Let's Talk Loyalty

Today's show summarises my interview and insights with Bryan Pearson, former CEO of LoyaltyOne, who is known globally as a leader in loyalty, as well as retail marketing strategy based on consumer analytics.

We discuss how companies can succeed and even thrive in the context of our dramatically changing world by understanding what truly matters to customers.

We also discuss key industry trends, such as whether the coalition model for loyalty in global markets remains as relevant as it was in the past.

Show Notes:

Bryan Pearson – Former CEO of LoyaltyOne

Rob Burgess is well known for creating the UK's most popular frequent flyer website Head for Points, written to help frequent flyers in the UK get the most out of the rich rewards and travel benefits on offer.

The global pandemic has changed the rules of the industry, with paid loyalty an increasingly popular strategy that many loyalty marketers are exploring.

In this episode, we discuss the key success factors for a paid loyalty programme, how to "wow" your members with a proposition they are willing to pay for.

From the Intercontinental Ambassador programme, to Pret a Manger in the UK and the most recent proposition from Emirates, Skywards+

Listen to hear Rob's insightful views on what makes paid loyalty work for key consumers who are highly educated on the benefits of loyalty programmes when they are done well.

Show Notes:

1) Rob Burgess

2) Head for Points

3) Skywards+

As loyalty marketers, it's essential that we have access to both the financial models and the financial language we need to educate senior executives on the incredible value generated from our loyal customers, and ensure that our customers are valued as the "strategic asset" they are.

Academic leaders such as Peter Fader, Professor of Marketing with the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, are increasingly helping both companies and investors to understand the future lifetime value of customers (not just historic revenues) when valuing a firm.

This work has led to innovative concepts such as "Customer Based Corporate Valuation" (CBCV), an industry-leading concept that will undoubtedly become an essential framework for future loyalty marketers.

Listen to learn about Professor Fader's fascinating work across the loyalty industry with implications for both the academic and business sides of our industry.

Show Notes:

1) Professor Peter Fader, Professor of Marketing, the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania

2) Harvard Business Review - Jan/Feb 2020 issue articles - "The Loyalty Economy."

3) Theta Equity Partners

4) Customer Centricity: Focus on the Right Customers for Strategic Advantage - 2012 Edition (New Edition Scheduled July 2020)

Voted the number one loyalty programme in New Zealand, AA Smartfuel is a fascinating loyalty programme that was designed with a laser focus on delighting customers with the opportunity to earn a free tank of fuel!

This coalition programme now boasts more than forty merchant partners across 1,200 locations nationwide, who together market the programme and ensure consumers can achieve meaningful savings on fuel from their everyday spend.

Joining me today to share their story are Ian Sutcliffe, Co-Founder of the programme along with his Marketing Manager Jordan Tran.

Together they explain the latest innovations for this programme, from new reward options through to ideas on how best to share data and insights in ways that continue to delight customers and partners alike.

We also discuss another of my favourite ideas, leveraging our loyalty programmes to support supplier brands like FMCG manufacturers.

Listen to learn this unique case study from perhaps the most active loyalty market in the world.

Show Notes:

1) AA Smartfuel New Zealand

2) Ian Sutcliffe - Co-Founder AA Smartfuel

3) Jordan Tran - Marketing Manager at AA Smartfuel

In 2017, the UK country's largest broadcaster Sky TV, launched its VIP programme, the first tenure-based programme in the industry which promises customers that "the longer you stay, the better it gets", with a clear intention for its customers to feel loved and appreciated.

It began by offering exclusive live experiences to over a million customers a year, and then, as a result of nationwide lockdowns, it pivoted to delivering even more extraordinary & innovative virtual experiences.

In my conversation with Rob Chandler, he shared some fascinating models on how Sky VIP thinks about loyalty and how they create new and exciting ways to really say an explicit "thank you" to its loyal customers.

Enjoy this episode of "Let's Talk a LITTLE Loyalty" for some fascinating insights on how to truly differentiate your brand, no matter how competitive the industry.

