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Welcome to What We’re Hearing, our Loyalty360 podcast in which we talk about customer experience and customer loyalty with some of the country’s best-known brands. Today we’re talking with Scott Keyes, founder of Scott’s...Read More

Hi and welcome to another edition of the Loyalty360 Podcast What We’re Hearing.   You know, online grocery ordering and home delivery is one of the fastest growing trends in today’s society. No more pushing your cart with...Read More

Hello and welcome to another episode of the What We’re Hearing podcast from Loyalty360, I’m Mark Johnson, CEO and CMO of Loyalty360. Today we’ll be hearing from Jim Lyski, CMO of CarMax.   CarMax is the largest used-car...Read More

Welcome to another episode of What We’re Hearing, the podcast where Loyalty360 speaks to some of the leading voices in CX and customer loyalty. I’m your host Mark Johnson, CEO of Loyalty360, and today we have a very unique interview...Read More

Welcome to our latest “What We Are Hearing" podcast. For those of you who know have ever taken a cruise, you know that Carnival Cruise Lines is known for two things: Being family friendly and being the fun brand. Carnival, in fact, just...Read More

Welcome to another episode of What We’re Hearing, the podcast where we at Loyalty360 speak to leadership at brands driving the market forward. Today our guest is Gina Valenti, Vice President of Brand Hospitality at Hampton by Hilton.  ...Read More

In Part 1, Farm Boy CEO Jeffrey York tells Loyalty360 discussed how employee engagement and cultural buy-in are important to the regional supermarket chain headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario. In Part 2, he talks about assessing the target audience...Read More

From walking in the customer’s shoes to empowering frontline agents, Humana is rolling out customer experience innovations based on consumer input, expanding its data analysis expertise, implementing personalization and artificial...Read More

Remember when the purpose of a cell phone was to make and receive phone calls? Today our phones manage our lives in ways we never imagined. A new division of GE, called Current powered by GE, is on a similar mission to transform commercial...Read More

“Financial wellness is a big focus for us here in Group Insurance and really across all of Prudential,” says that firm’s Senior Vice President, Strategy and Chief Marketing Officer, Group Insurance Michelle Crecca...Read More

Partnering with brands like GAP, Lowe’s, PayPal, Cathay Pacific Airlines, and dozens more, Synchrony Financial, through its Retail Card division, offers credit card and loyalty program management services. The goal is to integrate with the...Read More

While having interests in a variety of industries, some of GE’s efforts are more widely recognized than others. GE Power’s Industrial Solutions business, for example, operates in the background some would say, providing electrical...Read More

Red Robin, the iconic casual dining restaurant chain known for its wide variety of gourmet burgers, got its start in Seattle in 1969 as Sam’s Tavern. Owner Sam, who also sang in a barbershop quartet, was so enamored with the song "When...Read More

“You can easily get caught up in all these new tech start-ups firms,” says Danielle Quatrochi SVP of customer experience & innovation, Finish Line, “but they don’t all vet out to provide the great customer experience...Read More

“Banking kind of has this 80/20 rule,” says Regions’ Customer Experience SVP Matt Brunsman, e-business Customer Experience & Strategy Director, Regions Bank. “Eighty percent of the lead generation, the prospecting...Read More

Since 1962, Entertainment has been helping businesses grow by providing its consumers with savings programs. A leader in the field, the company boasts the largest and most-trusted merchant savings network in North America. That means Entertainment...Read More

Adam Corey, vice president of marketing, Tealium, talked to Loyalty360 about how his company helps brands and the importance of gaining a holistic view of the customer. Founded in 2008 in San Diego, Tealium is the leader in real-time customer...Read More

Edible Arrangements grew out of founder Tariq Farid’s experience working in his family’s flower shop. In a small corner of that shop, Farid began exploring the concept of delivering fresh fruit in floral-style arrangements. Banks were...Read More

The challenge for many brands in this day and age is creating simplicity and value for the member and access is a great way to do that. Several brands use arcane language, processes, and complexity to create value yet they are actually doing the...Read More

Headquartered in Monroe, Louisiana, CenturyLink provides communications and data services to homes, businesses, government, and wholesale customers in 37 states. The company operates as a local exchange carrier and Internet service provider in the...Read More

