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VOLUME 11 NUMBER 1 | FIRST QUATER 2018

CARNIVAL SETS SAIL


TO BUILD AFFINITY AROUND A SIMPLE CONCEPT: FUN!

IN THIS ISSUE:

Boxed chips away Outdoor retailer CarMax finds Caesars’ Roman


at warehouse chains Orvis reels in loyalty its customer-first Road to loyalty
with innovation, by casting in the approach is a great goes way beyond
creativity right streams way to drive loyalty the basics

PLUS: 2018 LOYALTY EXPO CONFERENCE PREVIEW


WELCOME TO OUR NEWEST CORPORATE MEMBERS

JOIN THESE BRANDS AND MORE IN THE ASSOCIATION


FOR CUSTOMER LOYALTY! VISIT LOYALTY360.ORG/JOIN
In this Issue...
Q1 2018 | VOLUME 11 NUMBER 1 | LOYALTY360.ORG

FEATURES

12 14 16
Carnival Cruise Line The online retailer chips The outdoor retailer
sets sail to build away at warehouse reels in loyal customers
affinity around a chains with innovation, by casting its
Carnival simple and energetic Boxed creativity and Orvis marketing efforts in
Mark Johnson | Loyalty360 concept: Fun! Mark Johnson | Loyalty360 handwritten notes Mark Johnson | Loyalty360 the right streams

18 20
40
Giving used car sales The Roman Road to
a good name, CarMax loyalty goes way beyond
finds its customer-first the basics—especially Conference
CarMax
Mark Johnson | Loyalty360
approach a great way
to drive loyalty
Caesars
Mark Johnson | Loyalty360
for its best members Preview

LOYALTY FORUM: IN EVERY ISSUE

14 LOYALTY360 ON THE WEB 28 BEST PRACTICES Loyalty Management Editorial


What’s New Loyalty Program Optimization Relies & Production Team
on Getting Personal Skip Tate - Editor-in-Chief
15 FROM THE EDITOR Manolis Bardis & Andrew Rigby Mark Johnson - Contributing Editor
Skip Tate | Loyalty360 Carly Stemmer - Contributing Editor
Willis Towers Watson
Shawn Cunningham - Design Director
Elizabeth Shular - Design
16 360 INSIGHTS 30 TECHNOLOGY, TRENDS & REWARDS Steve Taggart - Content Manager
The Passion of the Community Will Your New Mobile Loyalty App Crescent Printing Company - Print Production
and The Power of the Discussion Become a White Elephant?
Mark Johnson | Loyalty360 Mateusz Skowronek | Comarch Contacts
Article Submissions & Advertising:
18 FEATURED TECHNOLOGY 32 STATE OF THE INDUSTRY
Loyalty360
Featured Technology & Services Making Your Mark in the New
info@loyalty360.org
World of CX 513-800-0360
19 Q&A Shelly Chandler | Confirmit
Brand Vision
34 BEST PRACTICES © 2018 Loyalty360, Inc. and/or its affiliates.

10 BEHIND THE BRAND 3 Ways to Leverage Loyalty to Achieve


All Rights Reserved.

Andrea Brimmer | Ally Brand Advocacy, One Member at a Time Reproduction and distribution of this publication in any
form without prior written permission is forbidden. The
Tad Fordyce | Epsilon information contained herein has been obtained from
22 TECHNOLOGY, TRENDS & REWARDS sources believed to be reliable. Loyalty360 disclaims all
How Can Brands Leverage Neuroscience 36 BEST PRACTICES warranties as to the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy
to Boost Customer Loyalty? Five Key Building Blocks to Grow
of such information. The opinions shared are those of
the contributing authors and not necessarily reflective
Antje Helfrich & Meg Tronquet | Lenati Customer Loyalty in Retail of Loyalty360 and/or its affiliates. Loyalty360 shall have
Ron Orgiefsky | Emnos no liability for errors, omissions, or inadequacies in the
24 BEST PRACTICES information contained herein or for interpretations thereof.
The opinions expressed herein are subject to change
Delivering a Next-Generation 38 BEST PRACTICES without notice.
Loyalty Program The Big Retention Reinvention
Gilbert Bailey | Xenial Wes Barkwill | Stellar Loyalty
26 STATE OF THE INDUSTRY
The ROI of the Human Touch
Lior Arussy | Strativity

Loyalty Management™ | Q1 2018 | loyalty360.org 3


What’s New
LOYALTY360 ON THE WEB

ON LOYALTY360.ORG

AUTHORS AND ACADEMIA


Bookstores are filled with books offering perspectives on every aspect of business. We read a lot
of them, and as a new benefit to visitors to the website, we began interviewing and creating a
podcast with some of the authors who offer a significant perspective in the customer experience
and customer loyalty industry.

WHAT WE’RE SEEING AND HEARING VIDEO/PODCAST


At Loyalty360, we spend our days (and quite a few nights) keeping up with the latest news and
happenings in the loyalty industry. As the association for customer loyalty, we interact with a wide
range of industry leaders, create a great deal of unique content, and work to represent the world of
customer loyalty. To keep you up to date on what your association is involved with, our CEO Mark
Johnson created a weekly podcast offering updates on what’s going on at Loyalty360—and in the
customer loyalty world.

FIRESIDE CHATS
Who better to provide advice and insights into the world of customer experience and customer
loyalty than those who are leading the industry with thoughtful and creative solutions? That’s
why we created our Fireside Chat webinar. We talk with some of the best and brightest thought
leaders in a casual, unscripted environment.

LOYALTY360 READS
A lot happens in the business world during the course of a day. You can’t be expected to keep up
with everything, so we’ve added a new feature to our daily news content: Loyalty360 Reads. The
feature includes three or four quick reads about the latest and most interesting news in the world
of customer engagement and customer loyalty, with links to read more about the topic.

4 Loyalty Management™ | Q1 2018 | loyalty360.org


FROM THE EDITOR

I quickly learned that the French are good at also wonder how long those businesses will
cooking but suck at building cars. My first clue be in business. Other companies get it right.
should have been that the French had to resort Carnival Cruise Line (page 12) invites its loyal
to a Spanish word (Fuego means fire) to make guests to dinner with the captain. Boxed (page
the car sound hot. It was a bilingual disaster. 14) includes creativity kits with its boxes to
entertain its customers’ kids. Orvis (page
I got more sensible after that, but barely. I later 16) donates to causes close to its customers’
spent 13 years in a Jeep with no air conditioning. hearts. Caesars Entertainment (page 20) not
Being a Jeep, of course, the solution is taking only puts the customers first, but it treats them
off the top and doors and cooling yourself with like royalty. It actually recreated scenes from
the fresh air, which is great until it rains. (Point the movie The Hangover to make one of its
of knowledge: Driving on the highway in a customers happy. Hail Caesars. Well done.
rain storm when the top is down is like getting
pricked by a million needles.) Not every business can go to those lengths to
make its customers happy. But every business
Despite my dunderheaded ownership can do little things, and little things can make a
experiences, I still love cars and consider myself big difference.
a “car guy.” This past weekend I went to the
I like to tell people that my first car was a local auto show to look at and sit in cars that Although, I found one thing CarMax can’t do for
Vette. And it was. Sort of. The assumption I will never be able to afford. “This one costs me: Sell me a Chevette or Fuego. Not only do I
is that I mean Corvette when the reality is it more than our house,” I told my wife. “I’d buy it not want to relive those pain points, but neither
was actually a Chevette—a tiny little four- if it had a shower.” one of those lemons are included the inventory
cylinder econocar that was manufactured in of 45,000 cars it has spread throughout the
the 1970s when excessively high gas prices I was reminded of my car experiences while 180 dealerships nationwide. You might be
drove decisions. It was just wide enough for two reading the article on CarMax (page 18). I have able to find a couple along the side of the road
skinny people, had tires that also fit on most a friend who sells cars for CarMax. “Other used somewhere, though.
bicycles and struggled to power up molehills. car dealers don’t consider us salesmen,” he told
Its large back window had a defroster—so you me, “because we don’t have to do any selling.
could keep your hands warm while pushing it The price is the price. We don’t have to keep
after it broke down. It was a double hand-me- going back and forth to our managers trying to
down—from my mom to my older sister to me. get the best price.”
It was given to me when I graduated college.
Here’s to four years of hard work. Pedal hard. That, of course, is what makes CarMax so
popular—and why they sell more used cars
One might think having such a clunker would than the next three largest dealers combined.
enlighten my car-buying decisions, but no. The company not only puts the customer first,
That car was traded in for a Renault Fuego, a but is working on staying up with technology
different-looking car that was supposed to be so I can buy my next car on my phone in the Skip Tate
made with the manufacturer’s racing heritage middle of the night on a weekend. Editor-in-Chief
in mind. It had all kinds of bells and whistles— Loyalty Management®
leather seats, a five-band equalizer, a moon roof Sometimes I’m puzzled by why more Skiptate@loyalty360.org
that folded back over the front and rear seats. businesses still don’t put the customer first. I

Loyalty Management™ | Q1 2018 | loyalty360.org 5


LOYALTY FORUM: 360 INSIGHTS

The Passion of
the Community
and The Power
of the Discussion
Mark Johnson
CEO/CMO
Loyalty360

Over the past three months, we have seen a significant growth in the The power of the community seems to be growing. We have more
number of brands that are members of Loyalty360. We have also than 100 brands who are members of Loyalty360, many of which
seen a great number of brands that want to talk about their journey are joining knowing that their competitors (be it a hotel, or retailer, or
toward customer loyalty—not just within the parameters of a points- financial institution) are already involved, yet still want to take part in
based program, but rather a deeper and more profound customer the discussion. We need to be able to address these concerns going
loyalty that is based on reciprocity, feedback, value exchange, and forward so brands can more openly share and engage, yet we continue
being able to listen to and understand the customer. There seem to see an increase in the discussion.
to be more brands that are open to the discussion, open to this
information exchange, and more interested in sharing some of their We want to continue to elevate the discussion around the customer
insight to gain a bit more from the market—not necessarily their in 2018. We are launching the 2018 Loyalty Landscape to get a better
biggest competitors, yet those that they can glean some insight from understanding of where brands are, help them benchmark their
in a unique manner. programs, and help them elevate the discussion internally. As we talk
to brands, the questions we hear from them are, “How do I convince
Brands, as we have discussed in the past, have a hard time with management of the strategic importance of what we are doing?”
metrics, benchmarks, and keeping up with the diverse set of “How do we know what we are doing is right for us and right for our
technologies and processes that can potentially help them drive a customers?” “How do I decide on and plan for whatever is next?”
deeper and more powerful embrace of their customers. Many brands Keeping up seems to be as daunting as ever before.
are still clumsily managing this process based on what they think they
“hear” from their customers, yet many follow a process or paradigm We want to continue to elevate the discussion around customer,
that is misaligned at worst and apocryphal at best. channel, and brand loyalty. We believe that a powerful community that
can be built around open and honest dialogue, and we are very pleased
The brands that want to share—and those who realize the rapid that the market seems to be increasingly ready to have that discussion.
change and proliferation of technology can be used to enhance
the relationship with the customer—are those that continue to We look forward to the 2018 Loyalty Expo this May, where we will
speak about customer loyalty in a more pragmatic and more easily have a plethora of great brands that are interested in having discussions
understood manner. Those conversations are as pleasant as watching about where they are in their journey. They understand that what
the Denver Broncos win a game 28-3 (that does not happen as often they are doing is unique, yet they know that by sharing they can help
anymore), or watching one of your kids score the winning goal in a others in their evolution and in so helping, those brands can share their
highly important soccer match. respective challenges, opportunity and passion with the community.

We continue to hear brands that misunderstand the customer We look forward to seeing you at the conference and getting you
relationship, yet I would argue that this number is shrinking. We involved in the discussion through the year as active members of
see less reticence from brands that want to engage in an honest Loyalty360.
discussion about where they are, and they are more open to what
others are doing and to help (should they need it).

6 Loyalty Management™ | Q1 2018 | loyalty360.org


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Loyalty Management™ | Q1 2018 | loyalty360.org 7


LOYALTY FORUM: FEATURED TECHNOLOGY
What are Analyst Reports?
Loyalty360’s Analyst Reports are designed to help brands and marketers

Featured
navigate the plethora of vendors and providers in the market that support
Products, customer loyalty, customer experience, and customer engagement
Advancements &

Technology
strategies in any capacity. With a focus on objectivity, rigor, and
Technologies
transparency, the Analyst Reports help brands take a wide view of the
vendors available to them and then narrow down to an appropriate
consideration set based on core competencies, strengths, and industry

& Services
expertise. If you are a vendor or provider interested in learning how
Loyalty360’s Analyst Reports can help you reach new prospective clients,
please contact Mark Johnson at markjohnson@loyalty360.org

To view Analyst Reports please visit


loyalty360.org/resources/analyst-report

Epsilon’s primary mission is to work with clients to create a


customized and effective strategy for maximizing customer
engagement, loyalty, and satisfaction. The company
accomplishes this largely through an evaluation process that
makes use of client conversation driven by the Epsilon Loyalty
Insights Scorecard and Loyalty Playbook. The Scorecard Increasingly, business growth is predicated on retaining customers
evaluates a wide array of member attributes to inform through differentiated customer experience. This CX excellence,
communication and engagement strategies, while the Loyalty while manifesting as a simple email or interaction from the consumer’s
Playbook provides a tailored strategic tactics for both perspective, requires an orchestrated behind-the-scenes effort on the
communication with engaged program members, as well part of the brand. Specializing across a wide range of marketing
as non-engaged members in danger of lapsing optimization tactics, Lenati works with client to craft this CX according
to the needs and business objectives of the client. Through loyalty
In addition to providing this roadmap, Epsilon drives plan design and execution, Lenati gives its partners the capability for
sustainable growth by offering comprehensive, tailored advanced data analysis and measurement, allowing for engagement
marketing strategy services designed to help marketers initiatives tailored to the specific consumer base and the client’s
develop, plan, implement, evaluate and optimize their brand positioning.
company’s loyalty program. The Epsilon platform also allows
clients to Momentum, a program that gives users the ability These services are integrated across the entire business ecosystem,
to reward consumers nearly instantly for actions defined and with the goal of driving growth and affecting positive customer
customized by the client. Through the Momentum tool, as engagement and experience change. These changes are developed
well as the full suite of Epsilon products and services, clients holistically, and are aimed at both short- and long-term impact through
are empowered to drive engagement through channels and their focus on collecting data that is both immediately actionable and
strategies specific to the company goals and KPIs. crucial in developing strategy at a wider scope. Lenati’s focus lies in
improving the customer journey at every stage and, consequently,
the client’s bottom line. Customer experience has become among
the most significant drivers of organizational growth, and with Lenati’s
expertise, the power to translate CX into authentic loyalty is well
within reach for any brand.

