With over 15 million members, Rakuten Rewards is one the world’s largest cashback programs, and to date it has paid out over $2 billion to members across online and offline retail stores in the United States! In this episode of Let's Talk Loyalty, I interview Kristen Gall, President of Rakuten Rewards, to understand the power of affiliate marketing, their partnerships with American Express and Live Nation - as well as their global sponsorships with FC Barcelona, The National Basketball Associati...
May 20, 2020•37 min•Season 1Ep. 36
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 prog...
May 13, 2020•49 min•Season 1Ep. 35
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 ...
May 06, 2020•49 min•Season 1Ep. 34
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 co...
Apr 29, 2020•36 min•Season 1Ep. 33
As President of the AAdvantage Program and Vice-President of Customer Loyalty and Insights at American Airlines, Bridget Blaise-Shamai leads a team of over 700 loyalty and customer service professionals running one of the world's most popular loyalty programs. Founded in 1981, the American Airlines Advantage program boasts almost 40 years of expertise with a clear intention to continually delight customers - even during this current quarantine when so many of us cannot travel. Bridget (who I am ...
Apr 22, 2020•34 min•Season 1Ep. 32
In today's episode of "Let's Talk Loyalty", I chat to Simon Rowles , a fellow Customer Loyalty Marketing Professional (CLMP) and CSN consultant for Australia. Simon has a unique background in technology development which gives him a fascinating perspective on emerging technology in the loyalty industry and how disruptive platforms can offer innovative ideas that truly drive increased customer engagement and retention. Led by some great loyalty statistics, Simon discusses how Australia is respond...
Apr 15, 2020•37 min•Season 1Ep. 31
This episode of "Let's Talk Loyalty" was recorded in early March 2020 - some weeks before all of our lives were consumed by the very real threat of the Corona Virus. I had written an article about the key UK Trends predicted in 2020 for my colleagues in Liquid Barcodes - and wanted to share these ideas with my own audience as well as theirs. The UK market is a dominant influence on marketing worldwide and one of my favourite resources to stay up to date on how technology, communications and UK c...
Apr 08, 2020•16 min•Season 1Ep. 30
The Chalhoub Group is the largest retailer for luxury across the Middle East since 1955 with over 12,000 employees and a portfolio of some of the most exclusive brands in the world. With over 700 stores, the Group has spent the last two years defining and developing a unique loyalty programme proposition to appeal to premium customers and the luxury brands themselves. In this episode of "Let's Talk Loyalty", I interview Nida Unas, Head of Group Loyalty at Chalhoub Group who tells us about MUSE -...
Apr 01, 2020•40 min•Season 1Ep. 29
With much of the world locked down for the forseeable future, the conversations around loyalty are changing. Safeguarding our customers, our staff and ourselves has become our biggest concern. While businesses adapt and loyalty programmes evolve, agile retailers who may never have needed to allow their customers to "pre-order and pre-pay" are now recognising the power of digital platforms to support social distancing, particularly in convenience retail. As a consultant to the convenience industr...
Mar 25, 2020•26 min•Season 1Ep. 28
With an extra-ordinary career spanning almost 30 years for some of the world's top loyalty brands, Amanda Cromhout is a recognised leader in loyalty. Now based in South Africa, she has created a dedicated loyalty agency which publishes an annual white paper on the key trends in loyalty with South African consumers. Listen to this week's episode to learn why some consumers in South Africa DON'T use loyalty programmes, and which ONE programme they rate above all others (if they HAVE to choose). Pl...
Mar 18, 2020•43 min•Season 1Ep. 27
Coalition programmes are notoriously difficult to get right. Managing partners, data and a compelling value proposition are extremely difficult to do – but the power and potential of these programmes is extra-ordinary – as proven by flybuys Australia when it recruited a million members in its first week alone! Phil Hawkins is Operations Director for flybuys and has spent much of his career supporting its incredible success. In this episode of “Let’s Talk Loyalty” Phil talks us through 5 lessons ...