Found in shopping centers across the U.S., Finish Line specializes in the sale of athletic shoes along with related apparel and accessories. The company also partners with Macy’s, operating Finish Line-branded athletic shoe departments in...Read More

Marc Rashba, vice president, Sony Pictures Entertainment, spoke with Loyalty360 about how his company operates and views the current customer loyalty/customer experience landscape, including six critical pieces that help brands achieve internal...Read More

Joleen Buettner, senior partner retail professional services, business consulting at NCR Corp., is also co-lead for the company’s loyalty practice. NCR Corp. is a global leader in consumer transaction technologies. Gartner named NCR the No...Read More

The Portland Timbers of Major League Soccer (MLS) have a storied history. The team’s roots can be traced back to the original Portland Timbers franchise which played in the old North American Soccer League from 1975 to 1982. The current...Read More

Regions Bank is a division of Regions Financial Corporation, a Fortune 500 company based in Birmingham, Alabama. It operates in 15 states and is the largest deposit holder in the state of Alabama. Loyalty360 caught up with Regions’ Customer...Read More

TD Bank recently introduced a biometric voice recognition system that authenticates customers as they speak. The technology has been a hit with customers as well as TD employees in customer-facing roles. Robert Ghazal, head of U.S. contact...Read More

Lids recently rebranded its loyalty program while simultaneously launching a new app both called Access Pass. Already active in providing an exceptional customer experience, the Indianapolis-based sports apparel retailer now looks to move to the...Read More

The freight transportation business is changing. What was once simply a point A to point B construct is becoming more complex as verticals that rely on such services also change. For FedEx, one solution has been the introduction of the Freight Box...Read More

Fiat is Italy’s largest automaker. Founded in 1899, its American roots stretch back to 1908 when it began building cars at a plant in Poughkeepsie, New York. While it has exited and reentered the U.S. market several times, it appears Fiat is...Read More

Amazon has set expectations that retailers both online and off are now expected to live up to. Competing with Jeff Bezos’ behemoth has become increasingly more difficult. However, Jet.com may have found a different path to consumers&rsquo...Read More

Daimler Financial Services Mexico is part of the Daimler Financial Services Group, headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany. Supporting the Daimler brands of Mercedes-Benz, Freightliner, and smart, Daimler Financial Services offers a variety of...Read More

Formed in 2014, Walgreens Boots Alliance brought together two of the world’s most storied pharmaceutical retailers. Boots, a fixture on the high streets of the U.K., had previously merged with Swiss pharmaceutical supplier Alliance UniChem...Read More

During a question-and-answer session during the recent SAPPHIRENOW | ASUG Annual Conference in Orlando, Dr. Hasso Plattner, a German businessman and co-founder of SAP SE software company, was asked how he helps keep SAP agile with an ongoing...Read More

Celebrity Cruises, the premium cruise line that is part of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., understands the importance of personalization. Across its fleet of more than a dozen ships, passengers are pampered and provided with best customer journey in...Read More

Avis Budget Group is a leading global provider of vehicle rental services.  Competing brands in their vertical pose challenges of course, but so do organizations like Uber and online travel agencies.   Regina Mylan, Vice President...Read More

Unlocking value in a brand’s customer data is the overarching objective of the recently launched SAP Data Network. Revealing the potential of data, and using it to create drivers for innovative business models and growth, is the network...Read More

Change is a constant in the pharmaceutical industry, a concept John McCarthy, VP global digital for AstraZeneca understands well, particularly in his position.   “I think my role has evolved considerably in the last four or five years...Read More

“I launched The Huffington Post in 2005 and then two years later I collapsed from burnout, exhaustion, and sleep deprivation,” Ariana Huffington told attendees at the recent SAP conference in Orlando, Florida.    It was in...Read More

TIAA, formerly known as TIAA-CREF, began as a vehicle for funding the retirement of education professionals. Today it serves that sector as well as those working in culture, healthcare, and research. Several years ago, it launched a rebranding...Read More

Prudential is an iconic American brand with its Rock of Gibraltar logo and tagline “bring your challenges.” Founded in 1875, the company and its subsidiaries provide insurance, investment management, and a multitude of...Read More