As the world of customer loyalty continues to shift, brands are searching now more than ever for solutions to the age-old question of how
to build strong, long-lasting relationships with customers. Dedicated to building brand loyalty for its clients through a holistic approach,
Bond Brand Loyalty works with brands to create customized solutions for the customer loyalty conundrum.

The company’s annual Loyalty Report demonstrates its knowledge of the factors that go into authentic long-term connections, and this
knowledge drives Bond’s work with clients. From the first touchpoint, Bond Brand Loyalty works with brands to map a customized strategy to
maximize engagement and develop strong loyalty with consumers. The company offers decision sciences, marketing research, loyalty & CX
solutions, and more in its wide-ranging suite of services and products designed to bring its clients to the next level of marketing and beyond.

8 Loyalty Management™ | Q1 2018 | loyalty360.org


LOYALTY FORUM: Q&A

Brand Vision
Q: What is the biggest
challenge you face
as a marketer?

One challenge I’ve seen in the industry is figuring out how On the marketing side, some of the biggest challenges
to personalize the right message at the right time. How do have to do with making sure that we provide a
you engage with your customer or your rewards members personalized experience for each customer. We have
at the right moment where it’s not going to be intrusive all the technology and ability to do this, but figuring out
to their day? There’s also the challenge of using the right exactly what is going to resonate with customers so we
data to talk to them, personalize the message, and include can provide real-time, personalized service for them can
their name as well as what you know about them. sometimes be a challenge.

Jordan Barr Steve Dixon


Senior Loyalty Marketing Manager SVP of Customer Experience & Operations
Expedia Vivint Smart Home

I think it’s the same challenge we’re all facing. The There are several. Probably the biggest is the competition
biggest challenge that marketing professionals are we face now today is greater than it’s ever been and there
facing today, no matter what level you are in the are a lot of specialty types of products that have come
organization, is that we’re going through this constant up in the market. We’re a big brand marketer that offers
rapid technological change. Marketers used to find a some niche products, but now there are niche companies
tool, have years to become proficient with it, and think that have entered the space and all they offer in their
about how it impacts their business. Now we must do niche product or service. For example, we’re good at
that monthly, sometimes weekly, and the platforms that social, but there are companies that only do social, there
our customers are using are shifting rapidly. We have to are companies that only market to seniors, or that only
make sure that we’re constantly aware of what the new focus on college apartments. Our breadth is across all of
ways of interacting with our customers are. those, but because of the competition we’ve had to get
better in every area. You can’t be a one-stop shop and
Stacey Force
compete with the ones that are niche-specific.
Vice President, Global Marketing
ManpowerGroup Terry Slattery
President
ForRent.com

Loyalty Management™ | Q1 2018 | loyalty360.org 9


LOYALTY FORUM: BEHIND THE BRAND

BehindtheBrand
WITH ANDREA BRIMMER | CHIEF MARKETING AND PUBLIC RELATIONS OFFICER, ALLY FINANCIAL

Andrea Riley Brimmer is Chief Marketing and Public Relations Officer of Ally Financial,
the Top 25 financial holding company that operated until 2009 as GMAC, the auto
financing arm of General Motors.

In 2014 and 2015, she was named to the Forbes list of 50 Most Influential CMOs.

Prior to joining Ally, she worked at marketing agencies in Detroit. Among her
achievements was leading the Chevrolet account, which included launching its iconic
“American Revolution” campaign.

Brimmer holds a bachelor’s degree from Michigan State University.

If you could pick one thing that most What is your favorite movie?
influences great customer experience what “Crazy, Stupid, Love.” I just loved that
is it and why? movie, because I am a sucker for
To me, the best customer experiences are born out of romance, and I love that despite all
human centricity and truly treating the customer as an they went through in life, they end
individual. It’s the small touches that mean the most...like up together in the end.
welcoming them back, or surprising and delighting them
with something they love, or taking the time to truly listen If you could have one superpower what would it
and help. Nobody wants to be treated like a number, and be and why?
the brands that find ways to connect on a deeper, human
level deliver the best experience every time. I would love to be able to turn invisible so I can slip in and
out of anyplace I want to undetected. So many fascinating
moments I would love to be a part of!
What do you like doing in your
spare time?
What trend or technology should marketers
My life is very busy and full, with
expire as a fad of the past?
tons of travel and constant tugs
at my time. When I do have One size fits all solutions. The days of setting it
spare time, my favorite thing is to and forgetting it are gone. Today, marketers
be home relaxing on the lake with need to be agile, open-minded, brave
my husband and my kids. I love and on a constant learning agenda.
being surrounded by my family. My Technology is creating constant change,
husband is my best friend, and our kids and those that can’t keep pace will be
are my joy, so when we are all together just enjoying left behind.
some down time on the lake my heart is happy.

10 Loyalty Management™ | Q1 2018 | loyalty360.org


What is your personal motto? Who is your all-time favorite musical artist?
Well I have three that I live my life by, to be honest. First, “Good That is a brutal question to answer because I love all kinds
is the Enemy of Great,” because I don’t believe in just doing of music, but if you are making me pick just one I have to
things halfway. Second, “Strong body, Strong mind,” because go with Pink. She is absolutely amazing. The rock star I
I truly believe you must stay physically fit to endure the pace always wanted to be.
of business. Lastly, “Never drink your own Kool-Aide” because
I hate people that get too full of themselves because of their
What was your last “ah-ha” customer
position in life. Careers can be over in a flash. The legacy you
leave as a good person lasts forever. experience? What made it so memorable?
I travel every week. Recently, I had flown to Charlotte late
in the evening, and upon checking in to the Kimpton Hotel
What did you want to be when you they could not find my reservation. I had my confirmation
were growing up? number, so I knew I had a reservation. After about 15
A rock star, of course. minutes, I finally got my keys and settled in my room. The
next day when I got back from my meetings, there was a
handwritten apology letter from the hotel manager, and all
of my favorite treats. She had
Who has had the most influence in called my assistant to find
your professional life and why? out what I like so it was
personalized to me. I thought
My dad for sure. My dad was a judge, and I
that was pretty amazing.
admired how smart he was, how tough yet fair
Talk about going the extra mile.
he was, how so many people loved him and
would run through walls for him because of
the way he treated people. Most of all, how he
could have such an amazing career yet never
miss anything that was important to us.

Loyalty Management™ | Q1 2018 | loyalty360.org 11


FEATURES

Mark Johnson
Loyalty360

Bernard and Janice Caffary knew something was up when Such recognition efforts require a level of commitment and
they—literally—saw the signs. There, just outside the Carnival willingness to absorb the expense from the cruise line, says
Cruise Line terminal in Port Canaveral, Fla., was a banner Carnival Cruise Line President Christine Duffy, but it is also
hanging from the side of the building: “Congratulations Bernard a perfect example of what a brand must do for its most loyal
and Janice Caffary on your 200th Cruise with Carnival Cruise customers. The Caffarys average about 15 cruises a year with
Line.” More banners decorated the inside of the terminal, and as Carnival, and at that point had spent 878 days—more than two
the couple prepared to board the ship for their landmark and a half years—onboard one of the cruise line’s ships.
journey, the recognition jumped to another level.
Carnival employees rolled out a red carpet for “I think for us, it’s not necessarily about
them to walk on, while a marching band lined loyalty, it is about treating every guest with
the route and hailed the achievement.
care and respect,” says Duffy. “It is about
Surprised and humbled, the Caffarys warmly welcoming our guests when
unpretentiously boarded the ship, only they come on board. And, certainly, for
to find the crew of the Carnival Liberty our VIFP [Very Important Fun Person]
there to greet them with a number of members, it’s about recognizing their
commemorative gifts and plans for some loyalty to the brand, to the things that we
unique on-board experiences. As they sailed,
do and the things that they have access to.
they became guests of honor during special VIP
celebrations in the ship’s atrium, as well as the They become ambassadors for our brand.”
main show lounge.

12 Loyalty Management™ | Q1 2018 | loyalty360.org


Rewards points are, in many ways, for She’s actually empowered them to “Now, because we know who you are,
entry-level customers. Those who show interact directly with the customers, and we are able to tailor and customize what
higher levels of loyalty like to have points, they’ve taken on the opportunity with you get in your stateroom in terms of
but they are looking for more. joy. They now deliver the dry cleaning or offers based on who you are and who
laundry with personal handwritten notes you are sailing with. So, if you’re sailing
“I think you have to have both,” she thanking the passengers for choosing with a family with kids, the offers are
says. “I think where most of it started Carnival and wishing them a great cruise. tailored to people with children. If you’re
was about points and what you were a couple on your honeymoon, the offers
going to offer the customer for frequency “You’ve got to be comfortable with a are tailored to things you might enjoy as a
and repeat purchase. But you want real certain level of empowerment,” Duffy couple. The idea and ability we have now
loyalty to be a lot more than that. You says. “You have to give people a level of with technology is to have those offers
want it to be that emotional connection freedom that I think in the past many be targeted, which makes them much
to your brand. companies were not comfortable with. more personal and allows people not to
What I think makes a difference for be overwhelmed with things that are not
“You want the customer to move from consumers is real authenticity. Getting a really relevant to them.”
being a customer to being part of the form letter from the president of Carnival
organization. We have 45 million guests saying, ‘I hope you had a great time and And even though Carnival is blessed with
who have sailed with us more than once. hope you come back again’ is nice, but great brand awareness and is the largest
This past year, we had 5 million people what’s more meaningful is getting a note cruise line in the world, don’t expect it to
sail with Carnival, and half of them were from the camp counselor telling you a back off of its efforts to improve.
repeat cruisers who are part of our Very story about how your child helped
Important Fun Person program. We have another child who had fallen down, or “We like to describe ourselves as
2.2 million guests who are at the highest what a great personality your child has, scrappy,” she says. “It goes back to
level of the program. or what they did in the camp that day.” the founder of Carnival, Ted Arison,
who really was an innovator when it
“I can tell you that those people have an It not only enhances the customer came to disrupting what the cruising
affinity to our brand. They have opinions experiences, but pushes the level of industry was at the time, which was
about what we do, and it’s very personal personalization that is a requirement for people who were well-heeled
for them. When we make a change to —if not the requirement—for creating and had enough money to take
our room service menu, for instance, we customer loyalty in today’s world. And advantage of a luxury experience.
hear from our loyal members. Every cruise that can be a challenge when you have He believed that everybody
there’s a reception where our captain 5 million guests sailing on your ships deserved a great vacation, and our
and senior officers get together with our each year. promise is to deliver a memorable
VIFP members, especially platinum and cruise vacation at a great value.
diamond members, just to hear how Fortunately, says Duffy, technology We never lose sight of that.”
things are going and what we could do has actually helped the industry when
better. It’s about that connection. It’s so it comes to enhancing personalization. Some people really like that scrappy
much more than just points. It’s about While sending someone an email or attitude. The Caffarys already have
how you’re treated and recognized having them download an app can come another 30 cruises booked with the line.
because you’re a loyal.” across as highly impersonal, Carnival
has used it to its benefit. Rather than
The key, she says, is making sure the loading each stateroom with flyers on
belief that treating customers as royalty every activity, shore excursion and dining
is embedded in the mission and aligned event taking place on the cruise,
within all departments and at every level. customers can find the information
Each time she boards a ship, Duffy heads on an app ahead of time, allowing
straight for the laundry area deep in the for better planning. This also allows
ship’s lower decks to spend time with for each stateroom to be stocked
those washing and drying sheets and with more material that is
towels. Most of the people who work personalized for that
there are from Indonesia and have an particular guest.
infectious level of happiness for what
they are doing and a feeling that it makes “We have been very focused on
a difference in the customer experience. what we call Targeted Guest
Offers,” says Duffy.

