Let's Talk Loyalty

Australia is a fascinating loyalty market led by two dominant airlines who have successfully built partner networks to make it incredibly easy for Australian consumers to earn points across all parts of their household spend.

Someone who feels passionately about the extraordinary experience of "flying flat" is Steve Hui, who has built a brand and a business advising Australian consumers how to do exactly that.

In this episode, Steve says that earning loyalty points is easy but redeeming them is not. He shares his top tips and ideas for loyalty professionals to drive points redemption - including ideas to support education, inspiration and consumer engagement.

Show Notes:

Steve Hui, CEO, I Fly Flat

"Very Me Rewards" was launched by one of the UK's top telecommunications companies in 2018, as a non-points-based programme, instead leveraging partnerships and "share-able" rewards, to create an award-winning customer loyalty proposition.

Listen to discover how Vodafone's "Very Me Rewards" is building loyalty in this ultra-competitive sector in the UK.

Show Notes:

1) Let's Talk Loyalty Episode 55 - Vodafone UK's Very Me Rewards Programme

Cristina Ziliani is the Professor of Loyalty Marketing and CRM at the University of Parma, Italy, where she has been leading the "Loyalty Observatory" for an incredible 20 years.

In this episode, she shares the work they do there for the Italian loyalty community, which includes loyalty research, consulting and education across the entire field of loyalty, CRM, CX, and analytics.

If you're interested in loyalty in Italy, this is the episode for you!

Show Notes:

1) Cristina Ziliani - Professor of Marketing and Head of the Loyalty Observatory at the University of Parma

2) The Loyalty Observatory

3) The Loyalty Observatory Report on Italy

Today's episode features what I learned from my episode with Margaret Molloy, a globally-recognised marketing thought leader, and someone who advocates simplicity as a key principle for brands.

We discussed "simplicity" and how it drives business value and customer loyalty, so I captured the key points of our discussion in this short summary show.

Listen to this episode of Let's Talk Loyalty to understand simplicity as an increasingly powerful, yet underestimated factor that drives loyalty in every business.

Show Notes:

1) Episode #54: The Role of Simplicity in Driving Customer Loyalty

Panera Bread is a US bakery chain of over 2,000 cafes and it operates one of the restaurant industry's largest loyalty programmes.

In early 2020, it dramatically changed the loyalty industry with a disruptive subscription proposition, offering unlimited coffee for just $8.99 a month.

Guided by a clear insight on customer needs from it's member base, it has earned respect around the world for creating a whole new business model, leveraging the power of subscription psychology to delight its members.

In this fascinating discussion, I'm joined by Meenakshi Nagarajan, SVP, Recurring Revenue and Loyalty at Panera Bread, who shares some of the challenges that they overcame to create this incredible success story, as well as its latest strategy - partnering with other like-minded brands to drive further disruption and ultimately, extraordinary growth from this paid loyalty proposition.

1) Meenakshi Nagarajan, SVP, Recurring Revenue and Loyalty at Panera Bread

2) Panera Bread Subscription Loyalty - Press Release - February 2020

3) Panera Bread

As one of the world's largest retailers, Shell is a well-known for its fuel stations and increasingly its convenience stores around the world, and it operates loyalty programmes in twenty-one of the countries it trades in.

With this global perspective, it was fascinating to chat with Pavel Los, Shell's Global Loyalty Manager about their latest launch in the UK market - a points-free programme called Go+, as well as their strategy in China and his view on loyalty coalitions.

This short show summarises everything I learnt from this episode of Let's Talk Loyalty.

Show Notes:

1) Pavel Los - Global Loyalty Manager Shell

2) Shell Go+ - Shell's UK Loyalty Programme

3) Shell Clubsmart - China

4) Let's Talk Loyalty Episode 53 - Interview with Pavel Los, Shell

As the creator of the “net promoter system”, Fred Reichheld is a true legend in the loyalty industry.

His career spans 44 years as a consultant, author of four best-selling books and an internationally-renowned speaker on loyalty, and currently a Fellow with Bain & Co.

He joins me today to introduce his latest book called “Winning On Purpose – The Unbeatable Strategy of Loving Customers” – which features some profound new ideas on the very fundamentals of how we do business.

He challenges the dominant corporate approach based on greed, and shares powerful evidence of how NPS leaders in every category, consistently earn superior profits.

This book also introduces his new framework, which he describes as the accounting-based twin for net promoter score – called “earned growth rate” – which is set to become another industry standard and framework for excellence.

In my view, Fred’s work and this latest book are deeply important to us as loyalty professionals, business practitioners and human beings living “on purpose”.

1) Fred Reichheld – Bain Fellow, Author/Speaker on Loyalty, Creator of the Net Promoter System

2) Bain & Company

3) NPS Prism

4) Winning on Purpose on Amazon – The Unbeatable Strategy of Loving Customers

Dr Chris Arnold is a marketing strategist and a "proudly dyslexic" champion of thinking differently.

With a deeply held belief in the power of community to connect us to each other, Dr Chris highlights the challenges of relying on social media and measurable marketing, rather than focusing on building a truly customer-centric business.

Dr Chris believes that connecting our loyal customers with *each other* creates greater loyalty for our brands and businesses.

Show Notes:

1) Let's Talk Loyalty Episode #52: Connecting with Community for Local Loyalty - with Dr Chris Arnold

2) Dr Chris Arnold

Dr Chris Arnold is a marketing strategist and a "proudly dyslexic" champion of thinking differently.

With a deeply held belief in the power of community to connect us to each other, Dr Chris highlights the challenges of relying on social media and measurable marketing, rather than focusing on building a truly customer-centric business.

Dr Chris believes that connecting our loyal customers with *each other* creates greater loyalty for our brands and businesses.

Show Notes:

1) Let's Talk Loyalty Episode #52: Connecting with Community for Local Loyalty - with Dr Chris Arnold

2) Dr Chris Arnold 

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This episode is sponsored by Phaedon.

Visit their website to learn more about how they're powering the world's most beloved loyalty programs at www.wearephaedon.com

As 2021 comes to a close, we reflect on the key consumer trends that arose in loyalty in 2021 and discuss insights and predictions for loyalty professionals in 2022.

With examples and case studies that include Dunkin (formerly Dunkin Donuts), Dell, Carters and Duolingo, I"m joined by Epsilon's Vice President of Loyalty Strategy Brad Macdonald, who shares the importance of human connection in the context of digital transformation.

Brad also shares the ever-increasing focus on having a loyalty "mindset", and his views on what's working - and what's not - for loyalty professionals.

This episode is sponsored by Epsilon.

Show Notes:

1) Brad Macdonald - Vice President of Loyalty Strategy @ Epsilon

3) Dunkin'

4) Carter's

5) Duolingo

6) Epsilon