reliable than any other automotive manufacturer.

I generally don't buy name brand food though,or much processed food at all, it seems like a waste of money to me when I can make or cook it myself, and I was brought up with the belief that wasting money or throwing away useful items is morally reprehensible, as bad as stealing and cheating.

 

[shanez]

I have zero brand name loyalty. Companies have a habit of not being loyal to their customers.

I will, however, pay for quality.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

I have my own definitions of quality and value. Once I find something which fits my definition I stay on for sometime, till one of the three events happen.

• I find something better
• The brand drops in quality/value
• My criteria changes

Ditto

 

[workman]

Convenience is key. Find something good, stick to it.
Find something better, stick to that. Just don't waste your time always searching, because nothing is perfect anyway.

 

[Streeper541]

I'm pretty loyal to Ram trucks (formerly Dodge), Wrangler & Dickies, Iron Bean Coffee, my local butcher, Peterson pipes & SmokingPipes.com. That's about it.

 

[ChonkyTonks]

Backyard Beans Coffee
White's Boots
White2Tea tea

Outside of that, I feel that quality of things wax/wane too much to get a tattoo for a specific brand.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

The only corporations that I’m loyal to are the ones loyal to me… which is absolutely none of them. I mean, I’ll keep buying something that I like for as long as I keep liking it, but I’ll not stick my neck out for a company. If someone else doesn’t like what I like, it’s not my job to twist their arm.

 

[AJL67]

Also this brings up what do you consider loyalty, blindly being their sheep, no, but i listed the brands i trust and use at this point. So the term loyalty is questionable, there’s always going to be a better mousetrap and when i find it I’ll use that.

There are also companies i just won’t support for my own reasons no matter how good their shit is.

 

[sablebrush52]

I'm loyal to value which I equate to performance for price. Any brand that offers value gets my loyalty. Since I do computer graphics that means Apple, Adobe, Eizo, Wacom. My Toyota is 15 years old and still runs great without a lot of expensive maintenance. Brooks Beasts for shoes. Henkels for knives - mine are 50 years old and still going strong - Zwilling for non stick. I like Canon for photography, though if I had limitless pockets I'd probably add Leica.

 

[bullet08]

Honda - Olds broke down every 50 miles after the payment ended, and haven't had American auto since.
Levi's - They still make some pants that fits.
Zippo
Peterson
Pepsi
Bushmills
Guinness
List goes on.. I tried others, and some are OK, but I'm comfortable with them.

Oh! Android. No Apple crap. Both kids switch over to Android after finally understanding freedom to keep your phone way you can configure without having to live with "you don't have to know. It's Apple, must be secure."

 

[username]

Outside of a few Things such as Coca Cola I tend to buy the store brand.

 

[mso489]

I love the old Leica 35mm rangefinder cameras, though I never owned one. Once they got to digital cameras, I think there was a lot of duplication of circuits, and I'm not sure camera brands are distinct anymore. But those old Leica's were solid as a rock and beautifully designed and built. The old celluloid film, especially the b&w like Tri-X, had a visual vibrance that saturated color has never approximated. Images are so computer generated now, the sense of photographic verity is not creditable. Photography used to have the aura of being from life, but now it is from chips, beautiful but conceptual, disengaged.