Loyalty Management™ | Q1 2018 | loyalty360.org 13


FEATURES

BREAKING OUT OF THE BOX: ONLINE RETAILER BOXED


HAS DISRUPTION IN ITS DNA AND IS CHIPPING AWAY
AT THE WELL-ESTABLISHED BRICK-AND-MORTAR
WAREHOUSE CHAINS WITH INNOVATION, CREATIVITY
AND—FOR GOOD MEASURE—HANDWRITTEN NOTES
Mark Johnson
Loyalty360

In the imaginative mind of a 6-year-old, an empty card- From a marketing standpoint, the idea was brilliant. Not only do the branded
boxes stay in homes longer and generate free publicity when the pictures are
board box is the greatest toy ever invented. One second,
posted on social media, but they are used for family bonding and, in turn, help
it’s an airplane. Four seconds later, it’s a fort. Then it’s put build loyalty among customers.
on top of a wagon and becomes a go-kart.
For the 5-year-old company, the concept also fit perfectly into its corporate
So, when families started posting photos of the creative ways their kids were philosophy of putting the customer first—which was interwoven into the business
using the cardboard boxes their bulk grocery items arrived in from online retailer model from the beginning.
Boxed, the company’s marketing department jumped on the concept. Why not
just take it to the next level, it asked itself, by including a creativity kit in with boxes “Anything we do, anything we try and test, is about improving the customer
and actually help their customers turn the boxes into something really cool? experience from the moment they get marketed to, to the moment they hope-
fully place a repeat order,” says Boxed CMO Jackson Jeyanayagam. “If we lose sight
So it did. It sent stickers to help turn the box into a fire truck. It sent along a of that, then everything else becomes moot. No marketing campaign can make
template on how to turn the box into a castle, complete with working draw- up for a bad customer experience. So, for us, the data has to inform any decisions
bridge. It included cutouts of sea creatures and instructions on how to make the we make around that, period. That is the only thing that really matters. That is re-
box an aquarium. ally our one big rule. Then, if it passes that rule, we have some fun and do some
really creative things.”
It also encouraged people to post the pictures of their creations—or any uses of
the boxes—on social media along with the hashtag #BoxedBox. Boxed began in 2013 when a group of tech pioneers—who obviously had spent
way too much time in the massive bulk distribution warehouse stores—came
And the results were overwhelming. up with an idea: What if customers could order their 24-pack bundles of paper
towels or their 81-count packs of laundry detergent pods online? That would
One turned it into a pretend washing machine. One cut different sized slots in it free up their Saturdays for what’s really important—like family time—instead of
and made it a golf putting challenge. Someone else turned it into a cat bed. wagon-training their shopping carts and wiggly kids through aisle after aisle in the
stores? And with less than one percent of the $200 billion wholesale grocery
“I know what my kids are doing tomorrow,” @lindsaysooy posted on Instagram market being done online—and none being done through mobile—the door for
along with a photo of the box, the creativity kit and the hashtag #bestpromoever. disruption was wide open.

14 Loyalty Management™ | Q1 2018 | loyalty360.org


“The understanding is that without
customers, there’s no Boxed. They’re
as important as growth and acquisition.
There is no growth without our
loyal customers continuing
to purchase from us
on a very frequent
and regular basis.”

Today, the ecommerce company is challenging the well-established brick-and- I think that is the aspect of personalization that we’ve been talking about,
mortar retailers like Costco, BJ’s and Sam’s Club. and also loyalty. That was instilled Day One. The understanding is that without
customers, there’s no Boxed. They’re as important as growth and acquisition.
Like its customer-first philosophy, disruption is another molecule in its There is no growth without our loyal customers continuing to purchase from
corporate DNA. The company likes pushing the envelope of traditional think- us on a very frequent and regular basis.”
ing. It helps fund college for its employees—most of whom are unskilled work-
ers in its warehouse—and even pays for weddings up to $20,000. As an ecommerce company, Boxed is able to generate a lot of data on
its customers, which gives it a huge advantage when it comes to creating
When one of its employees read a news item about how feminine hygiene personalized marketing or loyalty-building material. And, says Jeyanayagam,
products are priced higher in some states than the male equivalent—and even that will become even more beneficial in the future—perhaps the near future.
taxed as “luxury items”—the company launched a Rethink Pink campaign in
which it lowered the price of its products in those states to balance out the “I look at other companies, and we talk to CPGs all the time, and they’re going
difference. to be challenged in the next few years because they don’t have a lot of first-
party data,” he says. “As big restaurants or retailers or CPGs start to figure that
“Our customers have really responded to that,” says Director of Loyalty out, it will be interesting to see what moves they make and how they adjust,
Marketing and Customer Experience Helen Pan. “I think we have acquired because data is the future of how companies engage with customers. As you
customers through that. People will hear that Boxed is doing that, will come start to see Gen Z become more powerful in their buying decisions, they’re
to our site and then become loyal customers, which is really, really cool. That’s not going to be scared of it. They’re going to expect you to be talking to them
how we feed into the larger movement about consumers caring about where on a one-to-one level, because that’s how they grew up. They’re not going to
they purchase their products from and what those companies stand for. I be worried about, ‘Oh how did you know that about me?’ They’re going to be,
think back in the day, toilet paper was toilet paper more or less. Maybe there ‘Why didn’t you know that about me? You should know this about me, and you
weren’t as many options, and I don’t think consumers really cared that deeply. should be talking to me as Helen or Jackson and not Helen and 10 other peo-
But I think customers do care now, and because Boxed stands for doing the ple who look like Helen.’ I think that’s going to be the big thing that those larger
right thing, we’ve been able to drive loyalty and even drive customer acquisi- companies that don’t have access to that data are really going to struggle with.”
tion through our belief.”
Boxed is even using the data that they have to expand their effor ts by
The effort earned it a praise from Fast Company magazine as one of the top bringing together outside brands with its loyal customers who use those
11 innovations that made women’s lives better in 2017. products.

It also goes old-school with some of its innovation/disruption efforts by having “If you’re a customer, how cool is that?” he says. “Because you’ve opted in, and
its box packers write a handwritten note to each customer. we know you love Pepsi products, and Pepsi has a new innovation product, a
new flavor of soda or a new chip, who better to test with than your most loyal
“Personalization has been part of our ethos from the very beginning,” says Pan. fans, right? So now the customers get early access and even gets to provide
“I think with our very, very first order, we had the concept of the handwritten insight. They get deals that they wouldn’t otherwise get, and Pepsi gets great
note. Now, with every Boxed order, the very last thing the person who packs data and feedback from that customer base who now feels rewarded, and
your order will do is write a handwritten note and put it into your box. So, Boxed is a catalyst between that. It’s kind of a win-win-win for all three parties.”
when customers get it, the first thing that they see is the handwritten note.

Loyalty Management™ | Q1 2018 | loyalty360.org 15


FEATURES

BUSINESS ADVENTURES: AT OUTDOOR RETAILER


ORVIS, REELING IN LOYAL CUSTOMERS IS A LOT
LIKE FLY FISHING—FIND THE RIGHT STREAM
AND CAST YOUR LINE
Mark Johnson
Loyalty360

When Perk Perkins was 22 years old and a newly minted The company began in 1856 as a manufacturer of fly-fishing equipment, but
grew into the purveyor of high-end gear and clothing—and developed with it an
graduate from Williams College, he and his roommate, incredibly loyal base of customers who are attracted by the quality of the
Will Parish, came up with a “grand plan.” Rather than merchandise and that authenticity of brand. The company’s headquarters in
get a job and begin dealing with all of the hassles that Sunderland, Vt.—population 965—is off the beaten path between the Green
Mountains and Batten Kill River, and just a few miles away from its flagship store
come with being an adult, they would toss their fly rods and fishing school in Manchester, Vt., where Charles Orvis started the company.
in the back of Will’s red Jeep and circumnavigate the
world—stopping to fish along the way, of course. Part of the authenticity is its emphasis on supporting the conservation causes
that are popular with its customers. Each year, Orvis gives 5 percent of its net
So they did. The pointed the Jeep south and kept driving until they got to profits to support various conservation, environmental and outdoor efforts.
Tierra del Fuego, the southernmost parcel of South American land. In order
to get across the ocean and resume their adventure, they loaded the Jeep
onto an oil tanker and camped on the deck for three weeks. They cruised
through Europe, went through Afghanistan when the Soviets were fighting the
mujahideen, were chased by men with swords, captured by rebels, caught
jungle fever. By the time the grand plan came to a conclusion, the pair had
explored 35 countries, crossed five bodies of water, put enough miles on the Jeep to
circumnavigate the globe twice, and proceeded to publish “Around the World
in a Jeep,” a 192-page hardcover journal of their journey.

Somewhere around Australia, though, Perk got a letter from his father, Leigh:
“If you want your job at Orvis, be here in July,” the letter read. Leigh bought
the outdoor retailer Orvis in 1965 and was in the process of turning it into the
giant it is today.

Perk stepped on the gas. He made it home in time and began his ascent up the
company ranks, where he recently stepped aside as President and CEO to
focus on being Chairman. Through it all, he nearly doubled the company’s sales
to $186 million annually and solidified the company’s brand of producing high-
quality gear and—like the two-year trip in the Jeep—unforgettable adventures.

“The core of our brand is the adventure and wonder,” says Dave Finnegan, the
company’s vice president of technology and interactive. “So, it’s not just the
adventure, but the detail, the grandeur and the wonder of it all. For instance, we
were just in a meeting, and we were going around the room talking about the “I have seen brands where it’s a have-to-do in order to check it off your PR check-
last time you felt wonder in the outside world. list,” says Finnegan. “That is not this brand. Our support comes from this really
authentic place. We feel a strong responsibility to protect what we love—and,
We got to Perk—and he just happened to sail to the north coast of Cuba, so I literally, our business depends on our access to public lands and clean water and
expected him to say something about that—and he says, ‘Well, I was at my to these wide-open spaces that mean so much to people. So, from Day One, it’s
house here in Vermont, and I was turkey hunting the other day in the morning, been part of the DNA of Orvis to protect those spaces. It’s not just lip service.”
and as the forest started to wake up there was a little red salamander sitting
there. I walked past those things for years, but I picked it up, and its mouth is cut Orvis, in fact, brought officials from a variety of outdoor retailers—Patagonia,
like a smile. I just sat there and looked at it. It was amazing.’ That genuineness, Yeti, REI, the National Wild Turkey Association, the Outdoor Retailers Associa-
that authenticity is really at the core at the heart of Orvis.” tion—to its Vermont headquarters last year in an effort to find a way that all of
them could work together on conservation projects and make a stronger impact.

16 Loyalty Management™ | Q1 2018 | loyalty360.org


“The company has a great heritage, a strong brand and phenomenally
great products. But it struggles with brand penetration... It’s using new
methods to find new customers—social media and magazines and among
its strongest—and having success, says Finnegan. But, like every other
brand, it’s finding customers to be a moving target.”

The biggest challenge Orvis faces, says Finnegan, is that it has saturated the brands that are out there. We had the best rods on the planet. Nike had the best
population of diehard fly-fishing people. The company has a great heritage, a shoes on the planet. Yeti has the best cooler on the planet. It starts with the
strong brand and phenomenally great products. But it struggles with brand product. There is nothing better we can do for loyalty than having an amazing
penetration. product that connects with our guests.

“If you know the fly fishing space, then you know Orvis, because Orvis “That was one of those life lessons for me. This light went on for me. The best,
is kind of the Mercedes Benz of fly fishing,” he says. “But if you don’t know most impactful thing we can do for customer experience, customer loyalty is to
that space, we’re an outdoor apparel and lifestyle brand, and there are so have amazing products delivered when you need them and where you expect
many people who really don’t know Orvis. If you know Orvis, you tend to like them. It’s really strong product-led loyalty. If you think about products, you
Orvis. If you’ve had Orvis gear or products, you tend to have a really positive can really get away with a lot because people really love your product. You can
experience. Our opportunity is there are just not enough people who know the really drive some strong loyalty. Look at a brand like Yeti. They’ve built a brand
story of Orvis and why it’s such an amazing product.” that’s based on their product. I carry around a tumbler that’s bulky and bigger
than anything I’ve carried, but when I go to sleep at night and I wake up the
It’s using new methods to find new customers—social media and magazines next morning, there’s still ice in there. It’s that loyalty to product that I don’t
are among its strongest—and having success, says Finnegan. But, like every think any program or process gets to as well.”
other brand, it’s finding customers to be a moving target.

“I was talking to a guy who wrote a book about


demographics, and we got into this really
interesting, philosophical conversation about
how we no longer target people by their age,
because their age is not an indication of what
their lifestyle is like anymore.

“When my mother turned 60, she was a much


younger 60 than when my grandmother
turned 60. So, we’re starting to target more on values and what the values are
of that person. That’s tended to transcend some of that consumer behavior for
us. But we use as our north star the values that we’re trying to connect with.”

The key value for Orvis, he says, is the customer doesn’t settle for a lower
quality. Yes, the company’s products are a little more expensive. But the saying
is true: You get what you pay for. And quality isn’t something they’re going to
bend on.

“I asked our CEO when I first started here: ‘If you were going to start from
scratch, what would you do and why?’ I thought they would say, I would start
with an ecommerce experience and some flagship stores. But he said, ‘I would
find the best, kickass product, and I would sell the s*** out of it.’ Look at the

Loyalty Management™ | Q1 2018 | loyalty360.org 17


L L
FEATURES

FTHROTT U LE W hen the Lamborghini Miura debuted at the auto show


in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1966, it immediately captured the
world’s attention. With its 350 horsepower, V12 engine and
sleek, aerodynamic styling, it was dubbed the first supercar
—the standard against which all other sports cars thereafter
would be measured.

Only 764 of the cars were ever built, and they are now
considered one of the most prized possessions among car
collectors. One of the cars is owned by the father of Jake, a

ya lty ss car enthusiast, college student and social media producer in

s a l o n d le California who goes by the handle @hp_overload. Jake thought


e
rive st and nd an
it would be fun to post a video on YouTube of him taking the

x d Miura, which he estimated to be worth $3 million, to CarMax

a r Ma ugh fa tion a iler for an appraisal.


