2017 Loyalty Management Magazine Q4

Sonic: Crafting a Taste
of Things to Come
IN THIS ISSUE:
Wyndham: Sleep Number: Nashville

Hotel Chain Personalizing the Customer Expo
Shatters Barriers Sleep Industry Conference Review
to Engagement
JOIN US IN ORLANDO, FLORIDA FOR THE
May 15-17, 2018

Caribe Royale Orlando
One-of-a-kind networking events, insightful sessions
from market leaders, and robust brand attendance
that have become the signature of Loyalty Expo.
For more information, please visit

loyaltyexpo.com or contact
Mark Johnson
MarkJohnson@loyalty360.org
loyalty360.org
2 Loyalty Management™ | Q4 2017

In this Issue...
Q4 2017 | VOLUME 10 NUMBER 4 | LOYALTY360.ORG
FEATURES
10 12 16
Keeping up Breaking the A Taste of
with the Clauses Engagement Barrier Things to Come
Sleep Number Wyndham Sonic

Skip Tate | Loyalty360 Mark Johnson | Loyalty360 Mark Johnson | Loyalty360
LOYALTY FORUM: IN EVERY ISSUE
14 LOYALTY360 ON THE WEB 28 TECHNOLOGY, TRENDS & REWARDS

What’s New

The Omnichannel Path to Mobile
Loyalty Success Conference
15 FROM THE EDITOR
Skip Tate | Loyalty360
Dan Slavin | CodeBroker Review
30 STATE OF THE INDUSTRY
The Value of Loyalty 44 Company of the year
16 360 INSIGHTS Caesars
2018: Elevating the Discussion in Jonathan Seabolt | LoyaltyEdge
The Year of Customer Loyalty 45 Executive of the year
Mark Johnson | Loyalty360 32 BEST PRACTICES Jeff Sopko, Baesman
The Shameless Pride in Pursuit of
18 FEATURED TECHNOLOGY Purpose - A New Approach to Culture 46 Customer Expo
Featured Technology & Services Lior Arussy | Strativity Awards winners
14 BEHIND THE BRAND 34 BEST PRACTICES

Danielle Quatrochi | Finish Line Your Marketing Worked! Or Did it…
Brad Rukstales | Cogensia Loyalty Management Editorial
& Production Team
18 TECHNOLOGY, TRENDS & REWARDS Skip Tate - Editor-in-Chief
Driving Engagement Among your 36 BEST PRACTICES
Mark Johnson - Contributing Editor
Loyalty Base Loyalt-E: It’s All About the Brand Carly Stemmer - Contributing Editor
Caitlin Mitchell | HelloWorld Experience. Is Yours Ready for 2018? Shawn Cunningham - Design Director
Kevin Nix | Stellar Loyalty Elizabeth Shular - Design
Steve Taggart - Content Strategist
20 BEST PRACTICES Crescent Printing Company - Print Production
Investment in the 2018 38 STATE OF THE INDUSTRY
Customer Experience From Macro to Micro: New Directions
For Coalition Programs Contacts
Karine Del Moro | Confirmit
Ritesh Bhavnani | Snipp Article Submissions & Advertising:
Loyalty360
22 STATE OF THE INDUSTRY info@loyalty360.org
Three Ways to Create a Culture 40 STATE OF THE INDUSTRY 513-800-0360
of Innovation The Foundation of a Powerful Member
Marc Vanlerberghe | Medallia Retention Strategy © 2017 Loyalty360, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.
Mark Jones | PWC
Reproduction and distribution of this publication in any form
24 BEST PRACTICES without prior written permission is forbidden. The information
The Yin and Yang of Loyalty 42 STATE OF THE INDUSTRY contained herein has been obtained from sources believed to be
reliable. Loyalty360 disclaims all warranties as to the accuracy,
Program Design Going from Connected to Engaged: completeness, or adequacy of such information. The opinions
Chris Barnett | The Lacek Group The Evolution of Loyalty shared are those of the contributing authors and not necessarily
reflective of Loyalty360 and/or its affiliates. Loyalty360 shall
Adeline Heymann & Vincent Rescigno | Kobie
have no liability for errors, omissions, or inadequacies in the
26 Q&A information contained herein or for interpretations thereof. The
opinions expressed herein are subject to change without notice.
Brand Vision
Loyalty Management™ | Q4 2017 3

What’s New
LOYALTY360 ON THE WEB
ON LOYALTY360.ORG
FIND A PARTNER
Find a Partner is your one stop shop for finding the match you need
to bring your loyalty initiatives to the next level. Browse potential
brand partners or technology/service providers by location, industry,
capabilities, and more in order to find the one perfect for your
company’s goals. In addition to the tool’s filters, explore Loyalty360
Analyst Briefs and Verified Reports, which offer additional detail on
why a Loyalty360 member may just be exactly the partner your
marketing team needs.
ASK AN EXPERT
For the latest example of Loyalty360’s quest to connect
customer loyalty thought leaders with the marketers
looking for a head start on their brand’s CX initiatives,
look no further than our new Ask an Expert section. Ask
an Expert is Loyalty360’s way of connecting questions
around the industry to responses from those blazing a trail
in the space. Ask your question, and see them answered by
Loyalty360 members that have the insight you need!

FROM THE EDITOR
When I learned that the first SONIC was Sign-in through the app, she says, and
opening in our area, I mentioned this and any personalized messages will appear to you on
further discussion about where we would eat the menu board. For my wife, that will probably
next became moot. be, “Want to order your usual?”
“We’re going,” she said. SONIC, of course, is not alone. Wyndham

hotels (page 12) has 53 million members
“Umm, you realize that’s a 45-minute drive in its rewards program. Talk about your
from here.” personalization challenge. Sleep Number (page
10) has to create loyalty among members who
“Doesn’t matter. We’re going.” only buy their product once every 8-10 years.
And off we went. Some companies do customer experience
In the QSR world, where the fight for customers and loyalty very well, and for that they are
can be vicious and attempts to create some rewarded—not just by their customers, but also
sort of differentiator are often puzzling, SONIC by us. On page 46 we highlight some of the
very much exists in its own little world. Its set- winners from this year’s Customer Expo, which
up is different and, in many ways, so is was held in Nashville in November. Caesar’s
its menu. Entertainment was named Company of the
My wife is from Texas, and all too often when
Year, while Baesman Insights & Marketing,
we enter into the conversation of grabbing
Don’t want a burger? Fine. How about a President Jeff Sopko was named Executive of
a bite to eat, she will start reminiscing about
corndog or New York-style hot dog? Don’t want the Year.
places she used to go to back in Texas that they
fries with that? Fine. How about mozzarella
don’t have here in the heart of the Midwest. There’s a lot more to read in this issue, and we
sticks or maybe tater tots? It’s a gamble to be
One of those places that I heard about for recommend doing so over an Ocean Water and
different, but there’s a correlation between risk,
years was SONIC. Footlong Chili Cheese Coney.
reward and loyalty.
The quick-service restaurant competes in the
For my wife, loyalty was brought forth from her
same category as McDonald’s and Wendy’s,
youth in Texas and still exists in the form of a
but is distinct in many ways. It’s not a sit-down
Footlong Chili Cheese Coney and something
restaurant or even a drive-thru, but a classic
called an “Ocean Water,” which is a blue, tangy
drive-in, where you pull your car into a parking
drink with a hint of coconut.
slot and order from an adjacent menu board.
Servers bring your food to your car, where you I was reminded of her love for SONIC when
roll down your window, turn up your radio and reading the feature on the restaurant chain in
eat on your lap. It’s something right out of the this issue of Loyalty Management magazine.
movie “American Graffiti.” Some servers even The company’s vice president for digital
wear roller skates. strategies, Kim Lewis, talks about how the
restaurant tries to balance its iconic experience Skip Tate
“They still have drive-in restaurants?” I once Editor-in-Chief
with modern technologies, and, like every
asked. Loyalty Management®
other company, is pushing to increase its
“Yes,” she said. “And you’d love them.” personalization efforts. Skiptate@loyalty360.org

LOYALTY FORUM: 360 INSIGHTS
2018: Elevating the Discussion in The Year of Customer Loyalty.

Mark Johnson
CEO/CMO
Loyalty360
2017 was a very interesting year, to say the least. It was, in my mind, be engaging with, and a customer talk section that allows customers to
The Year of Consolidation of Influence, as the “Big Four” and others speak to brands.
aggregated and merged companies, technologies, power, and
influence over customer interactions. Walgreens was finally allowed We are continuing to roll out our standards and certifications. We are
to purchase Rite Aid; Amazon consolidated, and potentially increased, also growing our Board of Advisors, who will help shape the standards
its influence with the acquisition of Whole Foods; CVS made a daring / certification process, drive more meaningful content, bring more
acquisition of Aetna; AT&T attempted to acquire Time Warner; members to the table, and help elevate the focus and discussion
Disney bought most of the assets of the Fox companies. All of these around customer loyalty.
were attempts to create more convenience and reach customers in
the right channel / medium with the products and services they were A members-only podcast channel is launching in January. New video
looking for in a more personalized and meaningful manner. content and brand-only meetings for corporate members are in the
works. We are launching a thought leadership series with authors /
If successful, these changes will create engagement and increase speakers who have the pragmatic and academic insight that we feel
revenue with differentiation versus their competitive set and, hence, has as opportunity to impact / influence the market. We are also
increasing customer loyalty. planning more webinars, starting with our executive perspective series
that focuses on the qualitative insight the market is looking for.
Loyalty360 saw a great deal of change in 2017 as well. We grew the
number of individual and corporate brand members, and we saw a We look forward to 2018 with a renewed passion and commitment
growing number of brands that were both more open to discussing driven as a reflection of what our audience has imbued in us.
their challenges as well as wanting to collaborate with other
brands—sometimes with brands that have, in the past, been
strict competitors.
It seems the pace of technology in the CX/customer loyalty space

slowed a bit—or maybe the obfuscation just cleared a bit. The rapid
growth in arcane acronyms and processes that brands have been
Keep the Spark Alive in
struggling with seems to have slowed as well. Marketers are now your Loyalty Program
interested in creating simplicity with their customers, and they
realize that the rapid change is better approached by looking across Free eBook shares 5 unique tactics
industries, verticals, or platforms. They realize that a good deal of using digital promotion overlays.
the challenge is to drive interest, understanding, and focus within HelloWorld.com/overlays
the corporate organization which, in turn, affects change externally.
Our goal at Loyalty360 is to continue to tell these stories in as

effective of a manner as possible, and we’re looking to do so with
renewed passion and focus in 2018. We continue to be a trusted
advisor for brands, technologies, and consultants, and our goal is
to work with our Board of Advisors and member-driven councils
to elevate the discussion around all facets of customer loyalty.
We recently launched a new website with greater flexibility

and control, and are planning to usher in several more website
enhancements such as a Find-a-Partner section, new content page
layouts, and an Ask-An-Expert section that allows brands to leverage
the experts who are part of Loyalty360.
We are also launching a renewed Brand Panel for members to

engage in discussions with their peers in a controlled and secured
manner. Also planned are a new analyst area, an enhanced job board,
RFI / RFP section, new reporting capabilities that allow brands to
understand & gamify what their employees or channel partners may

30% $8.4M Lift
More spent per transaction Loyalty program revenue
Members vs. non-members impact of $8.4 + lift
in 7 months
4.5 out of 5 62%

Average member Increase in exclusive
satisfaction rating member coupon redemption
94% Recommend
Increase in social posts and 9 out of 10 members are
user-generated content most likely to recommend
in 7 months the program
Stellar Loyalty Clients Achieve Tangible Business Results.

Are you losing customer mindshare with a me-too loyalty program? Have you
tapped into your customer data to deliver in-the-moment relevant experiences?
Stellar Loyalty can get you from strategy to execution
faster and better. We deliver results.
Find out how at stellarloyalty.com
The Consumer Relationship Company
© 2017 Confirmit. All rights reserved.
Richer Insights.
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Richer Insights. Smarter Decisions.
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With Confrmit’s Voice of the Customer
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www.voiceofthecustomer.com | 1800 864 5266

LOYALTY FORUM: FEATURED TECHNOLOGY
Featured Products,
Advancements &
Technology
Technologies
& Services
Loyalty. Engaged.
A successful business isn’t built all at once; rather, it’s an iterative Designing and maintaining a full-featured and effective loyalty
process based on objectives, market dynamics, and, perhaps most program is a challenge for even the world’s largest brands, let
importantly, feedback data from customers and employees alike. alone those with a smaller business scope. CrowdTwist offers
While leveraging this feedback may seem easy on paper, any flexibility in their loyalty programs in order to equip brands
marketer will note that this sentiment could not be further from the across the spectrum with the tools needed not only to design
truth. To tackle the huge challenge of aggregating, analyzing, and and implement a loyalty program, but also to maintain it and
leveraging this data, Confirmit has developed robust Voice of the leverage the resulting consumer data. CrowdTwist’s platform is
Customer (VoC) and Voice of the Employee (VoE) platforms for its set apart through customization; in working with clients of all
clients. shapes and sizes, the company allows for a brand to have as
much or as little involvement with implementation and
Because VoC data can vary significantly across industries, Confirmit maintenance as desired.
has designed its platform with flexibility in mind, allowing for data
collection across verticals including retail, insurance, software, Customizable widgets allow for complete control over every
electronics, and media, just to name a few. Because of the sheer aspect of the program, while data-driven campaign expertise
volume and evolving nature of feedback channels like social media, provides a more “hands-off” option. Program reward mixes
Confirmit allows clients to combine feedback streams in order to provide the same level of flexibility, with incentives that range
streamline the data and avoid “analysis paralysis” caused by an from digital to experiential, sweepstakes, physical, or promo
overflow of information. Additionally, the company leverages its codes. Through this selection of rewards, CrowdTwist remains
GeniusTM Social and Text analytics tools to provide the framework agile and able to engage a variety of audiences across age
necessary to turn unstructured data into actionable insight. demographics and interests. Through this flexibility,
Confirmit’s VoC and VoE tools are invaluable resources CrowdTwist has set itself apart in the customer loyalty space
to companies looking to capture customer and continues to boast one of the most flexible solutions in the
sentiment in a form that is both powerful market today.
and easy to act upon.

