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 

Today’s episode of Let's Talk Loyalty features another huge US retail success story! “Floor and Decor” is one of the country’s leading flooring retailers and it has also been recognized as one of Fortune’s 100 fastest-growing companies. We are joined by Matt Goldberg, who shares with us the insights behind the Pro Premier Rewards program – a loyalty strategy that has been designed to deliver powerful benefits to their community of flooring professionals nationwide, with a vision of continually growing their share of wallet with this key segment. Listen to enjoy a masterclass in the pillars needed to drive emotional loyalty in the intensely competitive retail sector for home improvements. Show Notes: 1) Floor and Decor 2) Pro Premier Rewards 3) Matt Goldberg

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

The Greenbacks Loyalty Programme has evolved as a powerful way for Nedbank to reward its complete banking relationships with its customers. In this short summary show, I'm summarising my interview with Dharmesh Bhana, who is leading the evolution of their compelling loyalty proposition, focused on benefitting all stakeholders. Whether it's to help customers manage their money better, reward responsible borrowing or build excitement and engagement at key moments in customer's lives, this loyalty programme rewards banking customers in fun, friendly and compelling ways.  Show Notes: 1) Dharmesh Bhana - Executive: Loyalty & Rewards 2) Nedbank  3) Greenbacks 4) Full interview is available here

Today’s episode of Let's Talk Loyalty features an exciting announcement about how we’re growing the show, now that we're three years old and all grown up!  Let's Talk Loyalty was launched in August 2019 and has gone from strength to strength, sharing compelling content three times a week. This show explains the new way we will be bringing you even more exceptional content. Joining today's episode to announce this new partnership is Amanda Cromhout, Founder and CEO of Truth, an international loyalty consultancy firm, based in Capetown, South Africa. Show Notes: 1) Amanda Cromhout 2) Truth

"Beyonde" is a customer experience consulting firm based in Sydney Australia, with a single-minded focus on identifying, evaluating, and implementing the best global solutions to create compelling loyalty concepts. This episode features the latest customer strategy and inspiring loyalty propositions that the Beyonde team are exploring. Listen to hear Managing Director Simon Rowles talks about data – no longer as “the new oil” but as an even more powerful and profitable asset now that it is becoming increasingly share-able even despite our increasingly restrictive privacy laws worldwide. We also hear some incredible statistics around a way to drive customer or employee loyalty using the power of fractional ownership, as well as increasingly important option to allow loyalty members to aggregate their rewards across programmes. Show Notes: Simon Rowles - Managing Director, Beyonde Beyonde Favourite program : Commonwealth Bank of Australia – Yello : https://www.commbank.com.au/latest/recognition.html Yello is a loyalty program (“The end game – you framed it as a loyalty platform – is exactly that,” said Norton-Smith).   Data is the new "nuclear waste" from David Birch Cross Company Customer Data Sharing from Ixup  Banks launching data sharing services   Points pooling with Swapi and Bakkt  Fractional shares as loyalty rewards with Upstreet  Fractional Carbon Credits as loyalty rewards with BetaCarbon  Renting instead of buying at an apparel retailer with RNTR  A secondary market for fashion with Reflaunt  Carbon Tracking in bank apps with Cogo  NFTs before they were NFTs – Ben & Jerrys and BlockV 

In this short summary show, I review my interview with Mike Atkin, also known as the "Loyalty Guru", in which he shared the framework that he uses to expertly assess any loyalty program against industry best practice.  With any loyalty investment, it's essential to know what's working and what's not, so listen to learn how the "Loyality Check" works, so you can access the same key principles, and understand if your loyalty program is working as powerfully as it should! Show Notes: 1) Mike Atkin  2) Full interview is available here

Bilt Rewards is an innovative US-based loyalty program that was created in 2021 to make rent more rewarding!  The program is just one year old, yet it has already transformed the home rental industry, by tracking, rewarding, and reporting on-time rent payments by tenants, in a way that creates an exciting path to home ownership and offers members ways to earn cheaper travel and plan the trip of their dreams! We are joined today for a second interview by Dave Canty from Bilt Rewards, who shares the latest developments within the program, both in terms of its core proposition, as well as their latest partnerships with Expedia and Amazon.com.  Join us to hear the latest on this program and its mission to support landlords, tenants, and partners who all benefit by making renting more rewarding.  Show Notes: 1) Dave Canty 2) Bilt Rewards 3) Bilt Rewards Youtube Channel

