Brand loyalty was put to the test during the recession. Tough economic times encouraged austere shopping as consumers sought out the cheapest deals. Changes in consumer behaviour and spending made it essential for marketers to alter their strategies in order to retain customers who might otherwise defect to a cheaper competitor.

The most successful firms not only prepared themselves to survive the recession but are also making sure they are well equipped to compete as the UK economy recovers. How have they achieved this?

1) Investment in existing loyalty schemes
One way that marketers have been able retain customers, while using their budgets wisely, is to make use of existing loyalty programmes and customer data to better understand their customers' needs and shopping habits during the turbulent financial period. Moreover, it means companies are in a better position to develop strategies for retention now that the economy is tentatively starting to recover and consumers consider returning to their normal stores, brands or service providers.

2) Investment in new loyalty schemes
Despite squeezed marketing budgets, some firms actually launched loyalty schemes at the height of the recession. HMV, CDWow and Play.com all launched loyalty programmes and Tesco relaunched its Clubcard scheme. Various towns across the country, including Ringwood in Hampshire, Newquay in Cornwall and Ilkley in Yorkshire, launched community-wide loyalty schemes in a bid to prevent high street closures. And, in the B2B industry, outdoor advertising solutions specialist CBS Outdoor launched the first loyalty scheme in the sector.

Those that don't have a loyalty scheme yet would be wise to think about setting one up now in order to help them retain customers won during the recession. Existing customers must always come first but if they don't drop the ball when it comes to retention then investment in a loyalty scheme will actually help when it comes to prospecting by informing new business campaigns and helping them to target more effectively.

3) Investment in database marketing
Loyalty schemes are part of a greater retention strategy, which attempts to keep customers while moving them up the value chain. This is all part of a mechanism called database marketing. Many businesses that do not operate a loyalty scheme still carry out database marketing activities, which can involve: one-to-one communications, direct marketing, targeted promotions, customer insight, channel selection, personalisation and the use of transactional and lifestyle data.

Many businesses became reliant on database marketing activity through the recession and believed that being able to communicate methodically with a database of customers helped them weather the recession. Companies should certainly not take their eye of the ball as the economy recovers - good practice during the recession should not be abandoned simply because economic prospects are improving.

4) Integrate loyalty with other marketing activities
Integrating loyalty activities with all other marketing activities a business can ensure consistency of message and the complementary use of different channels to maximise impact on the customer. If marketing activities are being carried out independently of one another there is a real danger that a business will find it very difficult to communicate effectively with their customers through a consistent and coordinated approach that strikes the right tone and achieves satisfactory ROI.

Despite the high level of importance given to loyalty schemes, recent research by our company showed a lack of commitment towards the integration of loyalty schemes with other marketing activities. Overall 50% of marketing decision makers said they did not believe that the vast majority of loyalty schemes were fully integrated with other marketing activities. This could be problematic during the recovery as companies that fail to integrate marketing activities - especially when it comes to existing customers - risk being inefficient in their communications to customers and hurting the potential ROI of their campaigns. Nevertheless, our research shows that some businesses have clearly positioned themselves to come out of the recession with a strong, integrated approach to marketing.

The test will come for businesses that have survived the recession without seeing the need to invest in loyalty or database marketing or integrate their marketing activities, These firms are going to have a tough time competing with those that prepared themselves for the good times as well as weathering the bad.

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