By: Bill Hanifin, Hanifin Loyalty LLC
When I think about the State of the Loyalty Marketing industry today, I see a business that is somewhere between adolescence and adulthood. From the launch of American Airlines AAdvantage in 1981 to the GM MasterCard launch in 1992, our collective experience in two pillar industries is equivalent to children between 17 and 28 years of age.
It’s not a stretch to say that the vast majority of strategic thinking and program design evidenced in Loyalty programs today have been built by Boomers for Boomers. That’s right, we are the creators of the strategies for which we are also the target audience. Reminiscent of GM’s campaign to invigorate a troubled brand in the 1980’s by proclaiming "This is Not Your Father's Oldsmobile", we’ve built the "loyalty" car that we’re comfortable riding in, but we are learning that an increasing number of others don’t necessarily want to go along for the ride.
There is at least one group of consumers who are not sure they want to jump in our car and they are 80 Million strong, representing almost 25% of the U.S. population. Generation Y (the Millennials) are largely disconnected from traditional loyalty models, and it is not surprising given that some of the oldest in the group were born in 1981, the year AAdvantage was launched. To illustrate how the world has changed since then, in that same year IBM launched its first Personal Computer and Arnold Schwarzenegger was still walking around in a Speedo.
The benefits from investment in Loyalty Marketing programs have never been more evident. Creating a community of customers that are recognized and rewarded for their patronage is the precursor to understanding their preferences, needs, and desires. Loyalty works - whether in booming or troubled economic times.
If there is any criticism to be leveled towards the mirror, it is simply that we may have spent too much time on planning with not enough emphasis on executing our recommendations thoroughly and with flawless perfection. Why else would we be still urging clients to leverage the valuable data they have collected to engender more sincere two-way communications with their customers. Or, why do we plead to invest in the disciplines of program measurement to understand performance, justify budgets, and proactively manage financial liability?
As Marti Beller stated in her article in this series, it is clear that the market is demanding innovation and we, as practitioners, must re-tool to deliver the next wave of thought leadership to benefit both our clients and consumers. The challenge is more formidable than it first appears, as we are comfortable with current structures and consumers have adopted a strong sense of entitlement to their rewards. We need to tap into a way to migrate the foundational elements of building successful Customer Strategies to meet the needs of Generation Y specifically, but also the demands of an ever evolving marketplace.
An area of focus that deserves attention is communications. Peppers and Rogers coined the term "1 to 1" Marketing and almost everyone today promotes the concept of creating meaningful two-way dialogue in the context of loyalty and rewards programs. It was not long ago that the tools available to execute a communications plan were direct mail and catalogs. Adding websites as program portals added functionality and email became the preferred communication medium with its low-cost structure and potential for personalization.
Web 2.0 came along and handed the reins of relationship building to the customer. We now find ourselves in a world offering a range of communication channels, many of which have not earned our full confidence and which we don’t even use on a personal level. I am speaking of all the options that fall under the umbrella term Social Media Marketing and includes communities, blogs, social networks, micro-blogging, and content or feed aggregation. We know these as Facebook, Flickr, LinkedIn, MySpace, Twitter, and many more.
Everyone knows about Social Media, few understand it, and there are proponents and opponents voicing opinion with increasing volume. To some, employing a social media strategy can accelerate achievement of business objectives, to others it is a greater waste of time than watching your teenager play one more round of their favorite video game. The one unifying question is "how do all these pieces fit together?" Almost every business person I know expresses interest in executing a social media strategy that is right for them.
If you are skeptical about incorporating Social Media into the communications stream of your rewards program, even hoping that the world will just "grow out of it", let me provide encouragement. Peppers and Rogers had the right concept with "1 to 1• Marketing, though execution was too costly for most companies to absorb. It is one thing to craft promotions, offers, and communications by segments, but to drive personalization to the individual account level was not financially sustainable. After the first wave of failed CRM installations, the ambitions of "1 to 1• Marketing were softened to a more practical "Mass Customization".
