While company officials certainly hope the LOVE Cravendale loyalty program launched July 1 attracts new customers, it’s really about showing their loyal customers just how vitally important they are to the brand.
Sophie Macaulay, Brand Manager for Cravendale, told Loyalty 360 that the new program – which carries an “Always-On” tagline – targets Cravendale’s 5 million customers, nearly a quarter of which the company deems to be “high loyal”.
“We recognized now that loyalty has to part of our strategy,” Macaulay explained. “We’ve got promotional labels on the (two-liter) bottles. Members can collect codes from the bottles and use them on our dedicated website (lovecravendale.co.uk). They can exchange the codes for a variety of rewards including entertainment, sports, and surprise and delight giveaways for buying Cravendale.”
The program offers 30 core rewards from swimming sessions to samba lessons, horse riding, bowling, to once-in-a-lifetime experiences.
Once customers join the program, they receive a free 2 for 1 voucher for a “great day out.” What’s more, members enjoy exclusive discount vouchers and can participate in weekly prize drawings. And the signup process is incredibly fast – according to the website customers can “create an account in less time than it takes to boil the kettle!”
“It’s a simple format,” Macaulay said. “People are going mental for bowling (one of the rewards). We operate in a heavily price promoted market. The big challenge is how do we add value outside of price and make sure our loyal shoppers keep coming to buy Cravendale.”
Macaulay said Cravendale launched some loyalty initiatives in 2010, which were very well received by customers and the LOVE Cravendale program is building on that prior success.
LOVE Cravendale has its own online interactive hub where the codes from the bottles need to be inputted. Those codes will then be converted into "hearts" -- the currency for the loyalty program -- before members can redeem rewards. Included among the weekly prizes are airport parking discounts and red carpet movie screenings at VUE cinemas.
Cravendale milk is filtered before high temperature pasteurization to remove pathogens. This process gives the product an extended shelf life (ESL) for which a premium is sometimes charged.
Macaulay said the LOVE Cravendale loyalty program has been received well during its first two weeks.
“Gas prices have tripled and people are questioning where to spend their money,” she explained. “This is our way of reframing value and rewarding people for being loyal.”
From a brand standpoint, “loving the customer” has as always been a key component of its strategy.
“Currency becomes hearts and hearts unlock opportunities,” according to the program website.
Macaulay is looking for a deeper and richer loyalty experience that constantly surprises and delights through accessibility and personalization.
Macaulay discussed what she believes is her biggest challenge.
“The thing that keeps me awake at night and the biggest challenge is not blending into what everyone else is doing,” she said. “We want to listen to customers and give them what they want. We want to absolutely make sure that it’s successful and that we’re quite flexible.”
Loyalty is based on a behavior, Macaulay stated.
“It’s all about buying into the credibility of what a brand means to a person,” she said. “It’s really important that is strikes a balance between technology and genuinely giving something back. It’s absolutely behavior driven.”
The average shopper spends three seconds in front a product so, Macaulay added, there is always a challenge in terms of engagement.
“We have to shift that mindset so they want to buy Cravendale,” she said. “It’s about your loyal shoppers, your bread and butter. And the Always On aspect is an important part of our culture. The LOVE Cravendale title is about getting our emotion across and rewarding you for buying Cravendale.”