Today is a short summary show of our interview with Bart Demczuk, Managing Director at Comarch Middle East, who joined "Let's Talk Loyalty" in 2021 to share his perspective on our industry and what key issues were top of mind with his loyalty marketing technology clients in the Middle East region. Bart shared his insights and expertise on how to best manage the data that we collect on our customers, given the importance of balancing privacy and personalization in a way that customers truly value.  We also discussed the importance of building direct relationships with your customers, as well as Bart's advice on what KPIs are most important for loyalty program managers to measure and manage. Show Notes: 1) Bart Demczuk 2) Comarch Loyalty Marketing Platform 3) #112: Loyalty Challenges and Trends with Comarch’s Bart Demczuk

Adore Beauty has had incredible growth and success in recent years, and is now Australia's top online pure-play beauty retailer. In 2020, the eCommerce business launched an innovative non points-based loyalty programme called the Adore Society. With exclusive benefits for each loyalty tier based on member's spend, the Adore Society also focuses on education, compelling content and entertainment for customers, which together which are driving incredible growth and loyalty. Miranda Bliss is the brains behind this compelling customer-focused loyalty programme, so listen to learn the key insights from their success. Show Notes: 1) Miranda Bliss 2) Adore Beauty  3) Adore Society 

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

Today, "Let's Talk Loyalty" meets airline industry thought-leader Mark Ross-Smith, who shares his insights on global airline loyalty programmes – their role, positioning, and potential for greater profits with seemingly plenty more room for growth! It's a fascinating discussion about innovative ideas to drive customer loyalty, learning from both the gaming industry as well as strategies that have been adopted by some leading airlines with great success. We hear some fascinating recent valuations of airline loyalty programs compared to the values and margins earned by the airlines who own them. Mark then shares some challenging ideas about the commercial positioning of each business in the post-pandemic world of aviation, and whether loyalty leaders should have a seat in the boardroom and why. Show Notes: 1) Mark Ross-Smith 2) StatusMatch.com 3) traveldatadaily.com 4) Digital Driving Growth in KFC China 5) Measuring Loyalty – Tracking passengers who fly with competing airlines

How can a financial services firm like Old Mutual compete against a powerful market leader, in an industry that consumers often find confusing and expensive!  The answer is by adding incredible value and being loyal to members so that they learn to trust your brand, even before they need to buy your products. In this short summary, learn the ideas and insights that are driving growth, connection, and financial wellbeing with Old Mutual's members and customers. Show Notes: 1) Brett Cameron - Head of Rewards, Old Mutual 2) Old Mutual  3) #106:Intense Competition Driving Loyalty Innovation by South Africa's Old Mutual

Today’s episode features key insights from the industry's best-known research report that’s produced every year by Bond Brand Loyalty. Featuring insights from more than 39,000 consumers in eleven markets including North America and Europe, it includes consumer loyalty feedback on over 750 consumer brand programs in 15 industries. This episode features Alie Donnelly and Sean Claessen from Bond Brand Loyalty, who share their initial insights that have just been published in the first post-pandemic version of “The Loyalty Report 2022”, and their “Pathways to Growth Guide”. From the importance of how brands are addressing societal issues through to the ongoing fundamental shift in consumer’s expectations of the loyalty programs they engage with, today’s conversation highlights the important issues, ideas, and innovations that are proving essential to drive consumer loyalty in 2022 and beyond. Show Notes: 1) Bond Brand Loyalty 2) Alie Donnelly 3) Sean Claessen 4) "Pathways to Growth Guide" 5) “The Loyalty Report 2022” Press Release

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

This short summary explains how a better understanding of the psychology of human beings can help us design better loyalty programmes!  Dr. Anil V. Pillai offers some interesting insights on what needs most people are seeking to satisfy when they join our programmes, and key factors to how successfully we deliver on that. This episode showcases key ideas that often get forgotten along the way when we design our loyalty journeys, often becoming increasingly complex to satisfy multiple business needs, rather than designing them as human beings prefer - with speed and simplicity in mind. For anyone interested in the neuroscience of either business or loyalty, listen to learn some key ideas to help engage your customers.  Show Notes: 1) Dr. Anil V. Pillai 2) #102: The Science & Psychology of Human Engagement for Customer Loyalty