The unfulfilled potential of CRM and "1 to 1" communications is made possible with the range of Social Media tools available, and it will be interesting to see how our industry embraces the opportunity to transform program communications and, in doing so, find clues to engaging Generation Y with its favorite brands and creating the enduring brand loyalty that benefits all parties.
Blog
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Saturday, May 23, 2009
State of the Industry - State of the Industry: Industry Trends by Marti Beller - President Affinion Loyalty Marketing
Industry Trends
By: Marti Beller, President,
Affinion Loyalty Group
At ALG, we believe in the constant evolution of loyalty, it’s the foundation of our product development and something you’ll hear us talk about quite often. We pride ourselves on being able to interpret industry cues to create the next iteration of loyalty strategies. We are listening intently to what our clients, competitors, and consumers are all talking about, while seeking out further information and clarity on factors that may affect our industry as a whole.
We’ve watched trends form around us within the industry: prepaid and variable models are proliferating; rewards program owners are more cost-conscious and customers are shifting their redemption behaviors. In the past several months, we’ve witnessed changes to legislation that will affect how we market to consumers. But the most influential trend we’re watching unfold is our clients’ interest in customer engagement.
1. Customer engagement is the end goal
The focus on engaging existing customers and acquiring those through engagement strategies is a topic of conversation at almost every major financial institution, retailer, airline and hospitality company these days. True customer engagement generates strong emotional attachments to brands that are resilient even in the most adverse conditions – and the industry is moving toward further developing these emotional attachments through specific offerings tailored to customers – where usage and ongoing interaction is the goal. Customer engagement ultimately means increased revenue for those companies that are able to implement successful strategies. Rewards programs create a natural platform for engagement strategies. To that end, many of our clients are re-looking at the communication vehicles (statements, newsletters, online sites) that surround their rewards offering and re-vamping them to help empower more regular engagement with the program. The added benefit that our clients have found is that they are able to steer those engaged customers towards redemptions that help manage the rewards costs more effectively. This engagement requires a focus on the cost of usage; but it is ultimately imperative for long term success.
2. Re-valuing rewards with minimal customer impact is the pervasive goal
As you would guess, many program owners are looking for ways to save money in their loyalty programs. Those program owners are looking for various ways to control costs without harming
their relationships with consumers or the perceived value of their rewards programs. We’ve developed ways for our clients to lower their cost-per-point without losing consumer confidence through innovative redemption steering models that continue to drive a high perceived value of the rewards program at a reduced cost to the program owner.
One way program owners are saving money without harming the consumer is through an implementation of 100% variable redemption model. This feature allows the redemption value in points to be set based on the cost of the redeemed item, thus eliminating expense risk for the program owner. These variable models drive down the costs of rewards in general without de-valuing the program for the customer, since the benefit is usually increase customer choice and earlier access to rewards. Customers are able to use points and cash, or miles and cash, in one transaction. This functionality creates a seamless, one-step process that benefits the customer from an ease-of-use perspective and the program owner from a cost control perspective.
Customers are also shifting their redemptions towards everyday activities. We’re seeing a shift in the types of gift cards being redeemed with many more redemptions for gift cards to everyday retailers within the categories of grocery and casual dining rather than specialty retail shops. Through understanding these trends in redemption behaviors, we help our clients position various offerings to their members to achieve their customer engagement goals by implementing cost effective measures and tactics. Our ability to extrapolate various data points from the loyalty programs we manage allows us to make recommendations to all of our clients helping them to provide quality offerings to customers while maintaining cost efficiencies for themselves.
3. Prepaid cards represent an untapped opportunity
Buzz surrounding prepaid cards has reached a fever pitch lately in the financial services and loyalty industries. We’ve helped many clients include and/or transition to prepaid cards in their redemption matrix. While they are a good alternative to cash back models, they have also been used to decrease the risks associated with retailer bankruptcies and unused gift cards. These prepaid cards have the appeal of universal acceptance for the consumer and a breakage model for the client.