What are Analyst Reports?
Loyalty360’s Analyst Reports are designed to help
Epsilon’s primary mission is to work with clients to create a brands and marketers navigate the plethora of vendors
customized and effective strategy for maximizing customer and providers in the market that support customer
engagement, loyalty, and satisfaction. The company accomplishes loyalty, customer experience, and customer engagement
this largely through an evaluation process that makes use of clent strategies in any capacity. With a focus on objectivity,
conversation driven by the Epsilon Loyalty Insights Scorecard and rigor, and transparency, Analyst Reports help brands take
Loyalty Playbook. The Scorecard evaluates a wide array of member a wide view of the vendors available to them and then
attributes to inform communication and engagement strategies, narrow down to an appropriate consideration set based
while the Loyalty Playbook provides a tailored strategic tactics for on core competencies, strengths, and industry expertise
both communication with engaged program members, as well as
non-engaged members in danger of lapsing. If you are a vendor or provider interested in learning
how Loyalty360’s Analyst Reports can help you reach
In addition to providing this roadmap, Epsilon drives sustainable new prospective clients, please contact Mark Johnson
growth by offering comprehensive, tailored marketing strategy at markjohnson@loyalty360.org.
services designed to help marketers develop, plan, implement,
evaluate and optimize their company’s loyalty program. The Epsilon To view Analyst Reports please visit
platform also allows clients to Momentum, a program that gives
loyalty360.org/resources/analyst-report
users the ability to reward consumers nearly instantly for actions
defined and customized by the client. Through the Momentum tool,
as well as the full suite of Epsilon products and services, clients are
empowered to drive engagement through channels and strategies
specific to the company goals and KPIs.
Given the increasing challenge of engaging today’s consumer,

custom whiteboard animation has proven to be an effective way to
grab and, more importantly, keep the attention of viewers. This is
the specialty of The Draw Shop, which works with clients that range
from the U.N. to Uber in order to create entertaining, well-produced,
Strativity Group is in the business of transformation. The and completely customized whiteboard videos. These videos are
company works with clients to rebuild CX efforts from the ground designed to enhance the messaging around a product or service
up, from the frontline employee to the C-level executive. Where offering, whether that’s through promotion, instruction, or any other
many brands may feel that they’ve hit the ceiling in this respect communication the client may need.
because it hasn’t historically been part of their organizational
“DNA”, Strativity maintains that any company can find a path to The Draw Shop team prides itself on delivering a product
this aspirational customer experience through incremental, individually customized for every client, thanks to their streamlined
measureable change. video creation process. Through a questionnaire completed prior to
beginning work, Draw Shop is able to create a script and animation
Strativity does this by taking a multi-disciplinary approach to the storyboard according to the brand’s message and tone, resulting in a
process; customer experience should be a holistic effort across video that is uniquely tailored to the communication goal and
the enterprise, and Strativity’s full suite of services is uniquely intended audience. Customized animation is a valuable tool in
equipped to handle the cross-department transformation moving customers to action, and The Draw Shop has developed a
necessary to enact organization change. In addition to working method for doing just that, while both maintaining and enhancing
directly with clients to rebuild the customer experience, Strativity the client’s brand messaging strategy.
has devised educational programs offering users through a
curriculum designed to provide guidance regarding topics
including transformation programs, journey mapping, CX basics,
and more. This combination of educational offering and hands-on
transformation processes is yet another example of Strativity’s
well-rounded suite of services.

FEATURES
Keeping up with the
CLAUSES
Skip Tate
Loyalty360
At Sleep Number, the business of Santa Claus knows when you’re sleeping, and he knows when you’re awake.
Well, so do Sleep Number 360 smart beds. In fact, the beds even go a
beds is high-tech territory. With the few steps further than anything Santa can deliver, such as offering dual
adjustability—so you and your partner can sleep just right—Responsive Air
smart beds that know when you’re technology that automatically adjusts the bed if you roll over in the middle
of the night, a foot warming option to help you fall asleep faster, a layer with
sleeping and know when you’re dual temperature controls to prevent tug-of-wars with the covers, or even
slightly lifting the head of the bed if it detects the person on the other side
awake, even Santa Claus has is snoring. Now, those are presents you just won’t find under any tree.
become a loyal brand ambassador. With their love of sleep tracking in common, though, it only made sense
that the mattress innovator and pioneer in biometric sleep tracking joined
forces with the jolly old elf by becoming the “official bed of Santa.” In
mid-November, the company announced its agreement and began posting
a daily blog—“Keeping Up With the Clauses”—on its website, showing
how he and Mrs. Claus are enjoying their new mattress, and even turning
the table on the big man by allowing readers to monitor the couple’s sleep
profiles so they can know when he’s sleeping and awake.
While signing Santa to a mattress contract may be public relations silliness,

sleep is a serious business for the Minnesota-based corporation—as is
customer loyalty. The company regularly engages with its customers, even
though they only buy a new mattress once every eight to 10 years.
“The one thing about our product is, the people who have it really love it
and feel very emotionally attached to the brand,” says Lisa Erickson, senior
director of CRM and loyalty at Sleep Number.

“ While signing Santa to a mattress
contract may be public relations
silliness, sleep is a serious
business for the Minnesota-based
corporation—as is customer loyalty.
The company regularly engages
with its customers, even though “
they only buy a new mattress once
every eight to 10 years.
So it faced a challenge: finding ways for sleep apps that can track sleep, which helps example, I receive sales reports every day,
customers to express that pent-up passion. emphasize the importance of sleep, and so I know which promotions work and which
The company has had a longtime loyalty motivates people to sleep better—but our ones don’t. I know which age group of our
program called InnerCircle in which it offers role is to convey the importance of having a insiders—and by age group I means how long
insider discounts for referrals to family and good bed to deliver that quality sleep.” they’ve owned their beds—how they’re
friends. In the 21st century, though, email performing. I know the ones who are more
and direct mail communications weren’t active in our online program. I know what
proving to be enough. They had to go digital, they do compared to the ones that are not.
so earlier this year the company added a “The beds automatically It’s all a way of getting them—and more
variety of social activities—in a big way. adjust if you roll over, have a people like them—engaged in our brand and
Now customers can gain reward points by to sleep better.”
connecting and engaging with the company foot warming option to help
on social media, completing surveys, writing you fall asleep faster, feature The mattress industry is highly saturated and
product reviews or even doing something highly competitive, so referrals are key—even
as simple as reading and watching content dual temperature controls if it’s just getting people into the stores.
about how to improve their sleep. to prevent tug-of-wars with Unlike typical mattress stores, Sleep Number
stores are “not a sea of mattresses,” she
“We care deeply about our customers’ sleep the covers, and even slightly says. Customers are taken through a process
quality, and we share timely articles that lift the head of the bed if it that begins with an “IndividualFit” scan that
can help improve their sleep,” says Erickson. measures their pressure points and gives
“From daylight savings time hacks to tips on detects the person on the them their specific “Sleep Number setting.”
caffeine consumption, we’re a sleep resource other side is snoring.” Everything after that is personalized to fit
at their fingertips. We even have live ‘Sleep them, based on their unique sleep needs. The
Better chats’ on Twitter where people can company even fits its customers for pillows.
ask a variety of sleep questions, and get an
answer in real time so they can sleep better The constant communication not only “Once our customers experience the
that night.” allows the company to keep engaged with its IndividualFit and find their Sleep Number
customers before they need another mattress setting, they can feel and see the difference,
The company adds new material on a weekly eight years down the road, but gives them learn about the bed and how it can adjust
basis, she says. It’s also offering customers valuable data and encourages customers to to meet their unique needs, and begin
the option to donate their rewards points to make referrals to their friends and family, to understand about the value the Sleep
a charity and are exploring adding a which is the company’s most effective and Number mattress offers—ultimately, how it
gamification component. most cost-efficient sales tool. really will improve their life.”
“Now, with all of the new social platforms “We look at the data every day,” Erickson
we offer, there’s a way for our customers to says. “We constantly compare our different
voice their love of the brand,” says Erickson. activities to see which ones are engaging
“We also emphasize with our customers the people more and which ones aren’t—so
importance of sleep. You see more and more we can do more of the ones that are. For

FEATURES
“We have two central

tenants: simplicity and
generosity. We hear
Breaking the from our customers, and

we’re very much seeing
Engagement a trend of increased

complication—and in
Barrier
many cases devaluation—
among loyalty programs,
which makes it difficult for
customers to understand
what they actually get.”
Eliot Hamlisch was sitting in the lobby of a Microtel Inn

& Suites by Wyndham just outside Minneapolis when a
construction foreman walked through the door and up
to the registration desk. He was working with his crew
on a site a few blocks away, and as he went through
the check-in process, Hamlisch sat back and simply
observed.
As vice president of worldwide loyalty and partnerships

for Wyndham Hotel Group, which owns not only the
Microtel brand but more than a dozen others across the
With 53 million members industry, Hamlisch is constantly monitoring customer-
hotel interaction and looking for ways to improve the
in its rewards program, process.
the key to a great customer As the crew foreman got his keys and headed to his
rooms, Hamlisch approached, introduced himself and
rewards program for told him he was in charge of the Wyndham Rewards
program.
Wyndham Hotels is simple: “He then proceeded for the better part of five to 10
minutes to share how impactful and meaningful the
program has been for him and his crew as well,” says
Don’t make it complicated. Hamlisch. “It wasn’t just the benefits, but the friendly
smile he got from the general manager, who not only
recognizes him and his crew when they are there but
offers them personalized service as a result. That
brought to light not only how impactful the program
Mark Johnson can be, but how important our franchisees are to truly
Loyalty360 take care of our most valuable members.”
Wyndham has more than 8,000 hotels worldwide,

ranging from Days Inn, Travelodge and Super 8 on the
value end all the way to Wyndham Grand and Dolce
Hotels and Resorts on the higher end of the scale.
Collectively, those who stay at their now 20 brands

make up a rewards program of more than by leveraging a really heightened focus on What can often get lost in the effort to sim-
53 million members worldwide. With such a segmentation so that they’re able to offer the plify, be generous and personalize a customer
huge number of members spanning a wide right message to the right customer at the loyalty program for 53 million members is
range of the economic spectrum, it creates a right time and most importantly, in the right that in order to make it work everyone has to
number of challenges in crafting a responsive way.” be onboard and involved in making it happen.
and engaging loyalty program.
In 2015 the company revamped its website “We’ve got more than 8,000 hotels around
In the case of Wyndham, though, they seem to better reflect and support its customer the world plus another 17,000 vacation
to have come up with the answer. engagement efforts, and is continuing to condos and homes, all with staff who are
make other changes on the site, its mobile welcoming our members through their doors
“The beauty of our program is really in its capabilities and its app—although everything day-in and day-out. They are the ones who
simplicity,” says Hamlisch. “We have two is being driven by a focus on the customer, live and breathe the program every single
central tenants: simplicity and generosity. says Hamlisch, not the technology itself. day so they need to be 1) advocates and
We hear from our customers, and we’re very evangelists, and 2) well-educated on what
much seeing a trend of increased complica- “In our mind, it’s important to not always the program offers and how it creates a dif-
tion—and in many cases devaluation—among chase the shiny new thing, but rather to ferentiated experience for our loyal guests.
loyalty programs, which makes it difficult for understand the pieces of technology that will The same goes for our corporate staff. It’s
customers to understand what they actually have the biggest impact and invest accord- something we focus on daily and it starts at
get. That can create an engagement barrier as ingly,” he says. “For us, the focus really is on the top. In fact, rarely does a day go by where
well. We’ve built our program on these core a couple of things: One is mobile and the our CEO doesn’t highlight the importance of
tenants so it’s easy to understand and engage second is backend technology. Together they the Wyndham Rewards program. It is part
with, and members can get what they want serve in combination to reduce friction for our and parcel of our daily lives.”
most, which is a free night.” members as well as for our hotel owners.”
And it all seems to be working. The number
Having such a simple focus allows the com- What’s interesting, he adds, is that some- of members in the program is up by more
pany to concentrate more on what it feels is times customers surprise you with what than 8 million a little over a year says Ham-
the bigger key to great customer engagement they want out of technology. Case in point, lisch, and reward night redemptions are up
and loyalty: personalization. despite having a slick mobile app that enables more than 40 percent, accounting for more
travelers to easily make reservations on the than 80 percent of all program redemptions.
“In my mind, it’s all about personalization— fly, a large number of guests still prefer simply What’s more, on average, the program’s
and that applies not only in the travel and picking up the phone to speak directly with a members stay twice as long as non-members
hospitality industry but across all industries team member. and spend nearly twice as much too.
as well,” says Hamlisch “Where a one-size-
fits-all approach may have worked well in the “Customers today are more vocal than they “As you look at those metrics,” he says, “they
past, our members today want to engage in have been in the past,” he says. “There’s a tell us we are doing a good job not only driv-
ways that are very specific to them. In some very clear willingness among many to tell ing value for our members but driving value
cases, that’s a phone call, in others it’s a text, you exactly what they want. That’s valuable, back to our hotels as well.”
in others it’s a tweet. And the programs that which is why we believe it’s so important to
are going to win, in terms of truly driving be willing to listen.”
customer loyalty, will do so, in my opinion,
“It’s all about personalization—and that applies not

only in the travel and hospitality industry but across all
industries as well. Where a one-size-fits-all approach
may have worked well in the past, our members today
want to engage in ways that are very specific to them.”

