Gayle Bock, Director of Loyalty Marketing, T-Mobile, will be one of the featured speakers during a session at the 7th Annual Loyalty Expo, presented by Loyalty360 – The Loyalty Marketer’s Association. The event will be held March 17-19, 2014, at the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress in Orlando, Florida.
Bock participated in an intriguing Q&A with Loyalty360 to discuss T-Mobile’s rebranding and JUMP program that targets behavioral and emotional loyalty.
Q: Can you talk a bit about T-Mobile’s “Uncarrier” rebranding and how that weaves diverse tactics into a truly integrated loyalty strategy?
T-Mobile becoming the “Uncarrier” is all about creating a customer experience that drives true customer loyalty. In our business, the customer experience is heavily driven by carrier service, handset experience, coverage plans, and other core areas of the business outside traditional marketing tactics. For T-Mobile to innovate and drive real improvement in our customer relationships, we needed to take a more holistic view of redefining our loyalty strategy, thinking as much about the “product” as we did “marketing”. Taking this approach allowed us to design product and marketing led tactics that would collectively drive improved customer experience and loyalty, a recipe we believe is right for our business, and our customers.
Q: How does the JUMP program create behavioral and emotional loyalty?
JUMP was built upon insights and analysis of a very basic customer pain in phone upgrade cycles. In the past, we made it difficult and expensive to upgrade their phones. Customers were frustrated. We gave them the ability to upgrade their phones when they want. This has engendered goodwill, increased trust, and overall satisfaction within our customer base—ultimately leading to increasing in both behavioral and emotional loyalty.
Q: Generally speaking, where are the missed opportunities when companies try to devise an integrated loyalty marketing strategy?
One primary roadblock regularly prevents loyalty marketers from pursuing the path to develop an integrated loyalty strategy: organizational alignment and authority. Loyalty marketing teams have traditionally been accountable for true marketing tactics only, having little influence over the product roadmap and core customer experience. This status quo should, however, be questioned in many businesses. Loyalty marketers are often closest to the customer in terms of insights into key areas such as customer satisfaction/dissatisfaction drivers, customer needs and preferences, and “moments of truth” in the customer journey. These insights help loyalty marketers see customer relationships in an informed and holistic way that is often unique within the enterprise. The missed opportunity is in elevating and authorizing loyalty marketing teams to work cross-functionally to facilitate and design this integrated view of customer loyalty.
Q: What is your definition of customer loyalty and has that definition changed or evolved in recent years?
My definition of customer loyalty is very simple. It is when a customer is emotionally attached or devoted to your brand. Loyal customers are steadfast in their allegiance, and trust your brand. Loyalty is a relationship that is often worth paying a premium for, or going out of one’s way to maintain.