As a leading loyalty provider, we’re constantly listening for pieces of information that help us fine-tune our offerings to provide valuable products and services to our clients, and subsequently, their customers. We continually invest in analytics and research to develop a breadth of offerings to help our clients meet their overall loyalty and profitability objectives. As Loyalty 360 emerges as the voice of the consumer and a forum for all loyalty providers and program owners, I invite you to leave your comments on trends you’re seeing throughout the industry to further promote Loyalty 360 and its communal learnings.
What do you think? Post comments and responses on the Loyalty 360 Blog: http://blog.loyalty360.org/
By: Marti Beller, President,
Affinion Loyalty Group
At ALG, we believe in the constant evolution of loyalty, it’s the foundation of our product development and something you’ll hear us talk about quite often. We pride ourselves on being able to interpret industry cues to create the next iteration of loyalty strategies. We are listening intently to what our clients, competitors, and consumers are all talking about, while seeking out further information and clarity on factors that may affect our industry as a whole.
We’ve watched trends form around us within the industry: prepaid and variable models are proliferating; rewards program owners are more cost-conscious and customers are shifting their redemption behaviors. In the past several months, we’ve witnessed changes to legislation that will affect how we market to consumers. But the most influential trend we’re watching unfold is our clients’ interest in customer engagement.
1. Customer engagement is the end goal
The focus on engaging existing customers and acquiring those through engagement strategies is a topic of conversation at almost every major financial institution, retailer, airline and hospitality company these days. True customer engagement generates strong emotional attachments to brands that are resilient even in the most adverse conditions – and the industry is moving toward further developing these emotional attachments through specific offerings tailored to customers – where usage and ongoing interaction is the goal. Customer engagement ultimately means increased revenue for those companies that are able to implement successful strategies. Rewards programs create a natural platform for engagement strategies. To that end, many of our clients are re-looking at the communication vehicles (statements, newsletters, online sites) that surround their rewards offering and re-vamping them to help empower more regular engagement with the program. The added benefit that our clients have found is that they are able to steer those engaged customers towards redemptions that help manage the rewards costs more effectively. This engagement requires a focus on the cost of usage; but it is ultimately imperative for long term success.
2. Re-valuing rewards with minimal customer impact is the pervasive goal
As you would guess, many program owners are looking for ways to save money in their loyalty programs. Those program owners are looking for various ways to control costs without harming
their relationships with consumers or the perceived value of their rewards programs. We’ve developed ways for our clients to lower their cost-per-point without losing consumer confidence through innovative redemption steering models that continue to drive a high perceived value of the rewards program at a reduced cost to the program owner.
One way program owners are saving money without harming the consumer is through an implementation of 100% variable redemption model. This feature allows the redemption value in points to be set based on the cost of the redeemed item, thus eliminating expense risk for the program owner. These variable models drive down the costs of rewards in general without de-valuing the program for the customer, since the benefit is usually increase customer choice and earlier access to rewards. Customers are able to use points and cash, or miles and cash, in one transaction. This functionality creates a seamless, one-step process that benefits the customer from an ease-of-use perspective and the program owner from a cost control perspective.
Customers are also shifting their redemptions towards everyday activities. We’re seeing a shift in the types of gift cards being redeemed with many more redemptions for gift cards to everyday retailers within the categories of grocery and casual dining rather than specialty retail shops. Through understanding these trends in redemption behaviors, we help our clients position various offerings to their members to achieve their customer engagement goals by implementing cost effective measures and tactics. Our ability to extrapolate various data points from the loyalty programs we manage allows us to make recommendations to all of our clients helping them to provide quality offerings to customers while maintaining cost efficiencies for themselves.
3. Prepaid cards represent an untapped opportunity
Buzz surrounding prepaid cards has reached a fever pitch lately in the financial services and loyalty industries. We’ve helped many clients include and/or transition to prepaid cards in their redemption matrix. While they are a good alternative to cash back models, they have also been used to decrease the risks associated with retailer bankruptcies and unused gift cards. These prepaid cards have the appeal of universal acceptance for the consumer and a breakage model for the client.