Few industries have been as dramatically affected by the internet as the publishing industry, when free news and the instant availability of global information online became a threat to the entire business model for newspapers. And yet, despite the disruption, trusted brands like the Irish Times have managed to re-invent themselves and survive, and it was also an industry that benefitted from the impact of the Covid pandemic, as readers increasingly sought information they could trust. Quality news, exclusive content, and insights from diverse contributors are just some of the important ideas shared by today's guest. Cliona Mooney who is the Director of Subscriptions and Reader Insights for The Irish Times. Cliona shared with us their current approach, and some of the initiatives that are proving popular and powerful with readers as The Irish Times continues to focus on growing and retaining its base of subscribers. Show Notes: 1) Cliona Mooney Subscriptions and Reader Insights Director 2) The Irish Times

One of Canada's best kept secrets, Northland Properties is a family business that operates an impressive portfolio of businesses including restaurants, resorts, sports teams and hotels! In 2021, the Sandman Hotels within the Group completed a dramatic digital transformation of their loyalty program, and in this episode, I'm joined by Fiona McFaul, the Vice President of Marketing and Loyalty for the Sandman Group who shares their journey one year on from launching their RSVP Rewards program. Show Notes: 1) Fiona McFaul, Vice President of Marketing and Loyalty for the Sandman Group 2) Sandman Hotels 3) Sandman RSVP Rewards program

This episode celebrates the 250th episodes of Let's Talk Loyalty!  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. Listen to learn the highlights of my interview with the Star Alliance Group Director of Loyalty, Renato Ramos who shares some superb alliance loyalty insights, including some ideas on how airline loyalty programs might evolve in the post-pandemic world. Show Notes: 1) Renato Ramos  2) Star Alliance  

In today’s hyper-competitive environment, telecommunications companies around the world are increasingly looking to customer loyalty mechanics to grow and succeed.  Etisalat, headquartered in the UAE is the most valuable brand across all consumer categories in the Middle East and Africa, with a market valuation of over $41b. The Group recently rebranded to e& as part of its strategy for constant evolution and innovation, which includes a long and impressive history of developing propositions focused on driving customer loyalty. In today's podcast, Let's Talk Loyalty is joined by Antonio Ricciardi, SVP Consumer Intelligence & Engagement at Etisalat by e&, who's responsible for leading their Smiles Program, and he shares their learnings as they evolve from simple loyalty concepts to become a compelling consumer marketplace achieving even greater customer engagement and loyalty. Show Notes: 1) Antonio Ricciardi SVP Consumer Intelligence & Engagement at e& 2) Etisalat by e& 3) e& 4) Smiles Program

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. Its loyalty program called "Verizon Up" has won multiple loyalty awards so we were joined by Lisa Routel, Verizon’s Marketing Strategy Lead to learn all about it. 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

This episode is a summary of some of my favorite ideas that have exciting potential for loyalty marketing professionals.  From Whatsapp as a messaging platform, to the power of a voice marketing strategy and my all-time favourite - payment-led loyalty.  This short show summarises superb insights from Lisa Brightwell, the founder of one of the UAE's top loyalty agencies, who shares how these powerful tools can be used to differentiate your brand in this era of dramatic changes in consumer behaviour. Listen to hear the power and potential of these tools that you can use to connect with your customers. Show Notes: 1) Let's Talk Loyalty with Lisa Brightwell - Episode 98 2) Lisa Brightwell 

In many ways, today's loyalty landscape looks a lot like it did 40 years ago! So why is that? And how can businesses truly win over their customers' hearts and minds to excel in today’s fiercely competitive world? The answer lies in a relentless focus on consistently caring for those customers more powerfully and more authentically than ever before. Loyalty is more than just a focus on the transactional management of your relationships.  It starts with companies being loyal to customers first, while also fully supporting their people and their investors as equal stakeholders through these increasingly turbulent times.  This is one of the ways that the loyalty industry can become ‘unstuck’, according to today's guest. Phil Rubin, founder of Grey Space Matters, has more than 25 years’ experience driving growth for premier global brands and he joins me today to share his latest ideas that stakeholder capitalism and profitable business practices can be a force for good. Show Notes: 1) Phil Rubin 2) Grey Space Matters 3) The Five Dysfunctions of a Team