“Our tagline is ‘America’s Most Convenient Bank,’” says Robert Ghazal, head of U.S. contact centers at TD Bank. “So, we’re always looking for ways to define what that means, and how to make banking more...Read More

When you think of FedEx, you likely envision those ubiquitous white trucks, embossed with the FedEx logo, crisscrossing your town. Of course, the Memphis-based delivery giant does more than deliver packages to homes and businesses; they also...Read More

Though it was absent from the market for over twenty-five years, Fiat returned to the United States in 2011 via the 2009 acquisition of Chrysler. The deal brought Dodge, Jeep, and Ram Trucks under the Fiat umbrella along with Chrysler-branded cars...Read More

California Pizza Kitchen is a brand with a decidedly loyal customer base. The task of further improving that relationship falls with SVP of Marketing & Beverage Ashley Ceraolo, whose current focus is making the customer experience seamless...Read More

Jet.com isn’t the 800-pound gorilla in the room, nor does it want to be. Using its agility and ability to scale and leverage its distribution centers to save customers money, it has steadily built a loyal following. Loyalty360 talks to Jack...Read More

“The cruising industry manages to survive economic upturns and downturns just by the nature of the fact that people still take vacations and need vacations,” says Lee Moreau, director of loyalty for Celebrity Cruises. “The...Read More

Founded in 1984 in Beijing, Lenovo, as of 2013, has become the largest seller of personal computers in terms of units sold worldwide. As a company founded just after the dawn of the personal computer age, it has managed to build its success by...Read More

In 2014, Anthem, Inc. had an epiphany. The health care insurance giant realized that its business was rapidly changing from B2B to B2C. “The trouble was that we were organized primarily as a B2B company,” says Natalie Schneider, vice...Read More

Staying competitive in the ever-changing banking industry means more than just providing a great customer experience. SunTrust Bank, one of the largest banks in the U.S., continues to blaze new trails in the areas of customer journey and customer...Read More

Though it built the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in Atlantic City as a joint venture with Boyd Gaming, MGM Resorts International purchased the entire hotel in 2016.   A popular destination in a challenged market, Borgata has been folded...Read More

AstraZeneca, the British–Swedish multinational pharmaceutical, and biopharmaceutical company, is the world’s eighth-largest drug company based on sales revenue. With major operations in the United States, as well as the U.K. and Sweden...Read More

“Customers expect us to know them,” states Regina Mylan, vice president customer engagement and loyalty at Avis Budget Group, “especially if they have been with us before.  They expect us to know about their preferences and...Read More

The Portland Timbers are one of the most successful teams in Major League Soccer (MLS), both on the field and at the ticket window. The city has a long history with outdoor soccer stretching back to the North American Soccer League of the 1970s...Read More

TIAA has transformed multiple times since its founding in 1918. Formerly known as TIAA-CREF (Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association-College Retirement Equities Fund), the Fortune 100 financial services company’s most recent...Read More

“At Pearle, what we have come to realize is that in an effort to not only retain our patients but most critically attract new ones, loyalty, no surprise, emanates from trust,” states Doug Zarkin, CMO of Pearle Vision. “If you...Read More

The Denver Broncos are the only team out of the eight original American Football League franchises to have never played in that circuit’s championship game. Indeed, they never finished above .500. Their woes continued past the 1970 merger...Read More

Improving customer experience is a continuous process for Prudential Financial. “We've made a lot of headway over the past few years,” says Gail Van Dalen, VP marketing and customer experience for Prudential’s Individual Life...Read More

“Customers increasingly are much more educated by the time they reach out to the Dell brand,” states Todd Forsythe, SVP, digital marketing for Dell Technologies, the company formed by Dell Inc.’s 2016 acquisition of EMC...Read More

The first modern loyalty programs were started by airlines and hotels. “They were originally called frequent flyer programs,” recalls Jordan Salmon, vice president of loyalty marketing for MGM Resorts International, the hospitality and...Read More

Altice is a telecoms conglomerate based in the Netherlands. It has grown tremendously over the years through various acquisitions in Europe and, most recently, North America.  Following the acquisitions of Suddenlink Communications in...Read More