As a leading loyalty provider, we’re constantly listening for pieces of information that help us fine-tune our offerings to provide valuable products and services to our clients, and subsequently, their customers. We continually invest in analytics and research to develop a breadth of offerings to help our clients meet their overall loyalty and profitability objectives. As Loyalty 360 emerges as the voice of the consumer and a forum for all loyalty providers and program owners, I invite you to leave your comments on trends you’re seeing throughout the industry to further promote Loyalty 360 and its communal learnings.
What do you think? Post comments and responses on the Loyalty 360 Blog: http://blog.loyalty360.org/
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Day 3 - From the National Restaurant Association - State of the Loyalty Industry
The State of The Industry – questions from the audience for the Givex Loyalty Panel at the National Restaurant Association. I thought this would provide insight into some of the questions restaurants are asking about loyalty and engagement marketing programs.
1. Are you using data from your loyalty program to enhance the customer experience at the Point of Sale?
a. Response one from panel participant who has a large coalition program: No
b. Response two from a restaurant considering a loyalty program: They use customer feedback, but it is not integrated into the POS
2. How much time should you spend on your loyalty program development and continued support if you are a small chain (2 locations)
a. Response one from panel participant who has a large coalition program: You should allocate ¼ of an FTE for program development and administration
3. For a small regional restaurant chain, how do you address the logistic challenges? How do you get them to enlist?
a. Response one from panel participant who has a 20 location loyalty program: Servers, wait staff, and front line people are the best way to accomplish that. Yet you need a detailed training program to make sure they understand the program, and the objectives / value proposition.
4. A medium sized restaurant asked, “Margins are low (12-13%) in my restaurant, and I have heard the mention of 10% reward payouts and discounts, is that an effective discount? Is it still profitable?”
a. Response one from panel participant who has a 20 location loyalty program: Yes, our program is very profitable. We look at total spend, lift and change in spend patterns.
b. Response two from a restaurant considering a loyalty program: They have a 2% current cost for customer solicitation and they are themselves trying to figure out if a 10% reward make sense
c. Response from Loyalty 360: Consider all soft and hard benefits of the programs. There is no set threshold for rewards, make sure you engage and listen to you customer to make sure you develop and continually monitor the program to make sure it is engaging in the manner that the customer need/want. Always consider the perceived value of the reward and the ability to drive behavior.
5. Do loyalty programs provide a return?
a. Response one from panel participant who has a 20 location loyalty program: Yes, our program is very profitable. Yet ongoing maintenance is very important.
b. Response from Loyalty 360: Absolutely, yet programs cannot be developed and rolled out in a vacuum. They need to be pro-actively monitors with the end user in mind.
6. There is a concern about the proliferation of cards and getting someone to card “one more card.” Are there different methods (credit card, alternative technologies) by which you can identify them.
a. Response one from panel participant who has a 20 location loyalty program: Yes there are several “new” technologies, but they may not drive the behavior, not integrate with your systems. It was mentioned that Givex has several of these technologies that are integrated into their loyalty offering.
7. The final question was around the percentage of sales that come from a membership program, as well as when sales fluctuate (up or down) in total, how do the sales of the loyalty program participants change?
a. Response one from panel participant who has a large coalition program: He would not give the percentage of sales from the loyalty program, but he said when same store sales are up, the loyalty program participants are up more, and when same store sales are down, the loyalty program participants are down, but by not as much.
b. Response two from panel participant who has a 20 location loyalty program: 70% of their sales come from their loyalty program members, it was quoted by the CEO last fall and he was free to divulge the information. They loyalty program, its database and information base are integral in all of their marketing initiatives.