LOYALTY FORUM: BEHIND THE BRAND
BehindtheBrand WITH DANIELLE QUATROCHI, SVP, DIGITAL CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
Danielle Quatrochi is SVP of Digital Customer Experience for Finish

Line. As such, Quatrochi works with her team to deliver premium
digital experiences to Finish Line customers across multiple channels.
Before joining Finish Line in 2012, Danielle worked in marketing roles

with Room 214, MapMyFitness.com, and Nike.
Quatrochi holds degrees from the University of Washington and the

University of Oregon, and also sits on the Board of Directors for The
Youth Foundation at Finish Line.
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE MOVIE?

Most recently, Coco. What you assume about people isn’t always
true, get to know them and you may be surprised.
IF YOU COULD HAVE ONE SUPERPOWER, WHAT WOULD IT BE?

Finding a cure for cancer.
WHAT TREND OR TECHNOLOGY SHOULD MARKETERS

EXPIRE AS A FAD OF THE PAST?
Picking technologies before defining what experience you
are trying to create or what problem are you trying to solve.
I often see companies get swept away with a solution
without knowing what they are trying to solve for.
IF YOU COULD PICK ONLY ONE THING, WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE
MOST INFLUENCES A GREAT CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE?
AND WHY?
Frictionless. If your experience feels frictionless, then customers
are often satisfied. It doesn’t have to be over the top or reinvented,
the experience just needs to feel so smooth that a customer
doesn’t have to think about it.
WHAT DO YOU LIKE DOING IN YOUR SPARE TIME?

Besides being a mother of three fun loving girls,
I’m an avid runner.

“ Besides being
a mother of
three fun loving
girls, I’m an
avid runner. ’’
WHAT IS YOUR PERSONAL MOTTO?

Do the right thing.
WHAT DID YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU WERE

GROWING UP?
Olympic Athlete.
WHO HAS HAD THE MOST INFLUENCE ON YOUR

PROFESSIONAL LIFE, AND WHY?
Each of the leaders I’ve worked for has influenced and
shaped who I am today. I pull from both the positive and
negative experiences to inspire me on the type of leader I
want to be.
WHO IS YOUR ALL-TIME FAVORITE MUSICAL ARTIST

OF ALL TIME?
Eddie Vedder - Pearl Jam. I was born and raised in the
Seattle area.
WHAT WAS YOUR LAST “AH-HA” CUSTOMER

EXPERIENCE? WHAT MAKES THIS MEMORABLE?
The simplest improvements can make a tremendous im-
pact. Finish Line streamlined their checkout process, and
we say a signification improvement with conversion, which
becomes even more impactful during Holiday.

FEATURES
Taste OF THINGS
TO COME
A
Mark Johnson
Loyalty360
Each year, SONIC Drive-In has a competition among some of its highly
visible and creative employees—its carhops. Many of its carhops, who
deliver meals to customers parked in drive-in stalls, use roller skates as
their preferred mode of transportation, and rather than simply walking an
order to a car, they spin, turn, zig and zag their way, all while balancing
a tray filled with food and drinks. So, the company invites five of its best
skating carhops to its headquarters in Oklahoma City for its annual Skate-
Off Competition, awarding prizes to those who demonstrate the best
From wheeled guest service, delivery skills, personality, originality and, of course,
flair.
workers skating
Some might simply dismiss carhops on roller skates as a
food to customers to gimmick, but SONIC officials consider them something
much more important—a differentiator. They are part
Footlong Chili Cheese of the company culture, part of the drive-in’s fun
atmosphere, and one of the keys—along with its
Coneys, being iconic unique food and drink offerings—that keep customers
from driving to the other place next door. It’s certainly not
is a key for SONIC. something you see from pizza delivery guys or the counter
workers at the burger place.
But so it utilizing
“Our carhops are on the front line and interact directly
new technologies— with our guests, and we think that is one of our key
strengths,” says Kim Lewis, Vice President of Digital
if they enhance the Strategies for SONIC. “Our iconic carhops are one of the
reasons guests really enjoy visiting SONIC. You can see
experience. why that personalized attention brings joy to our guests
who interact with them. It makes it much more than just a
typical fast-food experience.”

“Many of its carhops use roller skates
as their preferred mode of transportation,
and rather than simply walking an order
to a car, they spin, turn, zig and zag
their way, all while balancing a
tray filled with food and drinks.”
In the highly competitive, highly “Moving forward, we’re looking at how down the line, we want to introduce
crowded world of fast food, any little to continue personalizing the guest additional capabilities that make
differentiator can make a difference. experience through digital initiatives— each guest’s experience even more
SONIC has always been a little bit both through our digital communications meaningful. There’s a kind of magical
different—with Footlong Chili Cheese as well as through our personalized interplay between our app and the POPS
Coneys, Tots as an option instead technology,” Lewis says. “We have screens.”
of fries, and drive-in stalls where the capability to have one-on-one
customers stay in their cars instead of communication with our guests in their As with just about every other business
sitting at a table. And it takes constant drive-in stall through what we call our out there, creating a personalized
watching and evaluating the market to POPS—point of personalized service. In experience is the ultimate key to creating
see if there are new technologies or food each drive-in stall, we have our static customer loyalty. Everyone wants to feel
movements taking place that might help menu board as well as our POPS screen, catered to by people who know your
enhance what Lewis calls a “distinctly which we’re able to populate with name and preferences. It’s becoming the
SONIC experience.” dynamic content. That can be limited expectation. That, of course, is not an
time offers or exclusive offers you can easy task to manage.
But, she adds, they aren’t changing with get through our app or a suggestion to
every new trend that hits the scene. consider ordering mozzarella sticks with Making it even more challenging, SONIC
your burger. can’t limit its insights and efforts to
“We have to effectively evaluate and only other quick-service restaurants,
prioritize the constant stream of new as the brand finds itself competing
technology and capabilities. Certainly, with a variety of other restaurants for
there are many brands that are racing “I see the pace of consumer’s attention, especially through
to create endless new initiatives,” Lewis innovation likely its communications.
says. “That’s not us. We’re interested
in introducing the right features and continuing to accelerate, “Even though we are a quick-service
functionality to truly enhance the guest so distinguishing those restaurant brand, we’re competing
experience in a distinctly SONIC way with all the other emails that you might
versus just being buzzworthy. I see the true difference makers receive,” Lewis says. “We want to
pace of innovation likely continuing from short-lived trends outperform our competitors’ emails in
to accelerate, so distinguishing those is going to require more your inbox, but it’s also important to
true difference makers from short-lived compete overall for that mindshare. In
trends is going to require more and and more discernment that regard, there are certainly specific
more discernment on our part.” on our part.” cases where you can’t look just within
our industry, but you have to consider
One area they are focusing on the consumer’s overall attention span
considerably is how to take what is and how you get to be a part of it.”
already a distinct experience and make “If you create a profile and then check in
it highly personalized for the millions through our app, your picture appears on If only those emails could arrive on
of customers who pull into one of their the POPS screen and it says, ‘Welcome roller skates.
drive-ins and place an order. back.’ That’s the opening step. Moving

TECHNOLOGY, TRENDS & REWARDS
Driving Engagement
Among Your Loyalty Base
Five Proven Promotional Tactics
Kaitlyn Mitchell
Director of Loyalty
at HelloWorld
O Even with a solid content

ne of the most common themes we hear from clients is, “Our loyalty program
members seem to love our brand, but why does my program feel stale?” Or, “I
know that keeping members engaged is important, but I don’t know where to marketing strategy, how
start.” Or, “How do I get members to burn their earned points so my liability decreases?” does a brand know how
Our answer to that is to call up the proven strategy of promotion overlays – layers of fun well they’re doing? How
consumer experiences that don’t interrupt your loyalty program, they simply activate it.
Promotional overlays take many shapes and sizes, and in addition to driving engagement,
can they attribute consumer
they are also known to help brands bring in new members, encourage retention and engagement to loyalty,
repeat visits, create a buzz, incentivize purchase, and inspire point spending.
and ultimately attribute
Case in point: using a three-day scratch-off overlay, we drove 15% more downloads for a it to sales?
retail client’s loyalty app, and an overlay for one of our CPG clients resulted in 56% of its
inactive members reengaging with the brand.

Give your member base a boost, The Impact
encourage retention, and inspire purchase. of Promotions
ONE
Guaranteed Rewards
Entice loyalty members by giving them bonus loyalty points, a guaranteed reward, or a
coupon offer for their next purchase. In our research, 37% of shoppers indicate that they
would be more likely to purchase a product over a competitor if there was a guaranteed
37%
reward or coupon offer*. Take advantage of product launches or special times of year by
offering a chance to earn bonus points for purchase.
of shoppers indicate
TWO that they would be more
Chances to Win likely to purchase a product
Use instant win games, personality tests, trivia, and sweepstakes within your loyalty over a competitor if there
program to give members a chance to earn additional points, win prizes, or access was a guaranteed reward
exclusive content. On average, our data shows that sweepstakes tactics encourage or coupon offer
consumers to return to a campaign three to five times within the promotion period,
which makes it an effective tactic to drive engagement to your loyalty program. - HelloWorld’s Digital and In-Store
Engagement Report 2017
THREE
Mobile Offers
Deliver real-time coupons or offers to your members to build loyalty and drive purchase.
With 45% of consumers preferring to access offers on their phone or via SMS while
in-store*, mobile is a key channel to hook them. Consider a surprise and delight offer
that pops up as a notification. Scheduling these in a streak of offers that increase
in value as members redeem is an irresistible way to drive purchase while keeping
members excited about your program. 45%
FOUR
Viral Activity
Encourage members to snap photos or share content with a promotional hashtag on of consumers prefer
Instagram or Twitter. This promotional overlay can drive buzz, excitement, and activity to access offers on their
for your brand. Our benchmarks show that consumers will participate in social media phone or via SMS
programs up to three times throughout the program period. while in-store
- HelloWorld’s Digital and In-Store
FIVE Engagement Report 2017
Engagement Hubs
Even without a formal loyalty program, there are many ways to inspire long-term loyalty.
Engagement hubs (sites designed to incentivize interaction with branded content) are
an effective way to keep your brand top of mind. Tactics may include hashtag and photo
contests, advergames, collect & win campaigns, surveys, viewing branded content or
videos, and more.
Highly-engaged consumers are

incredibly valuable to the success of
a loyalty program, so finding new ways Download free whitepapers and
60%
to interact is critical. This is especially eBooks on loyalty and engagement:
so if your brand has longer purchase HelloWorld.com/Insights/whitepapers
cycles. For more ideas on promotions,
loyalty and overall engagement, visit more time spent with a
www.HelloWorld.com. brand using engagement
hubs over a sweepstakes
- HelloWorld Data

BEST PRACTICES
INVESTMENT IN THE 2018

CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
Karine Del Moro

VP, Confirmit
Karine Del Moro is Vice President at Confirmit and approach to the Voice of the Customer. A Certified Net
has 20 years experience designing and managing Promoter Associate and Certified Customer Experience
marketing programs, including customer retention Professional (CCXP), Karine has considerable knowledge
and business development. Karine was instrumental on best practices in customer experience management.
in the development of Confirmit Voices, a customer She is a recognized speaker and thought leader in the Voice
engagement model that provides an end-to-end of the Customer industry.
“Companies need to build and maintain a systematic

and disciplined financial argument to invest in a
successful CX program and initiatives that deliver
results and business change.”
Customer Experience, and its close friends, customer satisfaction That means providing true clarity into what really motivates
and customer loyalty, are rather well-established as indicators of the board-level executives to invest in CX. To demonstrate this
repeat business and increased spend. Customer Experience (CX) value, companies need to build and maintain a systematic and
is generally recognized as a critical competitive battleground in a disciplined financial argument to invest in a successful CX pro-
world where price and product features are increasingly gram and initiatives that deliver results and business change.
homogenous.
For board-level executives, revenue and profit are the language
So, in many respects it is frustrating, if not surprising, that CX must of choice, so securing budget and authority to implement a
still justify its existence. But that is the reality we face, and in the strategic VoC program must involve proving that the program
long run it is the best approach. Any CX program that was brought can make an impact on the bottom line.
into life by being seen as “the right thing to do” will be on thin ice
when budgets are tight, so we need to ensure we present a real Making the financial case for CX at this level may seem like a
business case to get senior support. complex task, but it should follow the same core principles as
any other investment:

•What’s the risk? What is the cost if your detractors The time spent on this phase of your business case is
fail to renew? The cost of acquiring new customers? beneficial, because with a financial linkage model in place,
Consider also the cost of servicing complaints and investments in CX can be made knowledgeably. This will not
calls into your contact center. only help prioritize what improvements to focus on, but also
provide an accurate measure of their impact on the business
and on customer loyalty.
•What’s the opportunity? Demonstrate how
increasing promoters can result in increased shares
Step Two: Present your Case
and revenue by cross-selling and increasing “share
of wallet.” From here, you can create an overall cash flow summary that
pulls your totals into a proven ROI model, along with the pro-
From there, you’ll have the insight to build a clear financial posed investment and recurring expense amounts, to show
business case, showing expected cash flow impacts for each risk ROI and payback period for your CX initiative.
and opportunity. How do you work out these financial impacts?
You’ll need to do battle with the inevitable silos and lay your Working in this proven, financially sound and accountable
hands on data from across the company. way, it is much easier for the executive team to visualize the
impact of the CX program on the business. It also ensures you
There is no denying that this is a big task. But integrating large provide tangible arguments to those who are doubtful about
financial and operational data sets with customer and loyalty less familiar metrics, or more ‘theoretical’ measures such as
data will provide context and help the decision-making process loyalty and engagement.
for the entire organization. Don’t attempt to skip or downplay
this stage, it’s the foundation for your entire approach. It’s important to know your audience. When presenting your
case, you need to be able to demonstrate clear alignment
with your corporate strategy. Focus on facts and figures and
Step One: Build the Business Case
be sure that your projections make sense and any assump-
By clearly modelling your outcome objectives for CX, for example tions are reasonable. Equally important is your commitment
customer retention, account growth or business generated by to a realistic roll-out. Don’t be tempted to promise the Earth
referrals, you can express true ROI to your executive team. At the in the first year, but commit to a phased approach, making
same time, you may uncover ways to demonstrate cost savings it clear that you will continually re-evaluate to get each step
and other efficiencies. You can also take this business case phase right and minimize risk.
as a way to share knowledge, teaching executives who might not
understand the connection between a focus on the Customer Step Three: Getting Started
Experience and increasing revenue and profits.
Securing investment is not the end of the road! You must
continue to demonstrate the importance of ROI by creating
some quick wins in the early stages. Use alerts and reporting
to make sure that you’re able to take swift action that counts
toward the financials you’ve committed to.
In addition, make sure that your executive team has access to

live, digestible dashboards to provide clear, visual evidence of
the impact that CX is having on the business. Do NOT send
lengthy slide decks on a quarterly basis. Please. Securing
executive buy-in from the outset of any CX initiative is key
to ensuring all stakeholders take the program seriously.
This means employees understanding the targets they need
to meet being empowered to take the actions that will allow
them to achieve these goals.
If you invest time in your business case, you’ll be able to

ensure buy-in for the long term. No business initiative is truly
invincible, but you can ensure that the right people know
what you are promising to deliver, how you intend to do it,
and that you’ll be able to prove your success.

