Let's Talk Loyalty (Paula Thomas)

Statisticians are familiar with the concept of “self-selection” but it’s rarely discussed, understood or accounted for when determining your “return on loyalty”.

Simply because your most loyal customers have joined your programme, does not mean your programme improved or caused them to become more loyalty. In today’s fascinating discussion around the challenge of “self-selection”, my two guests who co-founded the "customer science" firm Ellipsis, discuss how they isolate, measure and define the levers within a loyalty program to understand what’s working, what’s not and why! 

Listen for a masterclass on the concept of “return on loyalty”, NPS and how to separate correlation from causation using data insights.

Show Notes:

1) Tim Tyler – Managing Partner at Ellipsis & Company

2) Adam Schaffer -  Co-Founder & Managing Partner at Ellipsis & Company

3) Return on Loyalty - https://www.returnonloyalty.com.au/

4) Whitepaper – Return on Loyalty https://www.ellipsisandco.com/perspectives/measuring-return-on-loyalty 

5) Whitepaper - Your Loyalty Strategy Depends on Your Program Age  

6) https://www.ellipsisandco.com/

7) The Mismanagement of Customer Loyalty – Harvard Business Review article

Let me know when you have one hour done and I'll review those episodes

Dr Melanie van Rooy is Head of Marketing at Clicks, South Africa’s leading pharmaceutical retailer.  

Its loyalty programme is Clicks ClubCard and is the oldest retail loyalty programme in South Africa.  

Not only is it 27 years old, but Clicks ClubCard is for the 4th time, the most used loyalty programme by South Africans, according to the Truth & BrandMapp annual Loyalty Whitepaper.

Dr Melanie talks through Clicks ClubCard’s heritage and how it remains relevant with a focus on simplicity, value, and convenience.  

The loyalty KPIs are impressive versus global standards.  

This is a solid case study of a loyalty programme delivered exceptionally well and remaining relevant over the test of time.

Hosted by Amanda Cromhout.

Show Notes:

1) Dr Melanie van Rooy

2) Clicks

3) Clicks ClubCard

4) Clicks ClubCard Magazine

Wiiv Rewards is a coalition loyalty programme launched in Mauritius by the country's largest private company IBL Group. 

As a group-owned multi partner programme, Wiiv boasts eleven loyalty partners across key lifestyle categories such as grocery, pharmacy, transport and leisure, with a focus on supporting their members (known as Wiiv-ers) as a true community. 

Listen to this episode of Let's Talk Loyalty to hear why Wiiv won two of the industry's most prestigious awards at this year's Loyalty Magazine Awards, including Regional Loyalty Champion Award for Middle East and Africa as well as highly commended for Best New loyalty Programme launch of the year in 2018. 

Show Notes: 

1) Wiiv Loyalty Programme Mauritius 

2) Delphine Lagesse - Group Strategic Innovation & Excellence Executive at IBL Together, Mauritius

3) Cécile Henry - IBL Group Loyalty Manager at IBL Together, Mauritius

On 20th March 2020, Adam Posner posted a call to action on LinkedIn asking loyalty and business professionals worldwide to collaborate and contribute ‘119 customer loyalty ideas to beat COVID-19'. 

By the 7th of April 2020, the target of 119 ideas was achieved and an eBook was compiled featuring expert insights from 63 loyalty experts around the world. 

In this episode of "Let's Talk Loyalty" I interview Adam for his favourite ideas and share my own. A super useful eBook at this unusual time of challenge yet with some emerging opportunities to evolve. 

Show Notes: 

1) Adam Posner

2) The Point of Loyalty

3) 119 Ideas to Beat Covid-19

4) "For Love or Money" - Report on 2020 trends in the Australian Loyalty Market 

5) Australian Shoe Shop Goes Digital First

6) For Good Causes UK

Loyalty Managers around the world often look to the UK for inspiration and exciting new ideas and trends. YouGov is the UK’s “most quoted research agency” on consumer opinion, and earlier this year, together with Mando Connect, they again turned their attention to understanding what British consumers really want from loyalty programmes. 

Listen to this week’s episode of “Let’s Talk Loyalty” to hear us discuss the 2020 UK loyalty whitepaper, including some exciting new innovative UK loyalty programmes – and also some concerns on how much more we need to do before our loyalty programmes appeal to younger consumers.

Show Notes:

1) YouGov.com

2) Mando Connect 

3) Charlie Hills

4) Joe Flagg

5) UK Loyalty Whitepaper - What the Brits Want from Loyalty

6) Are Loyalty Programmes Even More Important in These Challenging COVID-19 Times? Article on The Wise Marketer

As the founder of Bain & Company's Customer practice, Rob Markey is the one of the world's leading authorities on customer loyalty, having co-created The Net Promoter System® - the industry metric and framework now used by more than two thirds of Fortune 1000 companies. 

Rob co-authored the best-selling book "The Ultimate Question 2.0" with Fred Reichheld, and he is now a keynote speaker, leader of the NPS Loyalty Forum and a podcaster on customer and employee experience. 

In this episode of Let's Talk Loyalty, we discuss the insights that led to the development of the NPS framework as our industry's most used (and abused) measurement tool, as well as how Bain and Company is currently advising its clients to more thoroughly measure, monitor and share customer health indicators in order to encourage a more "patient' approach from investors and management alike.

Show Notes:

1) Rob Markey: Customer Experience Transformations | Loyalty | Strategy & Marketing | Author | Speaker | Podcaster

2) Rob Markey's website

3) The Ultimate Question 2.0: Driving Good Profits and True Growth

4) Net Promoter System: Website and podcast

5) HBR 2003: The One Number You Need to Grow  

6) HBR 2020: Spotlight Series - Articles by Rob Markey, Pete Fader and Dan McCarthy and Jack Brennan

Ralph Browning recently joined our friends in Epsilon as their Business Development Director for the EMEA region.

Ralph has been building loyalty programs and propositions for over twenty years, and he joins me today to share some of the latest fascinating case studies and trends he’s seeing in our industry.

In our discussion, Ralph showcases some exciting ideas that have been launched recently by some of Epsilon’s clients. including the latest innovation in FMCG loyalty, with Kelloggs as one iconic industry leader that’s creating compelling new concepts to connect with their end customers.

Ralph also shares the strategies he believes are important to drive loyalty in 2022, and the increasing importance of connecting with consumers in meaningful ways to drive your brand loyalty.

Show Notes:

1.) Ralph Browning, Business Development Director EMEA

2.) Epsilon

"For Love or Money 2021" is a powerful, independent and comprehensive research report on customer views of loyalty marketing programmes that operate in Australia and New Zealand. 

Hot off the presses, Adam Posner, the loyalty brains behind the report, talks me through the lessons learned from this year's panel of customers - from the surprising (plastic card anyone?) to the delightful (here's looking at you Woolworth's Rewards) and one result that's downright disappointing!

Listen to this episode to understand the highlights of this latest loyalty research that includes insights and comparisons on Covid-related behaviour changes, and find out more about how you can access your own copy of the 2021 report. 

Show Notes: 

1) Adam Posner 

2) For Love or Money 2021 Reports 

As one of the most exciting loyalty markets in the world, South Africa boasts plenty of compelling concepts and innovative ideas - and this summary show discusses one of the most exciting to date! 

Ros Netto, Customer, CRM & Loyalty Specialist and Head of Customer Care for Real Foods Group in South Africa, shares her insights from the launch of South Africa's first restaurant and fast-casual dining subscription program for their market-leading chain called Kauai.

Listen to learn some of the challenges and solutions they learned in this short summary episode of Let's Talk Loyalty.

Show Notes:

1. Ros Netto
2. Real Foods Group
3. Kauai
4. #90: Subscription Innovation Driving Restaurant Loyalty in South Africa

As we celebrate our 200th episode, we discovered the power of subscriptions to drive loyalty in the car wash category in an insightful interview with Lars Hecht, who leads the car wash category globally for Circle K, one of the world's best known fuel and convenience retailers. 

Circle K operates the largest global network of car washes, with more than 2,750 units worldwide. 

Having discovered the power of subscriptions to drive recurring revenue, Lars joined "Let's Talk Loyalty" to share some of Circle K's loyalty learnings, in particular the challenges of designing and launching a car wash subscription loyalty program across such varied markets as the US, Canada and Europe.  

Circle K's commitment to innovation has been the driving force of this dramatic evolution for the car wash industry, so listen to hear the complex and compelling journey they've been on to ensure the success of this new business model.

From subscription insights to beacons, we discuss fascinating technology innovations that engage customers, increase trip frequency and create a powerful opportunity for recurring revenue.

Show Notes:

1) Lars Hecht, Global Lead Category Director for Circle K

2) Circle K Car Wash Subscription website

3) Referenced in episode: Adam Schaffer, Co-Founder & Managing Partner at Ellipsis & Company

Have you ever wondered about Crypto Rewards for your loyalty program? Would they inspire your members even more than your current rewards catalogue? 

Today, we are delighted to welcome back Mike Capizzi, the Dean of The Loyalty Academy, to share the latest Delphi Report on this topic, created in partnership with Bakkt, and it's entitled “The Future of Crypto Rewards”.

This report seeks to capture the insights and expertise of a global panel of loyalty industry experts on this key topic.

Listen to hear this loyalty panel's conclusions around the future potential for crypto rewards, the use cases it best suits, the industries, and demographics it is most relevant for, as well as some fascinating geographic differences in the interest and adoption of this emerging asset class.

Listen to learn insights from this global study with insights from 54 loyalty industry professionals on the future of crypto rewards.

Show Notes:

1) Michael Capizzi: Director of Education for The Loyalty Academy

2) The Loyalty Academy

3) 2022 Delphi Report™: The Future of Crypto Rewards

4) Bakkt

5) LTL Episode #281: Sweatcoin Rewards Walking - Driving Health and Wealth Through Loyalty

6) Share your feedback with us!

Today’s episode features some incredibly exciting updates from the loyalty program I personally use most often, the award-winning Skywards program from Emirates Airlines.

Emirates is known and respected globally as one of the world’s best and fastest growing airlines, and its loyalty program, Skywards now recognizes and

rewards over 32 million members around the world!

Based in Dubai, the Emirates Group employs over 103,000 staff from more than 160 nationalities and in early May 2023, they reported their post-pandemic turnaround results, delivering their best ever profit of US$ 2.9 billion.

