Let's Talk Loyalty

Dell is one of the world's best known computer companies, with a laser focus on driving clear and measurable business outcomes through its loyalty initiatives.

In this short summary of my interview with Dell's Mitch Kennedy, I'm summarising the insights he shared on the impact of transactional rewards and the power of gamification, as well as the importance of understanding human psychology in order to drive customer loyalty.

Show Notes:

1) #46: Dell's Global Loyalty Lead - Exploring Gamification

2) Mitch Kennedy, Global Loyalty Strategy Lead, Dell

As a leading loyalty expert in New Zealand Phil Devlin has a fascinating career spanning Air New Zealand, Qantas, Countdown Supermarkets and even some work supporting high performance sports along the way!

Boasting exceptional engagement with over 95% of Kiwi consumers enrolled in at least one programme, New Zealand is a small country punching way above its weight in the loyalty industry, due in no small part to the compelling loyalty programmes that Phil and his colleagues built.

Listen to this episode to hear the incredible breadth of partnerships Phil led for Air New Zealand, which included the real estate sector, luxury cars and even white goods, transforming the airlines loyalty programme in to a powerful currency capable of driving cash flow to the airline between flights and becoming part of kiwi consumers lives.

Across his entire loyalty career, Phil has created clear and compelling loyalty concepts both independently and with key partners, with a focus on simplicity, transparency and integrity, so listen to learn his latest ideas on what's important to consumers in 2021 and beyond.

Show Notes:

1) Phil Devlin, Strategic Partnerships

2) Countdown New Zealand

3) Simon Rowles

This episode features insights from a truly "global voice of loyalty".

Based in India, Kunal Mohiuddin, joined me and shared lessons learned from over two decades in the loyalty industry.

This show is my review and summary of the key things I learned from my interview with Kunal.

This loyalty entrepreneur has developed several innovative loyalty technology platforms and advised over fifty national and global programmes on their loyalty strategy, with some great learnings for loyalty marketing.

He also shared his views on the technologies he believes will help drive loyal behaviour in the future.

Show Notes:

1) Let's Talk Loyalty Episode #45

2) Kunal Mohiuddin

With consumer distrust at an all-time high, marketers are increasingly concerned about their ability to capture customer data at scale, and in ways that are meaningful and engaging.

Despite the pandemic, or perhaps because of it, experience-led loyalty mechanics have become more powerful than ever, leveraging the idea of fun to capture data and create progressive profiles of customers in ways they enjoy, rather than avoid.

Richard Jones, the Chief Marketing Officer at Cheetah Digital explains that just because in the past we've been able to get "drunk on data" doesn't mean we should continue to do so in the future.

Customer values have changed and it's time to for us as loyalty marketers to ensure our approach in the past evolves to remain powerful for the future.

Listen to learn Cheetah's insights and consumer feedback on the increasing importance of marketing etiquette based on interactive and engaging relationships, not just in traditional sectors but even in categories like CPG which historically left loyalty to their product quality alone.

This episode is sponsored by Cheetah Digital.

Show Notes:

1) Richard Jones - Chief Marketing Officer at Cheetah Digital

2) Cheetah Digital

3) Signals21 - The Award Winning Content Series

The "subscription" business model promises predictable recurring revenue and increased customer lifetime value so it's no wonder that loyalty marketers around the world are increasingly looking to this concept to enhance their loyalty propositions.

With so much interest in the topic, I was delighted to interview two executives about it, one from Ipsos Denmark and one from their partners in management consulting firm Subscrybe.

Together they shared their insights on the principles of success in subscriptions - creating both "reasons to buy" and "reasons to stay", to create the potential for extreme customer loyalty.

Show Notes:

Let's Talk Loyalty - Episode #44

As the world emerges from the dramatic effects of the pandemic, the airline industry is entering a pivotal time, with opportunities to re-invent their frequent flyer programs to meet the new normal.

Who better to brainstorm this than Piotr Kozlowski who advises some of the world's largest airline and airport loyalty programmes for Comarch, such as British Airways, Jet Blue, Etihad Airways and Heathrow Rewards among others.

Piotr shares some creative and compelling concepts he believes should be considered, the reasons they may make sense, and some of the criteria for success.

From subscription models, to prepaid fares to unlimited flying propositions - there has never been a better time for loyalty marketers to test new concepts and inspire their customers to fly with the same joy in the future as they did in the past.

Listen to enjoy a masterclass in creative and compelling airline loyalty concepts.

This episode is sponsored by Comarch.

Show Notes:

1) Piotr Kozlowski

2) Report from Jay Sorensen

3) The Bank of Starbucks

This episode is a short summary of my conversation with Dr David Cox, a loyalty practitioner who also boasts a PhD in loyalty marketing.

Based on the success and awards he has achieved for clients such as IBM, he shares what key tools he and his company Motivforce have used to drive such powerful commercial results.

He also discussed the key loyalty trends that were emerging as a result of Covid-19.

Listen for my short summary of episode #43 of "Let's Talk Loyalty".

Show Notes:

1) David Cox - CEO of Motivforce

2) Let's Talk Loyalty Episode 43

With over 18 million members around the world, Flying Blue is the frequent flyer programme for both Air France and KLM, and is positioned as a lifestyle programme that drives real commercial value for its partners.

Gerben Sikkema shares some of the commercial benefits that partners can expect alongside the benefits of being associated with a premium brand.

He also talks me through some of the latest innovative ideas that they have launched with partners for Flying Blue members including "earn and burn in checkout", as well as other powerful technology-led concepts such as card-linking and a focus on using loyalty mechanics to drive sustainable choices.

What most impressed me in this interview was the insight that "burn drives earn" - a clear understanding that only when members benefit will any loyalty programme achieve its goals.

This episode is sponsored by Valuedynamx ( Part of Collinson Group)

Show Notes:

1) Gerben Sikkema - Director of Partnerships at Air France-KLM

2) Air France - KLM Website

3) Flying Blue

Rob Markey is the one of the world's leading authorities on customer loyalty.

Together with Fred Reichheld, he co-created The Net Promoter System®, the industry metric and framework now used by more than two thirds of Fortune 1000 companies.

This short summary episode reminds us of the importance of the "founder's mindset" as a key driver of loyalty, as well as Rob's latest work to develop increasingly robust models for customer lifetime value that can be share externally with investors as well as internally.

Rob shares the view that loyalty professionals are really the perfect business leaders of the future.

Listen for a short summary of our conversation, or listen to the full interview for even more of Rob's extraordinary insights.

Show Notes:

1) Episode #42 of Lets Talk Loyalty with Rob Markey

2) Bain and Company

3) Rob Markey - Partner, Bain and Company

South African consumers who engage in loyalty programmes are fascinating to understand and this shows aims to help us do exactly that.

Amanda Cromhout, Founder and CEO of the South African loyalty agency Truth does incredible work to identify, understand and help educate loyalty professionals around the world about this diverse market.

Following a year of seismic changes in consumer behaviour due to the global pandemic, the sixth loyalty whitepaper from Truth and Brandmapp asks the key questions about what's working in loyalty in South Africa and what's not.

Listen to learn the incredible growth in the market and important changes in who, why and how programmes are being used.

We also talk through what would be South African's favourite loyalty program if they could only choose one!

A superb conversation about how the loyalty industry is evolving in South Africa in these changing times.

Show Notes:

1) Amanda Cromhout

2) Truth South Africa