1. Are you using data from your loyalty program to enhance the customer experience at the Point of Sale?
a. Response one from panel participant who has a large coalition program: No
b. Response two from a restaurant considering a loyalty program: They use customer feedback, but it is not integrated into the POS
2. How much time should you spend on your loyalty program development and continued support if you are a small chain (2 locations)
a. Response one from panel participant who has a large coalition program: You should allocate ¼ of an FTE for program development and administration
3. For a small regional restaurant chain, how do you address the logistic challenges? How do you get them to enlist?
a. Response one from panel participant who has a 20 location loyalty program: Servers, wait staff, and front line people are the best way to accomplish that. Yet you need a detailed training program to make sure they understand the program, and the objectives / value proposition.
4. A medium sized restaurant asked, “Margins are low (12-13%) in my restaurant, and I have heard the mention of 10% reward payouts and discounts, is that an effective discount? Is it still profitable?”
a. Response one from panel participant who has a 20 location loyalty program: Yes, our program is very profitable. We look at total spend, lift and change in spend patterns.
b. Response two from a restaurant considering a loyalty program: They have a 2% current cost for customer solicitation and they are themselves trying to figure out if a 10% reward make sense
c. Response from Loyalty 360: Consider all soft and hard benefits of the programs. There is no set threshold for rewards, make sure you engage and listen to you customer to make sure you develop and continually monitor the program to make sure it is engaging in the manner that the customer need/want. Always consider the perceived value of the reward and the ability to drive behavior.
5. Do loyalty programs provide a return?
a. Response one from panel participant who has a 20 location loyalty program: Yes, our program is very profitable. Yet ongoing maintenance is very important.
b. Response from Loyalty 360: Absolutely, yet programs cannot be developed and rolled out in a vacuum. They need to be pro-actively monitors with the end user in mind.
6. There is a concern about the proliferation of cards and getting someone to card “one more card.” Are there different methods (credit card, alternative technologies) by which you can identify them.
a. Response one from panel participant who has a 20 location loyalty program: Yes there are several “new” technologies, but they may not drive the behavior, not integrate with your systems. It was mentioned that Givex has several of these technologies that are integrated into their loyalty offering.
7. The final question was around the percentage of sales that come from a membership program, as well as when sales fluctuate (up or down) in total, how do the sales of the loyalty program participants change?
a. Response one from panel participant who has a large coalition program: He would not give the percentage of sales from the loyalty program, but he said when same store sales are up, the loyalty program participants are up more, and when same store sales are down, the loyalty program participants are down, but by not as much.
b. Response two from panel participant who has a 20 location loyalty program: 70% of their sales come from their loyalty program members, it was quoted by the CEO last fall and he was free to divulge the information. They loyalty program, its database and information base are integral in all of their marketing initiatives.
Monday, May 18, 2009
National Restaurant Show - Social Media and Loyalty
We will be penning our update and summary of the 2009 National Restaurant Association show later today. It has been a great two days. They say attendance is down a little but, yet the interest in the best practices of loyalty, incentive /reward and engagement marketing, mobile messaging and social media continues to be of great interest. We would love to have your feedback from the show up to this point.
What are you challenges in loyalty / engagement / and social media? What are you and your corporate perspective?
Loyalty 360 (the Loyalty Marketer's Association) will be speaking on a loyalty panel today at 2:00 PM EST.
Please stop by booth 237 at 1:00 PM today for a discussion on social media and loyalty. We look forward to seeing you then.
Thanks,
Mark Johnson
twitter:loyalty360
linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/groupRegistration?gid=1126557
513-290-5147
What are you challenges in loyalty / engagement / and social media? What are you and your corporate perspective?
Loyalty 360 (the Loyalty Marketer's Association) will be speaking on a loyalty panel today at 2:00 PM EST.
Please stop by booth 237 at 1:00 PM today for a discussion on social media and loyalty. We look forward to seeing you then.