In today’s episode, I’m once again joined by Dr Nejib Ben-Kheder, Head of Emirates Skywards, who shares all their latest exciting news, including the

launch of Skywards Everyday proposition, which will be fascinating to anyone considering launching a card-linked concept for your own loyalty program.

Dr Nejib also explains how and why the value of the Skywards currency was recently adjusted, and how the program has managed to protect its most valuable members, while also reflecting the commercial needs of the airline.

Other exciting news you’ll hear today include Dr Nejib’s incredible statistics on their earn rates for airline versus non-airline activities, which proves how effectively Skywards is achieving its goal to become a truly global lifestyle loyalty program, rather than simply an airline frequent flyer program.

Hosted by Paula Thomas.

Show Notes:

1) Dr Nejib Ben-Kheder⁠, Head of Emirates Skywards

2) Emirates Airlines

3) Skywards program

4) Skywards Everyday

In this weeks episode of Let’s talk “a little” loyalty Tom reviews the original podcast where Paula was joined by Fernando Jimenez who talks about his fascinating role, designing a loyalty program for Tupperware products in Mexico.

Tupperware is truly a household name with consumers around the world, famous for its innovative food storage and preparation containers.

The brand has recently realised the power they can harness by investing in a professional loyalty strategy to connect with its consultants, retail partners and of course consumers.

Listen to learn from his impressive loyalty background in the airline sector and his approach to this new project.

Show Notes:

1) Fernando Jimenez

2) Tupperware

3) Tupperware Brand México

4) #245: Tupperware Leveraging Loyalty in Mexico

Today’s episode looks at some of the recent work by Daniel McCarthy, Assistant Professor of Marketing at Emory University’s Goizueta Business School. 

Interestingly, Daniel's work straddles the academic and private sectors. 

Daniel's work with Wharton Professor Peter Fader on CLV (Customer Lifetime Value) at Zodiac was so valuable that Nike bought the company, and together they have developed innovative concepts such as CBCV, Customer-Based Corporate Valuation, with their new company, Theta Equity Partners. 

In this discussion, Daniel shares insights from his research on the after-effects of COVID on consumers, the value of subscription strategies and programs, and of course the value of CLV and CBCV and its uptake by investors, companies and the students he teaches at Emory University.

Hosted by Phil Rubin.

Show Notes

1)  Daniel McCarthy

2)  Emory University

3)  Daniel McCarthy - Website

4)  Theta

5)  Paper on COVID’s impact

6) Phil Rubin

7) Grey Space Matters

The Wiser Loyalty podcast series is created in partnership between Let’s Talk Loyalty and The Wise Marketer™.

Throughout 2024, Wise Marketer Group's (WMG) CEO, Bill Hanifin, and CMO, Aaron Dauphinee, shared their insights on loyalty constructs drawn from the Loyalty Academy's™ Certified Loyalty Marketing Professional™ (CLMP™) curriculum.

In 2025 we are shifting from an academic focus to seek out insights from practitioners of the trade, such as our CLMPs, and those leading from the C-Suite. Twice a month, we will bring you an interview with a C-level executive or CLMP who has transformed strategy into practical application to generate strong business results from customer loyalty.

This week's episode has Aaron speaking with one of our industry's well known loyalty leaders when it comes to loyalty finance and loyalty strategy, Evert de Boer.  Evert is the Managing Partner at On Point Loyalty, a global advisory firm exclusively niche to loyalty finance and strategy, as well as he is the CEO at Fidivo, which has built the first off-the-shelf loyalty program financial tool analysis. 

He shares an executive style summary of his second published book "Loyalty Programs and the Currency Effect" and then flies into his perspective on loyalty in the travel sector, particularly given his expertise in aviation.

Hosted by Aaron Dauphinee

Show Notes:

1)  Evert de Boer

2) On Point Loyalty

3) Fidivo

4) Loyalty Programs and the Currency Effect: A Comprehensive Guide to Realizing the Power of Points - By Evert de Boer &  Xiao Yao Chin

5) A Perfect Spy: A Novel

6) Connemara: A Novel 

7)  German Summer Book (but only available in Dutch)

Today's episode of Let's Talk Loyalty and Loyalty TV features one of our favorite and most frequent guests on the show, Amanda Cromhout.

Amanda is the Founder and CEO of Truth, a loyalty consultancy firm based in South Africa, and she is also well-known to you all, as a host of an episode every month of Let's Talk Loyalty. Most importantly this year, in 2023, Amanda was recognized globally and voted the International Loyalty Personality of the Year.

Today, Amanda joins us on the show to share the launch of her book called "Blind Loyalty – 101 Loyalty Concepts SIMPLIFIED", a book which has profound personal meaning for Amanda as she will explain.

I believe it's a book that will become a bible for loyalty marketing professionals around the world as we increasingly strive for knowledge and global excellence, and we are thrilled that so many insights from "Let's Talk Loyalty" are mentioned throughout the book.

Amanda’s team in Truth has painstakingly listened to every guest’s answer to our opening question about what is their favourite loyalty program, and her book holds the definite list of answers from our guests over the last 18 months and which programs were answered most often! So, whether you want to simply learn about loyalty in a way that’s truly simplified, or you want to support the Blind Loyalty Trust, or if you’re just curious about whether your program made the list of the industry’s favorites, you are sure to love this show! 

Listen to enjoy our conversation with Amanda Cromhout from Truth!

Show Notes:

1) Amanda Cromhout

2) Truth

3) Blind Loyalty Trust

4) Blind Loyalty – 101 Loyalty Concepts SIMPLIFIED

5) Amanda Recognised as the International Loyalty Personality of the Year⁠

6) Watch the full video interview on Loyalty TV

Web 3.0 is of the hottest topics in business right now, but most of us have yet to figure out what the potential could be for these newest technologies within our loyalty programs.

Whether it's blockchain technology, crypto-currencies, the metaverse, or NFT’s, few can figure out whether the opportunities they offer are purely for fun or for real commercial consideration! 

Joining me on this show to help separate facts from fiction is Stuart Evans, a Web 3.0 strategy advisor with a passion for understanding these emerging technologies so that he can create concepts that drive loyalty by exciting consumers in ways we haven't seen before.

For all of us working in loyalty marketing, whether you're fully versed in Web 3.0 or not, please enjoy today's conversation with this inspiring thought leader who shares some great ideas to get started playing in the wonderful world of Web 3.0!

Show Notes:

1) Stuart Evans

This episode is in Spanish and is available in audio format on our Let's Talk Loyalty podcast and in video format on www.Loyalty.TV.

En el episodio de hoy compartimos con un panel de expertos en Loyalty en donde se comentan algunos de los fundamentos importantes que se deben considerar a la hora de construir y/o gestionar estrategias de lealtad. Se señaló la importancia de combinar elementos transaccionales con momentos emocionales, la innovación, el uso de la data, la visión Customer First, entre otros. Esperamos que disfruten la conversación con Gerardo y Franz.

Hosted by Alex Saul.

Show Notes:-

1) Gerardo

2) Franz

3)Crear o Morir  (Book)

4) Great by Choice (Book)

BP is one of the world’s largest oil companies, operating service stations in nearly every corner of the world. In this short summary episode, I am reflecting on an interview I had with Olivier Martinet, who led BP’s loyalty initiatives for more than a quarter century.

We look back on lessons he learned when rolling out digital marketing campaigns, loyalty programs and mobile integrations in both emerging and mature markets.

Show Notes:

1) Interview Episode #60: BP Discusses Driving Loyalty in Fuel & Convenience Globally

2) Olivier Martinet, former VP Global Retail Consumer Data Analytics and Use Case Governance, Insights & Loyalty, BP

3) BPme

As a leading loyalty expert in New Zealand Phil Devlin has a fascinating career spanning Air New Zealand, Qantas, Countdown Supermarkets and even some work supporting high performance sports along the way! 

Boasting exceptional engagement with over 95% of Kiwi consumers enrolled in at least one programme, New Zealand is a small country punching way above its weight in the loyalty industry, due in no small part to the compelling loyalty programmes that Phil and his colleagues built. 

Listen to this episode to hear the incredible breadth of partnerships Phil led for Air New Zealand, which included the real estate sector, luxury cars and even white goods, transforming the airlines loyalty programme in to a powerful currency capable of driving cash flow to the airline between flights and becoming part of kiwi consumers lives. 

Across his entire loyalty career, Phil has created clear and compelling loyalty concepts both independently and with key partners, with a focus on simplicity, transparency and integrity, so listen to learn his latest ideas on what's important to consumers in 2021 and beyond. 

Show Notes:

1) Phil Devlin, Strategic Partnerships

2) Countdown New Zealand

3) Simon Rowles 

This week's episode of the "Wiser Loyalty" podcast series ties up the month's focus into select constructs taken from the Psychology of Human Behavior course curriculum of the Loyalty Academy™.  Our hosts, Bill Hanifin and Aaron Dauphinee, will lead us into understanding why and how it's emotion that explains the "say-do" gap.

Learn how this universal problem to all marketers can lead to unsatisfying and inaccurate observations or marketing actions that do not elicit a response or desired outcome as loyalty program operators would expect or like.  Understand the rising importance for 

Each month Bill and Aaron draw a theme based on the courses required to earn the Certified Loyalty Marketing Professional™ (CLMP™) designation.  If you enjoyed this week's episode or all the episode's in February, then be sure to join us in March when we explore facets of the types of Loyalty Business Models in play today and possibilities yet to come that are on the horizon.

Show Notes:

1) ⁠⁠Bill Hanifin⁠⁠⁠

2)⁠⁠Aaron Dauphinee⁠⁠

3) ⁠⁠The Wise Marketer 

Welcome back for the second episode of the "Wiser Loyalty" podcast series, which is hosted by Bill Hanifin and Aaron Dauphinee from the Loyalty Academy™.

Listen to another key concept for loyalty marketers to understand, Operant Conditioning, which dives into the relationship between behaviors and consequences.  Our experts provide their thoughts on its application to Loyalty using both sector and brand specific examples. 

The constructs discussed each month are taken from the Certified Loyalty Marketing Professional™ (CLMP™) curriculum and this month's focus is on the Psychology of Human Behavior and its relevance to loyalty.