C hro
t o m iza a reta s
r ts st t’s ar
CarMax is the nation’s largest seller of used cars, selling

effo ting, cu that i o sell c nearly 700,000 cars a year—larger than the next three dealers

tes proach pens t


combined—and says it will buy any car, regardless of the make,
miles or condition. “Yes, we like cars that much,” it says on its
ap t hap website. It examines the car, makes an offer and leaves it on the
tha table for seven days.

hn so n As Jake pulls the Miura into the CarMax parking lot, he’s met by
a rk J6o0 a CarMax representative, who examines the car, collects details
M 3 alty about options and modifications, and begins the appraisal
Loy process. Most appraisals take less than 30 minutes, but this
isn’t an ordinary car, so as he waits Jake grabs his camera and
takes a look around. The company has an inventory of roughly
45,000 cars at any given time spread throughout its 180-plus
dealerships, with a wide range of options and prices.

“I’m actually shocked,” Jake says as he walks the lot. “That’s a


Shelby GT 500. Like, what!? That’s a GT 350. Wow. That’s a Jaguar
F Type. CarMax is stepping up their game. This is no joke.”

“they
We’ll buy any car, whether
buy one from us or not,
from a Lamborghini to a “
25-year-old Datsun.

18 Loyalty Management™ | Q1 2018 | loyalty360.org


When the CarMax representative returns, “We’re set up in a structure that is very “The consumer expects the brand to
the offer is $199,998—far less than Jake similar to software product structures be able to customize an experience or
is willing to sell for, but one of the highest in Silicon Valley,” Lyski says. “We product to them,” Lyski says. “Consumers
offers CarMax has ever made for a car. He have product teams, and each team are smart. They know we have data
takes that as a stamp of pride, signs off on continuously runs a set of experiments. on their behaviors, and they think, ‘All
the video and drives the car back home. These experiments are designed to fail right fine, if you have data on me, use it
fast and fail cheap, meaning we’ll run an to my advantage.’ So, we’re continually
In the company’s Richmond, Va., experiment, and grab the insight as fast as customizing experiences with things such
headquarters, CMO Jim Lyski laughs at the possible by watching a consumer’s actual as vehicle recommendations or delivering
video, but acknowledges the effort. behavior. We then use those findings to a customized website based on what we
inform the next experiment, which will run know about the customer.”
“We’ll buy any car, whether they buy in a matter of hours, days, or weeks to hone
one from us or not,” Lyski says, “from a in on exactly what kind of experience we The same is true for connectivity.
Lamborghini to a 25-year-old Datsun.” want to innovate against. It’s proven to be a The company is working to not only be
very strong source of innovation for us and available at any time, even when the stores
In many ways, CarMax is the antithesis we’re happy with the results so far.” are closed, but also bridge the gap between
of the used car dealership. One of their online and in-store experiences.
core attributes is a no-haggle, transparent The company is celebrating its 25th
experience—the price is the price, anniversary in 2018, beginning as a spinoff “Consumers are connected 24/7 and they
listed clearly online and on each of the of the consumer electronics giant Circuit expect brands to be connected 24/7 as
vehicles. The sales people are paid a fixed City. Its executives went in search of other well,” he says. “The idea of calling between
commission per vehicle, no matter the price industries they could apply their best- 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. Monday through
of the car, so they aren’t trying to push cars in-class retail practices with, and landed Friday just doesn’t work anymore.
that people can’t afford. on used cars, which had great potential
but a horrible reputation and customer “If I’m always on my phone, I not
That philosophy extends to the trade-in experience. only want the brand’s website to
and financing. “We embrace transparency
always be up and accessible, but
throughout the entire car buying process. When it opened its first dealerships in 1993
For example, whether you buy a car from with its customer-first emphasis, it became I want to be able to ask questions
us or not shouldn’t matter,” Lyski says. “Our the industry’s original disruptor. It didn’t and conduct business when and
offer to you is for a specific amount and see itself as a used-car dealer, but as a where I want to.”
that’s the price we quote you—no back customer experience retailer that happened
and forth haggling necessary.” to sell used cars. And it still does, says Lyski. It’s testing the ability to deliver cars directly
That’s particularly true as CarMax moves to consumer at their homes or work, so
And the results show. Over 95 percent of its way into areas like social media and they don’t need to step foot in the store
CarMax purchasers recommend the brand, mobile technology. if they don’t want to. It’s also testing
according to Lyski. “We have some of the appraising cars remotely.
highest Net Promoter Scores (NPS) in any “We’re in the initial stages of this in
industry at time of purchase.” comparison to some other big retailers “We’ll back that price up at the store
out there,” he says. “In our early days of because we believe that connectivity
The company measures NPS at the time social media, it was a channel for consumer between online and in-store must be
of transaction and across all parts of the feedback and problem resolution. Recently, seamless.”
business, from buying cars, selling cars, we’ve begun to leverage social media as
financing, and service and repair work. more of a marketing channel as opposed That may be more difficult with a
to only a customer service channel. Lamborghini Miura, or the Ferrari 458
“We put a lot of effort and time into It’s relatively early for us, but we see Jake also brought in for appraisal. CarMax
understanding exactly where we’re doing opportunities to leverage social media for offered an even $200,000 for the car.
things well, and whether we have an things like customer reviews and reviews of
opportunity to get better,” he says. the CarMax website.” “Well,” says Jake, “That’s $2 more than
the Miura. I now have the two highest
That includes hiring data scientists to find The company is a big believer in offers in CarMax history.”
better ways to engage customers and drive macrotrends and sees personalization as
loyalty. It’s also continuously running test- something that isn’t going away and is one
and-learn experiments. of the keys to future success.

Loyalty Management™ | Q1 2018 | loyalty360.org 19


FEATURES

THE
ROMAN
ROAD
Caesars renders unto its loyal
members benefits that go beyond the
basics—and then reaps the rewards
Mark Johnson
Loyalty360

In the 2009 film The Hangover, four friends head to Las So, when the program’s officials got a request from one
Vegas for a bachelor’s party at Caesars Palace to celebrate of its Seven Star members that he wanted to recreate scenes
one of their “wolfpack” getting married. After their shots from The Hangover at the hotel for him and his buddies, the
of tequila get spiked with drugs, they awaken the next Caesars crew said OK. Then they got to work.
morning with no memory of the previous evening, but with
a host of mysteries on their hands. There’s a chicken in the Hotel suite? Reserved. Large tiger (with
living room, a tiger in the bathroom, a baby in the closet handler) in the bathroom? Check. Chicken
and former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson sitting at in the living room? Cluck. Mike Tyson
the piano singing “In the Air Tonight.” actually sitting at the piano lisping the
words to a Phil Collins song? Done.
With raunchy humor and situations that spark memories
for some, the movie has become a cult favorite among the
men’s comedy crowd-including at least one member of
Caesars Entertainment’s Total Rewards program.
Hotel suite
r
Large tigr)e
The gaming and entertainment company offers a wide
range of attractive benefits to its Total Rewards loyalty
dle
program members, particularly its Seven Star members (with han room
whose benefits include a free stay at the Atlantis in the in the b ath
om
Bahamas, a free cruise, a $500 dinner, free flight to the living ro
anywhere and a “signature experience” that really has Chicken in
itting
no limits. If the member is a baseball fan, for instance, n actually s
Mike Tyso e
they can be flown to Los Angeles, given a limo ride to o lisping th
at the pian song?
Dodger Stadium and hang out on the field with the Phil Collins
players before the game. words to a

20 Loyalty Management™ | Q1 2018 | loyalty360.org


“ We believed that our path to prosperity
was to truly understand our members,
and through that understanding “
provide them with compelling offers
that would drive return visitation.

“You want it and you’re a good enough the competition at the risk of losing. the guest journey, which will enhance the
customer of ours, we’ll do it for you at “The way we have maintained our overall customer experience.”
no cost,” says Michael Marino, Chief leadership position is through providing a
Experience Officer for Caesars. “We’re in a very rich rewards program coupled with It also helps that Caesars has been focused
service business, and in order to make your a great customer experience through our on customer loyalty for a long time. It was
rewards program work, you have to treat focus on service,” Marino says. the first company in the gaming industry
your customers well, but you can’t treat to offer a rewards program 20 years ago
them equally. There are certain customers The challenge and true juggling act is when it was at a disadvantage with its
you have to treat exceptionally well.” trying to provide the best experience to assets versus its competitors and struggling
top customers while not sacrificing those to maintain market share. Today, loyalty is
Marino acknowledges that his company at the bottom, he adds. They’re still loyal the core engine behind the entire business
has the resources to push its rewards members as well. That’s where Caesars model for the company.
efforts to Hangover levels when necessary, relies on its ability to collect and analyze
but at the same time notes that customer data, and then run test-and-learn programs “We believed that our path to prosperity
loyalty is less a budgetary issue than a to see what resonates with each customer was to truly understand our members, and
corporate mentality. Many companies think and what doesn’t. through that understanding provide them
their loyalty program is simply a points or with compelling offers that would drive
cash back program, he says, and even those return visitation,” says Marino. “As we
with a points program don’t invest enough learned more about the members, we could


to reap the economic returns because they be smarter about what we offered them
can’t believe or understand how treating You want it and the experience we provided when they
customers like they are special will drive an
increase in finances.
and you’re a arrived. If you do this well, the chances that
you do get a significant lift in visitation,
good enough repeat visitation, and loyalty is high.
“The reality is, there are so many customer of
businesses that don’t treat their best ours, we’ll do Even if that means hiring Mike Tyson to
customers like they’re their best
customers,” he says. “They almost take
them for granted. My old CEO used to say
it for you at
no cost.
“ sing to your customers.

the only person who got good service in


the grocery store was the guy who bought
the least amount of stuff. They have the
express lane for the guy buying two things,
while the guy buying $700 worth of stuff “We live by the mantra that what gets
is waiting in line forever.” measured, gets improved,” he says. “As
technology has improved, we’ve been
In the increasingly competitive able to scale both our CX measurement
rewards game, the ante is approach as well as our analytics to
continually being upped, so the understand what actions truly drive
rewards have to be continually improved loyalty. Today, we can deeply
evaluated and kept ahead of understand specific interactions throughout

Loyalty Management™ | Q1 2018 | loyalty360.org 21


TECHNOLOGY, TRENDS & REWARDS

How can
brands leverage
neuroscience to
boost customer
loyalty?

Antje Helfrich Meg Tronquet


Sr. Manager (B2C) Loyalty Manager
Lenati Lenati

For many consumers, the new year brings resolutions As a quick primer, habits are formed
to change habits—for brands it’s not so different. There
is a growing opportunity to leverage the science of habit
through a cycle of:
formation to acquire, engage and retain customers.

For loyalty marketers, the opportunity is tremendous, ROUTINE


as the very principles of habit formation are the
underpinnings of successful loyalty programs. Gaining
deep insight into how their customers’ habits form, and CUE
applying those insights to loyalty program design, gives
brands a competitive advantage.

The study of habit formation draws from research in


multiple scientific disciplines ranging from psychology
REWARD
to neuroscience to behavioral economics. At the most
basic level, habits are behaviors we do regularly, many
The CUE is an internal or external trigger that reminds
of them subconsciously.
the person to perform a certain activity.
They emerge when our brains form neurological
pathways that trigger automatic responses to cues and The ROUTINE is the actual behavior taking place after
rewards—basically, “habits develop because the brain being triggered by the cue.
is looking for ways to save effort” (Charles Duhigg,
The Power of Habits). The REWARD is the physical and emotional response
the person receives from performing the behavior.

22 Loyalty Management™ | Q1 2018 | loyalty360.org


“ How do marketers find out
what drives the habits they
hope to establish amongst

their customer base?

Both internal and external motivators don’t just gain functional benefits from insight into the consumer’s mind and
drive consumers, with internal ones the using their products (namely, improved emotion, which requires sophisticated
hardest to understand and influence. oral health) but also emotional benefits: approaches, from mobile ethnography
Consider tipping at coffee shops, a com- the confidence of having a beautiful smile. (capturing a shopper’s state and mind at
mon consumer habit. Cue and behavior They can use this insight when design- the very moment of decision-making and
are easy to identify: The tip jar on the ing their loyalty program, both to cre- choice) to empathy maps (triangulating
counter (or increasingly Square’s interface ate a “hook” for enrollment and to keep what consumers say, do, think and feel) to
prompt) provides the cue, while the actual program members engaged. How about facial expression analysis, eye movement
tipping is the routine. The motivation for instead of letting users accrue points, tracking and timed response tracking (to
the behavior and the ensuing reward are replacing the commonly used points with account for subconscious responses in
not as straightforward to describe, as they a “currency of smiles” to show progress consumer research scenarios.)
are often unconscious and vary across and keep customers motivated to perform
consumer segments. Some get satisfac- and track a daily oral care behavior like Using research methods like these, loyalty
tion from fulfilling a perceived obligation, brushing or flossing? marketers can get an edge on develop-
others are motivated by a sense of social ing innovative loyalty programs that give
justice based on the discrepancy of the them a competitive advantage.
barista’s presumed income and their own,
and yet others fear social repercussions
for being perceived as stingy.
For deeper reading on habit formation, we recommend
Brands want their consumers to form
turning to the writing by Nir Eyal (nirandfar.com)
habits around the use of their product, and Charles Duhigg (charlesduhigg.com)
service, or other touchpoints with the
brand. In a marketplace offering ever Antje Helfrich is a Senior Manager at Lenati and
increasing choice to the consumer, one brings over 20 years of experience developing
way of increasing customer retention is customer-centric marketing strategies. She has led
successful initiatives with well-known brands including
to reduce the mental effort that it takes
Starbucks, Microsoft, T-Mobile, Philips, Vans, AT&T
to choose a particular product or service and more. Antje is passionate about the intersection
over another, or to engage with the brand When designing the rewards portfolio, across business, consumers, and marketing technologies.
in more and varied ways. Reducing mental knowledge of the habit formation process As a leader in Lenati’s B2C BU she helps clients
effort is exactly what habits do, and helps steer brands toward rewards that transform customer experiences, drive loyalty and
loyalty programs are designed to establish speak to the emotional benefits the cus- generate business growth.
and sustain habitual behaviors around tomer is experiencing. Going back to our Meg Tronquet is a manager at Lenati specializing in
product use, purchases, event attendance, oral health care example, consumers who customer loyalty and marketing strategy driven by data
and digital engagement. The challenge for buy high-end electric toothbrushes tend and customer insights. Her past client work ranges from
brands is to learn what truly drives cus- to take a lot of pride in their oral health Fortune 100 enterprises to mid-market brands, and
tomers to purchase or engage and how and are interested in product innovation. spans industries including healthcare, life sciences, high
tech, retail, and not-for-profit. Meg’s expertise is in
to affect the functional and emotional Inviting loyal customers to an exclusive collecting and analyzing consumer data to develop
triggers. If they don’t, they risk reinforc- product innovation panel might be an customer-oriented strategies that influence behavior,
ing a transactional relationship with their unexpected but perfectly fitting reward, create deep customer connections, and drive change
customer rather than truly becoming with much higher perceived value than across a business to produce meaningful results.
the “brand of choice” for the consumer discounts on future purchases.
based on deeply ingrained habits driven
by emotional needs and motivators. For How do marketers find out what drives
example, a consumer oral care company the habits they hope to establish amongst
we work with understands that customers their customer base? They need deep

Loyalty Management™ | Q1 2018 | loyalty360.org 23


BEST PRACTICES

For Groucho’s Deli, a franchise restaurant operation, customer engagement Gilbert Bailey
and data-driven customer insights have been the dual drivers behind the VP Analytics & Customer
growth and adoption of its wildly popular and successful loyalty program. The Engagement at Xenial, Inc.
Groucho’s Deli app defines next-generation loyalty by combining gift card/
stored value (wallet), rewards, and in-app mobile ordering into a single app.

