Customer loyalty can save a company.
When the electric skateboard startup ‘Boosted’ announced it would lay off a significant portion of its employees and started looking for a buyer (in March 2020), it was faced with a pleasant surprise. Skateboard fans and customers immediately flocked to the popular community/news platform website ‘reddit’ the so called ‘front page of the internet’ to have an open discussion here. They offered to help each other out, in regards to any needed repairs of their products, by uploading manuals and knowledge-sharing, in an attempt to cover the void that the closure of their favorite company had left behind.
The case of ‘Boosted’ demonstrates how impactful brand loyalty can become, when it manages to create a community of people - customers who are kept satisfied by the product. They are ready to stick to the product till the very end, even to come together and unite under a common goal: To lengthen the lifespan of their favorite product. In other words, they become the catalyst that protects the company’s legacy. Obviously technology is a catalyst to all this, as platforms such as Reddit or Google Drive make communication and interaction much easier and more direct.
It is worth noting that two weeks ago, the infamous electric scooter sharing company ‘Lime’, bought all of Boosted IP rights. The move comes after a proposed acquisition of the skateboard company by Yamaha fell through earlier this year.
You can read the full article as it was originally published in “The Verge” here:
Boosted board riders turn to each other after the company’s collapse