Show Notes:

1) ⁠Bill Hanifin⁠⁠

2)⁠Aaron Dauphinee⁠

3) ⁠The Wise Marketer 

Dr David Cox is a loyalty expert and one of the few industry leaders who also boasts a PhD in loyalty marketing! 

In this episode of "Let's Talk Loyalty", we discuss key concepts in motivational marketing that drive powerful commercial results, particularly in the B2B sector. Having won multiple awards for driving loyalty for clients such as IBM and Lenovo worldwide, we discuss some of the most effective techniques they use such as the power of sport to connect with members, and the importance of localisation to get the best results. 

We also discuss some of the key trends in the loyalty industry emerging as a direct result of Covid-19, with plenty of insights and ideas that can help you to optimise any programme, whether B2C or B2B.

Show Notes: 

1) David Cox - CEO of Motivforce

2) Motivforce 2020 Awards 

3) Loyalty Magazine Awards June 2020 

4) Loyalty Articles 

Executive faculty members from the Loyalty Academy™, the CEO of the Wise Marketer Group,Bill Hanifin, and his CMO, Aaron Dauphinee are back again this week for the Wiser Loyalty podcast series for Let’s Talk Loyalty.  Our loyalty industry SMEs provide their weekly perspectives on constructs from the Loyalty Academy™ curriculum for their Certified Loyalty Marketing Professional™ (CLMP™) designation and each month they cover content from one of the core courses.

In this week’s episode Bill and Aaron take a different twist on things by exploring some terminology and understanding around some basic constructs. There are five episodes this month where the duo explores topics from the Loyalty Analytics curriculum (course 107) so they thought they’d take a bit of a time out to mull on some recent in market experiences that impact loyalty marketers.

Show notes:

1) Bill Hanifin

2) Aaron Dauphinee

3) The Loyalty Academy™

4) The Wise Marketer

Amanda Cromhout interviews Phil Shelper, Founder & CEO of Loyalty Reward & Co. 

Phil is the author of Loyalty programs: The Complete Guide. Phil released the first edition in 2020 after many months of COVID and the time to face adversity.

The 2nd edition was released in October 2023. Amanda released Blind Loyalty – 101 Loyalty Concepts Radically Simplified in  September 2023 after very personal adversity from personal health challenges in 2022.

During this podcast, the authors debate how the books are similar in parts but overall vastly different and what is the major take home value for their readers.

Show Notes:

1) Phil Shelper

2) Loyalty Reward & Co⁠

3) Loyalty Programs: The Complete Guide (2nd Edition)

4) Blind Loyalty – 101 Loyalty Concepts Simplified

The Global Hotel Alliance (GHA) is the world's largest alliance of independent hotel brands, supporting 35 hotel brands with more than 500 hotels across 85 countries, each leveraging the DISCOVERY guest recognition programme to drive loyalty with guests. 

This alliance allows small and independent hotels compete with global hospitality brands, while still operating independently and giving consumers the opportunity to earn rewards across their many brands.

In this episode of "Let's Talk Loyalty", we are joined by Kristi Gole, VP, Head of Product at Global Hotel Alliance to hear how this model works and benefits both the brands and consumer members. 

Learn how GHA evolved just prior to the global pandemic, and how they responded to the pandemic with "Live Local" offers as well as finding more ways to reward travellers. 

Show Notes:

1) Kristi Gole, VP, Head of Product at Global Hotel Alliance

2) GHA's DISCOVERY guest recognition programme

This episode is available in audio format on our Let's Talk Loyalty podcast, and in video format on www.Loyalty.TV.

KFC Corporation, based in Kentucky USA has a proud heritage of over 60 years of success and innovation.

In fact, KFC is now the world's most popular chicken restaurant chain and a division of Yum! Brands, the world’s largest restaurant company.

Given the competitive fast food market they operate in, and building on their culture of innovation, KFC has just announced the launch of a brand new digital loyalty program for US diners, in partnership with our friends in Marigold.

Given its iconic brand status and role in popular culture, their digital transformation and loyalty strategy are leveraging the power of gaming, fun and fandoms to drive key commercial objectives that are brilliant for diners and brilliant for business.

Joining this episode of Loyalty TV is Roger Williams, Head of Loyalty Center Of Excellence at Marigold, and Paul Tuscano, Chief Digital Officer for KFC USA who shares the brand-new strategy that has already resulted in over three and a half million members joining this exciting new loyalty program in 2024 alone.

Please enjoy our conversation with KFC USA in partnership with Marigold.

Show notes:

1) Paul Tuscano

2) KFC USA

3) KFC rewards

4) Roger Williams

5) Marigold

This episode is also available in video format on www.Loyalty.TV as well as in audio format.

Today we are back in Asia, this time in Vietnam to learn all about Lotusmiles, the loyalty programme for Vietnam Airlines.

Vietnam Airlines is part of the SkyTeam Alliance and our guest today is Thi Thu Hien Tran, Deputy Director of Lotusmiles, based in Hanoi in Vietnam.

Hien shares the journey for Lotusmiles from its original launch in 1999 through to today and their latest achievements in loyalty.

 Show Notes:

1) Thi Thu Hien Tran

2) Lotusmiles

3) Vietnam Airlines

4) Watch this episode at ⁠www.Loyalty.TV⁠⁠.

Voted the number one loyalty programme in New Zealand, AA Smartfuel is a fascinating loyalty programme that was designed with a laser focus on delighting customers with the opportunity to earn a free tank of fuel! 

This coalition programme now boasts more than forty merchant partners across 1,200 locations nationwide, who together market the programme and ensure consumers can achieve meaningful savings on fuel from their everyday spend. 

Joining me today to share their story are Ian Sutcliffe, Co-Founder of the programme along with his Marketing Manager Jordan Tran. 

Together they explain the latest innovations for this programme, from new reward options through to ideas on how best to share data and insights in ways that continue to delight customers and partners alike. 

We also discuss another of my favourite ideas, leveraging our loyalty programmes to support supplier brands like FMCG manufacturers. 

Listen to learn this unique case study from perhaps the most active loyalty market in the world.

Show Notes:

1) AA Smartfuel New Zealand 

2) Ian Sutcliffe - Co-Founder AA Smartfuel

3) Jordan Tran - Marketing Manager at AA Smartfuel

Today’s Let’s Talk Loyalty podcast talks to three deeply experienced professionals about the whitepaper – Understanding Loyalty in Europe 2.0.

Amana Cromhout talks to Charlie Hills,, Chief Strategy Officer and Abigayle Blanshard, Senior Strategist, both from MandoConnect. They are accompanied by Nick Fishbourne, Group Account Director of YouGov. 

The whitepaper covers 24 European countries and proves that Europe is not a homogenous loyalty market

Three key highlights are that loyalty is playing an important role in today’s cost of living crisis, customers are begging brands to build emotional connections and finally that there is a distinct rise in gamification within loyalty technology across European loyalty programmes.

Show Notes:

1) ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Abigayle Blanshard

2) ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Charlie Hills

3)  Nick Fishbourne

4)  MandoConnect

5) Understanding Loyalty in Europe 2.0

6) YouGov

In this week's episode, we explore the launch of a customer reward program by Denmark's largest retailer.

We are joined by Andras Szocs, Head of Customer Programs and Center of Excellence for The Salling Group. 

As Denmark's largest retailer, The Salling Group serves over 11 million customers per week and operates more than 1,400 retail locations including restaurants, discount and grocery stores and coffee shops. 

Szocs led development and execution of a new customer program in mid-2020. 

Hear how they arrived at taking the less traditional route with this company-wide, fully-integrated digital marketing program, while keeping the program unique to the brands. 

Weaving in digital payments, coupons and gamification into the individual brand apps, The Salling Group apps have more than 1.2 million users in just over one year.

This episode is sponsored by Cheetah Digital.

Show Notes:

1) Andras Szocs, Senior Director and Head of Customer Programs and Center of Excellence for The Salling Group

2) The Salling Group

As one of the world's longest standing, best known and most trusted research reports in the loyalty industry, I am delighted today to bring you the latest industry insights from "The Loyalty Report 2021". 

Featuring research with over 35,000 consumers in North America, this year marks the eleventh edition of the Loyalty Report from Bond Brand Loyalty, based on an in-depth assessment of over 450 loyalty programs in this unprecedented year of changing consumer behaviour.

I was delighted to be joined by Phil Ruben, Bond Brand Loyalty's Executive Vice President of Global Insights, who explained some of the latest ideas the research uncovered, with topics such as "share of wallet" and the importance of being loyal TO your customers (rather than simply expecting it from them) emerging as critical concepts for loyalty professionals to understand.

Show Notes:

1) Bond Brand Loyalty 

2) Phil Rubin Executive Vice President Bond Brand Loyalty 

3) The Loyalty Report 2021

This episode is available in audio as a podcast and in video format on Loyalty TV. 

Today we learn the latest loyalty and lifestyle propositions from the Cathay Pacific Group, with Paul Smitton joining us once again from Hong Kong.

Listen to learn how the positioning and proposition for the membership program from Cathay Pacific has evolved, and the role of Asia Miles now as its currency (rather than its programme name).

Paul also shares some insights into some of the airline’s most recent developments in the Chinese market.

Show Notes:

1) Paul Smitton⁠

2) Cathay Pacific Group

3) Asia Miles

4) Watch the full interview episode at www.Loyalty.TV

Dell is one of the world's best known computer companies, with a laser focus on driving clear and measurable business outcomes through its loyalty initiatives.

In this short summary of my interview with Dell's Mitch Kennedy, I'm summarising the insights he shared on the impact of transactional rewards and the power of gamification, as well as the importance of understanding human psychology in order to drive customer loyalty. 

Show Notes:

1) #46: Dell's Global Loyalty Lead - Exploring Gamification

2) Mitch Kennedy, Global Loyalty Strategy Lead, Dell 

This episode of Let's Talk Loyalty is in Spanish.

En este episodio conocimos de parte de Mariana Botero, CEO de Puntos Colombia, lo que ha pasado en la plataforma de lealtad más relevante de la región y modelo a seguir de una coalición exitosa, como ha sido su evolución después de 6 años de haberse lanzado en el mercado de Colombia. Hoy la plataforma tiene más de 7.3M de usuarios que reciben beneficios en su día a día de parte de 3,700 aliados que conforman el ecosistema. 

