Let's Talk Loyalty

Airline loyalty programmes around the world are recognised and respected as the pioneers of the industry, driving billions of dollars of ancillary revenue for those that truly delight their members.

As one of the largest airlines in the world, Emirates Airline is approaching the 20 year anniversary of its loyalty programme Skywards which now boasts over 27 million members around the world.

Today's episode features an exciting conversation with Dr Nejib Ben Khedher, Divisional Senior Vice President in Emirates who has led the digital transformation of Skywards in recent years - including some key statistics and incredible insights on what's working well for Skywards already and what to expect in the industry in the years to come.

Show Notes:

Skywards Loyalty Programme

Dr Nejib Ben Khedher, Divisional Senior Vice President, Emirates Skywards at Emirates

This week I am super excited to announce a partnership with my friends in "The Wise Marketer™" - the world's most widely read source of news, and insights on everything to do with loyalty and customer-centric marketing.

Both they and I are equally passionate about sharing knowledge in the loyalty industry and this partnership is the perfect way to do that.

Today's episode features an interview with the CEO of The Wise Marketer - Bill Hanifin - a group which also includes the "Loyalty Academy™" and the Loyalty Guide, known as the bible in the loyalty industry.

I am extremely proud to be working with the team there to add my "voice" and interviews from around the world as weekly content for their audience and excited to be part of the world's biggest loyalty community.

Loyalty programmes are best known as a powerful tool to drive consumers to buy more and spend more however in some rare cases such as "Bella Mossa" in Italy, the programme is drive social change and sustainable behaviour.

In this episode, Dan Gipple, founder of Better Points, together with Marco Amadori of the City of Bologna Public Transport Authority, created a unique programme to incentivise residents of Bologna to cycle, walk and use public transport instead of driving - and with remarkable results. This loyalty programme was even featured by the BBC in their "World Hacks" series!

We discuss human behaviour, the psychology of consumer loyalty and some ways in which programmes can be funded when the objectives are non- commercial.

Show Notes:

BBC News - Clip featuring the city of Bologna's loyalty programme.

Bella Mossa - Using Rewards to incentivise citizens of Bologna to drive less frequently,

Dan Gipple.

Better Points Platform.

CX – or “customer experience” has exploded in recent years as a powerful business tool that truly drives customer loyalty and advocacy – not “just” using structured loyalty programmes, but by re-engineering your whole business in order to delight customers.

Today’s episode of “Let’s Talk Loyalty” features an interview with Michael Killeen, founder of the “CX Academy” to figure out why so many companies are appointing CX professionals in their senior management teams, and how we as loyalty professionals can leverage our expertise in customer retention in order to lead CX initiatives.

Listen to learn what brands are seen as the global leaders in CX and how you can upskill and apply similar powerful frameworks in your company.

Show Notes:

https://thecxacademy.org/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-killeen-cx/

Australia is renowned as a sophisticated market when it comes to loyalty - and who better to talk us through it than Sarah Richardson - Chairperson of the Australian Loyalty Association. Sarah has an extensive career that spans over twenty years in direct marketing, CRM and also strategic loyalty programmes on both the agency and client side.

Sarah now operates her own consultancy firm and loves to bring together the loyalty community in key cities in Australia to share ideas, training and inspire each other.

Show Notes:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-richardson-47852155/

https://www.australianloyaltyassociation.com/

https://www.sciensa.com.au/

Film, music and games are all assets that loyalty programme owners can leverage to drive emotional engagement with members. Listen to this episode to hear partnerships expert Tom Sugg from Brand Culture London explain how to leverage the power of the world's most popular entertainment brands as partners to engage your customers around their passion points.

Running a loyalty programme can be challenging in many ways - with so many internal stakeholders and members to manage,. From platform decisions, through to legal and privacy management and of course increasing expectations for programmes to drive measurable returns.

Who can you turn to for advice, a second opinion and access to global loyalty brain power? One place is the "Customer Strategy Network" - of which I'm delighted to be a member.

Our organisation is a global network of loyalty practitioners available to support loyalty projects on a freelance and flexible basis as needed.

Today I chat to Nick Chambers who leads the Customer Strategy Network and we discuss the types of projects we support and work we do - for those time when you might need some extra support to optimise your loyalty programme.

With fifteen loyalty experts across 11 countries worldwide, there's always help on hand if you need it.

Show Notes:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/chambersnick/

https://www.customerstrategynetwork.com/

Domino's is the largest quick service restaurant in the world and also claims to be one of the five largest eCommerce companies.  With a great-tasting product, fifteen different ways to order, and now a simple and effective Rewards programme, listen to this audio article to hear how Domino's combine clever and creative marketing concepts with the latest technology to acquire and retain pizza-lovers worldwide. 

Today's episode discusses my ideas on loyalty TRENDS emerging for 2020 and beyond.

Beyond the more frequently-touted ideas around personalisation, subscription programmes and environmental considerations, I've chosen three topics that excite me that include some innovative opportunities to consider as you plan your programme's evolution.

Show Notes:

1) The CX Academy: https://thecxacademy.org/

2) Gartner Customer Experience Survey: https://www.gartner.com/smarterwithgartner/key-findings-from-the-gartner-customer-experience-survey/

3) McCafe Campaign - Creating Emotional Loyalty: http://www.liquidbarcodes.com/mcdonalds-loyalty-campaign-brewing-good/

4) PWC Report on Voice Assistants: http://explore.pwc.com/c/pwc-voice-assistants

Deon Olivier is an expert loyalty consultant in South Africa with over two decades of experience across telecommunications, financial services and fuel and convenience retail. Today we discuss Discovery Vitality - a world-leading loyalty programme within the health insurance, car insurance and banking sectors. We also discuss some unique concepts within retail banking as well recent developments in fuel retail and convenience stores in the South African market.

Show Notes:

Deon Olivier: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deonolivierwoodstock/

Harvard Business Review Case Study: https://store.hbr.org/product/discovery-limited/715423

Press Release: Apple Technology: https://bit.ly/2uwlNbB