Like most automobile manufacturers, Daimler has its own financial services company. The Chief Operations Manager for Daimler Financial Services Mexico is Marcos Czacki who, as such, oversees customer experience and collections activities along...Read More

Founded in 1985, California Pizza Kitchen has become an iconic pizza chain, both through its restaurants as well as its grocery division. Even the most successful brands, though, need a rebranding from time to time. Loylaty360 catches up with...Read More

Though it is not the only public radio network, NPR is certainly the best known, thanks in large part to drive-time programs like Morning Edition and All Things Considered, as well as Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me, Fresh Air, Snap...Read More

In Part One of our Q and A with Andrea Riley, CMO for Ally, the discussion focused on how the company built everything, including social engagement, from the ground up. In Part Two, Riley talks about creating alignment, data analytics, measurement...Read More

Dale Renner, founder and CEO of RedPoint Global, doesn’t care much for titles in the world of loyalty marketing, such as Chief Digital Officer or Chief Marketing Officer. “It’s challenging in a large enterprise where we create...Read More

Ally began in 2008 as a unique financial institution with both an online bank and a deeply rooted auto finance division.  The company has evolved since then to become a full service digital financial services company offering online banking...Read More

After looking closely at its customer experience efforts recently, Capital One decided to insource many of its loyalty marketing functions, while expanding partnerships with other consumer-facing companies. The changes also included new mobile...Read More

With nine brands under its umbrella, including Fannie May, as well as Harry & David, 1-800-Flowers.com wants customers to have a multi-brand experience. Across the nine nameplates are two loyalty programs: Celebrations Rewards, a points-based...Read More

When the Denver Broncos were founded in 1960 as one of the eight charter members of the then new American Football League, phones were still wired to the wall, TVs were large pieces of furniture, and computers took up whole rooms.   Fast...Read More

When we last spoke to says Klaus Werner, he was head of e-commerce for Lowes Foods, the regional grocery chain based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Recently, he joined Lowes parent Alex Lee Inc., which is also a wholesale distributor serving...Read More

“It puts that control in your hands and allows you to skip to mark something interesting,” says Joel Sucherman, senior director of digital products for NPR about that national radio programming service’s app, NPR One. “All...Read More

In late 2016, Dell Corporation acquired EMC Corporation to form Dell Technologies. The integrated company offers infrastructure for organizations seeking to expand and improve their digital solutions, transform IT, and protect information. Their...Read More

Meeting the ever-changing challenges of the retail apparel space has kept rue21 in business since 1970. The Pittsburgh-based retailer remains at the forefront of the clothing business, with plans for continued growth in the next few years.  ...Read More

A key, but sometimes overlooked component of loyalty is advocacy. The best advertising, after all, is customers who believe in your product and communicate that to others. Lenovo, the world’s top-selling brand of personal computers...Read More

Pearle Vision is one of America’s most-iconic eyecare brands. The key to their success is the relationship between the eyecare professionals that own Pearle Vision franchises and the brand itself. Doug Zarkin, CMO of Pearle Vision, spoke...Read More

Anthem is one of the most recognizable health insurance providers in America. A $78 billion company with about 53,000 associates across the country, it has begun to shift in recent years from a B2B organization to a B2C concern.   This...Read More

With their slogan “Together all the way,” Cigna helps employers and individuals with their health insurance needs. The company also handles Medicare and Medicaid recipients. With so many factors, from regulations to changing employer...Read More

“Brands are very powerful today,” says Hakim Boubazine, co-president and chief operating officer of Altice USA, the U.S. subsidiary of Netherlands-based telecom, cable and media giant Altice Group, “and I believe they inspire...Read More

SunTrust Banks, Inc., is  based in Atlanta, GA. Via its largest subsidiary, SunTrust Bank, it operates primarily in the Southeastern United States. Other parts of the company offer corporate and investment banking, capital market services...Read More

In development for 20 years, a vaccine for the dengue virus is being released by French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi. Primarily a mosquito-spread illness, dengue fever isn’t widely known in the U.S., where it occurs only in South Florida and...Read More

DHL Express was acquired by Deutsche Post in 2003 and while it is still primarily recognized as a package delivery firm, Deutsche Post DHL Group, as the company is now known, is a global provider of logistics services. “Since Deutsche Post...Read More