Mariana nos habló de la visión del CEO en cómo gestionar a una empresa dedicada a la lealtad, de cómo se balancea el programa entre los diferentes aliados y se mantiene el equilibrio entre los socios, de métricas de gestión que se incluyen en el balance scorecard y del activo más valioso que tiene la marca: el equipo. Nos habló de la cultura organizacional que es pilar fundamental del éxito de Puntos Colombia.

Hoy, aprenderemos de cómo si existen modelos de coalición exitosos y relevantes que permanecen en el tiempo con crecimientos año con año dando valor a los usuarios y a los aliados.

Show notes:

1)  Mariana Botero

2) Puntos Colombia

3) Alejandro Gonzalez Saul

Today's episode discusses the increasing need for customer loyalty in the railway industry for the first time!

Renfe is the leading train company in Spain, carrying over 500 million passengers a year and at 80 years old, they are facing new challenges as a business, with increasing competition not only from cars and flights as in the past, but also now from two new rail operators.

Our interview is with Javier Marin Martinon, Chief Commercial, Loyalty, and Customer Officer, who shares some great ideas that Renfe has already launched for members of its loyalty program – designed to be simple and exciting to understand even when they are sometimes quite difficult behind the scenes to deliver!

A great case study and an example of how to learn about loyalty from other industries to create compelling strategies for your own business needs. 

Show Notes:

1) Javier Marin Martinon, Chief Commercial, Loyalty, and Customer Officer

2) Renfe

3) Más Renfe

In this short summary episode, Paula Thomas looks back on a fascinating conversation with Evert de Boer, Managing Partner of On Point Loyalty, who discussed how the aviation sector has earned such huge profits from their loyalty programs over the years.

And how their importance grew even further in importance through the global pandemic, offering airlines a stable, recurring source of revenue even though customers were unable to travel, and even challenged the widely-held view that redemption seats are an expense for airlines. 

Listen to this short summary to hear the highlights of our discussion with this airline loyalty industry thought-leader. 

Show Notes:

1) Evert de Boer

2) On Point Loyalty

3) "Top 100 Most Valuable Airline Loyalty Programs"

4) #82: Global Airline Loyalty Programme Insights with Evert de Boer

In 2017, the UK country's largest broadcaster Sky TV, launched its VIP programme, the first tenure-based programme in the industry which promises customers that "the longer you stay, the better it gets", with a clear intention for its customers to feel loved and appreciated. 

It began by offering exclusive live experiences to over a million customers a year, and then, as a result of nationwide lockdowns, it pivoted to delivering even more extraordinary & innovative virtual experiences. 

In my conversation with Rob Chandler, he shared some fascinating models on how Sky VIP thinks about loyalty and how they create new and exciting ways to really say an explicit "thank you" to its loyal customers. 

Enjoy this episode of "Let's Talk a LITTLE Loyalty" for some fascinating insights on how to truly differentiate your brand, no matter how competitive the industry. 

Show Notes: 

1) Rob Chandler - Former Head of Customer Loyalty - Sky UK 

2) The Gamification Revolution: How Leaders Leverage Game Mechanics to Crush the Competition - by Gabe Zichermann

After seven incredible interviews, this episode looks back at the seven key lessons I've learned from my expert guests on the show.

"Let's Talk Loyalty" is designed to be educational and inspiring for any of us focused on engaging customers and retaining them to drive profitable business growth. 

This summary episode is perfect if you've missed any of the great interviews - so you can listen back to anything relevant - or simply catch up with some inspiring statistics about our industry.

Today's episode is available in audio on "Let's Talk Loyalty" and in video format on www.Loyalty.TV.

March 8th is International Women’s Day around the world.

To celebrate, Carly Neubauer created a very special webinar featuring the three female guest hosts of Let's Talk Loyalty.

This was in response to feedback from members of WiiN, a not for profit association that works to connect, educate and empower women in the incentive and loyalty industry.

When WIIN members were asked who they’d like to hear from for International Women's Day, the names that came up included Paula Thomas, Charlie Hills and Amanda Cromhout.

Today we're publishing that webinar as an episode of Loyalty TV and Let's Talk Loyalty to celebrate International Women's Day, and as a perfect opportunity to hear from all of the Let's Talk Loyalty interview hosts in one recording.

Thanks to Carly and everyone at WiiN for organizing this webinar in celebration of International Women's Day.

Show Notes:

1) Carly Neubauer

2) Paula Thomas

3) Charlie Hills

4) Amanda Cromhout⁠

5) WIIN

Today’s episode is available in audio format as "Let's Talk Loyalty" and on video as "Loyalty TV".

This interview features the latest news about one of the most exciting loyalty programs in Asia, based in Hong Kong.

yuu Rewards was launched by DFI Retail Group in 2020, and now serves almost 5 million members.

The group is a leading pan-Asian retailer that covers food, health and beauty, home furnishings, restaurants and other retail businesses, with interests in 13 countries and territories, operating over 10,500 outlets, and employing more than 216,000 team members.

yuu Rewards allows members to earn points at over 2,500 outlets such as 7-Eleven, IKEA, KFC and Pizza Hut.

Our guest today is Anushree Khosla, yuu Rewards Director.

Anushree shares all of the latest propositions including the launch of yuu Stamps and their gamification and mission-based propositions.

Listen to enjoy my conversation with Anushree Khosla.

Show Notes :

1) yuu Rewards⁠

2) DFI Retail Group

3) Anushree Khosla⁠

4) Watch this episode at www.Loyalty.TV.

Today we are hearing from the iconic "Fuel Rewards" program from Shell in North America.

With almost 30 million members, and over 12,600 fuel stations nationwide, Shell’s award-winning “Fuel Rewards” program continues to remain relevant and compelling for American motorists, with a core proposition based on cents-per-gallon savings.

To celebrate their ten-year anniversary, Shell’s Fuel Rewards program recently launched 10 months of exciting new ways to save, and also new ways to win.

Listen to this episode to hear all about the latest from Shell's Chris Suess, Head of Loyalty and CRM, and Ebru Ak, US Loyalty, and CRM Co-ordinator.

Show Notes:

1.) Shell "Fuel Rewards"

2.) Chris Suess, Head of Loyalty

3.) Ebru Ak, US Loyalty, and CRM Co-ordinator

Today’s episode of LTL which is a masterclass in co-brand cards, the single biggest driver of profits for so many loyalty programs.

Nik Laming is an independent consultant and strategic advisor who has spent his whole career dedicated to loyalty programs, including roles as the former head of AIMIA and Carlson Marketing in Asia, as well as the former head of loyalty for Cebu Pacific airline in the Philippines.

Nik is now based between Singapore and the Philippines, where his new business Loyalty ConnectOS enables loyalty, digital and data businesses to access resources offshore to extend their teams for data analytics, operations and marketing execution.

Listen today to enjoy my conversation with Nik Laming, all about creating successful co-brand partnerships that deliver value for programme owners, programme members and of course their banking partners!

Show Notes:

1) Nik Laming

2) Loyalty ConnectOS

3) #417: Viva Aerobus Launches Compelling Loyalty Concept in Mexico

Today's episode features an award-winning loyalty program for people who value an exceptional night’s sleep!

*Sleep Number* is a 35-year-old retail brand that achieved revenues in excess of $1.85 Billion in 2021. The company operates over 650 stores in 50 states in North America, and seems to be going from strength to strength!

In this episode, we discuss their Inner Circle Rewards program and its role in driving customer advocacy.

Our guest is Lisa Erickson, Sr. Director of CRM and Loyalty, who shares her vision of leveraging loyalty to create an army of advocates, using gamification, social sharing, and digital and traditional channels to connect with her members and help them live their best lives, by helping them enjoy a great night’s sleep.

Show Notes:

1) Sleep Number

2) Inner Circle Rewards

3) Lisa Erickson

Bilt is the world’s first rewards program that lets you earn loyalty points on rent. 

This incredibly innovative idea was launched in June 2021, rewarding the highest monthly expense for US consumers. 

With a particular relevance for younger consumers such as millennials and Gen Z, Bilt Rewards is already available for residents of two million apartments, and is also proving a hit with leading US landlords by incentivising the prompt payment of rents, while minimising the costs of acquiring and retaining residents. 

This interview features a masterclass in loyalty from industry veteran David Canty who transformed the airline loyalty industry during his career in JetBlue Airways, as well as leading hotel and retail brands and who now brings his loyalty expertise to real estate.

This episode of Let's Talk Loyalty discuses how Bilt Rewards creates opportunities for US rental consumers to earn rewards such as airline travel, educating them about the potential financial benefits of loyalty programs, while also supporting them on their own path to eventually become home owners - truly a lifelong loyalty program proposition. 

Show Notes:

1) Bilt Rewards 

2) David Canty - Head of Loyalty & Partnerships at Bilt Rewards

3) Ankur Jain - Founder Bilt Rewards 

4) Loyalty & Awards Dubai UAE

Arsenal is one of the most successful football clubs in English football history, and in 2021, it became the first UK Premier League team to create a loyalty programme, designed to build the connection between the Club and its fans between games.

Listen to hear our short summary of our fascinating 2021 interview with Arsenal's Senior Loyalty Manager, Karen Dumbrell, who manages the  "My Arsenal Rewards" program, which was already delivering exciting benefits for fans as well as commercial and operational benefits for the Club.

Listen to hear some insights on the power of building a loyalty programme that truly puts its fans at its heart.

Show Notes:

1) Karen Dumbrell Senior Loyalty Manager at Arsenal FC

2) Arsenal Football Club 

3) My Arsenal Rewards

4) #159: Sports Loyalty - Innovation with UK Premier League Football Club Launch of "My Arsenal Rewards"

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

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

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

Show Notes:

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

2) Laura Cagnacci 

3) Advice Group 

Today's consumers are conscious and connected, and their expectations of brands continues to grow. 

As loyalty marketers, we face the complex challenge of creating emotional loyalty with these highly informed members, and also increasing expectations on finding ways to build powerful environment, sustainability, and governance propositions for our brands, without being accused of greenwashing.

My guest today to help tackle some of these industry challenges is Dr Chris Arnold, former Creative Director and Board member for Saatchi & Saatchi, with strategic expertise working with many of the UK’s top 100 brands.

Dr Chris highlights the role of community in creating loyalty, as well as the incredibly important opportunities available to brands if they consider truly diverse perspectives. 

