Strong Ties, Weak Ties on Clothing Brand
There are so many clothing brands and incentives within each brand, it’s so difficult to attract new customers. Many stores have loyalty programs in order to retain loyal customers as well as attract new customers. However, it seems as though most programs are similar in simply giving out rewards within their stores. This only builds a network between that one brand and the customer. However, the Banana Republic Credit Card works differently that utilizes both strong and weak ties with customers and the brand.
Under the same main company, Gap Inc., Banana Republic, Gap, Old Navy, and Athleta are within the same cluster/ group. In terms of a friend group, the credit card acts as strong ties and weak ties for brands and customers. Let’s say a customer has been an active customer at Banana Republic. Getting this credit card that also has weak ties to the other 3 stores will create a strong tie for Banana Republic and the customer, which in this case is a loyal customer. A strong tie represents a strong bond, loyalty, to a customer and brand while a weak tie is the opposite. Automatically having this tie with the credit card leads to so many other incentives that a customer can gain with 3 other brands. Even if they aren’t “friends”/ loyal, the customer is bound to at some point become a weak tie or possibly even a strong tie with these other brands besides Banana Republic because of the incentives they receive simply through the credit card.
In this case, there is no reason for this loyal customer to Banana Republic to not use this credit card to gain weak ties. There are so many perks and benefits that this customer can receive that they might not know of until they need a certain item from one of the 3 other stores. As Mark Granovetter stated of the strength of weak ties, you never know when a simple tie/ acquaintance will come in handy. The credit card thus acts as a local bridge between these 4 different brands. Through one credit card, Gap Inc will be able to gain strong and weak ties between loyal customers of either 4 of their stores.
https://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/012815/banana-republic-credit-cards-benefits-rewards.asp