STATE OF THE INDUSTRY
Three Ways to
Create a Culture of
Marc Vanlerberghe
CMO | Medallia
Marc Vanlerberghe leads Medallia’s
Global Marketing organization. Prior
to Medallia, Marc was VP of Marketing
for Access and Energy at Google.
Marc also led marketing for Android,

Google Play, and Google’s hardware
and retail organizations. He has
developed some of the most widely
recognized brands in the world and
has been an active player in the mo-
bile industry for over 20 years.

Natural selection isn’t just a phenomena 2. Unstructured data provides a gold mine of
that affects humankind. Today’s market dynamics
information - use it
where customers have more power than ever are
forcing established companies to be disrupted By 2022, 93 percent of all data will be unstructured, allowing com-
by emerging companies. In order to stay relevant panies to turn digital customer chatter into actionable strate-
companies need to adapt how they operate by becoming more gies. With the ability to mine and interpret large quantities of
agile and igniting cultures of innovation with the customer in mind. We unstructured data, customer experience professionals can learn
well beyond the questions they think to ask on customer surveys.
have seen this happen again and again for companies who are truly
This feedback can also reveal compelling stories that vividly illustrate
customer obsessed. By anticipating customer needs, companies can
customer frustrations and the consequences of bad experiences.
grow and adapt to meet them.
Monitoring customer comments shared via blogs, social media,

Look at LEGO for example. Founded in 1932, LEGO empowers
and third-party review sites can reveal valuable information that
employees worldwide to feel accountable to deliver on the company’s
has traditionally been unavailable or too difficult to analyze manually.
mission to “inspire and develop the builders of tomorrow.” LEGO has
Another upside is that unstructured data empowers global brands
established a systematic habit of listening and developing action
to pull insights from various languages thanks to developments in
plans around prioritized key insights. LEGO employees, from store
natural language processing and machine-learning techniques.
associates to corporate employees, have access to consumer feed-
back. This drives operational improvement and generates new ideas
Growth of Unstructured Data
which are then escalated to LEGO Group’s senior management.
1998 2022
Innovation isn’t just happening in the private sector, where com-
panies are highly incentivized. Government agencies such as TSA
and the Department of Veterans Affairs are using innovation to
improve their practices. The TSA implemented a Global Entry
Program on a limited budget to allow travellers to skip long lines at the
93%
airport and pass through security quickly with the use of thumbprint
technology and biometrics at easy-to-use kiosks. This year, Medal-
lia partnered with the VA to give VA employees real-time access to
80%
veterans’ feedback to help identify and correct both one-off and sys-
temic problems, and also identify new sources of value for veterans.
Unstructured Data
It’s not just possible, it’s imperative that organizations connect with
Structured Data
their customers and take action on their feedback.
We’ve found three best practices that enable established companies 3. If you want a reality check, listen to your
to innovate and become truly customer obsessed. employees
Your employees are the ones on the front lines interacting with
1. Consistently integrate customer feedback customers, designing processes, and making adaptations.The best
way to get real input is by engaging with your employees regularly and
from digital channels listening to their feedback. Then take those learnings back to your team
and bring reality into your business. Omni Hotels is a great example.
Today’s customers have extremely high expectations for a unified
A staggering 97.6 percent of Omni properties log into Medallia daily
cross-channel experience. It’s important to focus on digital first, as
to access actionable, real-time data measuring customer experience.
customers are shifting from brick and mortar stores to using websites
and apps on their smartphones. Most customers will soon manage an
At every Omni property, each morning begins with the staff review-
estimated 85 percent of brand interactions without speaking to a human.
ing customer feedback from the previous day. Their employees then
discuss specific problems and general trends, and managers
Although the vast majority of customer journeys begin on the web
give guidance and goals for the day. This has led to Omni winning
and mobile devices, many companies are still flying blind. It’s
numerous accolades for their great service and averaging 8.8 (on a
vital to solicit feedback and gather data on the consumer’s web and
10-point scale) for Overall Satisfaction across all properties for the
in-app experiences and integrate it into a unified view of the overall
past three years.
customer experience. Medallia for Digital, for example, helps companies
collect this feedback and turn this feedback into clear action plans
The solution is simple: focus on what’s working and continue
for improvement.
to do more of that. Listen to your employees, listen to your
customers, and then share that information at all levels of the
company to create a culture that is truly customer obsessed.

BEST PRACTICES
The Yin and Yang of

Loyalty Program Design
While celebrity meet-ups and amazing freebies garner buzz, it’s a balanced approach,
pairing both emotional and rational benefits, that wins long-term customer loyalty.
Chris Barnett
VP, Strategic Services
The Lacek Group
Emotional brand stories get a lot of play these days — in articles, social media
posts and more. After all, there’s enormous appeal to transformative customer
experiences. They’re fun to talk about as marketers and even more compelling
to experience as consumers.
Consider the first time Oprah Winfrey shocked her in-studio audience
by giving each of them all of her “favorite things.” Or the media splash
that followed when every audience member received a new Pontiac?
As Winfrey later explained, “It’s about knowing that something really
magical and joyful and wonderful can happen to you when you least
expect it.”
Similarly, a growing number of loyalty programs are emphasizing

emotional experiences and rewards. Such programs delight customers
with unexpected value, like a dessert at a trendy restaurant or tickets to
a hotly anticipated concert. These benefits are powerful: The recipient
is treated like a VIP and likely feels stronger brand loyalty,
while the company enjoys positive social media. It’s a win-win.
And the behavioral-science research backs it up: According to Bain &

Company (“The Elements of Value,” Harvard Business Review, September
2016), emotional elements are one of the key factors that create consumer
value. That is, creating emotion is essential to any brand that wants to unlock
long-term customer loyalty and boost its profitability. Yet it’s critical to remember
that emotion remains just one element that drives brand loyalty and purchase behavior.
Other motivations depend on what a spectrum of customers perceive as valuable and want
from the brand.
In fact, the research says that while the value of a product or service is ultimately up to the consumer, there are universal building blocks of value
— including elements of rational value like currency, promotions, and partnerships — that can be used in new combinations to deliver greater
value, stronger consumer loyalty and a bigger bottom line. Thus, as marketers, we need to push back against the idea that emotional rewards
alone win the day.
Moreover, just because consumers love surprises and amazing experiences, that doesn’t mean they aren’t emotional about rational benefits.
As evidenced by past public reactions to program currency changes, customers feel attached to earning and redeeming too.

The Case for Balance
Loyalty programs can’t thrive on emotional benefits alone. Take the Oprah RATIONAL EMOTIONAL
example: Millions of TV viewers had to live vicariously through the lucky
in-studio audience members. Similarly, only a small percentage of loyalty
program members are ever dazzled by emotional experiences. They may Member Touch Points
Personalized member interactions
read about them in brand content or social media, but the vast majority of expressed through the program “wrapper”
consumers never access them. across all channels and touch points.
CHANNELS, CONTENT
That’s because emotional benefits are seldom as scalable as rational & MESSAGING
benefits. In most cases, extending emotional benefits to broad audiences
would wreak havoc on a program’s financial foundations and/or exceed
the company’s ability to consistently deliver them. In addition, emotional Explicit Value Proposition
The reasons members join and initially engage with a program -
benefits that are scalable generally aren’t compelling enough to drive core elements they consider the “advantages of membership.”
longer-term loyalty. Often tiered to recognize differences in member value.
HARD SOFT
Listening to consumers also confirms the importance of balanced BENEFITS UTILITY BENEFITS
loyalty program designs. According to research by PwC, the worldwide
professional services firm, 70 percent of global online shoppers name
member-only discounts as their top loyalty program benefit. Collecting Engagement Motivators
reward currencies and accessing hard benefits like free shipping lag Provide a richer experience and targeted value to members -
flexible, dynamic and often phased in over time.
closely behind at 61 and 58 percent respectively. Again, while emotional
benefits play a role, rational benefits are greatly desired. CURRENCY PROMOTIONS
& REWARDS PARTNERSHIPS & OFFERS
So what does that mean when it comes to loyalty program design? In

SHARING & SURPRISE
short, both emotional rewards and rational benefits are vital. We’ve got COMMUNITY GAMIFICATION & DELIGHT
to channel both surprise-and-delighter-in-chief Oprah Winfrey for the
“wow factor” and astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson for the rational and
tangible. Striking this balance is critical to loyalty program design. A basic model of balanced program building blocks.
Balancing Your Loyalty Program Creating a Core Value Proposition

The best programs integrate member touch points, an explicit value At the core of nearly all loyalty programs are explicit value propositions
proposition, and a layered mix of engagement motivators. Below, we — usually a combination of hard benefits, soft benefits and utility. These
focus on the first two and save the complex discussion of engagement elements — the very reasons members join and engage with loyalty
motivators for our white paper. programs — serve as the program’s core value proposition and should
range from rational to emotional.
Creating a balanced loyalty program starts with member touch points.
The best programs envelop members within the loyalty experience Hard benefits — for example, an evergreen discount — are easily
“wrapper.” This member-experience focus requires organizational monetized. Soft benefits may include early access to new products or
commitment to making the program not just a marketing initiative services, exclusive content or customer prioritization. And utility benefits
but an enterprise-wide program that leverages and delivers on loyalty — say, the ability to place an order via a mobile app — make members’
across all touchpoints. lives better or easier.
Throughout these brand interactions, personalization is key. For Consider National Car Rental. Sure, members of its Emerald Club® loyalty
example, an email may take the form of a personal note, including the program appreciate special offers, a.k.a. hard benefits, but they equally
member’s name and asking for feedback about a recent experience. enjoy the program’s soft benefits and utility, in particular, the ability to
It’s through such personal connections that we build relationships. skip the rental counter and select any car they like — usually with a free
To the extent that marketers can leverage customer data, we can create upgrade — from the Emerald Aisle. The explicit value proposition delivers
the perception of personal relationships across millions of members. rational value and gives members emotional choice and control.
A good example of this experiential wrapper plus personalization is To recap: Offering both emotional and rational benefits is vital to creating
Mr. Porter. When I first joined the online men’s retailer, I had to look a strong loyalty program. That said, remember that most successful loyalty
twice when its logo suddenly transformed from Mr. Porter into my programs evolve; some initially offer rational benefits and layer on emotional
name, Mr. Barnett. Talk about personalization. After placing an order, benefits. Leave room too for future innovations and technology adoption.
I received my merchandise, a thank-you note and a pocket square as Finally, every company needs to be cognizant of a changing business
an unexpected gift. Today, I receive shopping-event invitations, free environment and competitors — and adjust loyalty program features to suit.
shipping, a weekly online style guide and more. In short, Mr. Porter
offers a lifestyle, expressed across all member touchpoints, while
delivering emotional and rational value.