Mar 11, 2020•41 min•Season 1Ep. 26
Airline loyalty programmes around the world are recognised and respected as the pioneers of the industry, driving billions of dollars of ancillary revenue for those that truly delight their members. As one of the largest airlines in the world, Emirates Airline is approaching the 20 year anniversary of its loyalty programme Skywards which now boasts over 27 million members around the world. Today's episode features an exciting conversation with Dr Nejib Ben Khedher, Divisional Senior Vice Preside...
Mar 04, 2020•45 min•Season 1Ep. 25
This week I am super excited to announce a partnership with my friends in " The Wise Marketer™" - the world's most widely read source of news, and insights on everything to do with loyalty and customer-centric marketing. Both they and I are equally passionate about sharing knowledge in the loyalty industry and this partnership is the perfect way to do that. Today's episode features an interview with the CEO of The Wise Marketer - Bill Hanifin - a group which also includes the "Loyalty Academy™" ...
Feb 26, 2020•55 min•Season 1Ep. 24
Loyalty programmes are best known as a powerful tool to drive consumers to buy more and spend more however in some rare cases such as "Bella Mossa" in Italy, the programme is drive social change and sustainable behaviour. In this episode, Dan Gipple , founder of Better Points, together with Marco Amadori of the City of Bologna Public Transport Authority, created a unique programme to incentivise residents of Bologna to cycle, walk and use public transport instead of driving - and with remarkable...
Feb 20, 2020•46 min•Season 1Ep. 23
CX – or “customer experience” has exploded in recent years as a powerful business tool that truly drives customer loyalty and advocacy – not “just” using structured loyalty programmes, but by re-engineering your whole business in order to delight customers. Today’s episode of “Let’s Talk Loyalty” features an interview with Michael Killeen, founder of the “CX Academy” to figure out why so many companies are appointing CX professionals in their senior management teams, and how we as loyalty profes...
Feb 13, 2020•46 min•Season 1Ep. 22
Australia is renowned as a sophisticated market when it comes to loyalty - and who better to talk us through it than Sarah Richardson - Chairperson of the Australian Loyalty Association. Sarah has an extensive career that spans over twenty years in direct marketing, CRM and also strategic loyalty programmes on both the agency and client side. Sarah now operates her own consultancy firm and loves to bring together the loyalty community in key cities in Australia to share ideas, training and inspi...
Feb 05, 2020•33 min•Season 1Ep. 21
Film, music and games are all assets that loyalty programme owners can leverage to drive emotional engagement with members. Listen to this episode to hear partnerships expert Tom Sugg from Brand Culture London explain how to leverage the power of the world's most popular entertainment brands as partners to engage your customers around their passion points.
Jan 29, 2020•46 min•Season 1Ep. 20
Running a loyalty programme can be challenging in many ways - with so many internal stakeholders and members to manage,. From platform decisions, through to legal and privacy management and of course increasing expectations for programmes to drive measurable returns. Who can you turn to for advice, a second opinion and access to global loyalty brain power? One place is the "Customer Strategy Network" - of which I'm delighted to be a member. Our organisation is a global network of loyalty practit...
Jan 22, 2020•46 min•Season 1Ep. 19
Today's episode discusses my ideas on loyalty TRENDS emerging for 2020 and beyond. Beyond the more frequently-touted ideas around personalisation, subscription programmes and environmental considerations, I've chosen three topics that excite me that include some innovative opportunities to consider as you plan your programme's evolution. Show Notes: 1) The CX Academy: https://thecxacademy.org/ 2) Gartner Customer Experience Survey: https://www.gartner.com/smarterwithgartner/key-findings-from-the...
Jan 15, 2020•13 min•Season 1Ep. 18
Deon Olivier is an expert loyalty consultant in South Africa with over two decades of experience across telecommunications, financial services and fuel and convenience retail. Today we discuss Discovery Vitality - a world-leading loyalty programme within the health insurance, car insurance and banking sectors. We also discuss some unique concepts within retail banking as well recent developments in fuel retail and convenience stores in the South African market. Show Notes: Deon Olivier: https://...