“We embarked on a journey to rebrand our stores and our culture about three years ago,” says Klaus WernerSenior Vice President and Chief Information Officer for Alex Lee Inc., owners of the Carolina-based grocery chain Lowe’s...Read More

Based in suburban Pittsburgh, rue21 is a specialty retailer in the discount apparel space. In business since 1970, rue21, formerly known as Pennsylvania Fashions, has, of course, gone up against many competitors. Facing many of the same challenges...Read More

A big part of long-term care, or LTC, is pharmaceutical support. While many LTC facilities are experts in a variety of disciplines, managing all of the various medication-related needs of patients can be daunting. Grane Rx seeks to bridge this gap...Read More

Capital One has always had exceptional customer service, but bringing many of its capabilities in-house, combined with several strategic partnerships is enhancing the overall customer experience. David Spraker, the company’s Senior Director...Read More

National Public Radio was established in 1971 and has since become synonymous with the term public radio. However, NPR has many competitors including American Public Media, Public Radio International, WNYC Studios, and more. All of these entities...Read More

Not long ago, marketing was largely built around a bandwagon approach: Wear this, drink this, eat this, do this because you know everyone else will, and you don’t want to be left behind, do you? Years later, the message sent by retailers...Read More

Traditional advertising—things like print and TV ads—may not be dead, but they are almost certainly on life support. With the inundation of marketing from seemingly all angles, customers have become desensitized and, worse, disengaged...Read More

Editor’s Note - This story was originally published in March's Loyalty Management Online, and is part of Loyalty360’s “Best of 2016.” We wish you and your family a happy holidays, and will return to our regular content...Read More

Editor’s Note - This story was originally published in October's Loyalty Management Online, and is part of Loyalty360’s “Best of 2016.” We wish you and your family a happy holidays, and will return to our regular...Read More

Editor’s Note - This story was originally published in April's Loyalty Management Online, and is part of Loyalty360’s “Best of 2016.” We wish you and your family a happy holidays, and will return to our regular content...Read More

Lawyers and legal firms aren’t typically associated with brand loyalty. However, Thomson Reuters, via its law services division, helps legal firms, both large and small, corporations, and government entities provide better service and...Read More

When most people think of DHL they envision yellow vehicles, including vans, trucks, and aircraft, with the familiar red logo, delivering packages worldwide. “Deutsche Post DHL, the Group that  DHL is part of, is also a manufacturer of...Read More

Finding emotional connections with customers typically equates to high levels of customer loyalty and brand advocacy. For a loyalty marketer, especially one that works in the intoxicating world of professional and collegiate sports, those...Read More

“We’re seeing personalization in marketing communications accelerating at a very rapid pace in the FMCG industry, and it’s all being driven by technology,” says Robert I. Tomei, IRI’s president, consumer and shopper...Read More

PR Newswire, one of America’s oldest and widely resourced news agencies, was recently acquired by Cision. That move has allowed both to expand their capabilities in several key areas, allowing clients better access to a wider range of...Read More

“Health care in itself is very emotional,” says Stephanie Cohen, senior director, consumer initiatives at Aetna. “If you have a loved one that’s ill, it's very emotional experience. You want to do anything you can to...Read More

Spirit Airlines isn’t the most beloved airline in America. Not yet anyway. However, it is one of the most popular in terms of load factor, or the percentage of people on each of the airline’s planes. Inspired by the ultra-low cost, a...Read More

Social commerce, currently projected as a $30 billion industry, is one of the hot topics these days in the world of loyalty marketing. To be successful, brands using social commerce need to make it a natural facilitating connection, according to...Read More

Next Gen POS (point-of-sale) will be about customer engagement. That was a key theme during a session, “Power Panel: Next Gen POS,” at the recent Money20/20 Conference in Las Vegas. POS is no longer a fixed piece of hardware at the...Read More

“The good news for our brands is we continue to do very well with JD Power,” says Dave Mingle Director, global connected customer experience at General Motors.  “We think we’re making good progress. Our mass market...Read More

For those outside the industry, data analytics seems to go hand-in-hand with the financial services vertical. These outsiders aren’t wrong, quite the opposite. They often are unaware of just how many applications advanced data analytics can...Read More