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.  This episode of "Lets Talk Loyalty" shares the story and insights of loyalty expert Fernando Jimenez who has recently taken on this fascinating new role, designing a loyalty program for Tupperware products in Mexico. Listen to learn from his impressive loyalty background in the airline sector and his approach to this new project.  Fernando is also my first guest from Mexico so I hope you enjoy listening to this exciting episode. Show Notes: Fernando Jimenez Tupperware Tupperware Brand México #187: Microsoft Rewards - Insights and Ideas

In this summary episode, we discuss our key learnings from our conversation in early 2021 with the CEO of IAG Loyalty Limited, the company that operates "Avios" - the loyalty currency of the five airlines of the IAG airline alliance. Adam Daniels shared some of the extraordinary changes in consumer behaviour that evolved as a result the global pandemic, with dramatic increases in non-travel engagement such as online shopping, and the success of new propositions driving emotional loyalty at this particularly challenging time for all airlines and their loyalty programmes.    Show Notes: 1) Adam Daniels Chief Executive Officer 2) IAG Loyalty 3) #96: IAG Loyalty Shares New Trends including eStore, new Banking Propositions and Employee Loyalty

Sustainability is both an urgent and an important focus for businesses, and one that loyalty marketers can play an important role in supporting. But how? In today's podcast, we're joined by Isobel Finlayson, Sustainability Lead for Mando Connect to share their ideas, insights, research and suggestions on practical ways that loyalty marketers can help.  We showcase some examples of global best practice in sustainability led by loyalty professionals, with examples in both retail and aviation, and we discuss eight specific tactics you can consider implementing to leverage the power of your loyalty programme to address this critical concern for both consumer and companies alike.   Show Notes: Mando Connects Isobel Finlayson Mando Connect’s White Paper Download Sustainability article and exclusive research for The Wise Marketer Mando Connect’s Million Tree Pledge

Not enough time and attention is devoted to understand the incredible value that loyalty programmes are driving indirectly for organisations – building the brand in less obvious ways than we typically measure when we’re calculating the ROI of our initiatives.  But yet, these indirect benefits can be extremely valuable in the ways they impact the buying decisions that customers make!! This is a key insights from today's conversation with Collin Larijani who has over 12 years of experience working with Epsilon, building solutions across all marketing domains.   Collin joined me today to reflect on some of the top trending topics that are emerging from the “loyalty labs” that Epsilon is running across APAC, including the power of both zero party data and first party data for organisations. Collin also shares his belief that loyalty professionals are perfectly positioned to lead within their organisations – using the power of their data, customer focus, and insights to become more visible and more helpful as both the heart and mind of the business. I hope you enjoy listening to my conversation with Collin Larijani from Epsilon! Show Notes: Epsilon Collin Larijani Let's Talk Loyalty with Epsilon: Complimentary Loyalty Lab

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: Payback Bernhard Brugger #94: Global Coalition Loyalty Insights with Payback's CEO Bernhard Brugger

In the Asia Pacific region, pioneering brands lead the way for digitally-demanding consumers by personalizing their experiences using big data and artificial intelligence. Dan Cantorna, Vice President of Data, Insights, and Technology for Collinson in Asia Pacific, joins us in this episode to share his fascinating insights on some of the digital and loyalty innovations emerging from the region.  With so many global brands looking to Asia to understand the consumers of the future, this conversation offers an insight on what to expect from loyalty members and the consumers of the future.  This episode is sponsored by Collinson. Show Notes: Dan Cantorna Collinson

Yuu Rewards is a leading loyalty program launched in Hong Kong in 2020 which prides itself on its innovative digital-first strategy.  Created initially as a coalition programme, Yuu Rewards has proven to be a compelling proposition for the digitally-savvy consumers that Asia is renowned for. Now two years old, I’m today joined for a second conversation about Yuu Rewards by COO Mark Sage, who explains how the programme has grown, offering compelling new services, and is now firmly established as a market-leading super-app with numerous new and exciting benefits to users – such as industry-leading ecommerce capabilities at its core. In this conversation, we also discuss the power of *collectibles* as a tool to build consumer loyalty and engagement both online and offline. Show Notes: Yuu Rewards Mark Sage Yuu To Me Yuu To Me Ad #61: Yuu Rewards, Hong Kong's New Coalition Programme Time Stamps: 02:29 - Mark’s favorite loyalty program 05:43 - The most significant change in recent months. 09:40 - Yuu Rewards' technical evolution journey over time. 19:35 - Using collectibles to engage consumers both online and offline 33:20 - Mark's thoughts for future industry trends

