Let's Talk Loyalty

Recently voted one of the most innovative companies in Germany, Payback is a world-famous coalition loyalty programme, headquartered in Germany, that boasts over 80 million members.

The company actually operates coalition programmes in six international markets, and enjoys extraordinary levels of engagement, with an extraordinary performance and over 95% of Payback Points redeemed by members!

Berni Brugger is the CEO who has led the company for over twenty years from its humble origins as a simple multi-partner programme, through its acquisition by American Express, now to its current positioning as a global marketing technology and services company.

In this show of "Let's Talk Loyalty", Berni highlights the amazing successes achieved over the last twenty years, the (surprising) continued popularity of postal mailings with members, as well as the retail sectors that are thriving despite the challenges of Covid 19.

Show Notes:

1) Bernhard Brugger - CEO PAYBACK Global Loyalty Coalition

2) Payback Global Loyalty Coalition

3) Comarch Loyalty Marketing Platform

In this episode, I’m summarizing my interview with Selim Tanfous of KPMG, who shared insights from a survey of 18,520 consumers from more than 20 countries, called “The Truth About Customer Loyalty”. Selim explained the key “pillars” that drive customer loyalty, the importance of personalization compared to the power of your loyalty currency, as well as consumer-led factors such as the power of social media, online reviews and recommendations from friends and influencers in certain markets, particularly in Asia.

We learn some of the key issues, including ongoing frustration around the lack of simplicity, and the reality that most programmes are still more relevant to baby boomers and generation x, rather than the consumers of the future.

We discuss the power of paid loyalty programmes, and the importance of innovation, and for brands to demonstrate a clear purpose, as well as potential for more coalition loyalty programmes and brand partnerships in many markets.

To learn more about this very interesting research from KPMG, you can listen to the full interview – it’s episode #15 on letstalkloyalty.com

Show Notes:

1) Lets' Talk Loyalty Episode #15: KPMG Global Report - The Truth About Customer Loyalt‪y‬

2) The Truth About Customer Loyalty - 2019 edition

While marketers all agree that "data is the new oil", there are few brands that seem to be personalising their brand communications effectively - only 7% of customers said they are satisfied with the level of personalisation they receive from brands!

And the challenge to effectively connect with customers is about to get considerably harder, with the news that cookies as the key tool used by digital marketers to date will be phased out by Google in 2022!

Loyalty members, and the data they share, is about to become even more important as THE key strategic asset in any organisation.

Elliott Clayton is Senior Vice President of Media for Epsilon in the UK, and today he shares the challenges presented by "3rd party cookie deprecation" - an explosive industry issue for the future of digital marketing - which has been described as "even bigger than GDPR" and one that loyalty marketers can leverage to ensure increasing support for their programmes.

Elliott explains why it's a great time to work in loyalty marketing, the emergence of loyalty programmes as media owners, as well as other key trends that marketers in advanced markets such as the US are experimenting with to drive connections with customers.

This episode is sponsored by Epsilon.

Show Notes:

1) Elliott Clayton CLMP - SVP Media UK, Epsilon Conversant

2) Epsilon Conversant

3) Loyalty Academy

This episode summarizes my interview with Niall Rooney, Loyalty Manager for British Airways Executive Club, in which we discussed emerging trends in airline loyalty, including the importance of “simplicity”, as well as how customers are demanding more ways to earn Avios points as well as more ways to burn them!

From increasing their partner credit card spend, to doing their online shopping on the Avios eStore, it was really interesting to hear that British Airways had recently increased their reward seat availability, and had begun allowing members to use their Avios on board to buy food and drink as well as to pay for seating and baggage.

Listen to this short summary to learn more about driving loyalty in British Airways and if you want to listen to the full interview, it’s episode #14 on letstalkloyalty.com

Show Notes:

1) Let's Talk Loyalty with British Airways Executive Club

2) Niall Rooney, Head of Loyalty, British Airways

3) Simple Flying

With so many loyalty professionals considering the potential for a paid loyalty proposition (also known as a subscription-based loyalty programme), this show will answer so many questions.

Ros Netto has over a decade building and advising some of South Africa's top loyalty programmes and now she's delighting local consumers even more with the launch of South Africa's very first subscription programme in the restaurant/fast casual dining sector.

Ros shares the exciting journey so far for the Kauai loyalty programme - it's just eight weeks old yet driving great success and learnings already.

A truly inspiring success story - launched despite the additional challenges of Covid - both operationally and psychologically for consumers.