Characteristics of Next-Gen Loyalty


Next-gen customer spend for customers who sign up for Groucho’s Deli
engagement programs share rewards, they doubled the number of Quick Facts
some common characteristics. contacts in their CRM database.

Are top of mind


Are connected, end-to-end
For Groucho’s Deli, that meant Based in Columbia,
All your data, and all aspects of South Carolina
having a presence on customers’
the loyalty, sales, and marketing
smartphones. The Groucho’s app
ecosystem are connected: point-
serves as the customer’s digital
of-sale, gift/rewards, mobile app,
rewards card. Customers can also 32 Neighborhood Deli
and online ordering. A next-gen
place orders through the app. locations and growing
loyalty program gives marketers a
unified view of customer data across
customer engagement channels Are well-communicated
and touchpoints - a single source of Founded in 1941 by
the truth - so they can understand In-store and online, Groucho’s Harold “Groucho” Miller
existing customers, and know promotes its rewards program heavily. and now led by his
what they need to do to acquire Continuous, open communication Grandson, Bruce Miller,
new ones. with, and training for, store owners who is maintaining
and employees helps spread the flagship location
enthusiasm and drives adoption. and “Fast, Fresh and
Deliver perceived value
Original” tradition
to customers
nurtured by his parents
before him
When Groucho’s started offering
the equivalent of $5 in rewards to

24 Loyalty Management™ | Q1 2018 | loyalty360.org


Guiding Principles For Developing
a Next-Gen Loyalty Program
Based on the experience of Groucho’s Deli and other the app and signing up for rewards). “Loyalty is a
Xenial customers, there are several guiding principles long-view strategy,” says M. Deric Rosenbaum, President,
for developing a next-gen loyalty program. Franchise Consulting & Services Corp., and Groucho’s
franchisee. “Many years ago I had a vision for what I
Start with, and keep, customer experience high on your wanted our loyalty technology platform to look like. It
list of strategic priorities. didn’t exist in the marketplace. Our technology partners
have been instrumental in helping Groucho’s achieve
Rely on facts to develop your program, and to continually that vision.”
improve and refine it. According to Cindy Sutton, Director
of Brand & Marketing, and Groucho’s franchisee “For Good technology and connected data are essential. “For
customers, it’s about adding value. For Groucho’s a chain our size, and even among some of the big names
leadership, it’s about understanding the life cycle of the in quick serve/fast casual, we have enviable data insights
customer – their various interactions with our brand – and some of the best-in-class technology,”
because this is what tells us how customers define value, says Rosenbaum.
and also how to market to them the way they want to be
marketed to.”

People view their personal information as valuable.


It takes a meaningful reward to get them to share it
(Groucho’s gives the equivalent of $5 for downloading

100%
Franchises participating in Average ticket size
Groucho’s Gift+Rewards growth 25%**

200%
Frequency of visits Growth of CRM database*
increased 16%

* Following the launch of $5 reward for rewards program sign-up


** Among rewards program customers after switch from item-based to value-based rewards

Fueled by marketing innovation, Gilbert Bailey drives the Analytics, Customer Engagement and Stored
Value teams for Xenial, a Global Payments company. Global Payments represents over 2.5 million merchant
locations across 30 countries. Passionate about influencing consumer engagement, Gilbert is directly
involved with well-known national brands such as Taco Bell, Jack in the Box, Panda Express, Qdoba
Mexican Eats and Whataburger, as well as thousands of independent operators. Gilbert earned back-to-back
Inc. 500 Awards early in his career and back-to-back Fast 50 Awards in Charlotte, N.C. two decades later.

Loyalty Management™ | Q1 2018 | loyalty360.org 25


STATE OF THE INDUSTRY

Lior Arussy
President and CEO
Strativity Group, a global customer relevance firm and the author
of the upcoming book Next Is Now (Simon & Shuster 2018)

THE ROI OF THE


HUMAN TOUCH
SOMETHING AS LITTLE AS A SMILE OR A
BIRTHDAY WISH CAN HAVE A BIG IMPACT
ON BRINGING EXCELLENCE TO THE
CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

“In any situation where a


customer is served, human
touch is a critical dimension
of excellence...”

26 Loyalty Management™ | Q1 2018 | loyalty360.org


nothing like handling transactions. Rather, it involves the recognition that
the voices and faces you encounter belong to living, breathing human
beings. Sadly, most employees focus on completing the task at hand,
treating the individual involved as if she was invisible. They perform in a
robotic manner, not connecting with their own humanness.

How then do we deliver a human touch when many of our transactions


with customers are digital? I would argue that in some ways it’s easier
to do so. With the plethora of loyalty programs and rich corporate
CRMs, we know a great deal about our customers. It should be easy to
wish customers a “happy birthday” when they are shopping during their
birthday month. Early adaptors of the Internet have been online for over
20 years. How often do you identify customers who have been with you
online for a year, for five years, or if you’re Amazon, maybe even 20?
How do you acknowledge their loyalty?

“There is an upper limit to how many


customers can be gained through
transaction efficiency but virtually no limit to
the number of customers who can be gained
through compassionate service...”

What is the cost of a sincere smile? I remember entering


a hotel once, very late at night. The desk clerk was so detached and
robotic in his actions that I offered him a dollar for a really good smile.
All I wanted was a smile. I got my smile and kept my dollar as well.

It doesn’t cost anything to provide a human touch,


yet it is such a powerful action.
Companies that fail in their pursuit of excellence are typically geared to
A human touch can come in different forms, from a warm smile to the
meeting ever-rising quarterly sales quotas, viewing their customer as a
simple act of addressing your customer by name. It’s any person-to-
series of transactions. They fail to see the person behind the screen or
person gesture that represents a human connection. It’s any method that
behind the transaction, and thus, they miss the opportunity to connect
involves personalizing your actions to make a customer feel at home, feel
and create excellence. If they only realized that there is an upper limit to
cared for, and welcome. Anytime a customer feels she is being helped by
how many customers can be gained through transaction efficiency but
a real person and not by a machine, a human touch has been delivered.
virtually no limit to the number of customers who can be gained through
compassionate service, these companies would be making very different
In any situation where a customer is served, human touch is a critical
choices than those they make today.
dimension of excellence. Genuine care that touches people in a meaning-
ful way has a powerful effect on their perception of any experience.
Excellence has less to do with big investments and major strategic A smile, a simple human touch in the overall experience,
initiatives and more to do with an attitude, one that reflects a personal can be the critical factor in a firm’s success. You can do
commitment to serving and delighting customers. We should view the it but only if you want to do it.
opportunity to be of service as a privilege. Helping others is a wonderful
and satisfying experience, and when we tap into this attitude and
commitment, it allows us to deliver a human touch and connect with
our customer on a personal level.

On a recent trip overseas, I counted 13 airline employees and


immigration officers who opened my passport and examined my
personal information. It was my birthday, yet not one of them wished
me a happy birthday. A gesture like that would not have cost anything.
It would not have required approval from the CEO. It would have simply
required attention by the individual. Service to customers should be

Loyalty Management™ | Q1 2018 | loyalty360.org 27


BEST PRACTICES

Loyalty program optimization


relies on getting personal
The wider adoption of customer lifetime value (CLTV) and decision-tree
modeling techniques will enable loyalty program sponsors to move analysis
of members’ behaviors to a higher level, thereby optimizing investment and
marketing more effectively.

Manolis Bardis Andrew Rigby


Senior Consultant Associate Director
Willis Towers Watson Willis Towers Watson

It is no surprise that, in recent years, finance and marketing Decision trees and CLTV: a step forward
teams have invested significant resources in understanding
the behavior of loyalty program members and producing For companies looking for a richer and more detailed
forecasts of expected future revenue and cost. understanding of the financial impact of the behaviors of
the members of their loyalty program as a whole, decision
Loyalty programs continue to grow in both popularity and trees and CLTV modeling offer a further step forward. The
scale. Therefore, finding the balance between unlocking idea is to group members into a number of clusters based
additional revenue opportunities and granting points that on similar accrual and redemption behavior. The future
can represent a very material liability on a company’s performance of the program is then forecast by analyzing
balance sheet has become more critical to effective loyalty this reduced number of groups.
program management.
CLTV is hardly a new concept. CLTV modeling has
To date, most approaches have analyzed summarized data historically been used in retail, banking, insurance and
of a programs’ redemption behavior. However, a limitation other sectors to estimate profit and loss at an individual
of these aggregated data modeling techniques is that they customer level throughout the time that the customer is
can’t tell sponsors about individual members’ earning and engaged with the company. For example, this approach
redeeming activity that, in turn, provides significant insights has been used by retailers to determine the appropriate
on the benefits and costs of a program. offers to present to customers, and by financial institutions
to specify tailored rates and prices. Yet their use in loyalty
programs remains fairly rare, despite characteristics that
make them plainly suited to this application.

28 Loyalty Management™ | Q1 2018 | loyalty360.org


In CLTV modeling, multiple models are built, each EXAMPLES CLTV MODELING
predicting a particular aspect of customer behavior.

+
For example, one model might predict how likely Individual Change in expiration
member rules, earning/
the customer is to stay engaged with the product, characteristics redemption charts
while another might predict spending patterns
while engaged.

By combining these models, users can predict the


overall expected revenue and liabilities for a given MODELS IMPACT ON
customer, as well as enhance their understanding Change in
of how each customer arrives at this position. Member Member Probability earning/redemption
acquisition engagement of lapsing behavior of members

By combining these models,


users can predict the overall
expected revenue and liabilities
for a given customer, as well as Economic
value at the
enhance their understanding of member
how each customer arrives at level
this position.
In CLTV modeling, we can model the different states that a customer may be in, the propensity of a
customer to change state, and the impact that each state has on accrual and redemption behavior.

Benefits of CLTV and decision-tree modeling For example, marketing departments


can typically target advertisements to
Applying this approach to loyalty programs, CLTV used alongside decision-tree specific demographics, but may not have
modeling approaches could deliver a number of key benefits. Ultimately, this greater access to information on how actual or
understanding can be leveraged to optimize the loyalty program, offering program proposed loyalty program changes will
terms and features that best meet the needs of the most valued customers. impact members’ earning and redeeming
behavior. With an analysis conducted at
Deeper understanding of risks and benefits the individual member level, it becomes
By analyzing the earning and redeeming behavior of individual members, it simple to segment these behaviors and
is possible to identify behavioral patterns that would be hidden from a more identify better performing segments for the
aggregated analysis. Comparing the marginal revenue and marginal cost that marketing team to target.
results from each additional point accrued, sponsors can identity the most
profitable members of a program. With loyalty programs now so well
established in a wide range of business
Program optimization sectors, such robust analytical approaches
A greater understanding of member behavior can allow sponsor companies to should help guide companies to make the
more accurately estimate how members’ accrual, redemption and engagement
best decisions to maximize economic value.
would change as the terms of the loyalty program change. For example, this
approach would allow a more accurate prediction of how customer engagement
By looking individually and holistically at
and redemption may change as the expiration rules are varied or predict the uplift both the revenue and cost components of
in engagement if the awarded points are increased for a given transaction type. the equation, those that adopt them will
potentially steal a march on competitors
Targeted marketing and communications that continue to rely principally on more
By analyzing earning and redeeming behavior at an individual member level, it is basic aggregation methods.
possible to aggregate the results in a wide variety of ways, which is not possible
when the analysis is performed at a lower level of detail. This provides more insights
into the relative performance of various segments of the membership population.

Willis Towers Watson (NASDAQ: WLTW) is a leading global advisory, broking and solutions company that helps clients around the world turn risk into a path
for growth. With roots dating to 1828, Willis Towers Watson has 40,000 employees serving more than 140 countries. The company designs and delivers solutions
that manage risk, optimize benefits, cultivate talent, and expand the power of capital to protect and strengthen institutions and individuals.

