The Two Battles
One earns the choice. The other earns the loyalty.
Every organization fights two battles. One earns the choice. The other earns the loyalty.
Most organizations believe they are fighting one battle. They are fighting two, and the second is usually the one they neglect.
The first battle earns the choice. Positioning and differentiation make a customer pick you over the alternatives. Win it and you are relevant. Lose it and nothing else matters, because no one is paying attention.
The second battle earns the loyalty. Identity, aspiration and affiliation make leaving feel like giving something up. Win it and you are resonant. This is the battle marketing tends to skip, because it cannot be bought with a campaign.
Relevance gets the customer. Resonance keeps them.
Most spend everything on the first battle and wonder why retention is so hard. The strongest organizations fight both deliberately, and the two compound.