Article at a glance:

• Customer sentiment can shift overnight after negative news, amplified by social media

• Traditional metrics such as brand love do not reliably predict who will stand by you in a crisis

• The Integrated Brand Immunity Process outlines how to build brand immunity in four steps

Brand managers across industries face growing volatility. Socio-political shocks and the speed at which negative information spreads online mean that small triggers can escalate into reputational crises almost overnight.

In this environment, competitive advantage depends not only on generating customer affection, but on building relationships resilient enough to withstand sudden negative information.

The shift: from loyalty to resilience

Traditional metrics such as brand love capture how customers feel about brands, but not how they will react when things go wrong. Conversely, customers with the strongest brand connection often exhibit the most negative reactions.

This is where brand immunity becomes critical, first introduced by research at Imperial Business School in 2023.

Brand immunity refers to a customer’s resistance to changing their perception of a brand when confronted with negative information. Customers with high immunity process bad news more carefully, weighing it against prior experience. In doing so, brand immunity provides a more reliable indicator of how customers will behave under pressure.

Focusing on customers with high brand immunity in crises helps stabilise sentiment and limit the spread of negative narratives.

A four-step process to building brand immunity

The Integrated Brand Immunity Process translates this insight into action in four steps:

Step 1: Prioritising customers

Resources are finite, and brands cannot immunise every customer. The Customer Immunity Management Matrix helps managers prioritise by mapping customers across:

• Value (the impact of losing them); and
• Immunity (their resilience to negative information)

Immunity can be measured through simple survey questions. For example, by asking how customers would respond if they encountered negative information about the brand.

Customer value depends on industry context. It allows managers to focus on protecting revenue, as well as the underlying sources of competitive advantage:

• Economic value (e.g. banking, telecommunications, reflecting stable revenue)
• Psychological value (e.g. luxury, automotive, reflecting a strong brand attachment)
• Social value (e.g. travel, entertainment, where customer advocacy drives growth)
• Innovation value (e.g. technology, wellness, where customers co-create)

Step 2: Understanding the threat

While the Customer Immunity Management Matrix provides a structure for building resilience, its effectiveness depends on understanding the threat. Not all crises are equal. The matrix identifies who to prioritise, but the nature of the threat determines how to respond.

Managers must distinguish between:

• Performance-based threats (e.g. price increases, service disruptions). These require transparency and explanation.
• Value-based threats (e.g. ethical breaches, discrimination). These require accountability, corrective action, and cultural change.

Brand immunity helps buffer moderate negativity, but it cannot replace meaningful action in serious value-based crises.

Step 3: Act on four strategic priorities

Once customers are mapped and the threat is determined, four strategies emerge which should be applied through the filter of the threat.

• Anchor: high value, high immunity customers
  These are your most valuable and committed customers - high spenders and loyal advocates. They should be equipped to defend the brand. In performance-based crises, transparency and data are important. In value-based crises, brands should demonstrate shared values and accountability.
• Fortify: high value, low immunity customers
  This is the highest-risk group. These customers are strategically important but more vulnerable as they lack a strong brand-self connection. Brands should build emotional connection and communicate proactively. In performance-based situations, early warnings and clear explanations are key. In value-based crises, a sincere apology and visible corrective action are essential.
• Leverage: low value, high immunity customers
  These customers may not be high spenders, but they are supportive and stable, often active in reviews, communities, or social media. Brands should amplify their voices to stabilise sentiment and influence others. Their advocacy is particularly valuable when it reinforces credible information.
• Minimise: low value, low immunity customers
  These customers have limited strategic value and are more likely to react negatively or amplify criticism. The priority is to limit exposure and manage communication carefully to contain potential negative spillover.

Step 4: Continuously renew resilience

Customer relationships are dynamic, and immunity can fade over time. Regular reassessment is essential to ensure that the customers who matter most remain resilient.

Brands that succeed in volatile environments are not those that simply build loyalty, but those that prepare their customers before a crisis hits. By identifying and strengthening the customer relationships that matter most, brands can turn volatility into a source of resilience, and ultimately, competitive advantage.