Loyalty Management™ | Q1 2018 | loyalty360.org 29


TECHNOLOGY, TRENDS & REWARDS

Will Your New


Mobile Loyalty
App Become a
White Elephant?
Mateusz
Skowronek Idea in brief:
Senior Consultant
Comarch The context:
A growing number of businesses, including retailers, aim to redefine
relations with their customers by leveraging the mobile touchpoint.

The problem:
If you are thinking of launching a new mobile app to Customers increasingly tend to stick to mobile apps they love,
fundamentally improve interactions with your customers and the competition for their attention grows. Hence, launching
a successful mobile app is becoming more difficult than ever.

Consider a few simple facts. The solution:


Taking a step back and analyzing four different strategic options
for gaining a foothold in the mobile world will help you make a
The time people spent using mobile apps better choice and will increase the likelihood of success.
is increasing rapidly
The time we spend online using our mobile devices has
been increasing steadily. Moreover, most of this Internet use
takes place via apps, and forecasts show this trend is likely to The pool of available apps is
strengthen. We all feel it. We use apps for almost everything expanding quickly
nowadays, from ordering food or getting the latest news to
It’s no surprise that businesses and public organizations
communicating with loved ones.
are stepping up their competition for our attention, time
and money. They are launching their own mobile apps on a
massive scale. As a result, the number of mobile apps has
skyrocketed in recent years, from fewer than 100,000 at
end of 2009 to more than 3.5 million now.

30 Loyalty Management™ | Q1 2018 | loyalty360.org


The number of apps people are actively So, what should you do?
using is decreasing There is no panacea, but if you are thinking about deploying a
As the latest research shows, people actually use a total loyalty/engagement app and are taking your omnichannel strategy
of around 20-30 mobile apps per month, depending on seriously, you could consider the following strategic options:
country, and it hasn’t grown in recent years. Moreover,
projections are that this figure will actually decrease
No mobile app
slightly in the near future.
A risky choice. Having a mobile touchpoint is increasingly
important, but is it true for every business? If you are an insurance
company or a real estate business in luxury property market, you
are likely to be better off investing this money in TV spots
or training your salespeople. Business models based primarily
on human contact mean a less relevant mobile strategy. Likewise,
if you are in a business targeting rather conservative, traditional
customer segments, you better avoid forcing a mobile-first
approach upon them. It rarely works. So, before you decide
to jump on the mobile app bandwagon, start with a good
understanding of your target customers and key
communication channels.

Build an excellent app


A great option but a tough one. Businesses very often struggle
to build a convincing proposition for their apps, especially loyalty
apps. Apart from having good technical parameters, beautiful
design and a great communication campaign, apps need an
outstanding mobile unique selling proposition - MUSP. It’s a
CONCLUSION 1: People are more loyal configuration of features that make your app distinctive and
relevant to the customers. If you look at most of today’s loyalty
to fewer apps apps, you will find that their MUSP is rather mundane. But there
are some good examples. Consider a retail app called Shopkick.
People spend more time on their mobile apps, but they It has built unbelievably high market penetration in the US in
tend to stick to the apps they love. Hence, it takes a really a short period of time, quickly becoming the most frequently
great app to persuade a customer to replace one with used shopping app. Its MUSP is built on a mix of very good
another. And even if they finally decide to make the switch, user experience, a clear rewards mechanism, proximity-based
communication and a successful partnership network.
they are likely to be faced with a set of equally outstanding
apps offering similar functionalities and features.
Partner/integrate
A superb option if you seek to achieve significant market
penetration fast—you simply partner with an existing mobile app,
CONCLUSION 2: It is the worst moment that has already built a large user base. A case in point here is the
ever to launch an app Wechat-Chow Tai Fook-Sensoro partnership in China. They came
together to offer Wechat users special beacon-based mobile
Hence, if you are launching a new mobile app for your vouchers for shopping at Chow Tai Fook, a well-known Chinese
business, you may run the high risk of failing to build the jewelry retailer. The partnership brought extraordinary results,
required scale. yielding approximately $16 million in additional sales for just over
a month. Partnering and integrating with an app with high brand
awareness and an established user base looks lucrative, but it
“To put it in business terms, you will also carries serious risks. Your brand may be overshadowed by
be competing for customer attention in a stronger app brand. Also, you have to avoid the misalignment
between the target customer segments.
a maturing mobile app market with a
decreasing switching ratio and rapidly Acquire
growing number of competitors.” Finally, you can think about acquiring an existing app to gain
immediate access to its user base. The best idea is to invest in a
It seems the chances of you getting through to customers startup that runs an increasingly popular mobile app in one of the
are diminishing rapidly. Moreover, costs may be steep. adjacent markets (ideally with overlapping customer segments).
At best, you will need to budget for design, development, Its MUSP can easily be leveraged to offer its users access to your
maintenance costs, marketing. In the worst-case scenario, services/products. Take, for example, a Belgian startup Qustomer
you will bear the costs of shifting the company’s entire (retail loyalty app offering vouchers from partners) that was
acquired by ING bank in 2016. The bank aims to strengthen its
operations and culture in order to focus on a mobile- position in the retail space and increase the pace of innovation.
first strategy. Although this option can be costly, it gives you also the critical
know-how and the talent pool that may take years to build.

Loyalty Management™ | Q1 2018 | loyalty360.org 31


STATE OF THE INDUSTRY

MAKING YOUR
MARK IN THE
NEW WORLD
OF CX
“IN WHATEVER WAY YOU HAVE ENTERED THE CX
WORLD, MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR EXPERIENCE
AND BE PREPARED TO KEEP LEARNING.”

Shelly is a seasoned customer experience professional with more than 25 years


experience leading and managing programs to enhance the customer experience
in across multiple industries.

Shelly currently leads the Customer Experience Consulting group for Confirmit’s
Americas organization. Shelly’s team’s mission is to help Confirmit prospects
and customers to grow their CX programs to maturity, enabling transformational
Shelly Chandler change that optimizes customer and employee experience. Shelly is actively
VP, Customer Experience
involved in building out team capabilities, products and services to not only
Consulting, Americas
Confirmit
support the company’s technology, but also to enlarge the view of CX internally
while providing thought leadership externally.

32 Loyalty Management™ | Q1 2018 | loyalty360.org


I’VE BEEN WORKING IN THE REALM OF Make CX relevant for everyone: Your role is about making
CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE (CX) FOR MANY a difference so work hard and show tangible results, even if you aren’t
producing them directly. The art of storytelling—sharing other successes—
YEARS NOW, AND DURING THAT TIME I THINK
can drive change and is a reward and affirmation in itself. Find out how to
IT’S FAIR TO SAY THAT THE DISCIPLINE HAS connect your programs to revenue, retention or cost reduction and you
GAINED REMARKABLE RECOGNITION AS A will soon deliver impact and move up the career ladder at the same time.
TRUE CAREER PATH.
Play the long game: It’s critical that you have an understanding
No longer a niche of Marketing or Customer Service, CX is acknowledged of what it takes to create a mature CX program that listens to all stake-
as something bigger than purely process improvement or inward-looking holders, customers and employees and that integrates data from all busi-
initiatives.CX can help organizations to look outward and take a customer- ness systems (CRM, operational, financial, contact center, for example).
centric approach to business success. It can also provide individuals But it’s also imperative that you leverage both quantitative and qualitative
with a long-lasting career path. data sources, and embrace emerging forms of communication, such as
online chat rooms and social media, in order to incorporate new ways of
But where does the next generation of CX professionals enter this new capturing customer comment and opinion.
world? And how do they build a long-term future? Those of us who
heard the call of CX before it was so widely recognized started out as Stay ahead of the game: There is a lot of data out there
marketing, market research or product managers, among other roles. These now and you will be adding to it. Platforms that can streamline data col-
backgrounds are useful, but don’t often include much depth in data and lection and analysis and bring order to what seems like chaos will drive CX
analytics, except perhaps MR. Increasingly, the need for soft skills such as programs in the future. Understand what text and predictive analytics can
communication, empathy and psychology are emerging as CX managers bring to the Voice of the Customer and Voice of the Employee in order to
seek to get buy-in for their work from stakeholders—oftentimes cynical make the most of insight from structured and unstructured, solicited and
ones—across the business. unsolicited data. Look into how AI could impact your CX program, and take
a course in change management to stay relevant and prepared to impact
The reality is that in order to initiate and sustain a career in CX, you need your organization.
knowledge of more than one discipline and a variety of skills. And you need
to keep informed about not only the skills that you need, but the method- IT’S PRETTY OBVIOUS THAT A CAREER IN
ological and technological developments that will drive success. CX OFFERS A MULTI-FACETED OPPORTUNITY
FOR MULTI-TALENTED INDIVIDUALS WHO
In whatever way you have entered the CX world, make the most of your ARE PREPARED TO LEARN, ADAPT AND GROW.
experience and be prepared to keep learning. Working in established CX and
ANYONE WHO WANTS TO THRIVE IN THIS
Voice of the Customer programs is vital before you put yourself in a position
INDUSTRY WOULD BE WISE TO REMEMBER
to create one from scratch. Even for those of us who have built programs and
THE FOLLOWING:
provide guidance to others on that road can be taken aback by the plethora
of challenges that CX teams face when taking those first steps. Further down
Learn all you can and partner wisely, particularly in change manage-
the line, as you seek a more senior role, you will need to be able to demon-
ment and experience design. A career in CX requires constant learning
strate your ability to collect insight through a variety of methods to identify
and self-improvement. Don’t be afraid to ask for help, and partner with
and change customer experiences that connect to business goals.
businesses who can provide help when you need it and leave you to get
on with things when you don’t.
WHAT DO YOU NEED TO TAKE YOUR CX
CAREER TO THE NEXT LEVEL? LIKE ANY CA- Work for your business, not any business. Every company is different.
REER, YOU NEED A MIX OF EXPERIENCE, CHUTZ- Build a program that meets the specific business issues that are unique to
PAH, TIMING AND LUCK, BUT THERE ARE SOME your organization by using guidance and best practices, and customizing
PARTICULAR AREAS I THINK IT’S WORTH PAY- them to meet your business goals.
ING ATTENTION TO.
Don’t become obsessed with measurement. Yes, you will need to share
Be in the right place: Remember that CX is never a one-off metrics and embrace the value of data in supporting CX. But remember,
program or a short term initiative. Your success is tied to your company’s numbers turn people off quickly if they don’t tell a story. Use technology to
success so seek out employers where the importance of CX is shared by help you gather and analyze data so that it can be acted upon immediately
everyone in the company, not just the CEO. Without a doubt, a good CX to provide a more personal, interactive experience.
program will disrupt the day-to-day activities in the business, and you need
to be prepared to be less that popular at times, so ensure that you know who
your cheerleaders are and how to make use of them.

Loyalty Management™ | Q1 2018 | loyalty360.org 33


BEST PRACTICES

Tad Fordyce
SVP Loyalty
Epsilon

WAYS TO LEVERAGE
LOYALTY TO ACHIEVE
BRAND ADVOCACY,
ONE MEMBER AT A TIME

Creating lifetime advocates for your brand is no easy task. It’s a natural tendency for consumers
to switch brands. In a recent study, 87 percent of consumers reported that they shop around.
As loyalty marketers, we need to focus our efforts on transforming our most engaged customers
into brand advocates.

This means transitioning them from a loyalist into an organic spokesperson for your brand.
An advocate communicates the value proposition of your brand’s product or service through
word-of-mouth conversations, email, and comments/reviews on websites and social media.
An advocate shares his/her positive opinions, which creates a feedback-loop between customers.

34 Loyalty Management™ | Q1 2018 | loyalty360.org


1.
So how can you create advocates of your brand?
Focus on powering your loyalty program with these
three essential components to drive advocacy:

KNOW YOUR CUSTOMER: During the first 90-120 days following program
enrollment, loyalty marketers need to get to know their customers and keep
them engaged. Connections are no longer just based on behaviors. Emotions are
an integral component to powering connections, helping to sustain lifetime loyalty.
Remember the saying “it’s the first impression that matters?” This initial period
forms the foundation of the relationship between consumer and brand, so make
it count! For insights into how you can get to know your customer, please read my
recent featured columnist in the February edition of Loyalty Management titled
“Powering lifetime connections, the three stages.”

2.
ALIGN YOUR TECHNOLOGY WITH YOUR GOALS: Ensuring you have the
right platform for your loyalty program needs is essential. While large technology
platforms focused on scalability is important as it offers flexibility for growth such
as adding new brands, it does not fulfill the needs for all marketers’ goals.

Loyalty is not a ‘one size fits all’ type of program. For example, if you’re a retailer
looking to create a differentiated and engaging experience for your customers
while inspiring brand loyalty, then a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform such
as Epsilon’s Agility LoyaltyTM might fulfill your technology needs. It’s a platform
that powers lifetime connections that count by providing access to the industry’s
most powerful platform, identifies your best customers and their behaviors,
enables the ability to connect with clients in the channel of their choice, and cre-
ates personalized and engaging experiences in the moments that matter the most
through Momentum. It’s a total solution – streamlined, cost efficient, quick to
market and is designed to grow.

3.
KEEP YOUR PROMISES: Once a consumer establishes trust in your brand,
they’re on the path to becoming an advocate. Delivering consistent messages, offers
and experiences is key. Your loyalty program should adapt to members’ lifestyle
helping to add convenience and create brand stickiness. Dunkin’ Donuts DD Perks
program offers convenience with features of on-the-go mobile ordering, ‘pay with
our app’, give the gift of Dunkin’ and find a Dunkin’ near you. The program is very
relevant to each members’ preferences and provides offers and discounts of their
favs and has a surprise and delight component and sends offers for extra treats and
goodies ‘just for being you’.