Thanks,
Mark Johnson
twitter:loyalty360
linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/groupRegistration?gid=1126557
513-290-5147
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Review of the New York Incentive / Reward & Recognition Show
For a first time attendee, especially one steeped more in the loyalty and engagement side of the house, it was a good conference to attend. I was able to make a good number of contacts at the show and the interest in best practices for loyalty and engagement marketing was apparent. I was able to meet and learn from a number of very talented speakers and thought leaders. I look forward to having follow up discussions with them. Meeting Don Peppers, who is the founder (and and Icon) of this industry and for him to know who we (I) were (am) was quite a treat. He likes what we are doing.
It was such a great compliment to hear from so many at the NY Incentive show who knew our name and what we were doing and they loved our approach and wanted to get involved. We would love to have your feedback on the show. Were there areas that you especially liked or where there areas that you would have liked to have seen approached differently? The “Voice of the Customer” is very much of interest to us.
We would love your feedback on the show. We are going to focus on Engagement in our next issue of Loyalty Management and it will be a focus in upcoming “State of Loyalty Industry blogs,” as well as "This Week in Loyalty." All of your feedback will better educate our experts as to the markets concerns and better allow us to provide valuable, timely, and relevant responses and insights. We want to provide value to you, our partners have great content and expertise and want to provide value.
Also, thanks to our friends from Maritz for a wonderful dinner and equally engaging conversation.
Thanks again,
Mark Johnson
President and CEO – Loyalty 360 and Loyalty Expo
513-290-5147
It was such a great compliment to hear from so many at the NY Incentive show who knew our name and what we were doing and they loved our approach and wanted to get involved. We would love to have your feedback on the show. Were there areas that you especially liked or where there areas that you would have liked to have seen approached differently? The “Voice of the Customer” is very much of interest to us.
We would love your feedback on the show. We are going to focus on Engagement in our next issue of Loyalty Management and it will be a focus in upcoming “State of Loyalty Industry blogs,” as well as "This Week in Loyalty." All of your feedback will better educate our experts as to the markets concerns and better allow us to provide valuable, timely, and relevant responses and insights. We want to provide value to you, our partners have great content and expertise and want to provide value.
Also, thanks to our friends from Maritz for a wonderful dinner and equally engaging conversation.
Thanks again,
Mark Johnson
President and CEO – Loyalty 360 and Loyalty Expo
513-290-5147
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Announcing The Loyalty And Engagement Marketing “State Of The Industry”
Today, we are launching a new blog feature on our website, and the first loyalty and engagement marketing “State of the Industry,” an interactive dialogue with seasoned industry leaders in the loyalty, incentive/reward and engagement marketing space.
Our State of the Industry will enable a dialogue between you and seasoned industry leaders in the loyalty, incentive/reward and engagement marketing space. Our industry vanguards will help you enhance and sharpen your loyalty and engagement marketing strategies and initiatives, providing you with insight never seen before - and we encourage your active participation.
Who Are Our Industry Leaders? Our State of the Industry contributors are experts who manage companies that provide a wide variety of industry products and services (agencies, consultants, social media partners, mobile media, technology providers, etc.) and those who run initiatives in their respected business lines, including restaurants, financial institutions (banks, credit unions, credit card issuers), grocers, retailers, drug stores, convenient and gas stores, insurance, brand companies, B2B companies, government, non-profits, travel and entertainment organizations.
Upcoming State of the Industry Features Include: Mark Johnson, President and CEO of Loyalty 360, Marti Beller, President of Affinion Loyalty Marketing, Phil Rubin, President and CEO of rDialogue, and Michael Hemsey, President of Kobie Marketing.
What Will We Talk About? These experts will provide you with their knowledge and opinions regarding loyalty, incentive/reward and engagement marketing. Forum leaders will provide you with insight on what they are seeing from their clients in an assortment of industries, as well as some of the challenges arising in the marketplace and insights on how to solve them.
Most importantly, the topics will focus primarily on what YOU want! You will have the opportunity to post questions and comment on responses via the Loyalty 360 blog. Our “voice of the customer” focused discussions are driven by your needs and insights, and we hope all discussions will be open, honest and candid.