In January 2020, Google announced that it would no longer support third-party cookies for users of the Chrome browser.  What sounded like a massive challenge for marketers who've relied on them for many years, may in fact result in incredible growth and opportunity for loyalty marketers.  In today's short summary episode of Let's Talk Loyalty, we review our conversation on this huge topic with Elliott Clayton, Senior Vice President of Media for Epsilon in the UK. Elliott explained why it is such an exciting time to work in loyalty marketing, and how loyalty marketers can help their brands embrace the cookie-less future.  Show Notes: Epsilon Elliott Clayton #92: The Increasing Importance of Loyalty in a Changing Media Landscape with Epsilon

Del Taco is the world's second-largest Mexican fast-food restaurant chain, and its loyalty program is playing a vital role in its popularity and growth. In this episode of Let’s Talk Loyalty, Erin Levzow joins us to share her industry-leading insights and ideas from their "Del Yeah!" program which has already won prestigious awards - including B2C app of the year and the Gold Award for Loyalty Strategy. Learn how Del Taco has created such a compelling mobile app featuring Del Yeah! Rewards to truly attract and retain its customers. This episode is sponsored by Cheetah Digital. Show Notes: Del Taco Del Yeah! Rewards Erin Levzow Time Stamps: 03:00 - Erin’s favorite Loyalty Program 10:15 - Del Taco's Context 11:22 - Del Taco’s Loyalty Program Concept 17:30 - Membership figures for Del Taco’s programs 18:34 - Pareto Principle perspectives 22:40 - Erin's knowledge gained while working in Las Vegas 31:03 - Replatforming Del Taco’s program 34:53 - Del Yeah Rewards' future priorities 40:15 - Del Yeah Rewards Perspective on Metaverse

David's Bridal is a US-based retailer that specializes in wedding gowns, prom gowns and formal wear, and offers an extraordinary collection of beautiful outfits for all of life's magical moments.  Already operating over 300 store locations in various countries as well as online, in 2020, David's Bridal stores created an industry first with the launch of their Diamond loyalty program, designed to leverage the buying power of the bride's family and friends to help the happy couple earn a honeymoon of their dreams!  Kelly Cook, EVP, Chief Marketing and IT Officer for David's Bridal, joins us on this episode to explain this genius idea, the insights that inspired it and its incredible performance so far. Show Notes: David’s Bridal Diamond Loyalty Kelly Cook Time Stamps: 03:55 - Kelly’s Favorite Loyalty Program 06:03 - Role of Content as a Loyalty Driver 09:44 - Diamond as a Crowdsource Loyalty Program 11:53 - How did Kelly persuade the Senior Leadership Team to support the program? 29:15 - David's Bridal Lessons Learned During the Launch of the Diamond Program

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: Ros Netto Real Foods Group Kauai #90: Subscription Innovation Driving Restaurant Loyalty in South Africa

Sheetz Inc. is one of North America's fastest-growing convenience store chains, already operating over 600 locations. In this episode of Let’s Talk Loyalty, we were delighted to share the impressive role that loyalty initiatives play in Sheetz business strategy, in a conversation with Director of Brand Marketing, Nicole Auman . Nicole discusses some of the company's recent major insights and achievements, including a new subscription service, her insights on the compelling role that their app is playing as a direct digital connection to their customers and of course, their store teams who serve as ambassadors of the program with customers. This episode is packed with insights on how Sheetz is driving its business forward by leveraging technology and data to delight its members.  Show Notes: Sheetz Nicole Auman

Etihad Guest is a world-leader in airline loyalty, renowned for delivering innovative ideas that delight members in unexpected ways! In today's episode, Let's Talk Loyalty is joined once again by Kim Hardaker, Managing Director of the Etihad Guest Programme, who shares the latest ideas and insights from one of the travel industry's leading reward programs.  Their recent campaigns include a proposition to support the airlines sustainability goals, and a "world-first" idea that celebrated the reopening of Australia's borders post-pandemic. Listen to enjoy another episode jam-packed full of thoughtfulness and innovation.  Show Notes: Etihad Guest Kim Hardaker Etihad Guest Miles Miles On the Go Conscious Choices