He shares some astounding insights on the critical role played by people with dyslexia in both entrepreneurial and scientific organisations, and how channelling neuro-diversity is one of the greatest unexplored opportunities for us as marketers and brands in 2022.

Show Notes:

1) Dr Chris Arnold

2) UN Sustainable Development Goals

3) YouGov Website

4) Dyversity Lab

5) Connect 2 Website

6) IKEA

Dr Anil Pillai is a human engagement expert, with experience advising some of the world's top firms across Europe, India and the Middle East. He is passionate about applying a deep understanding of human psychology to consumer's behaviour - whether it's to communicate effectively or change a desired behaviour. 

In today's show, we discuss concepts such as the 'Effort Assessment Score" as a framework that evaluates the effort needed for a customer to complete a task, our concerns about "loss of control" and the need to design our customer's loyalty journey with speed and simplicity in mind. 

We also discuss insights around the perception of various communications channels for audiences and how these may be perceived by users. 

For anyone interested in the neuroscience of either business or loyalty, Dr Pillai offers some superb insights to include in your approach. 

Show Notes: 

1) Dr. Anil V. Pillai 

2) BuyerBrain.com 

3) Terragni Consulting 

4) EAS - Effort Assessment Score Framework  

5) Don Peppers

6) Customer Fest Virtual Conference 

7) https://hbr.org/2012/05/to-keep-your-customers-keep-it-simple

8) https://faculty.washington.edu/jdb/345/345%20Articles/Iyengar%20%26%20Lepper%20(2000).pdf

A wide-ranging conversation with L'Oréal's new Director of Loyalty for their Luxe Division, Alyssa Callahan. 

L'Oreal is a leading brand in the beauty industry with a huge global portfolio which includes brands likes Lancome, Kiehl's & Yves Saint Laurent.

Alyssa shares her key objective to help these luxury brands demonstrate their loyalty to customers who increasingly buy directly online, with the channel having grown dramatically throughout the pandemic.   

Alyssa also shares learnings from her loyalty career in Wyndham Hotels where she created compelling subscription programs to help guests enjoy increased flexibility with their products, as well as developing powerful partnerships for parents and children when she led loyalty for Toys R Us. 

Alyssa truly describes herself as someone with "loyalty in her blood" so listen to learn some exciting ideas as she begins to lead new loyalty initiatives for the luxury brands within L'Oréal! 

Show Notes:

1) Alyssa Callahan - Director of Loyalty at L'Oréal Luxe Division

2) L'Oréal 

3) Wyndham Hotels & Destination  

Cathay Pacific is an extremely innovative brand who have developed innovative new ways to engage with fliers and members through WhatsApp, virtual reality and social channels..

In this week’s episode of Let’s Talk “a little” Loyalty, Tom highlights the lifestyle and wellness innovations of the Cathay Pacific Airways Program, from the original podcast hosted by Paula Thomas and featuring Paul Smitton, Former - Director of Customer – Lifestyle at Cathay Pacific Airways.  

Paula explains Cathay’s new brand positioning, as well as its newly-launched lifestyle proposition and insurance product, which focuses on total wellness, rewarding its members with air miles for setting and achieving health and nutrition goals.

Hosted by Tom Peace.

Show Notes :-

1) Cathay Pacific

2) Cathay Membership

3) Paul Smitton - Former Director Customer Life Style

4) #189: Cathay Pacific Airways Launches Lifestyle & Wellness Innovations

This week’s short show reviews the 2020 UK loyalty white-paper, produced by YouGov together with Mando Connect written and researched with the goal of truly understanding what British consumers want from loyalty programmes.

This short summary highlights some innovative ideas developed by leading retailers to appeal to socially-savvy younger consumers as well as an overview of the most popular loyalty models and rewards in this incredibly competitive market. 

Listen for some of the exciting new ideas and trends that emerged in recent years. 

Show Notes:

1) YouGov.com

2) Mando Connect 

3)  UK Loyalty Whitepaper - What the Brits Want from Loyalty

In today's episode, we talk with one of the most creative and insightful practitioners in the loyalty industry with a deep understanding of business issues and how to use loyalty mechanics to solve them. 

Billy Loizou is the Vice President, Go To Market APAC at Cheetah Digital and an advisory member of Australian Loyalty Association.

Billy shared a great case study using NFTs to build customer loyalty, and why loyalty is perhaps the most important tool for any marketer in 2022 as cookies become obsolete. 

As privacy rules go into effect and marketers need to revisit traditional customer engagement techniques, we discussed other options that can lead to successful customer acquisition and recurring revenue.

This discussion includes some great case studies of innovative companies really pushing the envelope with their customer loyalty programmes.

This episode is sponsored by Cheetah Digital.

Show Notes:

1) Billy Loizou on LinkedIn

2) "Created for Marketers by Marketers" podcast

3) Cheetah Digital

As 2021 comes to a close, we reflect on the key consumer trends that arose in loyalty in 2021 and discuss insights and predictions for loyalty professionals in 2022. 

With examples and case studies that include Dunkin (formerly Dunkin Donuts), Dell, Carters and Duolingo, I"m joined by Epsilon's Vice President of Loyalty Strategy Brad Macdonald, who shares the importance of human connection in the context of digital transformation. 

Brad also shares the ever-increasing focus on having a loyalty "mindset", and his views on what's working - and what's not - for loyalty professionals. 

This episode is sponsored by Epsilon.

Show Notes:

1) Brad Macdonald - Vice President of Loyalty Strategy @ Epsilon

3) Dunkin'

4) Carter's 

5) Duolingo 

6) Epsilon

The launch of the 4th edition of ‘What Brits want from Loyalty Programmes 4.0’ does not disappoint. This Let’s Talk Loyalty podcast talks to three deeply experienced professionals about this whitepaper. 

Amanda Cromhout talks to Charlie Hills,Chief Strategy Officer and James Davies, Senior Strategist and Analyst, both from Mando Connect. They are accompanied by Nick Fishbourne, Group Account Director of YouGov. Key highlights include the increased usage of loyalty by Brits ad a deeper usage in terms of activity rates.

There is also an increased play on loyalty partnerships benefiting consumers and brands alike. The whitepaper also serves up quality statistics around transactional KPIs and emotional KPIs.

Show Notes:

1) Charlie Hills⁠

2) ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠James Davies⁠

3) Nick Fishbourne

4) Mando Connect⁠

5) YouGov

6) What Brits want from Loyalty Programmes 4.0

In this episode, Łukasz Słoniewski of Comarch joins Let's Talk Loyalty to discuss the "2022 Global Report on Loyalty Marketing & Rewards Programs," a research report performed by Forrester Consulting in Q1 2022 with 549 loyalty marketing leaders from around the world.

Łukasz shared some of his key learnings from the report, such as understanding the significant difficulties we as loyalty marketers face, the most popular loyalty program benefits being offered in 2022, and their ambitions for the next five years.

Listen to learn from this interesting research on the loyalty marketing business, and how these global experts expect our programs to change in the coming months and years.

This episode is sponsored by Comarch.

Show Notes:

1. "2022 Global Report on Loyalty Marketing & Rewards Programs.”
2. Łukasz Słoniewski
3. Comarch

In this weeks episode of Let’s talk “a little” loyalty Tom reviews the original podcast where Paula talks to Lisa Routel, Verizon’s Marketing Strategy Lead to learn all about their loyalty program “Verizon Up” has won multiple loyalty awards

Verizon is one of the largest telecommunications companies in the United States and is of course a huge company with a huge customer base to retain in an extremely competitive industry.

Lisa shares the latest propositions she’s building to keep Verizon customers engaged as well as some insights from her earlier career in loyalty with leading brands like Jaguar.

Show Notes:

1) Lisa Routel⁠

2) Verizon

3) Verizon Up

4) #248: Leading Loyalty for Telecoms Giant Verizon

As editor of the UK's most popular frequent flyer website Head for Points, Rob Burgess brings a unique and highly informed perspective on what loyalty propositions are working for the travel industry. 

With paid loyalty programmes becoming an increasingly popular strategy, Rob shared his insights on the key success factors for a paid loyalty programme, and it was a masterclass on how to "wow" your members with a proposition they are willing to pay for.

Listen to enjoy my short summary of Rob's views on what makes *paid* loyalty propositions work.

Show Notes:

1) Rob Burgess

2) Head for Points

3) Interview with Rob Burgess - Let's Talk Loyalty Episode 143

Every year, loyalty marketers around the world send off their programmes to compete with the best in the industry for the annual Loyalty Magazine Awards. 

With 23 categories, the entries are carefully evaluated by a panel of loyalty experts from around the world and one winner gets to celebrate being the best in the world in their industry or region! 

In this episode of Let's Talk Loyalty, I interview Annich McIntosh, CEO of the Loyalty Magazine Awards about the great entries that came out on top this year, as well as the very special Loyalty Magazine Awards 2020 online global party. Loyalty Magazine is a leading international title providing coverage of the world loyalty business.

We also discuss some of the key trends she's seeing in the world of loyalty as an industry commentator and expert. 

Show Notes: 

1) Annich McIntosh, CEO of the Loyalty Magazine Awards

2) Loyalty Magazine Awards

Livelo is the leading loyalty and coalition marketing services provider in Brazil, and this short show summarises its secrets to success.

Livelo is now one of the fastest growing and more profitable companies in the country, so listen to hear Daniel Pagano share how the power of a structured and strategic approach can be used delight customers and merchants alike.

Show Notes:

1) Daniel Pagano

2) Livelo 

3) Let's Talk Loyalty with Livelo - Episode 133 

This episode is available in audio format on our Let's Talk Loyalty podcast, and in video format on www.Loyalty.TV.

Today’s guest is another industry leader who joined us in our studio in Dubai.

Rob Singleton is Director of Loyalty Programmes for IHG Hotels and Resorts, for India, the Middle East and Africa Region. 

IHG Hotels & Resorts is a global hospitality company with a family of 19 hotel brands, including over 6,300 operating hotels in more than 100 countries. Approximately 345,000 people work across IHG's hotels and corporate offices globally.

IHG One Rewards was the first hotel loyalty program ever launched, and remains one of the world's largest hotel loyalty programmes today.

I hope you enjoy this conversation with Rob Singleton all about IHG One Rewards.

