We see Double Jeopardy everywhere, from the buying of soap to the watching of soap operas. More popular items have higher penetration (more buyers) and slightly higher loyalty metrics (both attitudinal and behavioural). Because Double Jeopardy is so widespread we call it a scientific law. But this isn’t to say we don’t know of a few conditions where the law bends:
- Some brands have restricted distribution. Where they are available they are quite popular, but there are large areas where they unusually lack physical availability for a brand of their popularity. Private labels (retailer’s own brands) are the classic example, because they are only stocked in one retailer’s stores.
- Another example are brands that have unusually high differentiation, such that they completely do not appeal to some category buyers. Pizza with pineapple on it (or anchovies) perhaps? Extremely low quality or super expensive brands may also deviate a little. Or unusually large (or small) pack sizes. But probably the big surprise is that these features cause such small departures from Double Jeopardy.
- A different sort of deviation is known as “change of pace”. Here lots of people buy the brand but repeat-purchase is low. A typical example is seasonal brands (e.g. easter eggs in the chocolate category).