The global Covid crisis challenged many businesses to the brink of survival, especially in the travel industry.  Across airlines, hotels, hospitality and duty free, with global travel volumes almost non-existent, these travel companies were challenged to innovate in ways they may never have imagined before.    Lagardère Travel Retail saw the pandemic as an incredible opportunity to create compelling new channel with their customers, creating an entirely new sales and marketing approach that their customers loved!  In this short episode, we summarise what we learned from Chief Executive Officer Eudes Farbe, and Chief Information Officer, Adam McCarthy to understand their unique, world-class solution in the absence of duty free customers in their airports across China.  Listen to learn how Lagardère created such significant value using their loyalty program and leveraged China's unique digital eco-system to achieve a profitable new route to market that has proven to be pandemic-proof.  Show Notes: Lagardère Travel Retail Eudes Farbe Adam McCarthy

Sonder Media is a consulting firm that specializes in identifying, valuing, and optimizing the media value of loyalty programs, and in today’s episode, Jonathan Hopkins and Angus Frazer, co-founders of Sonder Media, share their expertise and insights on this high margin opportunity. We discussed the power and potential profitability of using the unique assets, permissions and insights from your loyalty program as a media business, an increasingly popular idea being considered by program owners in order to increase their returns on their loyalty program investment. Join us for a discussion about both the challenges and the potential of this big idea, and how you can explore building a media business in a way that continues to meet the needs of your members and your brand and potentially also with advertising partners.  Show notes: Sonder Media Jonathan Hopkins Angus Frazer Time Stamps: 02:46 - Favorite Loyalty Program 05:12 - How does owned media can measure and obviously increase the return on investment of loyalty programs. 11:38 - How to Identify  the best way to monetize owned media without compromising core business objectives 14:41 - What are the particular loyalty programs or sectors and categories that are working for this opportunity with owned media? 18:30 - Brands Sonder Media worked with 20:35 - Understanding the Value of Owned Media 25:12 - What other types of opportunities for value and attention should we consider? 27:20 - The Opportunity of Brands for Media

When it comes to loyalty programmes in the UK, the gold standard programme that consumers say they love the most is often the Boots Advantage Program. 2022 marks the 25th anniversary of this iconic programme, so "Let's Talk Loyalty" was delighted to be joined by Hollie McLellan, Head of Customer Marketing and Loyalty for Boots UK, to discuss the company's latest innovations and initiatives. Join us to hear this masterclass in loyalty marketing, showcasing their new "Beauty Club" which features content marketing as a new loyalty driver, as well as their new "Price Advantage" proposition, and their exciting tests with gamification and subscription strategies. Boots UK is truly an iconic retail brand so don't miss this exclusive opportunity to learn how their Advantage Program is changing and innovating for the future. Show Notes: Boots UK Boots Advantage Program My Beauty Boots X Hollie McLellan Time Stamps: 03:26 - Hollie’s Favorite Loyalty Program 07:18 - History of the Advantage Program 10:07 - Approximate numbers of members of Boots Advantage Program in the UK 11:12 - Points reward elements 12:52 - How staff embrace and execute the program very well 14:39 - My Beauty 17:58 - Contents as a big part of the future 24:19 - Price Advantage Proposition 35:18 - What we can expect coming up next with Boots

“To make the customer fall in love with the brands.” This is how Alejandro Gonzalez Saul, CEO of Puntos Columbia described the purpose and goal of this market-leading loyalty program operating as a coalition in Colombia. In this short summary show, "Let’s Talk Loyalty" looks back on a fascinating conversation with the true loyalty market leader in Colombia to understand its impressive proposition and performance. Listen to learn some of the secrets that Alejandro shared that drive the incredible success of "Puntos Colombia" in the South American market.  Show Notes: Alejandro Gonzalez Saul Puntos Columbia #86: Coalition Loyalty In Columbia with Puntos Columbia