Show notes:

1) Rob Singleton

2) IHG Hotels & Resorts

3) IHG One Rewards

4) Watch the full video interview at www.Loyalty.TV

This episode focuses on Benefit Loves… the loyalty programme from Benefit Cosmetics. Members can book treatments, earn Hearts for rewards and discover new products first. With Rachel Mercer, the Loyalty Operations Manager at Benefit Cosmetics for the UK and Ireland. She has worked at Benefit for 2.5 years and worked on launching the programme and is now managing it and the strategy going forwards.

Today we will be learning about her favourite loyalty programmes, how Benefit Loves… is building member engagement and all about their plans for the future.

 Hosted by Charlie Hills

Show Notes :

1) Rachel Mercer

2) Benefit Loves…

3)  Benefit Cosmetics

4) European Loyalty Whitepaper

5) Mando-Connect

6) YouGov

This episode is available in audio format on our Let's Talk Loyalty podcast, and in video format on www.Loyalty.TV.

This year, Let's Talk Loyalty is travelling to the Australian Loyalty Association's Annual Conference.

One of the presentations we are looking forward to is the *2024 Loyalty Insights Report* which the Australian Loyalty Association has recently launched in partnership with the Power Retail, which positions itself as Australia’s premier news and content hub for online retail professionals.

This is the Australian Loyalty Association's second Loyalty Insights Report and this version focuses exclusively on the retail sector, aiming to help retailers understand their customer’s needs, wants, and offer a guide for improving their loyalty program experience.

It offers an impartial insight on consumer perspectives on retail loyalty programs within the Australian market and is billed as the largest and most comprehensive report of its kind in Australia.

Our guest sharing some of the key insights from the report is Sarah Richardson, CEO of the Australian Loyalty Association.

Show notes:

1) Sarah Richardson

2) Australian Loyalty Association

3) Power Retail

4) 2024 Loyalty Insights Report

5) Watch the full interview episode at www.Loyalty.TV

The Wiser Loyalty podcast series is a joint production of Let’s Talk Loyalty and The Wise Marketer. Twice a month, WMG CEO Bill Hanifin and CMO Aaron Dauphinee bring you an interview with an executive who has transformed strategy into practical application to generate business results.

Our guest today is Ashley Deibert, Chief Marketing Officer, Marigold. Ashley leads marketing at Marigold and oversees global go-to-market strategy, brand positioning, and expanding the company’s presence across North America, Latin America, EMEA, APAC, and Japan. Ashley is recognized for her ability to overhaul marketing infrastructures, define go-to-market strategies, and scale multi-million-dollar growth globally.

We cover lots of ground in this conversation, while digging into a new report from Marigold, The 2025 Consumer Trends Index (CTI). The report examines what makes today’s consumers tick and offers insights across multiple dimensions of cross-channel marketing and explores how brands can create relevant marketing experiences that turn customers from fickle to faithful.

Hosted by Bill Hanifin

Show Notes:

1) Ashley Deibert

2) Marigold

3) The 2025 Consumer Trends Index (CTI).

4) The First 90 Days: Critical Success Strategies for New Leaders at All Levels by Michael D

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

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

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

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

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

This episode is sponsored by Epsilon.

Show Notes:

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

2) Epsilon Conversant 

3) Loyalty Academy

The MOL Group is a leading oil and gas company operating across Central and Eastern Europe, headquartered in Hungary, with operations in over 30 countries and over 25,000 employees. 

István Mag, is Head of their Digital Lab, and he joins this episode to share how the MOL Group is transforming itself from a traditional fuel retailer to a digitally-driven consumer goods retailer. 

The business has incredible plans to expand to new categories, led by loyalty as the platform on which their expansion plans can be realized!

Listen to hear this incredibly impressive story of loyalty in central Europe with the MOL Group.

Show Notes: 

1.) István Mag

2.) MOL Group

3.) MOL Group expands footprint and convenience expertise in CEE

4.) MOL’s New Concept in Croatia

5.) MOL builds a digital marketing platform to fuel revenue growth and customer loyalty - IBM case study

6.) MOL Group puts innovation in the fast lane with Salesforce

7.) Dealing with a Digitally Disrupted World – with MOL Group and Jiffy

This episode features some fascinating research that was conducted with US consumers in early 2022, to understand how consumers motivators have changed as we slowly emerge from the global pandemic.

Listen to learn why we buy, why we advocate for brands, and of course why we stay – with a particular focus on some critical differences between the expectations of emotionally-connected customers, compared with NON emotionally connected customers.

Joining me to share these learnings is Martha Cohen, Vice President of Client Services at Kobie Marketing. 

Show Notes:

1) Kobie Marketing

2) Martha Cohen

3) Kobie Marketing Previews 2022 Consumer Research Findings

Today’s episode features Velocity, the loyalty program from Virgin Australia.

As one of the world’s most famous challenger brands, Virgin enjoys a global portfolio of inspiring businesses that are dedicated to delighting customers around the world, and Virgin Australia's Velocity programme does exactly that!

Our guest is Nick Rohrlach, CEO of Velocity, who shares with us the dramatic transformation of both the airline and its loyalty business in recent years.

Customer loyalty is at the heart of their propositions, with a laser focus on proving to Australian customers that they will be rewarded for their loyalty super fast.

Nick shares their latest campaigns, which are earning Velocity a reputation for bringing back some fun, even at a time of intense economic pressure for consumers.

These campaigns are proving to be incredibly powerful tools that drive impressive levels of engagement for the programme, as well as earning welcome publicity for the airline itself – truly remarkable in such a mature and competitive market.

Listen to enjoy my conversation with Nick Rohrlach, CEO of Velocity from Virgin Australia.

This episode is sponsored by ValueDynamx (Part of Collinson Group)

Show Notes:

1) Nick Rohrlach⁠

2) Velocity Frequent Flyer

3) Virgin Australia⁠

Dean Kowarski, Global CEO of Virgin Active, shares incredible insights in today’s Let’s Talk Loyalty show. 

This podcast is a real masterclass in loyalty. Dean talks about single view of customer/member, retention, customer lifetime value, emotional loyalty, real-time view of member data and personalisation. 

Dean’s leadership is driving a quest to ‘improve people’s lives through wellness’; wellness created from the merger of a fitness brand (Virgin Active) and a nutrition brand (Kauai).

Virgin Active has launched its Rewards programme, firstly in South Africa in 2023; its roll out plans are UK and Italy in 2024 and APAC for 2025.

Hosted by Amanda Cromhout

Show Notes :- 

1) ⁠Dean Kowarski

2) ⁠Virgin Active

3) ⁠ Virgin Active Rewards

The Loyalty Academy™ senior faculty members, Bill Hanifin and Aaron Dauphinee, are your hosts for this week’s "Wiser Loyalty" podcast episode.  

We’re kicking off a new month with fresh content from The Loyalty Academy™ curriculum that provides an Introduction to Loyalty Financial Modeling (course #105). This week Aaron and Bill look into some starting point considerations for brands and program operators to think through in order to be on sound financial footing. This is the starting point for a conversation on loyalty economics that will take place throughout the month of June.

In the Wiser Loyalty series, Bill and Aaron draw a theme each month based on the courses required to earn the Certified Loyalty Marketing Professional™ (CLMP™) designation which is nearing on 1,000 individuals across 53 countries worldwide. 

Show notes:

1) Bill Hanifin

2) Aaron Dauphinee

3) The Loyalty Academy™

4) The Wise Marketer

In this short summary, I looked back on an episode with a Comarch executive, Sidney Dunn to hear this global loyalty technology leader share some key trends and insights he is hearing from their clients.

Comarch works with global powerhouse brands like BP, ADNOC Petroleum and Costa Coffee to deliver world-class loyalty solutions to their customers.

From the collection and analysis of data insights using machine learning, AI and social mining to support program execution, the short show features the ideas I found most valuable in my interview with Sid and of course, be sure to listen to the full episode for other great ideas.

This episode is sponsored by Comarch.

Show Links:

1) Interview: #58: Global Loyalty Insights from Comarch's Sidney Dunn

2) Comarch.com

3) Sidney Dunn

As the currency originally created and famously known as "Air Miles", Avios is now the loyalty currency of the five airlines of the IAG airline alliance, operated by IAG Loyalty Limited, which now boasts over 35 million members across airlines including British Airways, Aer Lingus and Iberia - airlines that together typically carry over 118 million passengers a year. 

Adam Daniels, CEO of IAG Loyalty Ltd, shares both the expected and unexpected changes that have emerged through the global pandemic, with major behaviour changes including how consumers and retail partners have discovered the extraordinary power of awarding Avios points for online shopping. 

We also discuss some new ideas for banking partnerships and also the power of the currency as a tool to drive employee loyalty, with concepts such as "Get Fit With Avios" proving hugely successful!    

This episode is sponsored by Valuedynamx (Part of the Collinson Group)

Show Notes:

1) Adam Daniels Chief Executive Officer 

2) IAG Loyalty 

3) Collinson Group 

As the world's first ever airline alliance, the Star Alliance is an extra-ordinary example of how global partnerships can be created to ensure a compelling, consistent and seamless experience for airline customers and earn their loyalty.  

With the alliance about to celebrate its 25th anniversary, I was delighted to learn some fascinating insights from their group Director of Loyalty, Renato Ramos who shares some superb ideas from his years of global airline loyalty experience.  We discuss the evolution of loyalty for airlines in a pandemic and post-pandemic world, including the importance of non-airline partnerships, the challenge and opportunity to extend airline loyalty programmes to leisure travellers, as well as innovative possibilities such as cash back and pre-paying for loyalty points.  

Show Notes: 

1) Renato Ramos 

2) Star Alliance  

3) Star Alliance Innovation Hub Announcement  

4) Starbucks as a Banking proposition 

Rob Burgess is well known for creating the UK's most popular frequent flyer website Head for Points, written to help frequent flyers in the UK get the most out of the rich rewards and travel benefits on offer. 

The global pandemic has changed the rules of the industry, with paid loyalty an increasingly popular strategy that many loyalty marketers are exploring.

In this episode, we discuss the key success factors for a paid loyalty programme, how to "wow" your members with a proposition they are willing to pay for. 

From the Intercontinental Ambassador programme, to Pret a Manger in the UK and the most recent proposition from Emirates, Skywards+

Listen to hear Rob's insightful views on what makes paid loyalty work for key consumers who are highly educated on the benefits of loyalty programmes when they are done well.