LOYALTY FORUM: Q&A
Brand Vision
Q: What are the challenges and/

or opportunities of leveraging
omnichannel strategies?
We’ve always been a very technology-focused It’s a combination depending on the channel.
company from the very beginning. We’ve always The retailers have said they want to tell our
had an iPad-based point-of-sale system. We felt like unique story. Their consumers want to have a
that was a very easy system for our team members connection with the food, how it’s grown, and
to use and learn. We want to always be on that the people behind it. We’ve worked closely
cutting edge of technology while still offering a very with the stores and our selling partners at retail
traditional product and a very traditional service so to bring those stories to life.
it’s a balance. It’s a part of who we are.
Ali Rauch, Marc Oshima,

Director of Marketing, CMO/Founder,
Chicken Salad Chick AeroFarms

It’s always a challenge with omnichannel to
keep track of customers across channels. As you
know, you can walk into a store, place an order, “We want to always
pay cash, and no one would know you, at least
data-wise. You’re just a customer that ordered be on that cutting edge
a pizza that day, and that order wouldn’t count
toward your average order frequency. The loyalty
program obviously helps, as the more we can
of technology while still
drive people through digital channels the more
we can track consumer behavior. The more
offering a very traditional
digital channels we have the more we are able
to meet customers where they are and provide
product and a very
a better level of convenience. At the same time,
we benefit from the data we capture and our traditional service so
increased consumer understanding.
it’s a balance.”
Steve Kennedy,
Director of Marketing,
Domino’s
Distribution is a big thing for us in trying to I think our strength is—and always has
create a presence. Online, we can fill the gaps been—our diversity. By that, I mean we hope
in some cases where people might not be near to appeal to pretty much every demographic
a Target or a Walmart or another store where group, because we have something that
they can access our trading card products. The appeals to everyone. We don’t have a niche
omnichannel strategy is making people aware of or certain focus. When you go into an H&M
new product offerings like Topps Now or the digital store you can pretty much find everything
apps for digital trading cards. It’s really through these days. We’ve expanded our sports
digital marketing, social media paid and earned, collections, for instance. The idea is that you
email marketing that we do through e-commerce should be able to find everything at H&M no
affiliates, and SEO. We really try to create a matter what your preferences are. It’s up to
360-degree strategy to let all fans and customers you basically, and for us it’s really important
know about the specific products we have in to emphasize that diversity.
the marketplace and we may try to target, for
example, Star Wars fans. It’s certainly a little bit of
a different demographic and behavior set as far as Sara Svirsky,
the websites they visit versus baseball fans. Group Manager Film Production,
H&M Global Marketing Dept.
Jeff Heckman,
Director of e-Commerce,
Topps

TECHNOLOGY, TRENDS & REWARDS
The
Omnichannel
Path to Mobile
Loyalty Success
Dan Slavin
CEO
CodeBroker
Everyone wants to boost engagement in their loyalty program, find an effective way to
capture the interest of millennials, and nail the perfect contact strategy for each of their
members. There’s no doubt that a sound, carefully planned mobile strategy is a key
component to address these challenges.
Consider that 43 percent of consumers say that carrying a Consumer Preference on How
loyalty card is a primary pain point with loyalty programs, and
71 percent say they would be more likely to use a program to Access Loyalty Programs
if they could do so from their smartphone, according to a
34.75%
CodeBroker mobile loyalty survey.
Text Message
But which mobile channel should you pursue? It’s a good idea
to probe a little deeper into those survey results. The 1,207
consumers surveyed did not share the same preferences about
how to interact with their loyalty programs.
Mobile App 18.5%
Mobile is a platform with several channels, and what works for
Apple Wallet
or Android Pay 15.4%
one consumer may not work for another. The best results will
be achieved by inviting consumers to enroll and allowing them
to access cards and rewards via their preferred mobile channel.
Other 31.2%
According to an EKN mobile loyalty study, 61 percent
of retailers believe the most important element in
building a comprehensive personalization strategy
is being able to make it work across many channels;
and average basket size is expected to jump 10 percent
as a result.

The Benefits of an Omnichannel Approach to Mobile Loyalty
You can acquire new members rapidly and cost effectively by giving consumers an easy way
to enroll over their preferred mobile channel, and by giving existing members an easy way to
convert to mobile. Capture each member’s preferred communications channel and start each
relationship in impressive fashion.
It’s possible to tackle three key challenges with an omnichannel approach: Member acquisition,
engagement, and contact strategy.
Acquisition:
When promoting your program, increase
your member sign-ups by offering multiple
sign-up options.
Engagement:
Customers will be more likely to engage
with your program if they can do so via
their preferred channel.
Contact Strategy:
Your program will be more effective knowing the
customer’s preference for contacts. Contacting
them via the communication channel of their
choice is much more likely to result in successful
long-term engagement. Get used to an omnichannel approach to mobile loyalty. We know
that millennials are much more likely to enroll in the first place if they
can do so via their preferred mobile channel. By delivering relevant
communications, integrated across multiple channels, and learning
mn ichannel about your customer’s preferences, it’s possible to increase sign-ups,
Tips for Ooyalty Acquisition

engagement and program performance.
Mobile L gement
and Enga nnel approacthitisdoes
nicha enticing, bu
The om e and ning.
inclusiev proper plan
• Existing members who add or convert to mobile should have their
requir ters records automatically synced.
ew poin
af
Here are n mind: • Deploy mobile analytics capabilities so you can track engagement.
i
to keep Knowing how your customers interact with your loyalty program
gives you insight on how to refine your tactics.
Loyalty programs are more competitive than ever. The average

• Ensure that your loyalty program is available consumer belongs to multiple programs. If you want your program
across all mobile channels including SMS, to stand out and be the one customers engage with most, then
mobile app, mobile wallet, and Facebook. make all sign-up options available. Ultimately, to fully engage
with today’s mobile-centric consumer, it’s crucial to make things
• Ensure that all your loyalty program features as convenient, fast, and frictionless as possible. An omnichannel
are fully accessible, so customers can check approach is the most effective way to deliver that.
rewards, points balances, certificates, redeem
offers and access other membership details.
Dan Slavin is CEO and co-founder of CodeBroker, a provider of mobile marketing solutions.
• Avoid making your members sign-in for access. He was CEO of Framework Technologies, VP of Open Market, and CEO of International
CodeBroker’s mobile loyalty survey found that Testing Services. He earned a BS in Electrical Engineering from Yale and an MBA from
70 percent of consumers say they’d use a mobile Harvard. You can reach him at dan.slavin@codebroker.com.
loyalty program if it did not involve a sign-in
or mobile app download.
TheValue
of Loyalty
Jonathan Seabolt
Head of Sales & Strategy
LoyaltyEdge
Breach (noun) \ ˈbrēch \: The breach included Social Security Numbers of 143 million
consumers as well as 11 million individuals who also had
infraction or violation of their driver license information compromised. Not only

that, Equifax has a division called “The Work Number” used
a law, obligation, tie, or for employment and verification income obtained through
various sources, including banks.
standard a breach While that information hasn’t been compromised yet, all that
of trust. is needed to access the database is a Social Security Number

and an easily discernable answer to a security question.
This word is now synonymous with banking, credit scores, Forrester Research, one of the sources I regularly use for desk
quick service restaurants and just about any company who research, recently served me with this message upon login,1
has your Personally Identifiable Information (PII). As you
probably know by now and with a 48 percent chance of “Today, we announced that Forrester.com experienced a
falling victim to it, Equifax recently disclosed one of the cybersecurity incident this week. To date, our investigation
most significant data breaches in history. has determined that the attack was limited to research
reports made available to Forrester clients on Forrester.com.”

With so much uncertainty in terms of personal information being compromised,
marketers are tasked with an extremely difficult job of deepening relationships with
their own customers to help drive not only value but ultimately spend.
Below are just a few ways that we, as marketers, can overcome this challenge, deepen
the customer experience, and help move our respective businesses forward.
Customer Experience Customer retention is imperative to the health of any

business. Prior to September 2016, many financial
institutions were using cross-selling tactics in order to
see continued growth. Wells Fargo, for example, reported
that in April of 2017, they set a record of 6.17 products
per household, according to documentation filed with
the Securities and Exchange Commission. However, as
the U.S. Government has begun questioning the current
strategies financial institutions are using for growth,
companies have turned to customer acquisition.
From a customer experience

perspective, one card issuer,
Discover Financial Services
With social media outlets being used not only as a (DFS), inked a partnership
platform for praise but also to offer resolutions of with an unlikely candidate,
censure, a firm’s market capitalization is just one Hallmark. In August of 2017,
viral post away from turmoil. Just ask the CEO of Discover began sending out
United Airlines, Oscar Munoz, who had to answer to Hallmark branded customer
shareholders after the United stock dropped as much as greeting cards to attract and acquire prospective
6.3 percent or $1.4 Billion dollars when videos showed cardholders for the Discover It credit card. There are
the infamous United passenger, David Dao, being many iterations of the greeting card in market but each
physically removed from one of their flights. In times like of them have a unique message rather than a mass
these, it’s important to be thoughtful when it comes to message. Introducing a human element into something
customer loyalty because when issues arise, especially like credit cards or everyday banking can be the
public ones, typically the loyal customers will remain. driving factor not only in response rates but customer
engagement and an overall lift in spend.
One company, American Airlines (AA), is doing just that
as they recently rolled out an augmented reality enabled In closing, the true value of loyalty can be measured
app, which helps flyers transition from the traditional in many different ways from a $1.6 Billion loss to a 2.7
2D map to real-time information in percent response rate from a direct mail campaign. The
the palm of their hand. Using the goal as marketers is to learn as much as we possibly can.
camera on your smart phone, the For example, I constantly consume information through
app will provide you with everything many channels including podcasts like Brett King’s
from where TSA Pre® is located to Breaking Banks, keeping up to date with industry news on
several Internet of Things (IOT) Loyalty360 and engaging with the thought leaders in my
sensors informing you of the, for vertical. The mentality is that I am never satisfied with
example, 12-minute estimated wait how much I can know but I am determined to master
time or that the Admirals Club is all aspects of customer loyalty, which helps our clients
currently 47 percent to capacity. to drive down Cost Per Point (CPP), increase the value
As a frequent business traveler on proposition and deepen their customer relationships. In
American, this is extremely helpful my opinion, the value of loyalty is priceless.
as my main focus is to minimize
time in the terminal. Sources:
1. http://www.forrester.com

BEST PRACTICES
LIOR ARUSSY
President of Strativity Group,

a global experience design,
and transformation firm.
Follow Lior @LiorStrativity.
THE SHAMELESS PRIDE

IN PURSUIT OF PURPOSE -
Culture can be measured very simply by two critical factors. The first gauge to no impact? Customer centricity is not optional for organizations who seek an
for culture is what people say and do when their CEO isn’t looking. It is the authentic culture. After all, for most employees who joined your company based
real deal in every company. When you listen to the unfiltered memes in the on the inspiration to make a difference in people’s lives, the company’s purpose
organization, you get a sense of the true culture. was at the core of their decision. From creating healthier lives to nurturing the
world’s humanity, whatever your purpose, your employees believed in what they
In short, it is not what’s on the wall but rather what’s in the employees’ souls. were going to do.
The second criterion is the scope of empowerment the frontline employees pose.
It is their ability to create memorable experiences for their customers. Greater Our employee engagement studies have demonstrated to us that, up until three
empowerment demonstrates greater trust and transparency in the years in, employees are still excited and seek to pursue their purpose
organization in addition to a spirit of innovation. Less empowerment means we and make a difference in the world. Usually, if the organization fails to pursue its
are back to the hierarchy-based all-soldier march to the same order of culture. In purpose authentically after three years, those employees will be disappointed and
short, culture is what employees dare to do, not just what they are forced to do. their engagement will start to decline. After two to three years, they will either
leave the company or accept the fact that the culture will never be what they
Culture is developed one of two ways—by default or by design. had hoped it would be. They will adjust their commitment to the organization
Neglect the development of your culture, and your culture will rise from cynicism accordingly.
and skepticism developed by years of employees who seek purpose but instead
feel that their ideas, initiatives, and the purpose of the organization are In the study of a Canadian organization, we discovered that branches who
consistently ignored. Meanwhile, their leaders are pursuing a strategy of committed to the purpose of making a difference in customers’ lives and
satisfying profit generation at the expense of customers and doing the right thing. focused on empowering their employees outperformed the rest of the branches
Like brushing your teeth, culture is not a one-time decision or design event. It is by six times! That is, those committed braches delivered a return on sales six-
a constant nurturing exercise, every day, in every decision, by every employee, times better than their counterparts did.
in every interaction. Would employees bring the company’s values to life or hide
behind safe, restrictive processes? Would they be proud of what they’ve created What do those branches do differently? First and foremost, they
or just view themselves as cogs in a big machine where their actions make little do not apologize for pursuing their purpose. They don’t see it as a

A NEW APPROACH TO CULTURE
means to an end. It is their end goal, and they purpose it with love and 4. Measure memories and stories – Customers are not KPs; they are
authenticity. They embrace their purpose as core to who they are and not just humans with stories that are evolving and shared. Focus on creating
memorable stories that will become part of your customer’s life story.
something they do to look good in the eyes of their employees. The second thing
Don’t focus on the few stories that happen once in a lifetime; aim to
these branches do differently is they empower their employees. They diligently create thousands of stories.
work to provide access to information, tools, and decision-making power that
enable employees to deliver the most exceptional experiences. 5. You first – Be a role model. Demonstrate your own personal commitment
to your employees. Go and do something they don’t expect you to do.
When employees are empowered to make a difference and see the 6. Purpose-centric rituals – Create culture rituals that carry out the
impact they make in the eyes of the people whom they serve, they company’s purpose and fulfillment on a regular basis. Make sure that
the purpose is at the center of everything that you do and discuss.
know that they matter, and they act accordingly. So, how do we
translate the intended culture to an operational behavior for each and
When discussing culture with executives, we often see the reluctance in their
every one of your employees?
eyes. They all admit how important it is, but few champion culture as often as
1. Love your customer – Speak about your customer as a person you love to they should. Through deeper discussion, we find that they feel uncomfortable,
work with. Humanize his or her needs, and develop an approach to connect assuming it will portray them as weak and less commanding. Living by
with him or her emotionally. your purpose is probably the most empowering thing you can do in your
2. Do the human thing first – Explore ways to demonstrate empathy and organization.
sympathy when relevant. Always focus on how you make your customer feel
first. This emotion will determine their advocacy Allowing your employees to see your humanity and your commitment to
and loyalty.
making a difference. The purpose-driven leader gets the most commitment
3. Empower to surprise – Provide your team with the tools, knowledge, from employees and creates the most impact. Delivering culture often
decision scope, and confidence to approach difficult situations so that they and authentically is the new way to attract the best talent and most loyal
may turn “difficult” into “delightful.”
customers. It is at the center of delivering the results you promised. Let’s
start by being human.

