Leaders in Customer Loyalty, Powered by Loyalty360

Send us a textWhat we are seeing and hearing for the week ending September 13th, 2024. Today we are going to discuss the top 8 challenges related to customer loyalty. Loyalty360 has the privilege of being in a unique space in the customer loyalty industry, we hear from the leading brands and technology companies as to the “state” of the industry. We do brand focused research throughout the year based on areas of interest from the brand community.  Loyalty360 also has an advisory board who helps shape the topics, trends and area of focus for the association. It is a very diverse group of senior level experts in the customer loyalty space. During the 2024 Loyalty Expo, the group met and during a breakfast meeting we went around the table to discuss the challenges and opportunities they are seeing, which led us to this top 8 challenges of customer loyalty.• Shorter Attention Spans• Engaging Younger Generations• Keeping up with Martech• Increased Pressure on Cost• Data & Privacy• Partnerships• Bringing Focus to Loyalty• Framing Customer Loyalty - Cost vs. Investment2024 State of Customer Loyalty PaperLoyalty Expo Partnership SessionAmy Barnett’s – Lunch and Learn Next Generation customer Loyalty PaperPer Jenson’s July Lunch and Learn session on socialization of customer loyalty programAbout the series:Loyalty360’s videocast is “What We're Seeing and Hearing,” a weekly summary of trends, insights, and best practices that our team is hearing directly from leading brands — both member and non-members — as well as from supplier partners.Many details in “What We Are Hearing” will be high-level and often anonymous to provide an open dialogue for those telling Loyalty360 their story. As a trusted advisor to the customer experience and the customer loyalty market, we see a significant amount of impactful and challenging scenarios in the market. This is Loyalty360’s way of bringing this inside information to the market in a timely and concise manner that others can learn from

Send us a textKobie provides robust solutions for its brand partners. Thoughtful design on the front end, coupled with extensible, configurable technology, leads to a seamless customer experience. The company takes a strategy-led, technology-enabled approach as it works to narrow down to what truly drives a consumer to be loyal at an emotional level. This allows clients to grow the enterprise value of their membership and of their customer base through loyalty. Kobie’s market-leading platform helps deliver those end-to-end loyalty solutions.  Kobie primarily works within retail, financial services, travel and hospitality, and quick-service restaurant (QSR) industries, but it also serves clients in a number of other verticals. From the company’s strategic services standpoint, it partners alongside clients in healthcare and manufacturing, among others. Loyalty360 spoke with Dr. J.R. Slubowski, Kobie’s AVP of Strategic Consulting and Head of Kobie’s Research Center of Excellence, about key findings in its recent consumer research report, leveraging the power of program tiers, and avoiding pitfalls when rolling out new program features or functionalities.

Send us a textEmotional loyalty is one of the most important facets of customer loyalty. Understanding what drives it and being able to leverage it throughout all the brand touchpoints is important—and extremely challenging.David’s Bridal focuses on supporting the moments that matter to its customers. The brand endeavors to help customers enjoy these deeply emotional experiences and has developed holistic loyalty programs such as David’s Bridal Diamond and Diamond High to address the opportunities before them.In this podcast, Loyalty360 CEO Mark Johnson talks to Dave Feldman, Chief Marketing Officer at David’s Bridal, about the brand’s loyalty programs and offerings. Feldman also touches on how providing customers with incredible value helps make the process of planning for “once-in-a-lifetime” events as stress-free as possible, as well as how a focus on next generation customer loyalty supports Diamond High and, ultimately, Diamond loyalty.     

Send us a textIn this week's Loyalty360 What We're Seeing and Hearing, we dive into the ongoing discussions and trends shaping the customer loyalty industry. Key topics include the importance of training and socialization within loyalty programs and the latest insights from our peer group discussions.Highlights:Training and Socialization: We explore the critical need for effective training in loyalty programs, focusing on recent discussions and insights from Stop & Shop’s Per Jenson’s impactful July session. Listen to Stop & Shop's discussion here.Trends Discussed:Brand Refreshing: Leveraging customer loyalty programs to enhance brand experience.Employee Engagement: Identifying passionate advocates and improving internal understanding of loyalty programs. Metrics and Training: Emphasizing the use of data to align sales incentives and exploring the effectiveness of bite-sized training.Upcoming Digital Roundtables: Join us August 27th at 12pm as Amy Barnett from Cracker Barrel shares strategies on brand transformation and loyalty ecosystem advancements. More information here.About the series:Loyalty360’s videocast is “What We're Seeing and Hearing,” a weekly summary of trends, insights, and best practices that our team is hearing directly from leading brands — both member and non-members — as well as from supplier partners.Many details in “What We Are Hearing” will be high-level and often anonymous to provide an open dialogue for those telling Loyalty360 their story. As a trusted advisor to the customer experience and the customer loyalty market, we see a significant amount of impactful and challenging scenarios in the market. This is Loyalty360’s way of bringing this inside information to the market in a timely and concise manner that others can learn from.

Send us a textDriving customer loyalty can be a difficult task in the best economic times. As the year moves forward, economic headwinds are impacting a significant number of customers in varied ways.  One of the industries most impacted is grocery, as customers continue to look for value. Many grocers seek to increase their assortment of private label and store brands to bring that value to customers while strengthening the bottom line. There are challenges and opportunities in doing so—navigating changes, educating customers, and working with consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies.   These challenges are being deftly handled by Ryan Draude, Head of Omnichannel Loyalty at Giant Food. The award-winning Giant Flexible Rewards® program was configured by Draude, and he continues to administrate it. In this interview with Loyalty360, Draude shares what he is seeing within the grocery industry.  Watch the full interview here.Read the feature on Loyalty360 here.