Loyalty enables the personalized, one-to-one relationship required to create brand


advocates. Continue to get to know your customers, align your technology with your
goals and keep your promises. By creating an open dialogue with your members and
always seeking feedback through your loyalty program, you’ll get there, one member
at a time.

Loyalty Management™ | Q1 2018 | loyalty360.org 35


BEST PRACTICES

FIVE KEY BUILDING BLOCKS


TO GROW CUSTOMER
LOYALTY IN RETAIL

Ron Orgiefsky
Managing Director
emnos

Today’s digital environment has dramatically changed the


landscape for traditional brick and mortar retailers, full of
both opportunities and challenges. On one hand, retailers
are coping with customer retention issues while trying to
secure baskets against the online players. On the other hand
they also have to adapt to new technologies and ideas like
mobile, personalized marketing, and shopper experience
management. Retailers must up their game while tackling
competition coming in from all directions.
Being pulled in too many directions makes it challenging
for a retailer to pick the most important places of focus for
customer retention.

36 Loyalty Management™ | Q1 2018 | loyalty360.org


Below are five areas that could help sustain customer confidence in you as a retail
brand and keep that valuable customer relationship going strong for the long haul.

Have a loyalty program. And “work” it. Balance between online and offline.
1 4
It may seem simple, but just having a loyalty program is an It’s 2018. By now every retailer understands the value of
important step in building loyalty. However, it is important to having a digital presence. But don’t ignore your non-digital
not just have a loyalty program, but to foster and build a loyalty customers or traditional interactions with most customers
program. This enables you to not only communicate with your who likely engage with you across multiple means or channels.
shoppers over time to enhance your relationship with them, The customers who don’t use your mobile app are likely still
but it also allows you to capture vital purchasing behavior very valuable shoppers. While mobile is the hot, new channel,
data over time. This data is crucial in planning what you sell running app-only offers could lead to missed opportunities
and how you sell it to drive trips and build baskets, and offers with traditional shoppers. This is where data and customer
you the opportunity to personalize the shopping experience. understanding is key. By creating a good mix of shopping
Regular content-driven interaction (like recipes and nutrition opportunities on mobile and offline, retailers can reach their
information), event-based offers, and customer community maximum number of shoppers with basket-driving and/or
building brings in a long-term sense of association with your loyalty-building offers. The data can help you understand the
brand, and loyalty to your brand. proper balance for what you are trying to achieve.

Prevent incomplete shopping lists. Personal interaction matters.


2 5
Now that seems obvious–every retailer wants to maximize A loyalty initiative backed by the best technology is half
the sales in each trip. It’s all about bigger baskets, right? Well, the battle, but in-store interactions are still pivotal to trip
put simply, the items you sell matter-especially in the grocery conversion. Customers continue to see value when staff
segment. If shoppers are leaving your store without the items on initiate helpful engagements. Time and again it has been
their list because either you do not carry them or, even worse, seen that all customers don’t engage with technology on
you are out-of-stock, you risk losing your customer to your their own every time and when the staff on the floor takes the
competitor. Get the assortment right so that customers leave initiative to engage and help them out, it makes a difference.
each shopping trip knowing that their shopping list is complete, A major U.S. multi-line retailer saw significant gains in sales
and they will return knowing they can always find what they and loyalty when they placed “beauty consultants” in their
need on your shelves. Choosing the appropriate target segment self-serve beauty section of select stores that over-indexed
and using a customer-centric approach to assortment planning with beauty shoppers. Creating meaningful interactions at the
ensures that the needs of your customers are met. There are store-level can have long-term impact on customer loyalty.
tools and solutions available today that leverage customer Begin by looking at categories or aisles where closure rates are
data to help optimize the assortment and regionalize the below what you are expecting, and find new ways to engage
offering so that customer preferences, needs, and motivations your customers in-store via event marketing. By offering your
are considered in the planning process and included in the consumers little incentives such as wellness classes, product
measurement on the backend. demos, or a wine-pairing seminar, for instance, in place of
standard communication, you can help drive incremental trips.
Similarly, on-site experts like nutritionists and beauty advisors
Look beyond discounts to build can help customers on their path to purchase–ultimately
3 customer loyalty. driving loyalty and building baskets.

Be it recipes and beauty tips delivered via a mobile app,


a health and fitness e-magazine, or a direct mail lifestyle
In summary, don’t let rapidly advancing technology and a
magazine, content consumption adds to the holistic feeling of
changing market landscape distract you from attaining and
customer satisfaction and demonstrates that you understand
building customer loyalty, but instead harness technology
your shoppers. A recent Nielsen study showed that more than
for your gain. Now, more than ever, it is important to focus on
30 percent of Millennial consumers said that non-monetary
benefits (e.g. high-priority service, exclusive access, etc.) are the retail levers that will make the biggest impact with your
what they consider to be top loyalty program benefits. While the shoppers and drive your business forward. A strong loyalty
modern consumer may also at times be deal hunting for coupons program, a customer-centric assortment, value-adding
and offers, content in the form of e-magazine, takeaway recipe personalized content beyond discount offers, a balance
booklets, or even gamification can prove useful in engaging the between digital and non-digital, and a strong focus on in-
consumers. Use of the loyalty program’s data, based on specific store engagement are five of the key, basic building blocks
shopper’s online and offline behavior, is critical in content for sustainable, long-term customer loyalty.
distribution: getting the right content, to the right person, at the
right time–all building perceived or real value with your customers.

Loyalty Management™ | Q1 2018 | loyalty360.org 37


BEST PRACTICES

Wes Barkwill
Director, Customer Success
Stellar Loyalty

THE BIG
RETENTION
REINVENTION
Every marketer knows that customer retention refers to
the activities and actions companies and organizations take
to reduce the number of customer defections. The goal of
retention programs is to help companies retain as many
customers as possible, often through customer loyalty and
brand loyalty initiatives.

Yet, it’s time for brands to entirely reinvent their idea of


retention, or one that assumes once a brand secures a
customer, there’s very little else that has to be done aside
from offering loyalty points and rewards, for example.
Successful brands know that is a false premise especially
given today's consumer, how they behave, their evolving
expectations and their plethora of choices.

38 Loyalty Management™ | Q1 2018 | loyalty360.org


THE SHIFTING Experience and Engagement are everything

BALANCE OF POWER
Most of all, consumers want real, satisfying experiences when they
nteract with the brand. They truly want to bond with a brand and under-
stand what it stands for and how it inspires or delights them. The new
focus for retention should be on enriched customer engagement and
Consumers have unprecedented selection in all areas, and the digital experience strategies, because that is the only way to continually satisfy
shopping landscape makes quick and easy comparison shopping the savvy consumers who demand ongoing, high quality interaction as the
norm. They are more focused on price, value and ease of purchase basis for their continued brand loyalty.
(and expedited shipping!) than on the brand they “always buy from”
in the way perhaps their mother or grandmother did. If Lyft, Seamless, and Blue Apron have taught us anything, it’s that
customers want convenience, speed, ease and a great experience. It’s
When it comes to purchase behavior, a recent McKinsey report found hard to go back to a dated yellow cab when your Lyft driver provides a
that only 13 percent of consumers were loyalists, and a full 87 percent pristine ride, water bottles and phone chargers. Buying groceries and
of consumers were shopping around. The conclusion? “We see such opening a cookbook is so “yesterday” when you can now whip up an
data as an important signal that new technologies and greater choice inventive meal courtesy of Blue Apron (with ingredients and recipes
are changing how consumers are thinking and acting across their delivered to your doorstep in a freezer-packed box). It’s more than
consumer journeys.” dinner; it’s like getting a present every other day.

Switching brands has never been easier, and consumers are always But again, loyalty is only as strong as each and every brand interaction.
being bombarded with newer, shinier offers. They really do have the Just because a customer had a good experience during her last purchase,
upper hand in today’s shopping environment and furthermore are it doesn’t mean she won’t jump ship if the experience, message or social
trained to rate, review, and share their opinions about brands via reviews are more persuasive from another brand. In fact, according to a
Twitter and Facebook—and they aren’t shy. recent study by McKinsey & Company “evidence has begun emerging that
consumer bonds with many brands is slipping, with active engagement
The statistics are clear: Consumers have high expectations about their in loyalty programs falling by two percentage points, and 58 percent of
brand experiences and the proliferation of social media means that loyalty members not using the programs for which they are signed up.”
negative encounters will undoubtedly be broadcast and have negative
effects on the bottom line. By 2020, customer experience will overtake product and price as the
key brand differentiator (Source: Walker Info), and brands are starting
to take notice: Gartner predicts that this year, more than 50 percent
of organizations will redirect their investments to customer
67 percent of consumers list bad customer experience innovations.
experience as one of the primary reasons
for churning (Source: Kolsky). Amazon of course is at the vanguard of the ideal new customer paradigm.
Clearly, they have the greatest selection in one place on the Web, and
their customer service is superb. They’re constantly providing more
value and perks with Amazon Prime, and they deeply connect with their
39 percent of consumers avoid vendors customers through their Amazon Smile program that lets users log into
for over 2 years after having a negative smile.amazon.com so their purchases will help fund their charity of choice.
experience (Source: Zendesk). The Amazon model is retention reinvented. And reinvention never stops.
Case in point, the new Amazon Go retail stores with no checkout required.

How you bond with your customer and make each interaction build on
95 percent of consumers share bad the satisfying relationship is what will move the needle. Are you
experiences with other people demonstrating shared values? Are you providing fun or special VIP status
(Source: Zendesk). to regular customers the way Zappos does? Retaining customers is a
continuous two-way relationship that must be nurtured, valued and
reinforced in every encounter.

Conversely, a positive customer experience can Three takeaways


help build brand advocates and have positive effects
on the bottom line. Loyalty programs that are “me-too” ideas or easily copied
(e.g. rewards and points) are not going to help a brand stand
out of the pack

Poor user experiences damage the relationship but a great


experience will motivate your customer to return or even
recommend your brand to friends and family

The technology that powers these programs should be modern


and scalable with the power to ingest all customer data and use
it in real-time for segmentation, content targeting, and campaign
execution—the types of real-time personalization that drive
superior customer experiences

Overall, the new retention paradigm challenges marketers to get out of their
comfort zone and develop innovative new ways to woo potential custom-
50 percent of consumers would 86 percent of consumers are ers —including the ones they assumed they had in the bag. Today, every
use a company more frequently willing to pay up to 25 percent
customer should be treated like a new customer—because they just as easily
after a positive customer experi- more for a better customer
ence (Source: NewVoice). experience (Source: RightNow).
can become someone else’s customer.

Loyalty Management™ | Q1 2018 | loyalty360.org 39


PREVIEW

2018
May 15 - 17
Caribe Royale | Orlando, Florida

The Premier Conference for Marketers and


Those Working to Build Customer Loyalty
Loyalty Expo is a true Voice of the Customer-driven, best one of the industry’s premier events, and we are extremely
practice-focused customer loyalty and reward conference. pleased to be able to continue to provide a forum to meet and
By attending, you’ll have the opportunity to network with discuss the challenges facing brands today.
hundreds of your fellow marketers and hear how they are
reaching their customer relationship-building goals. Market The three-day event will be jam-packed with learning and
leaders will be sharing their experiences and insights on networking opportunities including: 20+ interactive sessions,
customer retention strategies and trends. Attendees will cocktail receptions and meals in the exhibit hall, and
leave Loyalty Expo with an understanding of new research, marketer-only peer-to-peer roundtables, as well as product
technologies and solutions to aid their organizations on the & technology showcase sessions. The roundtables have
customer loyalty journey. been quite popular at our past events as participants take
advantage of this offering to share experiences and discuss
The 2018 Loyalty Expo will provide the knowledge challenges and solutions.
necessary to guide your customers on the path to loyalty.
Presented by Loyalty360 – Association for Customer
Loyalty, Loyalty Expo has earned the reputation of being Mark Johnson
CEO/CMO
Loyalty360

loyaltyexpo.com
W E LCO M E TO O R L A N D O

• Pool bar and Grille: Calypso’s technology, trends, and strategic


• 24-hour cafe: Cafe 24 investments are being utilized in a
• Coffee café: Java’s Coffee Cafe simple and measureable manner. Some
• Fitness center of the most compelling sessions follow
• Bicycle rentals a case study-type format, including
• Catch and release fishing the challenges/problem, opportunities,
• The UPS Store Business Center approach and outcome.
• Lighted tennis and basketball courts
Orlando is one of the world’s premier • 1.5 mile running/bicycle trail
travel destinations, with an abundance Loyalty Expo 2018 topics
of amusement destinations and • Loyalty Program Trends: Examining
theme parks. As a result, the city has loyalty/referral programs, traditional
a multitude of restaurants, clubs and and next generation initiatives for
amenities to match any interest. rewarding and retaining loyal customers.
In mid-May, the daytime temperatures • Big Data and Analytics: Identification
average 88 degrees, while cooling to 69 and collection across mediums
at night. and channels for strategic analysis,
segmentation and descriptive and
For those looking to get out and explore predictive results
the city while at the Expo, there’s a app About the Expo
for that: Visit Orlando. It includes a • Customer Experience: Creating tailored
personal concierge and an augmented Loyalty Expo is the premier conference and targeted customer experience
reality interactive map. for marketers and other business structures and processes.
professionals who are working to build
customer loyalty. Those who attend • Customer Relationship Management:
have the opportunity to network with Building strong and engaging
hundreds of marketers, hear how relationships with your customers.
they are reaching their customer • Social Media: Understand how to best
goals, and listen to market leaders use this vital channel for reaching
share their experiences and insights customers and rewarding advocates.
on customer retention strategies and
trends. Attendees leave Loyalty Expo • Mobile: Taking your loyalty initiatives
with an understanding of new research, mobile to enhance the customer
technologies and solutions to aid their experience and further build
organizations on the customer loyalty customer engagement.
About Caribe Royale
journey.
Caribe Royale is located on the • Omni-Channel Loyalty: Delivering
southwest side of Orlando, about 1.5 In 2018, the conference features 20-plus a consistent, relevant and optimized
miles from Disney World. The complex interactive sessions that capture key experience across all channels to match
has multiple buildings placed in a elements of the customer loyalty journey. (and exceed) customer expectations.
resort-like setting, each offering spacious These tracks align with topics that • Payments: Adoption of new payment
all-suite rooms, impeccably designed audience members are seeking to learn technologies and embracing tender-
meeting spaces and excellent on-site more about, and that Loyalty360 views neutral and tender-differentiated loyalty.
amenities and services, including: as the most critical components
of a holistic customer loyalty strategy. • Voice of the Customer: Designing
• Pool and waterslide effective strategies for creating robust
• Spa services at The Island Spa Each track speaks to how an initiative, customer dialogues and gathering and
• Two restaurants: The Tropicale and approach, technique or innovation is listening to feedback.
The Venetian Chop House helping to build customer loyalty, or
• Two lounges: The Loft Lobby Bar an outcome closely associated with
and The Falls Lounge it. Presentations touch on how new