Show Notes:

1) Rob Chandler - Former Head of Customer Loyalty - Sky UK

2) The Gamification Revolution: How Leaders Leverage Game Mechanics to Crush the Competition - by Gabe Zichermann

Three years after the introduction of tighter data regulations & GDPR in Europe, the world of data protection and privacy is only getting more complex. In fact, my guest today described the privacy challenges we face today as a "perfect storm".

From changing cookie laws, to complex data transfers, to the latest class action law suits being brought on behalf of professional footballers, there is now doubt that the tectonic plates in our industry are shifting.

So how can we ensure we're professional, prepared and protected as much as possible?

While we continue to cope with COVID, our industry is facing rapid changes, such as the increasing use of facial recognition technology & biometrics, so listen to learn all about the approach you can take to ensure "custom privacy protection by design, which will endure by default".

Richard Dutton, Managing Director of the Elias Partnership joins me on today's show to explain the concept of a "Data Health Check", what it does, how it helps and how your company can ensure a legally defensible position should a data breach ever occur.

Show Notes:

1) Richard Dutton

2) Elias Partnership

ebookers UK was launched in 1998 as the UK's first online travel agency, and added its "Bonus+" programme in 2016, in order to offer its customers a compelling reason to book with them.

Listen to this episode of "Let's Talk a LITTLE Loyalty" to hear my favourite aspects of this simple and generous loyalty programme - particularly its focus on mobile users.

Show Notes:

1) ebookers.co.uk

2) Bonus +

3) Nicki Helfet

4) Let's Talk Loyalty Interview with ebookers.com

To celebrate the second birthday of "Let's Talk Loyalty", I am joined by my partners and friends - leading loyalty veterans, Bill Hanifin and Mike Capizzi of the Wise Marketer Group and Loyalty Academy.

Our conversation reviews “then versus now” for the loyalty industry and our own progress and milestones as some of its global voices.

As well as looking back on where we've come from, we chat through the new Wise Marketer Loyalty Research Group, the Women In Loyalty community, some ground-breaking research on "pay with points" research in the US market, along with a formal announcement for the CLMP Loyalty Academy training coming to Dubai in December 2021, including an exclusive discount code for "Let's Talk Loyalty" listeners!

Show Notes:

1) Bill Hanifin - CEO & Managing Editor, The Wise Marketer

2) Mike Capizzi - Director of Education, Loyalty Academy

3) Loyalty Academy and Loyalty Vault

4) The Wise Marketer

5) Delphi Research Reports

6) Pay With Points Research

7) CLMP - Certified Loyalty Marketing Professional Workshop - Dubai, UAE - December 6th, 7th, 8th 2021

8) CLMP Dubai Training Loyalty Academy Code and Conditions

How do you know your loyalty investment is worthwhile?

If you're interested in measuring your “return on loyalty”, listen to learn from industry experts Ellipsis how they they isolate, measure and define the levers within any loyalty program to understand what’s working, what’s not and why!

A MUST-listen episode to answer the most-asked question in the loyalty industry IMHO :)

Show Notes:

1) Ellipsis Australia

2) Adam Schaffer - Co-Founder & Managing Partner at Ellipsis & Company

3) Tim Tyler - Managing Partner at Ellipsis & Company

Bilt is the world’s first rewards program that lets you earn loyalty points on rent.

This incredibly innovative idea was launched in June 2021, rewarding the highest monthly expense for US consumers.

With a particular relevance for younger consumers such as millennials and Gen Z, Bilt Rewards is already available for residents of two million apartments, and is also proving a hit with leading US landlords by incentivising the prompt payment of rents, while minimising the costs of acquiring and retaining residents.

This interview features a masterclass in loyalty from industry veteran David Canty who transformed the airline loyalty industry during his career in JetBlue Airways, as well as leading hotel and retail brands and who now brings his loyalty expertise to real estate.

This episode of Let's Talk Loyalty discuses how Bilt Rewards creates opportunities for US rental consumers to earn rewards such as airline travel, educating them about the potential financial benefits of loyalty programs, while also supporting them on their own path to eventually become home owners - truly a lifelong loyalty program proposition.

Show Notes:

1) Bilt Rewards

2) David Canty - Head of Loyalty & Partnerships at Bilt Rewards

3) Ankur Jain - Founder Bilt Rewards

4) Loyalty & Awards Dubai UAE