Let's Talk Loyalty

In this short summary show, I look back on my 2020 interview with Paul Smitton, CEO of Asia Miles with Cathay Pacific Airways.

Paul shared Cathay Pacific Airways innovative ways of retaining and engaging customers and some of the latest ideas and enhancements of their impressive Asia Miles program.

Show Notes:

1) Episode #65: Paul Smitton talks Asia Miles, Innovative Ideas in Airline Loyalty and Preparing for Travel's Inevitable Rebound

2) Paul Smitton, Director Customer – Lifestyle at Cathay Pacific Airways

3) Cathay Pacific Airways

4) Episode #189: Cathay Pacific Airways Launches Lifestyle & Wellness Innovations

Being a professional loyalty professional can be a lonely job in a big corporation, but by growing our network and community through thought leadership and idea sharing, we can all grow together.

In this episode, we are getting to know our newest show partner, The Loyalty People's Managing Director Tom Peace, who will collaborate with us on regular interviews going forward.

The Loyalty People is a global strategic consultancy with a laser focus on loyalty and CRM, producing brilliant award-winning programmes. As a result of our new collaboration, we'll hear from many of their successful clients in the coming year!

Show Notes:

1) Tom Peace, Managing Director, The Loyalty People

2) The Loyalty People website

Let's Talk Loyalty is growing in 2022 and I wanted to share a quick update with you about our newest partner which includes more fascinating interviews with loyalty experts around the world.

Thank you for supporting our show and hope you will enjoy all that we have in store for you this year!

As always, please send me feedback and guest and topic ideas to [email protected] and don't forget to subscribe for updates when each new episode releases.

In this short summary show, I look back on an interview with Assistant Professor of Marketing at Emory University, Dan McCarthy, about key marketing topics that loyalty marketers love, such as measuring the lifetime value of customers and predicting future spend.

In that interview, we also talked about his exciting new tool for investors and leadership teams - called Customer-Based Corporate Valuation.

This innovative framework offers a comprehensive approach to connecting the loyal behaviour of customers with the overall valuation of the firm! A huge leap forward for our industry.

Professor McCathy also shared his insights on the Pareto Principle as well as the consumer behaviour changes he saw emerging as a result of the pandemic.

Show Notes:

1) Episode #64: Customer Based Corporate Valuation - Daniel McCarthy of Emory University

2) Daniel McCarthy is the assistant professor of marketing of Emory University

3) Article: How to Value a Company by Analyzing Its Customers, Harvard Business Review

Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific Airways recently celebrated 75 years of flying, and in this episode, we hear about their latest innovations from Paul Smitton, Director of Customer - Lifestyle at Cathay Pacific Airways.

Paul explains Cathay's new brand positioning, as well as its newly-launched lifestyle proposition and insurance product, which focuses on total wellness, rewarding its members with air miles for setting and achieving health and nutrition goals.

Along with merging their two loyalty programmes in to one, Cathay is also exploring innovative new ways to engage with fliers and members through WhatsApp, virtual reality and social channels.

Cathay is an increasingly innovative brand, with plenty of insights to inspire ideas for you too!

Show Notes:

1) Cathay Pacific rewards programme

2) Paul Smitton, Director Customer - Lifestyle at Cathay Pacific Airways

3) CORRECTION: Within the episode, Paul mentions ‘HKSARG’ as ‘semi-autonomous region’, and it should have been referenced as ‘special administrative region’.

In this short summary episode, I am looking back on an interview with George Mendes, Chief Officer Consumer Business with Vodacom in South Africa.

Launched in mid-2020, I spoke with George just a few months after the launch of VodaBucks, a programme that researched the best loyalty concepts from around the world in order to develop a winning strategy.

The programme includes impressive partnerships with a portfolio of brands across the country, using gamification to engage customers in a very economically diverse country.

Show Notes:

1) Episode #63: Vodacom South Africa Launches Vodabucks

2) Jorge Mendes - Chief Officer: Consumer Business, Vodacom Group Exco Member

3) Vodacom

4) VodaBucks loyalty

Microsoft is one of the world’s most successful companies in technology, entertainment and in recent years, a leading platform in gaming.

This week's episode of "Let's Talk Loyalty" features Adam Grupp, Director of Microsoft Rewards, who leads the company’s loyalty proposition.

Microsoft Rewards engages members for gaming online, through Xbox as well as its Bing search site, where users earn rewards that can be redeemed for in-game activities, passes and charitable contributions.

Hear how Microsoft Rewards thinks about loyalty and Adam's insights on key future trends for loyalty professionals to consider.

Show Notes:

1) Adam Grupp, Director of Microsoft Rewards, Microsoft

2) Microsoft Rewards

In this short summary episode, I am looking back on a fascinating episode I conducted with Jonathan Hopkins of Sonder Media, all about the revenue potential for loyalty programmes to leverage some of their customer relationships and permissions as media channels.

From American Express to Virgin Australia, I learned about some of the incredible work that is being done to unlock the billions of dollars of media value that is often left untapped.

If you are not yet aware of the inherent media value within your loyalty programme, this episode will share insights on how these assets can be used for commercial gain.

Show Notes:

1) Episode #62: The Value of Loyalty Members as a Media Asset

2) Jonathan Hopkins, Founding Partner, Sonder

3) SonderMedia.com

Points for Good is a programme partner for brand loyalty programmes that allow customers to donate reward points toward a social purpose. Started in India as Points for People and expanding globally, in this episode we learned about the drivers behind this impactful programme from Brian Almeida, Founder of Points for Good.

Brands have long partnered with charities, but keeping the relationship successful long-term can be a labor-intensive task. This programme offers connections to more than 14 global charities helping children, animals, the environment and more. With more than 1,000 corporate users, Points for Good, along with brand partners and users, is making a positive difference in the world.

With a flexible platform that allows brands to customize the points structure and the charities offered, Points for Good is a great choice for loyalty managers with proven experience that satisfies an emotional loyalty connection with customers.

Show Notes:

1) Brian Almedia, Founder, Points for Good

2) Points for Good website

Yuu Rewards is the first coalition loyalty program ever launched in Hong Kong and we had the opportunity to speak with Chief Operating Officer and loyalty expert, Mark Sage, about the amazing success of the program.

In this short summary episode, we look back on lessons learned when launching this massive program in a very short time in the middle of a global pandemic.

Show Notes:

1) Mark Sage, Chief Operating Officer, Yuu Rewards

2) Yuu Rewards