Your active participation will be helpful, and for the foreseeable future, this will held open to both Loyalty 360 members and non-members. Yet only members will be able to start a thread within the blog.
Why Did We Do This? The goal of Loyalty 360 is to provide an unbiased clearing house/think tank for the loyalty, incentive/reward, and engagement marketing initiatives. The new blog and State of the Industry feature allows the community to interact with each other, to analyze and discuss the latest happenings of the loyalty marketplace. We’re providing another tool to help you address your questions and concerns about any aspect of the loyalty and engagement industry, including: best practices, case studies, ROI and financial expectations from loyalty initiatives.
What Do You Think? Do you have a question to ask our experts? We would love to get your insights captured! If there are opportunities or challenges you are seeing – share with us today, so we can empower our experts to address your concerns from the start. RESPOND to this post with your feedback! We also encourage you to respond and share your opinions online, in response to our State of the Industry articles!
Our State of the Industry will enable a dialogue between you and seasoned industry leaders in the loyalty, incentive/reward and engagement marketing space. Our industry vanguards will help you enhance and sharpen your loyalty and engagement marketing strategies and initiatives, providing you with insight never seen before - and we encourage your active participation.
Who Are Our Industry Leaders? Our State of the Industry contributors are experts who manage companies that provide a wide variety of industry products and services (agencies, consultants, social media partners, mobile media, technology providers, etc.) and those who run initiatives in their respected business lines, including restaurants, financial institutions (banks, credit unions, credit card issuers), grocers, retailers, drug stores, convenient and gas stores, insurance, brand companies, B2B companies, government, non-profits, travel and entertainment organizations.
Upcoming State of the Industry Features Include: Mark Johnson, President and CEO of Loyalty 360, Marti Beller, President of Affinion Loyalty Marketing, Phil Rubin, President and CEO of rDialogue, and Michael Hemsey, President of Kobie Marketing.
What Will We Talk About? These experts will provide you with their knowledge and opinions regarding loyalty, incentive/reward and engagement marketing. Forum leaders will provide you with insight on what they are seeing from their clients in an assortment of industries, as well as some of the challenges arising in the marketplace and insights on how to solve them.
Most importantly, the topics will focus primarily on what YOU want! You will have the opportunity to post questions and comment on responses via the Loyalty 360 blog. Our “voice of the customer” focused discussions are driven by your needs and insights, and we hope all discussions will be open, honest and candid.
Your active participation will be helpful, and for the foreseeable future, this will held open to both Loyalty 360 members and non-members. Yet only members will be able to start a thread within the blog.
Why Did We Do This? The goal of Loyalty 360 is to provide an unbiased clearing house/think tank for the loyalty, incentive/reward, and engagement marketing initiatives. The new blog and State of the Industry feature allows the community to interact with each other, to analyze and discuss the latest happenings of the loyalty marketplace. We’re providing another tool to help you address your questions and concerns about any aspect of the loyalty and engagement industry, including: best practices, case studies, ROI and financial expectations from loyalty initiatives.
What Do You Think? Do you have a question to ask our experts? We would love to get your insights captured! If there are opportunities or challenges you are seeing – share with us today, so we can empower our experts to address your concerns from the start. RESPOND to this post with your feedback! We also encourage you to respond and share your opinions online, in response to our State of the Industry articles!
THE STATE OF THE INDUSTRY
What are we seeing at Loyalty 360?
What Are You Seeing?
We want to hear from you. Our State of the Industry segments are based on active participation of our readers! Please respond to this post with your thoughts.
Have questions? Are looking for new vendors and want our assistance? Please let us know! If you have ideas as to how we can increase the usefulness of the “The State of the Industry” or new Loyalty 360 blog, please let us know. We look forward to hearing from you soon! Email us at info@loyalty360.org
- We see an increased interest in the best practices of loyalty, incentive and reward, and engagement marketing. People are continuously looking for more information and solutions.
- Organizations want to do more with less, and they want actionable metrics they can believe in. They want a true clearinghouse.
