Brand innovation is the main influencer in the COLLOQUY Loyalty Awards, according to Colloquy Research Director Jeff Berry.
Berry said the awards recognize best-in-class customer-centric approaches used by brands in an innovative fashion.
“We try and identify people who are innovators in the space,” Berry told Loyalty 360. “Putting customers at the center of their organizations by truly creating best-in-class.”
Berry believes the definition of innovation has changed regarding the actual deployment of data into a brand’s operation.
“At first we saw brands trying to better understand the customer, driving enrollment numbers, and capturing information about them,” he explained. “Now the big thing with innovation seems to be about really finding a way to engage customers in the moments of truth when they’re actually experiencing the brand.”
Berry said the judging panel for the awards looks at different industries and different levels of maturity to create a basis for consistency.
“We look for organizations that have tried to engage their customers and who use certain metrics around how their programs are doing,” he explained. “Are they proactively marketing their loyalty programs, and are they driving personalization and personalized targeting.”
What’s more, judges look at companies’ C-suite structures.
“Clearly the definition of innovation is different each year,” he said. “We focus on companies pushing the envelope as to how they’re oriented toward customers, how they capture data, how they measure data, and how frontline people use this data.”
Part of the nomination process includes a company’s internal metrics, customer engagement scores, and how it’s being driven by customer demand.
“Creating real relevant experiences is the key,” Berry said. “We’re seeing a real move to driving consumer relevance to get some sort of emotional loyalty.”
Here is a snapshot of some of the 2013 Colloquy Award winners:
Caesars Entertainment -- Master of Enterprise Loyalty
Caesars Entertainment for its Total Rewards program. Caesars focused for the past year on personalizing customer experiences, online and on property, across every touch point. A real-time casino marketing initiative, in which an executive host is notified any time a guest interacts with a Caesars associate, increased customer value up to 30% per visit. In just four months, newly implemented, tier-related bonuses inspired Total Rewards VIPs to achieve elite status 20% faster.
Citi -- Loyalty Innovation in Financial Services (North America)
Citi, for its ThankYou Merchandise Rewards Transformation Initiative. Citi ThankYou set out to create a best-in-class retail experience with the ultimate goal of increasing customer engagement and satisfaction with merchandise rewards. A new “shopping” like experience focused on three pillars: curate, showcase and communicate. The enriched online shop enhanced ThankYou’s program value to members and partners. Visitors spent 17% more time on the site, daily orders increased 32% year over year, and merchandise redemptions rose 47%.
ANZ Banking Group-- Loyalty Innovation in Financial Services (International)
ANZ Banking Group, Australia, for its Points Expiry Campaign. ANZ set out on a retention and engagement campaign to bolster its ANZ Rewards program. It applied an innovative surprise and delight approach to reengage inactive members. The campaign achieved an overall 45% response rate, which was 225% above target.
Walgreens -- Innovation in Loyalty Marketing (North America)
Walgreens, for its Balance Rewards program. Walgreens aimed to build a best-in-class loyalty program founded on ease, value and wellness. The program, offering members points for health-related activities, also had to be relevant, innovative and enterprise-wide. Launched in September 2012, Balance Rewards counted 72 million members by the end of May 2013. During May, sales increased 4.3% over the same month in 2012 and there was an average basket size increase of 4.7% year over year.
Air Miles -- Innovation in Loyalty Marketing (International)
Air Miles, an Aimia Company, United Arab Emirates, for its A Rewarding 2013 Experience Campaign. The campaign goal was to inspire consumers to spend more during the UAE’s traditionally slow mid-September to mid-October period. Triple miles, a drawing and a radio contest produced a 360% return on investment. Consumers spent more than $110 million at eight participating merchants, a 49% increase over the previous year.
Coles -- Loyalty Innovation in Retail (Global)
Coles, Australia, for its flybuys Relaunch Initiative. Coles committed to revitalizing flybuys, once Australia’s largest shopping rewards program. Coles ripped up the rule book by increasing members’ earnings to one point for every dollar they spend, eliminating expiration dates for active members and adding new partners, among other enhancements and promotions. Results featured a 12-fold return on investment. Active cardholders increased 47% to 6.9 million, and year-over-year visits to the flybuys website more than doubled.
St. John’s Transportation Commission -- Loyalty Innovation in Other Industries (Global)
St. John’s Transportation Commission, Canada, for its Metrobus-AIR MILES Partnership. Six years after the launch of Canada’s first earn-per-ride program, Metrobus wanted to make inroads to new markets. Metrobus and the AIR MILES Reward Program launched a multi-channel communications strategy featuring an offer of one reward mile for every two taps of a passenger’s Metrobus m-card. The campaign succeeded in filling the aisles, recording a 6% gain in 2012 ridership. Online m-card purchases rose 54% from 2011 and m-card use rose 10%. Additionally, 44% of Metrobus riders opted to earn AIR MILES reward miles instead of m-Points in the first year.
Hertz -- Loyalty Innovation in Travel/Hospitality (Global)
The Hertz Corporation, for Gold Plus Rewards. Hertz customers were confused about the company’s multiple loyalty programs. So Hertz created a seamless, global customer experience that harnessed the power of a single program. Gold Plus Rewards, featuring new services and benefits, launched with the support of a multi-faceted, multi-channel global promotional campaign. Program enrollment increased by 99%, with a significant number of members upgrading to the new program. Members electing to earn points on rental transactions increased 178% within a year.