Send us a textElevating customer loyalty while driving personalized content, experiences, and incentives that truly resonate with the customer is critically important in today’s marketplace. Loyalty360’s brand members report the need to drive personalization at scale—necessitating a deeper understanding of disparate technologies that require seamless integration to allow for coordinated orchestration leveraging first- and zero-party data.  Often, in challenging economic environments, budgets are constrained. Understanding new technologies and their actual functionalities can be a hurdle for many brands. Securing placement in the organization’s implementation queue and earning priority designation can be an uphill battle.  Loyalty360’s research consistently indicates that brands do not feel they have the ability to understand the rapidly evolving martech environment, yet that did not stop Blaze Pizza from leveraging their legacy technologies into a series of manual processes to drive award-winning personalization. Blaze Pizza was a finalist at Loyalty360’s 2024 Loyalty Expo in the Customer Analytics, Insights, and Metrics category, taking home the Bronze Award. In this in-depth exclusive, the brand’s Senior Growth Marketing Manager, Lindsay Smith, discusses the company’s unique approach to customer loyalty, how it’s leveraging geo-fencing and gamification, and how—even in a cautionary economic environment—Blaze Pizza is creatively driving sales. Watch the full interview here.Read the feature on Loyalty360 here.

Send us a textEngage People is a technology innovation company with a vision to bring technology to the forefront to enable a better customer experience. The company seeks to leverage today’s technologies to drive improved outcomes for brands while elevating loyalty programs and the member experience.  Jonathan Silver, CEO of Engage People, has worked in the industry for over 36 years. He began his career with Maritz Canada—now Bond—before holding various senior positions in the loyalty sector. Nearly 16 years ago, Silver co-founded the precursor to Engage People before rebranding the company in 2015. Today, his role at Engage People focuses on strategy and sales. Mark Johnson, CEO of Loyalty360, spoke with Silver about “paying with points” technology, the uChoose Rewards® program managed with partner Fiserv, and making the offer-redemption experience seamless for customers.

Send us a textIn 2003, Insomnia Cookies was founded by Seth Berkowitz, a University of Pennsylvania college student seeking a late-night sweet treat—a shared need that turned into an opportunity for Berkowitz on the UPenn campus. He baked cookies in his college house kitchen and delivered them to hungry students in the early hours of the morning.  The brand now counts two decades of serving up delicious cookies to customers, with nearly 300 stores across the U.S. and a couple in the U.K. and Canada. Select stores are open late—sometimes until 3 o’clock in the morning— depending upon the night. The cookies are served warm, and brand fans can also order ice cream to accompany baked treats.   Mark Johnson, CEO of Loyalty360, spoke to Tom Carusona, Chief Marketing Officer of Insomnia Cookies, about launching a new loyalty program, understanding customer segments and how to activate them, and tapping into emotional loyalty. Watch the full interview here: https://youtu.be/Or-mtujWRDQRead the feature on Loyalty360 here: https://loyalty360.org/content-gallery/in-depth-exclusives/insomnia-cookies-launching-a-new-loyalty-program-and-building-robust-customer-profiles-for-increase

Send us a textSwitchfly was founded in 2003 as a travel technology startup. Today, Switchfly is a travel experience platform that allows brands to create memorable moments for employees. As a concept, the company is the silent partner in many of the major loyalty programs that consumers recognize. For the last 20 years, the company has been behind many of the loyalty points programs in financial services and the airline industry, which reward and engage consumers with travel. When consumers take points earned through a credit card to pay for travel, Switchfly works behind the scenes, applying those points to hotels and flights. The company also services car rentals and activities globally. About 18 months prior to sitting down with Loyalty360, Switchfly began to focus on Human Resources and Rewards and Recognition for Employee Engagement in corporate America. Internal customers—employees—have many of the same expectations and wants in a loyalty program as a brand’s external customers.Mark Johnson, CEO of Loyalty360, spoke with Nowell Outlaw, CEO at Switchfly, about effectively engaging employees with loyalty program benefits, modernizing tools in the travel ecosystem, and leveraging technology to make “smart” recommendations for customers. 

Send us a textAffectionally labeled as the “most Canadian brand in Canada,” Tim Hortons is a beloved quick-service restaurant (QSR) featuring coffee and other beverages, delicious donuts, breakfast favorites, and sandwiches. The brand counts more than 5,000 restaurants worldwide—with the majority of them located in Canada. Tim Hortons restaurants can be found in the U.S., with more concentrated pockets close to the Canadian border.    The company was founded 60 years ago in Hamilton, Ontario, and has since become the largest restaurant chain in Canada. Tim Hortons serves nearly 7 out of 10 coffees purchased in the nation, which represents approximately 80% of Canadian visits to Tim Hortons’ restaurants at least once per month. Today, the brand is arguably embedded in the fabric of Canadian life, with core values rooted in those of Canadians. Tim Hortons was a finalist at Loyalty360’s 2024 Loyalty Expo in the Customer Experience Strategy and the Loyalty Program Design categories, taking home the Silver Award in the former and the Bronze Award in the latter.  Mark Johnson, CEO of Loyalty360, spoke with Ricardo Frydman, Director of Performance Analytics & Pricing for Tims Financial, and Shannon Torabi, Senior Manager for Digital & Loyalty Growth at Tim Hortons, about the launch of Tims Word Challenge, authentic emotional loyalty, and how customers must always be top of mind.Watch the interview here: https://youtu.be/uImmE12atxIRead the feature on Loyalty360 here: https://loyalty360.org/content-gallery/in-depth-exclusives/tim-hortons-cultivating-and-increasing-customer-engagement-by-leveraging-a-unique-and-innovative-ap