Loyalty Management™ | Q1 2018 | loyalty360.org 41


Conference Preview | 2018

Loyalty360 Awards
Now in their fifth year, the Loyalty360 “The Loyalty360 Awards are designed This year’s award categories are:
Awards are the most coveted awards to recognize those brands that truly • Creative Campaign
in customer loyalty, recognizing brands understand the complexities behind our
• Technology & Trends
that are building lasting and profitable changing industry,” says Mark Johnson,
relationships with customers. With an CEO of Loyalty360. “We’re incredibly • Customer Analytics & Data
emphasis on objectivity, The Loyalty360 proud of both the judges and finalists • Program Partnership
Awards are selected by an objective for the work they do in driving customer • Loyalty/Reward Program Design
judging panel of top-level customer loyalty forward and look forward to seeing
• Employee Engagement
loyalty executives. who takes home the top prize in Orlando.”

K KEYNOTE SESSION

Popular: The Power of Likability in a Status-Obsessed World


Mitch Prinstein, Ph.D. is a husband, a father, board certified in clinical child and adolescent psychology, and serves as
the John Van Seters Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience, and the Director of Clinical Psychology
at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Mitch Prinstein
Author, Professor Prinstein’s Peer Relations Lab has been conducting research on popularity and peer relations for almost 20 years, and
has been funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, the National Institute of Child and Human Development,
and several private foundations, resulting in over 100 scientific works, including a slew of scientific journal articles, book
chapters, a set of encyclopedias on adolescent development, and even a textbook on the field of clinical psychology.

He and his research have been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, National Public Radio, the Los
Angeles Times, CNN, U.S. News & World Report, Time magazine, New York magazine, Newsweek, Reuters, Family Circle,
Real Simple, and elsewhere.

42 Loyalty Management™ | Q1 2018 | loyalty360.org


2018

G GENERAL SESSION

Data and Personalization Drive the Journey: How CarMax is


Evolving to Meet Customers Whenever and Wherever They
Want to Shop
Jim Lyski For more than 20 years, Jim Lyski has led brand management, marketing strategy and enterprise analytics for national
consumer and B2B brands. With a focus on product development and innovation, Jim has successfully led several
EVP and Chief companies through digital transformation initiatives. Jim serves as CMO and executive vice president of CarMax,
Marketing Officer, the nation’s largest retailer of used cars, and leads the company’s product and marketing functions. In 2017, Jim was
CarMax recognized as one of the top 50 CMOS in retail by Hot Topics and Syniverse.

Prior to joining CarMax, Jim served as CMO for The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company, where he led all brand
responsibilities, including global innovation, product development, advertising, packaging, and pricing. Prior to Scotts,
Jim was CMO at Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company, responsible for corporate strategy and marketing, brand
management, advertising, and communications. In addition, Jim has held marketing leadership positions at Cigna
Healthcare Inc. and FedEx Corporation.

Jim received his MBA in Marketing and BS in Journalism and Advertising from the University of Oregon. He serves as
a trustee for the Wexner Center Foundation.

G GENERAL SESSION

Session Featuring Carnival Cruises


Christine Duffy began serving as president of Carnival Cruise Line in February 2015 after spending four years as
president and CEO of the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), the trade association representing the $120
billion global cruise industry.
Christine Duffy
President, At the helm of the world’s largest and most popular cruise line, Duffy oversees 40,000 employees and a fleet of 25
Carnival Cruise Line cruise ships expected to carry 5 million passengers this year from homeports in North America, Europe and Australia
to destinations in Alaska, Australia, The Bahamas, Bermuda, Canada, the Caribbean, Europe, Hawaii, Mexican Riviera,
New England, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands.

She serves on the executive committee of the U.S. Travel Association, along with the Professional Advisory Board of
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. She was recognized by Moves Magazine as a 2016 Power Women recipient for
her work in serving as a role model for future generations of young women. Duffy is also a member of The Committee
of 200, an organization of the world’s most successful women business leaders that supports, celebrates and
advances women’s leadership.

Loyalty Management™ | Q1 2018 | loyalty360.org 43


Conference Preview | 2018

G GENERAL SESSION

Loyalty Straight to Your Doorstep: The Story of Boxed,


and How It Continues to Shake Up E-commerce
The climate for e-commerce is at its strongest point in years, with giants like Amazon leading the charge. While the
space continues to thrive, however, it has also become ripe for disruption by a company that is able to capitalize
Jackson on the opportunity. This is the thinking behind Boxed, an e-tailer looking to make bulk shopping easy and seamless
Jeyanayagam through a differentiating customer experience and a commitment to adapting according to customer needs, made
CMO, Boxed possible by its wealth of customer data in comparison to other verticals.

Join CMO Jackson Jeyanayagam as he explains to attendees how Boxed is looking to disrupt e-commerce through
a focus on mobile and a fresh take on the e-commerce experience, from the moment customers visit the site to the
moment their package arrives at their door and beyond.

B BREAKOUT SESSION

Helping the Customer Help Themselves: Overstock’s Move


Toward Self-Service Could Reimagine the Customer Experience
Brian Popelka, as senior vice president of supplier and customer care, is responsible for the strategic direction
and operational effectiveness of Overstock’s award-winning customer care department. Under his direction,
Brian Popelka
the department has repeatedly ranked in the top four of the former NRF Foundation/American Express Customer
SVP of Supplier Choice Awards, and earned the Gartner Gold Award and the 2011 Stevie Award for the Retail Customer Service
and Customer Care, Department of the Year. Popelka also oversees all relations with the company’s drop-ship fulfillment partners.
Overstock.com
Popelka has held several positions since joining the Overstock in 2002, including business-to-business manager,
director of the books, media, movies and games department, and vice president of customer care. In these roles,
Popelka has contributed greatly to the success of Overstock, helping to set the tone of the company’s culture
while at the same time spearheading development of a media channel, travel site, and auto sales site.

Popelka holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism, Broadcasting, Film and History from the University of
Nebraska-Lincoln.

44 Loyalty Management™ | Q1 2018 | loyalty360.org


2018

B BREAKOUT SESSION

All Roads Lead to Loyalty: How Helping Enterprises


Navigate Their Digital Transformation Yields a Stronger
Customer Relationship
Bruce Stewart Digital technology and hardware solutions that transform building and cities are becoming increasingly
present as they focus to drive energy efficiency and productivity for businesses. Current, powered by GE, is
Chief Marketing Officer, leading customers on a journey, bringing IoT into commercial, retail and industrial facilities. Current works with
Current, Powered by GE customers to embrace intelligent building and cities technology, leading to direct improvements in operating
performance, energy efficiency, and customer loyalty.

From bank branches to big box retailers to warehouses and distribution centers across the globe, CMO Bruce
Stewart will discuss case studies in which this IoT transformation has enabled the client to deliver on a brand
promise and elevate its customer experience through thoughtful digital and IoT transformation. By harnessing
the immense (and still growing) power of technologies, these clients are able to find a path to customer loyalty
that is both effective and, perhaps even more importantly, unique to their brand, while simultaneously driving
more efficient and productive businesses.

B BREAKOUT SESSION

Front Page Engagement: Building an Engaged and Loyal


Consumer Base with Gannett
Andy Yost is the Chief Marketing Officer for Gannett Co, Inc. where he is responsible for all brand and consumer
marketing for Gannett and its portfolio of USA TODAY NETWORK media brands (USA TODAY and 109 Gannett
Andy Yost U.S. Community Newspapers).
Chief Marketing Officer,
With a passionate focus on the customer, he has created customer-driven marketing programs that have led
Gannett Co., Inc. to outstanding revenue and retention results for a wide-range of premium brand companies. In his current role,
Andy is responsible for leading Gannett’s efforts to build, engage and retain audience across its portfolio of
media brands at a local and national level. Prior to this role, he led Gannett’s Consumer Marketing organization
where he expanded the traditional focus of circulation marketing to more broadly encompass multi-platform
initiatives that span the full range of audience engagement and monetization opportunities beyond subscription
sales.

Prior to joining Gannett in May 2014, Andy served in a range of senior marketing leadership positions in media/
entertainment and financial services industries having worked for Viacom, Dow Jones, Columbia House and
American Express. Andy received his MBA from Columbia Business School and his BA from Bucknell University.

Loyalty Management™ | Q1 2018 | loyalty360.org 45


Conference Preview | 2018

B BREAKOUT SESSION

Creating Measurable Customer Experience & Loyalty in an Evolving


Retail Market
The retail space is nearly unrecognizable from what it was ten, even five years ago. The dawn of online shopping has thrust retailers of all
sizes and specialties into a relative unknown frontier of merging online selection and customization with a traditional in-store customer
experience. The result is a crossroads in which individual organizations must find unique solutions that create alignment within the brand;
there is no one-size-fits-all solution. At Loyalty Expo 2018, marketers from leaders in this industry will discuss the implications of an
increasingly digital space, and what their organizations are doing to both adapt to the change, while still remaining true to the values that
have become their respective calling cards.

Drew Ormrod Tom Trounce Gilbert Bailey


Senior Director, CRM VP of Customer Loyalty, VP Analytics &
Sunglass Hut & Oakley, Rite Aid Customer Engagement,
Luxottica Xenial, Inc.

B BREAKOUT SESSION

Evolving Loyalty: How Brands are


Building Loyalty While the Marketing
World Continues to Shift
Matthew Seifert Whitney Arcaro This panel will discuss the topic of maintaining loyalty in an evolving company.
SVP Director of SVP and Managing Understanding the brand identity is key to driving long-term loyalty through
the years, and our panelists will share how their brand has remained agile
Online Marketing, Director of Marketing,
enough to adapt to changing trends while still retaining their brand’s DNA.
Evite RXR Realty

46 Loyalty Management™ | Q1 2018 | loyalty360.org


2018

B BREAKOUT SESSION

Over a Century of Loyalty: How Western Union Continues


to Evolve in the Digital Age
Maureen Alma Sigliano is a global citizen who has lived and worked in five continents (Italy, Brazil, UK, Venezuela,
U.S., Belgium, Ivory Coast and France) and who loves travelling to discover new realities and perspectives. She speaks
Maureen five languages fluently but none perfectly and thus always listens for meaning, understanding more than the words
Alma Sigliano being spoken.
Vice President Global
Loyalty Development Currently leading Global Loyalty Development and CRM for Western Union she is focused on maximizing meaningful
value exchange with what she considers “the best and most heroic customers in the world”. Previously she led
& Omni-channel
different customer focused roles for AMEX and AXA Assistance as well as several smaller businesses.
Customer Experience,
Western Union Maureen strongly believes that all world leaders need to look beyond their day-to-day responsibilities and focus at
least part of their energy and assets on humanitarian issues that will shape the third millennium. She is a particularly
passionate advocate and supporter of “Refugees” and was nominated to be Global Ambassador for all of Western
Union’s Refugee Commitments and Initiatives.

Last but not least, she is the proud mother of four very darling, multi-cultural rainbow children.

B BREAKOUT SESSION

The Battle for Restaurant Customers


Has Never Been More Fierce-Learn
How Old Chicago Pizza is Winning!
Scott Curry Jon Siegal As marketers at Old Chicago Pizza & Taproom approached the development
of the company’s loyalty initiative, it knew that its product—pizza and craft
Vice President of VP/GM, beer, were fun and unique. The program traditionally focused on a unique
Information Technology, Stellar Loyalty incentive structure to create repeat business and increased engagement with
CraftWorks Restaurants its World Beer Tours program. In 2017, the team at Old Chicago changed their
& Breweries loyalty platform provider and positioned themselves to extend their program
to include food and other forms of guest engagement.

Scott Curry, Vice President of IT at parent company CraftWorks Restaurants


& Breweries, will share the company’s vision for the World Beer Tour, as well
as the challenges encountered in the transition of over 2 million member
accounts to the new program with no disruption to guests or staff.

Loyalty Management™ | Q1 2018 | loyalty360.org 47


7695 Beechmont Ave.
Cincinnati, OH 45255

SPECIAL
OFFER

Loyalty360 Members have special access to


Loyalty Expo networking events, sessions, and more!
Receive a 6-month Loyalty360 Individual Membership
with any full conference pass purchase.

Use the code L360MBR at checkout.

2018
loyaltyexpo.com

Code cannot be combined with other offers or applied to existing registrations. Valid until May 15th, 2018.

513.800.0360 | loyalty360.org | @loyalty360

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