At the 2025 Brand Experience Summit organized by the Experiential Marketers Association of Nigeria (EXMAN), Professor Uchenna Uzo of Lagos Business School presented groundbreaking insights into the rapidly evolving behavior of today’s consumer. Speaking under the summit’s theme, “Personalization at Scale: From Insights to Impact in a Data-Driven Immersive World,” Professor Uzo revealed that brand loyalty is becoming increasingly fragile in both global and local markets.
According to research shared at the summit, consumer disloyalty is accelerating at an alarming rate. In 2025, five out of every ten customers around the world are switching brands more frequently, while in Nigeria, the figure jumps to seven in ten. The forecast is even more concerning, by 2030, brand-switching is projected to rise to 6.5 out of ten globally, and eight out of ten in Nigeria. While economic pressures like inflation may partially explain this trend, Uzo emphasized that the root causes run deeper and require a more strategic, insight-driven response from brands.
The study uncovered a layered understanding of loyalty, showing that what many brands perceive as loyal behavior is often tied to incentives or temporary engagement. Most Nigerian consumers are either motivated by promos or switch between competing brands based on convenience and offers. Only a small fraction of 5% are truly loyal, actively and consistently choosing a single brand over others. In this environment, loyalty must be earned and constantly nurtured through meaningful brand experiences.
Professor Uzo emphasized the central role of experiential marketing in creating and sustaining brand loyalty. He explained that the consumer experience at the point of sale has become one of the most important drivers of loyalty. When brands invest in immersive, human-centered experiences, consumers are more likely to engage, purchase, and return. Data from the research showed that for every 1% increase in experiential marketing investment, there is a corresponding 0.532% growth in brand loyalty, while 82.1% of consumers exposed to brand activations go on to make purchases. Purchase rates also improve, by nearly 0.5% for every 1% rise in experiential spend, proving that experiential marketing doesn’t just create awareness, it moves people to action.
“Experiential marketing doesn’t stop after the campaign. We need to monitor how that experience travels through the consumer journey, before, during, and after purchase,” Uzo said.
However, Uzo warned of a loyalty gap that emerges after brand activations. While agencies may deliver standout experiences during campaign days, the follow-up from brands is often lacking. Many customers return to find that the product or service experience fails to match the expectations created during activations.
This disconnect breaks trust and weakens loyalty. The real challenge, Uzo noted, is ensuring that the customer journey remains seamless and rewarding before, during, and after activation.
He further pointed out that artificial intelligence is being adopted in silos across the industry. Brands, agencies, and even end users are engaging with AI in ways that are often uncoordinated. To unlock AI’s full potential in experiential marketing, collaboration across the ecosystem is essential. Teams must integrate their efforts, align on objectives, and communicate clearly to achieve shared outcomes.
In his concluding remarks, Professor Uzo made a compelling case for shifting the industry’s focus from impressions to attention. Loyalty, he argued, must become a core business objective, planned, measured, and cultivated. As consumers demand more relevance, personalization, and connection, the brands that will thrive are those that understand experience as the new currency of loyalty.