During a session at the recent Money20/20 Conference in Las Vegas, Kausik Rajgopal, director, McKinsey & Company, discussed some aspects of the company’s new report, “Payments on the Crest of the Fintech Wave,” and how this...Read More

A hot topic in the financial services industry is the dawn of more powerful predictive analytics. Using these robust tools, companies can gain insight into the probable future of customers, financial trends, and the industry at large. In a panel...Read More

Machine learning and Artificial Intelligence are two buzz terms that could have a profound effect on the overall customer experience related to financial institutions. These technologies are picking up steam as they make their way toward the...Read More

There is considerable buzz around chatbots in the current customer loyalty industry. But, why is that the case? What factors have conspired to bring this topic to the forefront? Josh Jacobs, President, Kik Services, attempted to bring some...Read More

“I try to get people here at Cargill who represent our brand, the stakeholders, to think and behave according to the platinum rule, not the golden rule,” says Paul Hillen, vice president of global marketing for Cargill. “The...Read More

During a segment titled, “Man Versus Machine in the CX Equation,” at the recent Forrester CXSF Conference, Josh Jacobs, president, Kik Services, talked about how chat can elevate a brand’s story while gaining a new and more...Read More

The fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) industry is swimming in data. Both manufacturers and retailers rely on multiple data sets to drive consumer engagement. Getting a handle on all of that data in order to create actionable insights often...Read More

View it through one lens and make incremental change. View it through multiple lenses and transform your business. That is the mantra for PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and its innovative BXT Method, which lies at the intersection of business...Read More

Journey mapping is certainly a noble endeavor when it comes to evaluating the level of customer experience a particular brand offers. But, especially for multi-faceted brands, this task takes on added weight when faced with hundreds of discrete...Read More

One aspect of social media that the average user tends to miss is the sheer amount of data stored on the servers of the various platforms. Facebook, for instance, has access to a near-infinite stream of data, thanks to its 1.71 billion monthly...Read More

Customer journeys and customer mapping are very popular terms in the customer loyalty industry, but adapting experiences to consumer needs according to circumstance is crucial for brands seeking greater customer engagement. Allegra Burnette...Read More

In a marketing world overcome by a wave of Big Data, brands struggle with the sheer volume of customer insights flooding in at any given moment. Without powerful analytics tools, it becomes nearly impossible to separate the signal of actionable...Read More

In the world of travel, user experience is king; customers planning a trip are looking for the easiest, most effective experience while they prepare for points of friction inevitably found elsewhere in the process. With this in mind, the rise of...Read More

“Coming from high tech to tax and accounting I thought there may be no customer who is more conservative than tax and accounting people,” says Tobias Lee who started at Thomson Reuters 4 years ago as chief marketing officer of the tax...Read More

As customers continue to evolve, companies are faced with difficulties in keeping up with the shifting market.   In a recent session at CXSF 16, presented by Forrester, Principal Analyst Tony Costa discussed the theme of blind spots created...Read More

Technology moves so fast, often too fast for companies to keep pace with and that can make it difficult for loyalty marketers to execute well-timed and effective decisions that impact the day-to-day customer experience. Deciding which new...Read More

The ATP World Tour is the top circuit for men’s professional tennis. It sponsors tournaments in over 60 countries and owns and operates the tour finale, the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. It also has partnerships with the four major Grand...Read More

No matter how sophisticated your customer relationship management skills are, life is going to get in the way, particularly if you’re in the air travel industry. The air travel experience has many moving parts, and while the flight is the...Read More

In Choice Privileges, Choice Hotels has a staggeringly successful loyalty program that eclipsed the 25 million-member mark this year.   In an intriguing interview with Loyalty360, Robert McDowell, SVP, Marketing and Distribution for Choice...Read More

Like most brands, Ryder is faced with a number of customer engagement challenges. Today customers are expecting more from the brands they frequent, and this is especially true for one of America’s leading rental truck and transportation...Read More

Many brands are facing a tough road for customer engagement. As a brand, Goodwill will is no different. But as a specialty thrift store, Goodwill faces a particularly unique set of challenges.   Goodwill has always been successful. However,...Read More