BEST PRACTICES
YOUR
MARKETING
WORKED!
OR DID IT...
Brad Rukstales
President and Chief Executive Officer
Cogensia
I don’t know how your marketing meetings go, but in my line of

work I spend time with clients discussing results. Measurement is
challenging because of the technical and human forces at work.

This conversation highlights 3 key shortcomings that are
MARKETING MEETING common in retail and restaurant marketing measurement.
Our staff knows thats

the same offer as our Well, we need to Well, some
We had 500,000 know how many
impressions & a national ad promo, so But only if of them would
We only had 317 they use the national people, who have come
click thru rate of they clicked
transactions with ad code on the POS received the in anyway,
1%. So, we had on the How did the new
that promo code, because its easier & email, used the regardless of
5,000 get to the promotion email campaign
so it didn’t work they don’t want to promo code. a promotion.
promotion page page. work out?
out so well. think about it.
which is good.
How did the new
email campaign
work out?
IT FINANCE
MARKETING MARKETING
FINANCE OPERATION ANALYTICS

ANALYTICS
1. Wrongly Measured Impact: give you an extremely valuable and honest assessment of the impact of
your marketing. Suppose 16% of your eClub customers, who received a
Promo code redemptions do not necessarily equal impact.
promotion, made a purchase. In the control group, it could be, say, 12%.
A redemption is just that – someone who received your email and showed
The incremental performance, of the promotion, is 4%. However, the
it to the associate who entered it (or something like it) into the system.
promotion most likely offered a discount to the portion of the 16% who
Most consumers who engage with your marketing are already active with
used the promotion, whereas the 12% didn’t receive the discount. It is
your brand. There is no concrete evidence that this is at all incremental.
MARKETING MEETING
I will say that I have a client who has been able to model a impact by
looking at same store sales and tracking daily redemptions. Over time,
critically important to add sales, discounts, and margin to the analysis to
truly understand the impact of your campaign.
they can understand (and use as a rule of thumb) what that impact is. The next time your CFO asks you how your email campaign performed,
No, I’m not going to say what that rule of thumb is because we see wide you can have an answer.
variation across industries and clients.
ϯϱй
2. Speedy Service/Purchase: ϯϬй

ϯϬй
The staff’s job is to quickly get through the transaction quickly. They will
take shortcuts because, well, there are shortcuts. This is challenging for Ϯϱй 4% lift
Marketing when they need to make minor alterations to the process for
Was It
йŽĨƵƐƚŽŵĞƌƐ
measurement purposes. ϮϬй
3. Lacking Technology: Worth It? ϭϱй

ϭϲй
ϭ
ϭϮй
Many retailers and most restaurants do not have the technology required
to match transactions to their eClub or mobile app. Therefore, there is no ϭϬй
way to link the actual dollars that are received from people that received ϱй
an email. This makes measurement and testing difficult. ϱй
So what should a marketer do? Ϭй

ZĞƐƉŽŶƐĞZĂƚĞ 'ƌŽƐƐZĞǀĞŶƵĞͬWƌŽŵŽƚĞĚ EĞƚZ
Well, the first thing to think about is what happens in the absence of ƵƐƚŽŵĞƌ
marketing. What activity would your customers have if you didn’t market Ψϵ Discount
Ψϴ͘ϬϬ of $1.60
at all? Controlling for this can be tricky. Can you email only to customers Ψϴ
in certain markets? If so, you can track same-store sales before and after A 4% lift in response
the promotion for the stores in the marketed group versus the stores in the Ψϳ can be eaten away
Ψϲ͘ϰϬ
control group. This will be noticeable if you do have a relatively large eClub Ψϲ͘ϬϬ Ψϲ͘ϬϬ by a 20% discount.
Ψϲ
(or loyalty program, or mobile program – whatever tactic you would like to
ƵƐƚŽŵĞƌsĂůƵĞ
measure). This will tell you the sales impact. Ψϱ

$0.60 loss
Ψϰ
The second thing to consider is expanding your eClub to include
Ψϯ͘ϬϬ
behavioral data. If you are fortunate enough to have track 1 data in your Ψϯ
ΨϮ͘ϰϬ
POS, you can append behavioral data to your eClub. You most likely can’t
ΨϮ
do this yourself, since this also requires external data, but you can have
it done on a regular basis. These insights will more than offset the cost Ψϭ
of this data. With this behavioral data, you can observe, at an individual
ΨϬ
level, whether they responded to a promotion or not. Now, it’s easy 'ƌŽƐƐZĞǀĞŶƵĞͬWƌŽŵŽƚĞĚ EĞƚZĞǀĞŶƵĞĨƚĞƌ EĞƚDĂƌŐŝŶ
enough to select a control group randomly for an upcoming promotion, ƵƐƚŽŵĞƌ ŝƐĐŽƵŶƚ
DO NOT CONTACT them, and see what their behaviors are. This will
Customer Value

BEST PRACTICES
LOYALT-E:
IT’S ALL
ABOUT
THE BRAND
EXPERIENCE.
IS YOURS
READY
FOR 2018?
Kevin Nix
CEO
Stellar Loyalty
If the last few years have taught us anything, it’s that brand experience matters most when
it comes to building loyalty. Rewards may be the icing, but experience is the cake. We know
this from the rapid adoption of approaches that make interacting with the brand a lot more
convenient and satisfying. Advancements like mobile ordering and pay, location-based offers,
and personalized communication are now mainstream. The brands that have adopted these
methods are thriving, while those that haven’t are stalling.

For 2018, look to these five trends to fuel loyalty success:

1 Using Experiential to
Once in the store, beacon technology can Excelling
4 (for Real)
provide personalized messages in-aisle, making
Drive Emotion offers and recommendations as they make their
at Mobile
According to the Freeman Global Brand way through the store. Shoppers can also get The one-off, me-too mobile app is dead. More
Experience Study, one in three CMOs expects reminders about past purchases in case they engaging, rewarding, and higher-functioning
to spend between 21 and 50 percent of their want to repurchase. These features turn the mobile experiences will be key to keeping
budget on brand experience marketing over the shopping experience into a smart, assisted tour consumer loyalty alive. This means more
next three to five years. Experiential spend is through the aisles. relevant and satisfying interactions such as
growing because marketers see it’s one of the receiving a communication when a desired item
most effective ways to build brand loyalty. just became available or getting a special offer
Blending Physical and Digital on a favorite drink at the coffee shop around the
2 corner or being the first among their friends to
Assets More Effectively
Augmented Reality receive exclusive news and information.
Successful retail brands will leverage their brick
Unique immersive experiences help forge an and mortar assets in new ways to compete Content is king for mobile. Great content must
emotional connection by engaging multiple against Amazon and other pure digital plays, be relevant and entertaining and be delivered at
senses. We’re already seeing increasingly more using their physical real estate to deliver unique the right frequency to ensure memorable brand
creative applications of augmented reality experiences the online channel cannot. Exclusive experiences.
(AR) to create differentiation and amaze product demos that let you try-before-you-buy,
brand customers. access to pre-released items, elite experiences
with experts, and quicker, easier purchase Exalting Simplicity
Take for example M&M’s launch of its new pickups are all tactics physical brands will 5
caramel flavor with a special AR experience leverage.
and Convenience
in Times Square. “M&M’S ARcade,” campaign Above all, experiences have got to be simple
turned a dozen billboards into an AR arcade Conversely, digital brands will mimic certain and make customers’ lives easier. Certain airlines
consumers could play on their mobile phones. aspects of the physical world. Consider how and hotels have been ahead of the curve in this
The launch garnered over 466 million Wayfair uses its WayfairView AR app to let regard. They’ve evolved their programs beyond
impressions, but more than that, it created an customers test how renderings of the online miles and points to offer new kinds of perks to
unforgettable brand experience that reached far retailer’s home furnishings look in their homes. different customers, taking not just price, but
beyond Times Square. the entire customer experience into account.
Not every brand can pull off such a massive Personalization Perks like expedited security lines, mobile
AR stunt, but consider what AR can do in-store. 3 boarding passes, the option to pick their own
With image recognition and AR, consumers can and Customization
hotel room and keyless room entry have
simply “point and shoot” their mobile device at been embraced by harried travelers. These
a product to unlock key features, benefits, and Consumers like brands that take an interest in
them. Successful brands understand this and are approaches that help simplify their lives
comparison data. According to a 2016 study by engender loyalty that runs deep.
Interactions Consumer Experience Marketing, investing in backend technology to really know
71 percent of shoppers said they would shop at a their customers – not just their spending history,
but their preferences, behaviors and purchase These five practices are quickly gaining traction
retailer more often if they used AR. Moreover, as retailers witness the successes of competitors
72 percent of shoppers who have used AR said habits. This will transform the mundane
experience of entering a store into an engaging, who are taking fuller advantage of these
they purchased items they weren’t planning to. trends. Yet this is only the tip of the iceberg: the
personalized digital “meet and greet” by which
the staff can recognize and better serve the evolution and adoption of these practices is
There is no doubt that 2018 will be the year AR guaranteed to accelerate and elevate in the year
goes truly mainstream, combining value-added customer.
ahead. There’s no patience for mediocre loyalty
information, entertainment, and experience to programs or retail experiences. Either you’re
generate greater engagement and loyalty. Consumers also want to have control over
their brand communication. As a result, winning at the brand experience game or you’re
communication will become increasingly on your way to losing.
tailored to the consumer’s needs versus
Location-based Technology
generic ad offers.
Expect, too, to see location technology become
Driving this wave of hyper personalization
more prevalent and precise. Geo-fencing
is a nimbler use of Big Data, analytics and
technology can deliver offers to consumers’
Machine Learning which will all act in concert
smartphones in close proximity. Nearly three
to increase the intelligence of retailers’
quarters of consumers say they follow through
customer engagement systems. Increasingly,
with a call to action if they receive it near
these systems will proactively communicate
the retailer’s physical location (Source MDG
with loyalty marketing on key trends and
Advertising).
opportunities as well as recommend actions
to detect and prevent consumer churn.

FROM MACRO
TO MICRO:
NEW DIRECTIONS
FOR COALITION
PROGRAMS
Ritesh Bhavnani
Co-Founder, President, Chief Technology Officer and Director
Snipp Interactive Inc.
Coalition programs (when successful!) are the holy grail for loyalty marketers and brands. Unlike single
brand loyalty programs, a coalition program brings multiple businesses together under one loyalty program
umbrella. Consumers can earn points across the various businesses and subsequently spend their points
on a similarly wide variety of rewards provided by those businesses. Many of the most well-known loyalty
programs today are coalition programs, and programs like Aeroplan (Canada), Nectar (UK), SMILES (Brazil),
AirMiles (various countries) are well known – and wildly successful – in their home countries.
In Finland and South Korea, the penetration levels of the leading coalition programs (K-Plussa and OK Cashbag respectively)
among adults have already exceeded 85 percent. In fact, according to Finaccord, over 2 billion people worldwide are
members of at least one coalition loyalty program.
There’s a reason coalition programs work: by leveraging the collective strength of all partners, individual brands within the coalition benefit
from increased engagement, a greater sense of value and engender loyalty to their own programs. Most importantly, coalition programs offer
consumers much greater convenience and flexibility in being able to collect and spend points across several different businesses – and that
matters greatly to consumers. An American Express study found that 72 percent of Americans prefer a program that allows them to shop at
many stores versus a singlebrand, and Collinson Latitude research found that 82 percent of consumers said loyalty programs would be better
if they offered more choice.

“Coalition programs (when successful!) are the holy grail for
loyalty marketers and brands. Unlike single brand loyalty programs,
a coalition program brings multiple businesses together under one
loyalty program umbrella. Consumers can earn points across the
various businesses and subsequently spend their points on a
similarly wide variety of rewards provided by those businesses.”
Most of the coalition loyalty programs that people interact with today shop at independent stores on their own high streets instead
tend to be large nationwide programs. These programs typically all of at big box retailers. Geographically adjacent stores could easily
have a similar structure and operating formula to them (they usually band together and create their own loyalty program that would
only include retailers and not multichannel brands; and usually have a increase foot traffic and basket values for all coalition members.
combination of one grocery store, one gas retailer and one or more
airline partners). Historically, such programs have been very expensive Such micro-coalitions can be a boon for all kinds of different commu-
to set up, even more costly and cumbersome to maintain, and have nity-based marketing efforts, as well as for business development
required millions upon millions of members to justify the expenditures agencies and other government entities charged with developing com-
and generate an ROI for participating brands. merce in a particular area.
However, the pervasiveness of smartphones and tablets, and technolo- Interest-Based Coalitions
gies like card-linking (like Empyr and CardSpring), receipt processing Consumers are increasingly self-segmenting themselves into narrow,
(like Snipp), and new forms of card payments (like Square) have the specific and highly identifiable “interest-based” clusters –either
potential to change both the economics and the dynamics for coalition based on lifestyles (e.g. people who only purchase green /organic/
programs. These technologies significantly drive down the startup and sustainable products), a particular time in their lives (e.g. those who
maintenance costs required for coalition programs (by removing the are about \to have or have just had a baby), politics (e.g. those who
need for costly POS hardware and/or POS system integrations), while are strongly conservative), religion, etc. Retailers and brands who are
at the same time offering significantly more flexibility and customization focused on serving those specific segments could band together to
than was previously possible (by effectively leveraging mobile and its create highly-targeted loyalty programs aimed at those particular audi-
attendant features). ences.
Taken together, these new technologies open up the possibility for In these instances, the coalition program itself would act as a
entirely new kinds of coalition programs. trusted curator and play a significant role in the discovery process or
consumers. For example, if there was a “Green Loyalty” program that
Small Business Coalitions a consumer belonged to and trusted, they could rest easy knowing
Historically, coalition programs have comprised of a few very large that all the brands and retailers that were part of the program had
businesses partnering together. As mentioned, though, new technolo- been carefully curated based on a published set of key qualifications.
gies have significantly reduced the barriers to entry and setup costs This would ensure that consumers would be more likely to purchase
|for such programs – enabling small businesses to just as effectively products offered by participating coalition businesses.
participate as large ones. Probably the best example of this is Belly,
which has signed up over 8,500 businesses across 2,500 cities and Pop-Up Coalitions
created a very strong value proposition for consumers and merchants. One can imagine taking this trend to an extreme and creating tempo-
Consumers only need to sign up to one program, but can use the same rary coalitions for special events (e.g. World Cup, Olympics), holidays
membership across numerous different businesses; merchants get a (Christmas) or a variety of other time-bound occasions. The logic and
cost-effective and flexible way to not just launch a loyalty program for incentives for doing so are similar to those of interest-based coalitions.
existing customers, but can also leverage the Belly network to draw in
new customers. Once the structures and software are in place, setting up new kinds of
coalitions can be a relatively straightforward exercise. Where previ-
Micro-Coalitions ously the setup and marketing costs for coalitions were such that they
The convergence of technologies previously mentioned makes it much could only be entertained by large businesses and required millions of
easier to create and launch “micro-coalitions” of small groups of related members to be successful, technology today allows us to experiment
businesses. An excellent application for such micro-coalitions would be with multitudes of different kinds of loyalty programs and significantly
for the burgeoning “Shop Local” movement that encourages people to reduces the barriers to launch for these kinds of programs. Expect to
see many more coalition programs, both large and small!