Show Notes:

1) Ros Netto: Customer, CRM & Loyalty Specialist at Real Foods Group

2) Bond Brand Loyalty - 2019 Report

3) Real Foods Group

4) Kauai Subscription Loyalty Programme

In this episode, I’m summarizing my interview with Ciaran Kelly, who founded “Earth Rewards”, a loyalty programme that measures, educates and inspires consumers to behave in ways that minimize their impact on the environment.

We discuss their “learn and earn” feature which allows users to understand exactly how many kilos of carbon their individual lifestyle is producing each year, and compare that to the average carbon impact of other people in any one of 30 countries around the world.

Earth Rewards is designed to partner with existing loyalty programmes that want to add a compelling environmental feature to their loyalty proposition, so listen to the full episode to learn how your loyalty programme can partner with them to demonstrate a real commitment to taking action to save the environment.

Show Notes:

1) Earth Rewards episode - A Loyalty Solution for the Environmen‪t‬

2) Earth Rewards

Like many retailers, Lagardere Travel Retail was badly impacted by the global pandemic in 2020, particularly in China where its duty free stores remained open but customers simply couldn't buy. This episode showcases the incredibly innovative solutions developed by the management team, led by Eudes Fabre.

With 1.8 million customers signed up across their two loyalty programmes, the brand had permission from customers to connect in digital channels, and so they team developed a video commerce strategy on WeChat that has become one of the most successful in China.

Listen to this extraordinary story of how the company's greatest marketing challenge has resulted in the creation of a whole new revenue stream that has now become a powerful and profitable channel in its own right, powered by its digital loyalty programme.

Show Notes:

1) Lagardere Travel Retail Group

2) Eudes Fabre - Chief Executive Officer - North Asia at Lagardere Travel Retail

3) Adam McCarthy - Chief Information Officer at Lagardere Travel Retail North Asia

This short summary of my interview with Laura Cagnacci discusses exciting loyalty initiatives being run for Roma Football Club by their marketing agency, who realised the importance and power of connecting Roma with their fans directly, rather than simply on third-party platforms like Facebook.

As a much loved football club, Roma used the power of a platform they owned to connect with previously unknown fans of all ages and profiles, with clear data points being measured, tracked and rewarded at the individual level, rather than just at a segment level as many marketers did in the past.

Listen to this episode to learn all about this award-winning programme in the sports sector, as well as learnings from building both a consumer AND a Business2Business loyalty program for an insurance client.

Show Notes:

1) Award-winning Loyalty in Italy - Roma Football Club and Advice Grou‪p‬

2) Laura Cagnacci

3) Advice Group

Puntos Colombia is the leading loyalty programme in Colombia with over 8 million members and it is the first loyalty programme in Latin America to be featured on Let's Talk Loyalty!

I was delighted to discuss this fascinating loyalty programme and some of the unique aspects of the South American loyalty market with CEO of the Puntos Colombia programme, Alejandro Gonzalez Saul.

Boasting over 100 partners, including the country’s biggest bank and grocery retailer, the Puntos Colombia programme is a powerful example of the potential of multi-partner and coalition programmes that truly put their customer's interests at heart.

We discuss the superb solutions the programme launched during the pandemic lockdown to drive engagement, the importance of NPS, social listening and member advocacy and some of their latest features (including Whatsapp functionality) to delight members.

This episode is sponsored by Comarch.

Show Notes:

1) Alejandro Gonzalez Saul - CEO of Puntos Colombia

2) Puntos Colombia

3) Article - The Advantages of Customers as Ambassadors

4) Article - Winning Back Lost Customers

In this episode, I share the key lessons and learnings from a report entitled “Why Do Loyalty Programs FAIL?” This report was researched, compiled and published by Mike Capizzi, a loyalty expert and Dean of the Loyalty Academy.

Mike's report identifies and explains the top TEN reasons for the failure of loyalty programmes based on insights from 34 global loyalty experts who together boast a combined total of over 500 years of loyalty marketing expertise!

We discuss the power and problems of collecting and using consumer data, the role of clear, powerful and compelling communications, setting and measuring relevant KPI's, as well as the ongoing challenge of ensuring C-Suite support for any loyalty programme to be successful.

Show Notes:

1) Why Loyalty Program Fail - Episode #11 of "Let's Talk Loyalty"

2) Mike Capizzi

3) FREE report "Why Loyalty Programs Fail" - registration required.