- People are very willing to suggest areas for improvement in the association, and we are trying to incorporate this feedback.
- Many are suspicious of the “voice of the customer.” Although businesses want to get more involved in social media and empower their customers, they do not have the internal champions or individuals who have an implicit understanding of how to leverage these technologies.
- We see vendors who are seeking solutions for marketing problems, and feel that a more efficient user of best practice loyalty applications can help them achieve their goals.
- We also see suspicions from the end-users (the airlines, the hotels, the merchants) that they feel their vendors may not actually be “listening” to them. They often feel pigeon holed into programs that although may have worked in the past, may not be relevant, timely, or insightful now.
- We see an increased interest in new technologies, new analytics (promotion and behavioral optimization), and relevant case studies.
- We see an interest in “cross industry councils” that will allow someone from Delta to sit on a council and speak to someone from Hyatt, 7-11, Home Depot, Kroger’s, or CVS about the relevant challenges and opportunities in their loyalty / engagement marketing arenas.
- We see those who have launched loyalty / engagement marketing programs realize that their first version may not work as well as they had planned after six to 12 months; they now realize that loyalty / engagement marketing programs are not a destination, but a journey of continual improvement, and need help with that improvement.
- Organizations are asking what data elements should be used to drive a more impactful creative piece or should the creative stand alone? When should they engage a loyalty consultant in addition to a creative company to get the most effective program both short and long term?
- We see a willingness to share, to interact, and to learn.
What Are You Seeing?
We want to hear from you. Our State of the Industry segments are based on active participation of our readers! Please respond to this post with your thoughts.
Have questions? Are looking for new vendors and want our assistance? Please let us know! If you have ideas as to how we can increase the usefulness of the “The State of the Industry” or new Loyalty 360 blog, please let us know. We look forward to hearing from you soon! Email us at info@loyalty360.org
Friday, May 1, 2009
Loyalty 360 will Launch "State of the Industry" and the Loyalty 360 Blog this Wednesday
Please check out this week’s edition of "This Week in Loyalty" for details on how to participate in our weekly "State of the Industry" interaction forum. We will address areas of interest from the market (varied industries) each week. As members, you will be able to pose questions or concerns to the vanguard of the Loyalty, Incentive / Reward, and Engagement marketing arenas.
These respected leaders will give their perspectives on the Industries they follow, trends and opportunities in the market, new and emerging technologies or standards, but mostly to bring value to you in this interactive forum. You will be able to give feedback, pose questions or areas of additional interest / concern, all in our effort to bring more visibility to these questions, but more importantly to continue to provide the think tank / clearinghouse for all loyalty, incentive / reward and engagement marketing insights and responses. We will also be pro-actively reaching out to you to get questions / concerns “from the market.”
Have a question for the inaugural “State of the Industry?” Let us know, please email us at markjohnson@loyaltyexpo.com. The list of the upcoming featured loyalty leaders will be updated soon. Is there someone, either from a program provider (Carlson, Acxiom, Affinion, and Kobie Marketing) or from a leadership perspective (Ebay, Saks, Best Buy) you want to hear from, let us know, we will invite them to participate
These respected leaders will give their perspectives on the Industries they follow, trends and opportunities in the market, new and emerging technologies or standards, but mostly to bring value to you in this interactive forum. You will be able to give feedback, pose questions or areas of additional interest / concern, all in our effort to bring more visibility to these questions, but more importantly to continue to provide the think tank / clearinghouse for all loyalty, incentive / reward and engagement marketing insights and responses. We will also be pro-actively reaching out to you to get questions / concerns “from the market.”
Have a question for the inaugural “State of the Industry?” Let us know, please email us at markjohnson@loyaltyexpo.com. The list of the upcoming featured loyalty leaders will be updated soon. Is there someone, either from a program provider (Carlson, Acxiom, Affinion, and Kobie Marketing) or from a leadership perspective (Ebay, Saks, Best Buy) you want to hear from, let us know, we will invite them to participate
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