Member Engagement Models:
The Foundation
of a Powerful
Member
Retention
Strategy
to distinguish a brand. Companies now who are at risk of becoming disengaged.
Mark Jones
Director
must develop member-focused marketing Management can then proactively target
PWC strategies that keep the most valued marketing strategies to re-engage these
members engaged and prevent them from members with the brand. However, before
losing interest in the brand. embarking on the development of a
Loyalty programs date back a century
member-engagement model, companies
or more to businesses that issued faux
must first define what constitutes member
currencies to customers in reward for Seeking a higher return on their loyalty
engagement, which may vary by member
their purchases. Over the past three program spend, leading companies are
segment.
decades, loyalty programs have evolved looking toward improving the engagement
substantially, becoming effective tools of existing members in addition to
in improving a brand’s image and a prospecting for new business. With vast What is member
company’s revenue. As a result, companies amounts of data providing significant engagement?
compete vigorously to grow their member information about the past behavior of
base, and customers are inundated with existing members, companies are building The level of member engagement varies,
depending on the type of business and the
offers to join loyalty programs with each member engagement models to aid
nature of the member’s relationship with
in-store or online purchase. According management in developing strategies the brand (e.g. spend, number of transactions,
to Colloquy1 , the average American to improve member retention and co-branded credit card). Loyalty programs,
household has signed up for nearly 30 direct targeted marketing to their most such as those in the hospitality and airline
industries, must explicitly define engagement,
loyalty program memberships. Because valued members. For a relatively modest since members may discontinue or reduce
there are so many programs, simply investment, models can be built that alert utilization of services at any time
offering a program is no longer enough companies to highly valued members without notice.

Value oriented Data quality
Assessing the quality of the available data,
model assigns each individual member a
score. A higher score represents a higher
segmentation strategy including its reliability and completeness, is risk that a member will disengage. Models
Many companies employ a value-oriented important. While 100 percent completeness also may provide additional information
segmentation strategy that separates is not required, the reliability of any analytics about members. For example, a member
members with distinctly different levels of solution is highly dependent on data integrity. engagement model for an airline frequent
engagement–high, low, and various levels in Data volume flyer program may identify different risks
between–into segments, each of which has a The volume of data required-both in terms of of disengagement for business travelers
different definition of member engagement. the number of members and length of history compared to members that primarily travel
An effective member-engagement model captured-varies by industry and depends on for pleasure.
recognizes the different behaviors displayed the rate of disengagement. A program with a Implementation of the model can be
by each segment and focuses on the very low rate of disengagement may require accomplished in several ways, but most
highest value members. Informed by a more data to produce suitably predictive companies choose to rescore customers
member-engagement model, companies can results than a program with a higher rate of on a schedule such as nightly or weekly.
implement targeted marketing strategies to disengagement. The scores can be included in a company’s
prevent disengagement of the highest value CRM system and used to target offers
members. This approach can reduce revenue Attachment of external data
The ability to attach external data to toward those most at risk. Additional models
variability and increase brand revenue, can be developed to determine the most
typically by five to 10 percent. members (geographically, demographically,
and psychographically) can provide appropriate offer with the highest likelihood
Developing a successful member significant benefits, particularly for a small of conversion, if the appropriate data is
engagement model involves several data set or data of lesser quality. Several data captured. Additionally, the model scores can
distinct steps, beginning with assessing the sources, such as the U.S. Census Bureau, are be provided to representatives with customer
underlying data to gain an understanding available at no cost, while others are typically contact responsibilities who can be trained to
of the drivers of member engagement. The available on a subscription basis. actively encourage reengagement.
company should then develop a member Following a successful implementation,
segmentation strategy and select and ongoing, periodic monitoring and calibration
validate the factors to include in the model.
The company must then build and implement
Develop a member of model performance is critical. Changes
the member-engagement model while segmentation strategy to loyalty programs, product offerings, and
the impact of marketing interventions may
monitoring and recalibrating the model After assessing the data, the next step significantly affect member behavior. A
on a regular, ongoing basis. is to analyze the data to determine an well-designed model should adapt to these
effective member segmentation strategy. changes, automatically or through manual
A segmentation strategy should identify
Assess the data relatively homogeneous blocks of
intervention.
The first step in creating a predictive analytics members that display similar engagement
solution to model member engagement is to characteristics. In conclusion
assess the available data in four dimensions: The definition of the level of member Companies devote significant resources to
engagement should vary across the identifying and attracting new members,
segmentation. For example, the highest but these same companies often lose sight
value members may utilize the product or of the foregone revenue resulting from
NUMBER QUALITY service as often as several times each week, existing members who become disengaged
OF AVAILABLE OF DATA compared to only a few times each year for
DATA FIELDS CAPTURED from their programs. As a result, prescient
the lowest value members. This step in the companies have begun to change their focus,
analysis may reveal that limited value may leveraging the vast amount of data they
ABILITY
result from a member-engagement model collect from current members to identify
VOLUME TO ATTACH focused on the least engaged members. valued members at risk of disengagement. By
OF DATA EXTERNAL
doing so, management can develop effective,
DATA
targeted marketing strategies to keep
Build and implement the members from disengaging in the first place.
member-engagement model This analytics approach also provides deep
Available data fields insights into the drivers of customer loyalty,
After assessing the data and implementing which management can use to design more
A member-engagement model can provide
an appropriate segmentation strategy, the effective loyalty programs and improve overall
more information about member behaviors
process of building a model can begin. The member engagement.
if it has more relevant data to work with.
first step is to determine the specific factors
In addition to information describing the
that affect member engagement, separately
type, number, and timing of individual
for each member segment. After modeling
transactions, member-specific information
the selected factors, the factors are validated 1
U.S. Customer Loyalty Program Memberships Top 3 Billion
(e.g. program tenure, demographics, and
to prove their predictive capabilities. for the First Time, 2015 Colloquy Census Shows; colloquy.
loyalty program co-branded credit card com, February 9, 2015
ownership) can provide valuable insights. The Tailoring model output to the business
model development process can help identify need, typically using some type of scoring
non-intuitive relationships between member mechanism, is a critical step in the modeling
characteristics and their behavior. process. Using a scoring mechanism, the

Article by Adeline Heymann & Vincent Rescigno
GOING FROM
CONNECTED TO
ENGAGED: THE
EVOLUTION OF
LOYALTY

“Customer expectations are changing and the same is true for loyalty programs. We’re seeing
programs go beyond transaction-based rewards to focus on engagement-based rewards. As a result,
a rising interest in earning points for non-transactional behaviors such as liking a social media post,
publishing a review or sharing a personal story are all vehicles to build emotional loyalty.“
When building a loyalty program, it’s essential we have a clear under- ENGAGING THROUGH A COMMUNITY: W \ hile many brands say
standing of who the customer is, what gets them to come back and what they have a community, we see a big opportunity in fostering both
they expect. According to Google Think’s “The Power of Gen C: Connect- brand-to-consumer and cross-consumer communication to build an
ing with Your Best Customers” the “Connected Customer” or “Generation engaged community. If done correctly, this type of community can have
Connected” is a new cohort lens to look through while keeping up with these impact to both acquisition and retention. Sephora encourages their
evolving expectations. While most generational segments are clearly Beauty Insider members to upload their “looks,” making members feel that
defined by an age bracket, Gen C is not. They are based on psychograph- the community is exclusive and only for them. While anyone can see the
ics around creation, curation, connection and community. This consumer posts and give a “heart” to the ones they like, only members have special
mindset spans across generations focused on inspiring technology and access to create content. Sephora recognizes their members by giving them
looking for purpose through a community. an icon showing which tier they’re in (such as “Rouge,” “Insider,” or “VIB”)
and how long they’ve been a member using words like “Rookie”
Customer expectations are changing and the same is true for loyalty or “Go-Getter.” There’s also a dedicated section on their website for
programs. We’re seeing programs go beyond transaction-based rewards conversations between members. It operates similarly to a web forum
to focus on engagement-based rewards. As a result, a rising interest in allowing them to contribute by asking and answering questions.
earning points for non-transactional behaviors such as liking a social media
post, publishing a review or sharing a personal story are all vehicles to build GOING FROM CREATION TO CO-CREATION: Connected customers
emotional loyalty. These positive feelings associated with interactions from the create content for expression and form bonds with others. Google Think
brand support both an increase in the customer’s lifetime value and the reports that 90 percent of connected customers create online content
likelihood that they’d come back and spend more. By incentivizing engage- at least once a month because they feel it’s meaningful and necessary.
ment, the brand not only shows that they are listening, but also creates Whether posting an image, video or publishing a review, they want to be
opportunities for members to feel special and recognized. vocal supporters of brands they love. “My Starbucks Ideas” reinforces com-
munity and engagement by letting members come up with ideas that they
Three trends for the future of loyalty: feel would be most relevant to them through solving problems, products/
services and reacting to others. As a result, the bond between the com-
BUILDING AN EMOTIONAL CONNECTION: Tying loyalty programs pany and their most loyal customers is strengthened. A co-creation com-
with a sense of belonging builds trust between members and the munity has helped Starbucks add Wi-Fi, private lounges and bring endless
company’s products/services. User-generated content encourages this exact cups to their storefronts. By giving members the opportunity to not only
behavior. Verizon Small Biz Rewards started a movement in the engage with their favorite brands, but also actively work to make them bet-
industry and launched their Ugly Sweater Sweepstakes, which allowed small ter, members feel as if their voice matters – which leads to greater loyalty.
business owners to upload a photo of themselves in an ugly sweater with a
holiday theme, giving members a chance to earn points and entries into Bottom Line: Engagement-based earning is the new loyalty marketing.
the sweepstakes. The grand prize winner won a $15,000 Reloadable
Verizon Small Biz Rewards Prepaid MasterCard and five other winners won The change in customer expectations had a direct effect on how loyalty
$1,000. This was timely, relevant and made members feel as if they were programs offer rewards. Now they are using more engagement-based
“breaking out of the holiday monotony.” The emotional appeal around this rewards to make their most loyal customers feel good and come back.
circumstance showed how the brand was authentic and started a genuine Fostering community through user-generated content makes an impact on
dialogue between the members and the brand. customer loyalty and co-creation will continue to play a role in 2018.

Company of the Year
Caesars Entertainment has been a powerhouse Another crucial piece of the brand’s CX initiative protocol designed to create guest experiences
in the customer loyalty space for years, and is Ivy, the brand’s chatbot concierge available that are both effective and, perhaps even more
solidified its place among the best brands in the to guests at select locations. This staple of importantly, unique to the brand.
business by being named the 2017 Company the Caesars customer experience has the
of the Year at the Loyalty360 Customer Expo in power to respond naturally to guest inquiries Building this kind of differentiating commitment
Nashville in November. including information on amenities and checkout to the customer takes more than theoretical
assistance, allowing front-desk associates research, however, and that’s where Caesars
Caesars also earned a Loyalty360 Honors to focus entirely on providing memorable Circle comes in. An exclusive group of both
Award for Operational Innovation, Gold experiences for customers. Ivy is a proven current and potential Total Rewards members,
Awards for both Loyalty & Advocacy as well success, improving guest engagement, service Caesars Circle serves as a constant source of
as Organizational Commitment, and a Silver satisfaction, and likelihood to recommend at feedback for the brand. A great example of the
Award for Operational Excellence at the Expo. In locations offering the technology. effectiveness of the Caesars Circle program is
addition, it won the Platinum Award in the Brand the improvement in customer reaction to the
360-Degree Award category. To qualify for the Another advantage of the Ivy platform is Caesars Entertainment loyalty app, Play by Total
360-Degree Award, a company must submit an its scalability: from its largest resorts to its Rewards. After the first release of the app the
entry in at least three of the six categories. smallest properties, Caesars is able to markedly company commissioned a study of Caesars
improve the customer experience through the Circle customers to see how we could improve
The cornerstone of the Caesars loyalty automation provided by Ivy. the app in our next iteration. The brand was
effort is its rewards program, Total Rewards. able to gather precise metrics regarding app
Unsurprisingly, given the space occupied by the Beyond its technological advancements, the usage, and shape future updates of the program
Caesars brand, Total Rewards makes extensive strength of the Caesars customer experience accordingly.
use of gamification to engage customers and is largely thanks to its frontline associates. To
incent interactivity with the brand. ensure that each and every guest receives the
best possible experience, Caesars has created a
In one example, players were tasked with philosophy it calls Delight and Deliver.
earning badges by playing in each Caesars
property. With each badge earned out of a Delight encompasses the behavior of people at
possible 36, players earned progress toward all levels and includes the skill, ability, attitude,
higher tiers within the Total Rewards program. and empathy presented daily by staff. Deliver
The promotion was a success, with the brand covers everything in the quality space such
seeing increased engagement and play revenue as speed of service, process, clean and safe
when measured year-over-year. By offering environments, functionality of equipment
(non-redeemable) tier status points, the brand and technology, and product presentation.
was able to create strong incentive for guests, By “delighting” the customer with engaged
while avoiding costs often associated with employees and “delivering” with its CX process
similar promotions—a win-win for both the in place, Caesars has established operational
brand and its customers.