Show Notes:

1) Rob Burgess

2) Head for Points

3) Skywards+

Join Carly Neubauer, Co-Founder of Elevate Loyalty, as she dives into a revealing discussion with Amanda Cromhout, the esteemed CEO and Founder of Truth. In this episode of Let’s Talk Loyalty, Carly and Amanda explore the latest findings from the Truth & BrandMapp Loyalty Whitepaper.

Amanda's groundbreaking loyalty research study, sheds light on key insights, intriguing statistics, and emerging trends within the loyalty landscape. With Amanda's extensive expertise and captivating insights, listeners are in for an enlightening journey through the world of customer loyalty.

Show Notes:

1) Amanda Cromhout

2) Truth

3) Truth & BrandMapp Loyalty Whitepaper

4) Carly Neubauer

5) Elevate Loyalty

Richard Schenker is the Founder & Chief Customer Engagement Officer of Loyal Strategy Consulting and he is also a seasoned loyalty executive who talks with experience about Enterprise-wide data utilisation (EWDU). 

We debate the difference between EWDU and customer-centric retailing and the interview reveals many aspects of EWDU in the retail environment.  

Richard explains how data insight drives price and promotional optimisation and can be deeply used for category protection, focusing also on product development or product delisting decision making. Richard also advises how data insight can be used in guerrilla marketing rather than blindly following a marketing campaign.

Hosted by Amanda Cromhout.

Show Notes :

1) Richard Schenker 

2) Loyal Strategy Consulting

This episode focuses on VOXI Drop – Vodafone UK’s multi-award winning Gen-Z targeted surprise and delight loyalty programme.

 With Matt Eldridge and Jonny Greenslade-Cross, the VOXI Proposition and VOXI Drop Proposition Leads. They are both telco loyalty specialists – Matt has delivered a number of successful loyalty initiatives over the years. In 2012 he launched “Additions” - Carphone Warehouses’ innovative loyalty program, he then led EE’s loyalty strategy for a number of years before moving to VOXI in 2022. Jonny has worked across Vodafone and VOXI since 2021, in numerous digital and loyalty roles.

Today we will be learning about their favourite loyalty programmes, how VOXI Drop is building real customer engagement with its Gen Z audience and all about their plans for the future.

Hosted by Charlie Hills

Show Notes:

1)Jonny Greenslade-Cross 

2) Matthew Eldridge

3)  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠VOXI Drop

4) European Loyalty Whitepaper

5) Mando-Connect

6) YouGov

AA Smartfuel is a fascinating loyalty programme in New Zealand, designed to delight customers with the opportunity to earn a free tank of fuel!

This short show explains the key success factor for the coalition programme, which now boasts more than forty partners, and ensures consumers can achieve meaningful fuel savings from their everyday spend.

Listen to learn this unique case study from perhaps the most active loyalty market in the world.

Show Notes:

1) AA Smartfuel New Zealand

2) Ian Sutcliffe - Co-Founder AA Smartfuel

3) Jordan Tran - Marketing Manager at AA Smartfuel

4) Let's Talk Loyalty Episode 141: Loyalty Excellence and Innovation with AA Smartfuel New Zealand

South Africa is famous for the innovative "shared value" business model that has created extraordinary loyalty within the insurance industry for more than twenty years. 

So how does a financial services firm like Old Mutual compete against the market leader? 

The answer is innovation, a clear intention to add value and be loyal TO members, enhancing their financial understanding, while ensuring their products and loyalty programme are accessible to customers in every segment of society. 

In this show, Brett Cameron, Head of Rewards at Old Mutual in South Africa, shares the ideas and insights that are driving growth, connection and financial wellbeing with Old Mutual's members and customers. 

This episode is sponsored by Comarch.

Show Notes: 

1) Brett Cameron - Head of Rewards, Old Mutual

2) Old Mutual 

As the market leader providing telecoms services to over 37 million people in South Africa, Vodacom is an award-winning consumer brand that launched an exciting new loyalty programme called Vodabucks in August 2020.  

Designed to recognise, reward and drive key behaviours across all consumer segments of the business, the programme is part of an ambitious plan to expand the business "from a telco to a techco".

Listen to this episode of "Let's Talk Loyalty" to hear my conversation with the man behind the programme, Jorge Mendes, who shares his goals and challenges to win customers hearts and minds in an intensely competitive market where SIM swapping between networks is commonplace.

Vodabucks is truly an exciting programme that leverages the best loyalty concepts from around the world, that's built in partnership with a portfolio of brands across the country using gamification to engage customers and truly drive profitable behaviour for the business. 

Show Notes:

1) Jorge Mendes - Chief Officer: Consumer Business, Vodacom Group Exco Member

2) Vodacom 

3) Vodabucks loyalty programme

As the loyalty platform partner for brands like Dell, Dunkin' and Walgreens, Epsilon powers customer conversations and communications for some of the best brands in the world. In this episode, I interview their Vice President of International Operations, Joseph Taylor who shares his insights on key opportunities for loyalty program managers around the world.

With a background running customer programmes and platforms for leading brands like Adidas and Nokia, Joseph explains how best to manage complex global data privacy requirements, programme design evolution and even the sensitive but important area of managing programme liability in the current challenging climate of Covid-19.

We discuss how loyalty programmes are becoming an even more critical tool for brands to build trust and relationships - beyond just transactions and rewards.

With fascinating insights on loyalty preferences around the world, Joseph shares his experience how members have vastly different expectations of brands and their loyalty programmes in countries such as China, Japan and France. A truly global perspective with plenty of ideas for programme managers worldwide.

This episode is sponsored by Epsilon.

Show Notes:

1) Epsilon EMEA 

2) Privacy Article by Joseph Taylor 

3) Nielsen

4) IRI Research

5) You Gov

6) Kantar    

7) Ipsos 

In this short summary show, I look back on an interview with Assistant Professor of Marketing at Emory University, Dan McCarthy, about key marketing topics that loyalty marketers love, such as measuring the lifetime value of customers and predicting future spend. 

In that interview, we also talked about his exciting new tool for investors and leadership teams - called Customer-Based Corporate Valuation. 

This innovative framework offers a comprehensive approach to connecting the loyal behaviour of customers with the overall valuation of the firm! A huge leap forward for our industry. 

Professor McCathy also shared his insights on the Pareto Principle as well as the consumer behaviour changes he saw emerging as a result of the pandemic.

Show Notes:

1) Episode #64: Customer Based Corporate Valuation - Daniel McCarthy of Emory University

2) Daniel McCarthy is the assistant professor of marketing of Emory University

3) Article: How to Value a Company by Analyzing Its Customers, Harvard Business Review

Today’s episode of Let's Talk Loyalty features our friends in Bond Brand Loyalty and their annual Loyalty Report.

The Loyalty Report is an annual survey, and this year, Bond has tracked a quarter of a million consumers globally, from more than 750 brands, in dozens of industries, across every type of loyalty strategy.

With so much scale and visibility from global markets, the 2023 Loyalty Report truly highlights the key insights loyalty program managers need to know right now, such as the number of programs that consumers say they are members of and active in. It’s not surprising to hear that this year, consumers are finding more loyalty programs to join, and they are enrolling and engaging in them more than ever.

So, the stakes are getting higher, as is the level of competition, so it’s even more critical to hear what consumers are telling us that they value in 2023, and the opportunities that still exist for true differentiation.

Listen to hear the insights from this year’s Loyalty Report as I discuss them with Maegan O’Neill and Sean Claessen from Bond Brand Loyalty, who share their key take-outs and watch-outs for leading brands and loyalty programs in 2023!

Show Notes:

1) Bond Brand Loyalty

2) 2023 Loyalty Report

3) Maegan O'Neill

4) Sean Claessen

ebookers UK was launched in 1998 as the UK's first online travel agency, and added its "Bonus+" programme in 2016, in order to offer its customers a compelling reason to book with them. 

Listen to this episode of "Let's Talk a LITTLE Loyalty" to hear my favourite aspects of this simple and generous loyalty programme - particularly its focus on mobile users. 

Show Notes:

1) ebookers.co.uk

2) Bonus +

3) Nicki Helfet 

4) Let's Talk Loyalty Interview with ebookers.com

Today's episode of "Let’s Talk Loyalty" features an award-winning Australian loyalty programme, called Childcare Saver.

This year-old programme leverages the power of partnerships, community, and operational excellence to deliver a simple yet compelling proposition, focused on helping parents reduce the cost of their childcare.

Paula Thomas hosts todays show, and she is joined by Gary Carroll, the CEO and Managing Director of G8 Education Ltd which owns this programme, as well as Kristie Atkins, Managing Partner at Wink who operate it. 

Together, they share the story of how Childcare Saver came about, the difference it is making for Australian families, and their vision and goals for the future.

Show Notes:

1.) G8 Education features on shortlist for ninth annual Loyalty & Engagement Awards 2022

2.) Childcare Saver: Shop. Earn. Learn

3.) Childcare Saver

4.) Gary Carroll, CEO and Managing Director of G8 Education Ltd

5.) G8 Education Ltd

6.) Kristie Atkins, Managing Partner at Wink

7.) Wink

The Loyalty Science Lab works with loyalty industry leaders to identify and research commercially important concepts that drive loyal customer behaviour.

Today's short show summarises some of our key learnings from our interview with Professor Yuping Liu-Thompkins who creates and publishes her loyalty research in top marketing and advertising journals. 

Listen to learn some of the exciting insights from her research, which will be fascinating to anyone working in the industry. 

Show Notes:

1) Yuping Liu-Thompkins - Founder & Director of Loyalty Science Lab & Professor of Marketing, Old Dominion University

2) Loyalty Science Lab

3) Full interview with Yuping Liu Thompkins 

As we come to the end of 2020, we explore the little-known concept of “mindful marketing” and how it relates to loyalty through an interview with Maths Mathisen, founder & CEO of an innovative app built to drive loyalty for brands with students, a notoriously difficult demographic to target, particularly in the age of digital distraction and addiction. 

The HOLD app uses the power of gamification to help FMCG brands and convenience retailers compete in the “war of attention” highlighted in the Netflix documentary “the Social Dilemma”, and it is hugely successful in Norway where 50% of third level students use it!

Listen to this final episode of “Let’s Talk Loyalty” for a fascinating discussion on using social mechanics and the power of purpose to build a tribe for your loyalty programme, with exciting lessons from an extraordinary Scandinavian success story.