Jan 08, 2020•1 hr 3 min•Season 1Ep. 17
Today's episode of "Let's Talk Loyalty" features exclusive insights from an award-winning UK loyalty programme that's loved by millions. The brief: How can you make customers feel truly recognised and appreciated when faced with negative media perceptions, industry regulations and an intensely competitive landscape? British Gas Rewards set out in 2017 to do exactly that. Instead of a points-based coalition programme, customers were asking for simplicity and exclusivity and so the new British Gas...
Dec 18, 2019•51 min•Season 1Ep. 16
KPMG is one of the world's top management consulting firms and one of the "Big Four" accounting organisations globally with offices in over 150 countries globally. Its advisory services include advising governments, public and private firms on best practice in customer experience and driving loyalty. This includes comprehensive research including its latest report entitled: " The Truth about Customer Loyalty" - described as a report in which the world’s consumers reveal what keeps them coming ba...
Dec 11, 2019•51 min•Season 1Ep. 15
The British Airways Executive Club is an industry-leading loyalty programme designed to engage frequent fliers all over the world. This episode discusses how British Airways is using the Executive Club to differentiate itself in the truly competitive landscape of airline travel. As Loyalty Manager for British Airways, Niall Rooney shares his insights on key trends in loyalty marketing and how customer preferences and performance are driving the airline's internal thinking to ensure these key cus...
Dec 04, 2019•35 min•Season 1Ep. 14
Climate change is the number one concern for millions of people around the world - whether we've been directly affected by it or simply alarmed by the damage our lifestyles are doing to the planet. It's time to find tools to measure and minimise our impact on the planet and Earth Rewards is a brand new solution doing exactly that! Listen to this episode to learn how ANY loyalty programme can partner with Earth Rewards to make a real difference to the environment and impress consumers by demonstr...
Nov 27, 2019•50 min•Season 1Ep. 13
Sports fans are incredibly loyal advocates of their Clubs - sometimes from generation to generation. So why would a professional football Club like AS Roma invest in a loyalty programme?? This episode discusses the clever strategies and approach taken by AS Roma with the help of their agency Advice Group - resulting in them winning three separate loyalty awards in the 2018 Loyalty Magazine Awards - including Best Regional Champion of the Year for Western Europe. I interview Laura Cagnacci about ...
Nov 20, 2019•39 min•Season 1Ep. 12
For anyone involved in designing and operating loyalty programs, a key goal is to understand why loyalty programs can sometimes fail to prevent that happening to yours! The "Delphi Report" is released each year to source insights from leading loyalty practitioners around the world and this year's topic is exactly this question. This free report features insights from 34 experts from 14 different loyalty markets around the world for their insights on "Why Programs Fail". This podcast discusses th...
Nov 13, 2019•48 min•Season 1Ep. 11
7-Eleven Denmark won the "NACS International Convenience Retailer of the Year" 2019 award - having reinvented its business from a kiosk operator to a destination for Danish consumers to enjoy fabulous healthy food. From perfecting its products to connecting with customers, 7-Eleven is a customer-centric company with a vision to continuously innovate as a world-leading retailer, already operating a powerful loyalty programme with a mission to truly connect with customers. Join episode ten to hear...
Nov 06, 2019•52 min•Season 1Ep. 10
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....
Oct 30, 2019•20 min•Season 1Ep. 9
Few loyalty professionals can boast in excess of two decades of expertise running loyalty programmes across both consumer and business brands. Leanne Papaioannou set up "Chilli Pepper" as Ireland's only dedicated strategic loyalty agency over sixteen years ago, to advise customer-focused clients how best to capture, understand and convert marketing insights in to loyalty programmes and customer strategies that drive true brand advocacy. Leanne's expertise spans fuel and convenience retail, insur...
Oct 23, 2019•1 hr 1 min•Season 1Ep. 8
Helène Brand is one of the team of loyalty marketers responsible for the outstanding performance of the internationally-recognised and award-winning loyalty programme in South Africa called " My School My Village My Planet ". In this episode, she talks through the advantages and challenges of using a community-based loyalty programme and the incredible results that can be achieved when it's done well. Helène now works as a freelance marketing consultant and she's passionate about using storytell...
Oct 16, 2019•47 min•Season 1Ep. 7