The International Airline Group is one of the world's largest airline groups, formed by the merger of British Airways and the Spanish Airline Iberia. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, it flew to 279 destinations and carried approximately 118 million passengers per year. IAG created a new unified loyalty currency called Avios, as well as a dedicated loyalty division that has been operating in various forms for over 30 years. In this episode, we are joined by the Chief Product Officer of IAG Loyalty, Stephen Scott as we look at some of the big ideas that are engaging members right now, how they are evolving how they earn and spend their Avios, such as card linking and e-commerce, before moving on to emerging concepts that we're all starting to think about, such as NFTs. Stephen explains how the pandemic impacted customers all over the world and changed their behaviour and use of technology and how IAG Loyalty has focused on achieving a complete digital transformation to support them. There’s much more on the way as IAG Loyalty continues to expand. Listen to this conversation and learn what the future holds for the loyalty division of the International Airlines Group. This episode is sponsored by Collinson. Show Notes: The International Airlines Group (IAG) Stephen Scott Avios Time Stamps: 02:42 - Stephen Scott’s Favorite Loyalty Program 06:43 - Consumer's Behavior of loyalty currency with e-stores 12:16 - Avios Card Linking Proposition 13: 57 - Brands with card linking 15:39 - Where is the IAG Loyalty at now? 22:41 - Scott’s Experience with Digital Transformation 25:31 - Avios Digital Transformation journey 28:42 - Cultural Challenge 31:30 - Does the pandemic accelerate the digital transformation? 33:08 - IAG: Hangar 51 insight 36:39 - NFTs in the world of Loyalty

How do you measure and prove the value of your investment in loyalty marketing?In this episode, we are joined by Brad Macdonald, Vice President of Loyalty Strategy at Epsilon, who shares their approach to assessing the value of brands' investment in their loyalty marketing initiatives with an "a value led approach". We also announce a partnership with Epsilon together with Let’s Talk Loyalty launching a unique, personalized, and private "Loyalty Lab" every month for one lucky listener to have a chance to have the opportunity to work with Epsilon's experts for an independent review of your loyalty program and come away with some concrete ideas to help it perform better.Listen to this episode for more information on how to measure and multiply the value of your loyalty program.Show Notes:Brad MacdonaldEpsilon Loyalty LabTime Stamps:03:12 - Brad’s Favorite Loyalty Program07:35 - The current landscape for loyalty marketers11:07 - How Epsilon measures the value of the loyalty program26:49 - Epsilon Loyalty Lab

In today’s short summary episode of Let’s Talk Loyalty, Paula Thomas looked back on her conversation with Virgin Reds Chief Marketing Officer, Kelly Best who shared exactly how Virgin is prioritising its customers throughout their new Virgin Red Program. Virgin realised that customers really dislike when their loyalty points expire, so they created a programme where that would never happen!  Another key principle is how Virgin Red ensured its program is accessible to all of its members, creating an affordable and appealing partnerships with dozens of small businesses, supporting them while ensuring rewards were easy to reach for its members. Listen to this show to learn more about how iconic brand is truly prioritising its customers in its group-wide loyalty program. Show Notes: Virgin Red Kelly Best #84: Virgin Red Loyalty Programme Launches in the UK #195: Virgin Red - The Red Thread Connecting the Virgin Brand Globally

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: "2022 Global Report on Loyalty Marketing & Rewards Programs.” Łukasz Słoniewski Comarch

The winners of the 2022 "Freddie Awards" have just been announced, the awards created to recognise the gold standard in travel loyalty programs worldwide.  The winners of the Freddie Awards are chosen by their members, with millions of customers voting for their favourite programs. In today's episode of "Let's Talk Loyalty", we are joined today by the founder of the Freddie Awards, Randy Petersen, to learn all about the origins of these awards, who was "Freddie" and of course which airlines, hotels and credit cards were honored with the top awards in 2022.  Show Notes: 2022 Freddie Awards Winner Randy Petersen Freddie Awards

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: The Loyalty Academy Michael Capizzi

Albertsons is one of the largest food and drug retailers in the United States.  In today’s episode, "Let's Talk Loyalty" meets Matthew Stevens, Albertson’s Director of Loyalty Programs and Strategy, who shared how their loyalty program is supporting the dramatic transformation of their business, in direct response to changing consumer behaviours and expectations. Boasting almost 2,300 retail stores in the United States across multiple brands including Albertsons, Safeway, Shaw’s, Randalls and United Supermarkets among others, this interview with Albertsons showcases a masterclass in retail loyalty strategy and success. Show Notes: 1) Matthew Stevens 2) Albertsons Companies 3) Safeway 4 U

In today’s episode, Paula was joined by fellow podcaster Iain Pringle, to share what we've each learned in our combined five years of podcasting about our industry. Like many loyalty professionals, Iain and Paula both love the opportunity to make customers happy, by rewarding them in ways that are also profitable for business.  Listen to learn all about Iain's loyalty background and the role of his podcast as another source of knowledge for loyalty marketing professionals worldwide.  Show Notes: 1) The Loyalty Podcast 2) Iain Pringle