Show Notes:

1) Maths Mathisen - CEO & Co-founder at Hold AS

2) HOLD App

3) Netflix Documentary – The Social Dilemma

With over 18 million members around the world, Flying Blue is the frequent flyer programme for both Air France and KLM, and is positioned as a lifestyle programme that drives real commercial value for its partners.

Gerben Sikkema shares some of the commercial benefits that partners can expect alongside the benefits of being associated with a premium brand. 

He also talks me through some of the latest innovative ideas that they have launched with partners for Flying Blue members including "earn and burn in checkout", as well as other powerful technology-led concepts such as card-linking and a focus on using loyalty mechanics to drive sustainable choices. 

What most impressed me in this interview was the insight that "burn drives earn" - a clear understanding that only when members benefit will any loyalty programme achieve its goals.  

This episode is sponsored by Valuedynamx ( Part of Collinson Group)

Show Notes:

1) Gerben Sikkema - Director of Partnerships at Air France-KLM

2) Air France - KLM Website 

3) Flying Blue 

Let's Talk Loyalty talked with Rob Burgess, a leading travel loyalty expert in the UK, who created HeadForPoints.com to share his ideas on how to get the best value from UK travel loyalty programmes. 

In this short summary episode, I share the top three tips I learned from Rob for loyalty industry professionals, including travel and traditional and innovative retailers such as Pret a Manger's new subscription loyalty programme, John Lewis departments stores and the iconic Danish café brand - Joe & the Juice.

Show Notes: 

1) Episode #56: Head for Points - Interview with the UK's leading website for frequent flyers

As we know grocery retailing loyalty is fiercely competitive and long-standing in the loyalty industry.

This podcast unpeels the many layers to building a customer-centric organisation by Shoprite, Africa’s largest retailer, which prides itself on “feeding Africa for less”.z

We talked to ⁠Meredith Allan⁠, who is Head of Rewards and Personalisation of ⁠Shoprite X⁠, a division of ⁠The Shoprite Group⁠. Its loyalty programme is ⁠Xtra Savings⁠ and has achieved an 80% sales coverage in a short period of time since launch approximately 4 years ago. The Xtra Savings programme is the first initiative in its multi-year digital transformation strategy building a customer-first organisation.

Show Notes:

1) Meredith Allan

2) Shoprite X

3) The Shoprite Group

4) ⁠Xtra Savings⁠⁠

With over twenty years leading loyalty initiatives in the Middle East region for Collinson, today's episode features insights from Priyanka Lakhani who has worked with so many of the loyalty programmes in this region. 

Priyanka shares her insights on the importance of optimising the timing and relevance of your rewards, and driving redemption as a powerful way to create emotional loyalty with customers. 

We discuss new and different ways for members of travel loyalty programmes to earn points or miles when shopping online, as well as how paid loyalty and subscription-based programmes can drive profitable revenue for business.

This episode is sponsored by Collinson.

Show Notes:

1) Priyanka Lakhani - Director South Asia, Commercial Director Middle East and Africa

2) Collinson 

⁠Today’s episode features the exciting story of the "Doters" loyalty program launched by Viva Aerobus in late 2022.

Pablo Sordo joins us to share the story of how they developed the loyalty proposition for Viva Aerobus, which is a low-cost airline based in Mexico.

This simple coalition program features partnerships with the local bus company and a banking partner, allowing members to earn miles while flying, taking the bus around the country, and, of course, using their co-brand credit card.

Listen to learn from Pablo Sordo, Chief Strategy Officer for Viva Aerobus, with thanks to the Loyalty and Awards conference team for the introduction!

Pablo will be sharing further insights at the Loyalty & Awards Conference this October in Rio de Janeiro.

Show Notes

1) Pablo Sordo, Chief Strategy Officer for Viva Aerobus

2) "⁠Doters⁠" loyalty program

3) Viva Aerobus⁠

4) Loyalty and Awards⁠ conference

This week's episode of the "Wiser Loyalty" podcast series explores an advisory-led course from the Loyalty Academy™ curriculum, Key Success Factors in Loyalty Marketing (course #112). Our hosts today are Aaron Dauphinee and Bill Hanifin from the Loyalty Academy faculty.  

In this episode, Aaron and Bill provide a topline re-cap of conversations they had while both on assignment the week prior in Dubai, UAE and the USA, respectively. A common set of themes arose while they were across continents related to the challenges CEOs and executive teams face. They draw linkages between how Loyalty (big L) and/or loyalty (little l) can help.  

In the Wiser Loyalty series, Bill and Aaron draw a theme each month based on the courses required to earn the Certified Loyalty Marketing Professional™ (CLMP™) designation which is nearing on 1,000 individuals across 53 countries worldwide. 

Show Notes:

1) ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Aaron Dauphinee⁠⁠⁠⁠

2) ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Bill Hanifin⁠⁠⁠⁠

3)  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Wise Marketer 

Today’s episode features another leading US retailer that leverages loyalty to grow its business, in this case, to a whopping $84 billion in revenue in their most recent financial year!

“Sam’s Club” is a warehouse club with 597 locations across the U.S. and Puerto Rico, that leverages the power of subscriptions since 1983 - way before subscription-based loyalty was so globally recognised as a cool and clever idea!

Our guest is Scott Ludwig, Vice President of Membership for Sam’s Club, and he joins us today to share some of the compelling reasons for their

business success, which includes renewal rates in excess of 90% for their mature subscribers.

Scott explains the importance of their expanding partner proposition based on card-linked offers, and some examples of how they are achieving true personalization in ways that are delivering NPS scores that will amaze you!

Listen to enjoy this fascinating conversation with Scott Ludwig from Sam’s Club.

Show Notes:

1) Sam’s Club

2) Scott Ludwig, Vice President of Membership for Sam’s Club

The Loyalty Academy is the world's leading loyalty marketing training platform, run by and for loyalty marketers. 

Let's Talk Loyalty is the world's leading podcast for loyalty marketing professionals, with over 200 episodes and over 100,000 plays.

To celebrate the return of the in-person certification workshops in four fantastic locations around the world, Let's Talk Loyalty and The Loyalty Academy teamed up to give one lucky listener the opportunity to attend and win a full scholarship for a Loyalty Academy workshop and become a "Certified Loyalty Marketing Professional" which has already certified over 300 professionals in 29 markets worldwide.

In today's episode of "Let's Talk Loyalty", we're thrilled to reveal the lucky listener who has won this prize.

Show Notes:

1. The Loyalty Academy
2. Michael Capizzi

Payback is widely respected as one of the most innovative companies in Germany, with over 80 million members in six international markets and an impressive redemption rate of over 95%!

In this short show, we summarise the highlights of our interview with Payback's CEO, Bernhard Brugger, showcasing their remarkable achievements over the last 20 years.

Learn how Payback grew from a simple multi-partner program to its current positioning as a global marketing technology and services company.

Show Notes:

1. Payback
2. Bernhard Brugger
3. #94: Global Coalition Loyalty Insights with Payback's CEO Bernhard Brugger

My favourite loyalty stories are programs or platforms that serve a higher purpose that benefit us as people as well as the companies we are customers of.

In episode 23 of LetsTalkLoyalty, I was thrilled to meet Dan Gipple, who is the founder of a loyalty platform called “Better Points” that uses loyalty psychology and mechanics to change consumer behaviour such as improving their health.

I had met Dan through an inspiring story that the BBC did on a loyalty programme in Italy called Bella Mossa – a programme designed by the city of Bologna to address the problem of pollution.

Listen to learn a summary of key insights on human behaviour & the psychology of consumer loyalty and some fascinating programmes that serve an even "higher purpose".

Show Notes:

Episode #23 of Let's Talk Loyalty 

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

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

Dan Gipple.

Better Points Platform. 

This episode of "Let's Talk Loyalty" summarises my top insights from British Gas Rewards - an award-winning UK loyalty programme that's loved by millions.

With a goal to make customers feel recognised and rewarded in an intensely competitive sector, British Gas Rewards developed an innovative concept without using points.

With customers asking for simplicity and exclusivity, British Gas in partnership with their agency Mando Connect developed a concept that combined core rewards from British Gas in the form of "loyalty days" with exclusive partners offers across key categories that customers love.

Listen to hear the highlights of my learnings from the British Gas Rewards loyalty programme or listen back to the full interview in December 2019. It's episode #16 of "Let's Talk Loyalty". 

Show Notes:

1) British Gas Rewards: https://www.britishgas.co.uk/rewards.html

2) British Gas Rewards Partnership Agency: www.Mando-Connect.co.uk

3) British Gas Rewards on Let's Talk Loyalty - Episode #16 

This episode is available in audio format on our Let's Talk Loyalty podcast and in video format on www.Loyalty.TV.

Today, we're featuring an innovative adtech company called adjoe, which has just joined us as a partner and sponsor of our show.

adjoe is a leading advertising and monetization platform providing loyalty programme operators with compelling content that uses the power of "rewarded gaming" to grow bottom-line loyalty revenue through everyday fun!

adjoe has already raised more than $100mn in venture capital funding and has some extra-ordinary clients on board using their proprietary technologies, creating new monetization strategies for their business while also enjoying a meaningful engagement loop with their members.

Here to share his insights around the power of gaming to connect with your members is Thomas Yannopoulos, VP of Revenue for adjoe in The Americas.

Sponsored by adjoe.

Show notes:

1) adjoe

2) Thomas Yannopoulos

3) Watch the full interview at www.Loyalty.TV

In this weeks episode of Let’s Talk “a little” Loyalty Tom’s reviews Paula’s original podcast with Adam Posner, who talks about his hugely popular “For Love or Money™ Australia” research report and insights from 2022

Adam explains key insights from his research and discusses what compels consumers to join a loyalty programme and the “3 Bs” of loyalty: behaviour, belief and belonging. We also talked about generational differences in loyalty preferences, rewards and even currency types.

Whether you are working in loyalty marketing in Australia or elsewhere, these consumer insights offer invaluable ideas to reflect on.

Tom’s provides a great review of Adam’s superb insight, highlighting the key messages from this great original podcast.

Hosted by Tom Peace.

Show Notes:

1) Adam Posner, CEO and Founder, The Point of Loyalty

2) For Love or Money™ 2022 Australia 

3)  The Point of Loyalty 

4) #219: "For Love or Money" - Australian Consumer's Loyalty Perspectives For 2022