Conference Review
Executive of the Year

Jeff Sopko, Baesman Insights & Marketing
Baesman Insights & Marketing seems to and marketing executives were recognized across
be on a roll. In 2017, the Columbus, Ohio- six categories at the Expo, and together comprised
based company added a number of new a snapshot of the innovators looking to usher in
brand partners to its client roster, including a new era of customer experience, loyalty, and
Hibbett Sports, Thirty-One Gifts, and Outlook engagement. Finding a leader who is able to drive
Amusements. It was named one of the top such innovation and understanding is what the
200 marketing agencies of 2018 by Chief- Executive of the Year is all about.
Marketer magazine.
“The Loyalty360 Awards are
And its president, Jeff Sopko, was named designed to recognize those
Executive of the Year at the Loyalty360 brands that truly understand
Customer Expo in Nashville in November. the complexities behind
our changing industry,”
Baesman is a privately held, single-source says Johnson. “In
provider for both data-driven marketing leading Baesman, Jeff
strategy and multichannel execution. Its Sopko has shown he
programs are designed and proven to has the fundamental
establish and enhance customer identification, understanding that, when
acquisition and retention, while providing executed properly, data-
ROI measurements on the backend to ensure driven and multichannel
effective use of invested dollars. marketing efforts
form new and deeper
As a group of former brand analysts, CRM and connections that drive
loyalty marketers, developers and strategists, success and foster
the company has extensive experience enduring loyalty.”
aggregating and analyzing data for some of
the most well-known retailers in the world. It Sopko is a member of
has created a science of analyzing customer Loyalty360’s Board of
data, giving it the ability to see what others Advisors.
often miss. By channeling disparate data
sources across multiple devices, channels and
platforms, Baesman helps develop a deeper,
more dimensional understanding of customers
and the insights they share every day.
These are the skills that Loyalty360 examines

when issuing its awards, says Loyalty360 CEO
Mark Johnson. Some of the world’s top brands
“I am deeply honored to have received this award from

Loyalty360,” Sopko says. “Baesman has worked with the
association for many years, and as a member of the Board
of Advisors, I’ve been able to see first hand how Loyalty360
is helping to evolve the customer experience. I’m looking
forward to continuing our work with them in 2018.”

Conference Review
Customer Awards Winners

About the Customer Expo
With customer loyalty now being latest theories, best practices, relevant
recognized as the key to business success, case studies, emerging trends, and
brands who excel in the effort were strategies that drive measurable behavioral
honored at the Loyalty360 Customer change and quantifiable results.
Awards dinner during the inaugural
Customer Expo in Nashville in November. “We had more than 100 brands submit
entries and this year’s winners demonstrated
The Customer Expo focused on all aspects excellence in customer-centricity,” said
of the customer journey, including an Loyalty360 CEO and CMO Mark Johnson.
exploration of crucial audiences both “The awards recognize brands that are
internal and external. Through a robust truly working to build stronger and deeper
slate of best-in-class speakers and relationships with their customers. The
interactive discussions, actionable case categories represent key tenets of a brand’s
studies, and proven world class technology interactions with its customers.”
suppliers, attendees learned about the
Operational Excellence Organizational Commitment

WI NNER WI N N E R
OPERATIONAL OPERATIONAL
EXCELLENCE EXCELLENCE
2017 2017
From its beginning, Overstock.com has been about bringing big Sberbank today is the largest bank in Eastern and Central Europe,
ideas to life. Its 1,700 employees have cultivated an organization with 129 million retail customers, 12 territorial banks and more
and atmosphere that values great ideas, and acting on these ideas than 16,000 branches. More than 70 percent of Russian citizens
is what has allowed the company to continue to evolve and grow use the bank. It has more than 30 million online users, 18 million
into a leading online retailer with $1.8 billion in revenue in 2016. mobile users, 90,000 ATM machines and 260,000 employees.
The company recently redefined its Customer Care team’s training The company’s mantra is “Everything for our customer,” and
process, relaunched its Quality Program and re-evaluated its employee—including the vice presidents and board members—
customer loyalty program. It also enhanced its mobile apps to are judged quarterly by how well they follow that rule. The results
offer customers a personalized experience, including a soon-to-be of the review determine the employee’s benefits.
introduced Augmented Reality feature.
In 2015, Sberbank implemented a new customer-centric model
As a result, it’s seen a 2 percent improvement in First Contact based on a customer priorities survey, and it receives more
Resolution to 78.1 percent. Its Incident Resolution Time saw a 50 than 6 million responses each month. In 2016, Sperbank also
percent improvement, and its service level is up 25 percent from implemented an automatic text messaging survey to gauge
last year to 91 percent. customer satisfaction levels.
Finalists Finalists
WI NNER WI N N E R WI N N E R WINNER WINNER
2017 2017 2017 2017 2017
Ryder System Caesars Choice Hotels Caesars Dell Technologies

Customer Insights Customer Experience
WI NNER & Engagement WINN E R
CUSTOMER
CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE &
INSIGHTS ENGAGEMENT
2017
2017
AARP is one of the largest nonprofit, nonpartisan, social welfare RBC is the largest bank in Canada and 12th-largest bank in the
organization’s in the world, with nearly 38 million members. The world based on market capitalization, serving more than 16 million
organization offers a wide range of benefits to its members while clients in Canada, the U.S., and 36 other countries.
also rewarding them with its loyalty program, Rewards for Good.
RBC’s most recent innovation, the RBC Rewards App, has helped shift
The program uses data to guide discovery on topics that matter most consumer behavior to be always on and always connected with
to people age 50 plus, and identify interested individuals, create instant access to information. Its new RBC Offers platform allows
a connective thread through its digital ecosystem, track content clients to receive relevant merchant-funded cash-back and bonus
consumption and browsing behavior, and motivate learning related to points offers based on their transaction history, and presents these
AARP’s social mission. offers via digital channels.
The data also helps AARP prove that engaging with the brand leads to Through the program’s data driven targeting capabilities and card-
high lifetime value and drives conversion to AARP membership and linked offer technology, clients are provided with easy ways to save
renewals. and earn faster, making them feel valued and rewarded.
Finalists Finalists
WI NNER WI N N E R WI N N E R WINNER WINNER WINNER
2017 2017 2017 2017 2017 2017
Wyndham Rewards Ryder System Global Hotel Alliance Best Western Ryder System CIBC
Awareness & Acquisition Loyalty & Advocacy

WINNER W IN N ER
LOYALTY &
AWARENESS &
ADVOCACY
ACQUISITION
2017
2017
MGM Resorts International is a global entertainment company that Domino’s is a world leader in the pizza/QSR field with 14,200
creates immersive, iconic experiences through its suite of Las Vegas- stores. The company believes loyalty is a more of an organic
inspired brands. Much of the brand’s success can be attributed to its connection between customer and brand that can’t be bought or
ability to acquire new customers through its S.H.O.W. Service Basics manufactured. With this in mind, it engineered its Piece of the Pie
program, which empowers employees to provide guests with the rewards program to go the extra mile in showing appreciation for
on-site experience they’ve come to expect from the brand. customers that demonstrate holistic loyalty.
It also relaunched its website and took steps to ensure guests are being In addition to the traditional options like free pizza, members have
engaged from the moment they visit the site through a personalized a chance to win stock in the company and an actual piece of store
experience featuring tailored offers and account information that, profits through social media engagement with the hashtag
combined with the companies advanced CX practices, creates a #PieceofthePie. The company’s headquarters features displays
holistic guest experience. Members can also select the song for the of winning #PieceofthePie images, and franchisees can recognize
Fountains at Bellagio or get a cooking lesson from a celebrity chef, their most frequent customers, empowering them to demonstrate
and serve to further distinguish the program from others in the space. appreciation in less formal and more personalized ways.
Finalists Finalists
WI NNER WI N N E R WI N N E R WINNER WINNER W INNER
2017 2017 2017 2017 2017 2017
Choice Hotels Nissan & Infiniti RLH Corporation Caesars Best Western Royal Bank of Canada

7695 Beechmont Ave.
Cincinnati, OH 45255
Loyalty Expo is a true Voice of the Customer-driven, best practice-focused customer loyalty and reward conference.
By attending, you’ll have the opportunity to network with hundreds of your fellow marketers and hear how they are
reaching their customer relationship-building goals. Market leaders will be sharing their experiences and insights on
customer retention strategies and trends. Attendees will leave Loyalty Expo with an understanding of new research,
technologies and solutions to aid their organizations on the customer loyalty journey. loyaltyexpo.com
Special offer: Receive a 6-month Loyalty360 Individual Membership with any full conference
pass purchase. Use the code 360MBR at checkout. Code cannot be combined with other offers
or applied to existing registrations. Valid until March 31, 2018.
Now in their 5th year, the Loyalty360 Awards are the most coveted awards in customer loyalty. With an emphasis
on objectivity, The Loyalty360 Awards recognize brands that are building lasting and profitable relationships with
customers. Any brand with a customer loyalty strategy, initiative, or program is eligible to enter. The call for entries
is open until February 23, 2018. The Loyalty360 Awards will be presented during Loyalty Expo in Orlando, Florida.
Don’t miss your chance to be recognized, visit loyalty360awards.com for more information!
SAVE Loyalty Management Magazine subscribers can save 15% on Loyalty360 Awards registration
fees by using the code 15AWARDS. Code cannot be combined with other offers or applied
15% to existing registrations. Valid until February 23, 2018.
513.800.0360 | loyalty360.org | @loyalty360

2017 Loyalty Management Magazine Q4

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Sonic: Crafting a Taste

Wyndham: Sleep Number: Nashville

May 15-17, 2018

For more information, please visit

2 Loyalty Management™ | Q4 2017

Sleep Number Wyndham Sonic

LOYALTY FORUM: IN EVERY ISSUE

14 LOYALTY360 ON THE WEB 28 TECHNOLOGY, TRENDS & REWARDS

14 BEHIND THE BRAND 34 BEST PRACTICES

Loyalty Management™ | Q4 2017 3

4 Loyalty Management™ | Q4 2017

“We’re going,” she said. SONIC, of course, is not alone. Wyndham

Loyalty Management™ | Q4 2017 5

2018: Elevating the Discussion in The Year of Customer Loyalty.

It seems the pace of technology in the CX/customer loyalty space

Our goal at Loyalty360 is to continue to tell these stories in as

We recently launched a new website with greater flexibility

We are also launching a renewed Brand Panel for members to

6 Loyalty Management™ | Q4 2017

4.5 out of 5 62%

Stellar Loyalty Clients Achieve Tangible Business Results.

© 2017 Confirmit. All rights reserved.

Listen to the Voice of the Customer

Integrate that voice with existing data

Take actions that deliver real

www.voiceofthecustomer.com | 1800 864 5266

Loyalty Management™ | Q4 2017 7

8 Loyalty Management™ | Q4 2017

Given the increasing challenge of engaging today’s consumer,

Loyalty Management™ | Q4 2017 9

Keeping up with the

While signing Santa to a mattress contract may be public relations silliness,

10 Loyalty Management™ | Q4 2017

Loyalty Management™ | Q4 2017 11

“We have two central

Breaking the from our customers, and

Engagement a trend of increased

Eliot Hamlisch was sitting in the lobby of a Microtel Inn

As vice president of worldwide loyalty and partnerships

Wyndham has more than 8,000 hotels worldwide,

12 Loyalty Management™ | Q4 2017

“It’s all about personalization—and that applies not

Loyalty Management™ | Q4 2017 13

BehindtheBrand WITH DANIELLE QUATROCHI, SVP, DIGITAL CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

Danielle Quatrochi is SVP of Digital Customer Experience for Finish

Before joining Finish Line in 2012, Danielle worked in marketing roles

Quatrochi holds degrees from the University of Washington and the

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE MOVIE?

IF YOU COULD HAVE ONE SUPERPOWER, WHAT WOULD IT BE?

WHAT TREND OR TECHNOLOGY SHOULD MARKETERS

WHAT DO YOU LIKE DOING IN YOUR SPARE TIME?

14 Loyalty Management™ | Q4 2017

WHAT IS YOUR PERSONAL MOTTO?

WHAT DID YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU WERE

WHO HAS HAD THE MOST INFLUENCE ON YOUR

WHO IS YOUR ALL-TIME FAVORITE MUSICAL ARTIST

WHAT WAS YOUR LAST “AH-HA” CUSTOMER

Loyalty Management™ | Q4 2017 15

16 Loyalty Management™ | Q4 2017

Loyalty Management™ | Q4 2017 17

O Even with a solid content

18 Loyalty Management™ | Q4 2017

Highly-engaged consumers are

Loyalty Management™ | Q4 2017 19