CPG brands and retailers have struggled with engaging and influencing customers – things like print-at-home coupons and load-to-card initiatives are simply too cumbersome and archaic in this day and age. Achieving brand loyalty is the goal of Boston-based Linkable Networks, a direct-to-consumer loyalty company.
According to Linkable Networks, millennials prefer to be rewarded for their customer loyalty than discounted on a purchase. And they want redemption to be automatic and hassle-free. This is Linkable’s offer to CPG brands and retailers. Its platform enables always-on loyalty by breaking down the walls between digital media, physical retail and consumers with something already in our pockets – a credit or debit card.
John Caron, Chief Marketing Officer, Linkable Networks participated in a compelling interview with Loyalty360 to discuss his company’s customer loyalty goals.
How did Linkable Networks come to be and what are the company’s overarching goals?
The idea was born to solve two separate, but related, pain points. First, federal government banking regulation cut billions of dollars that funded credit card loyalty. And second, the advertising industry was desperately seeking a way to link digital advertising to in-store consumer purchases. Once these two needs became apparent, it seemed obvious that creating a technology allowing consumers to link incentives to their credit cards – from a mobile ad to a printed coupon – would bridge these two industries together.
Over the past four years, Linkable Networks has expanded its platform to solve the omnichannel loyalty challenges of retailers and brands by creating the first-ever direct-to-consumer loyalty platform. It is our focus to enable brands and retailers to directly reward loyalty, not just discount a purchase. Coupons have their place, but when they become a crutch for consumers, a brand’s value degrades. Linkable changes the model, whereby the focus is on driving loyalty 
across all channels and media to better engage consumers wherever they shop.
How will Linkable’s platform be unique relative to breaking down the walls between digital media, physical retail, and consumers?
For CPG brands, in particular, Linkable provides something that, until now, has been virtually impossible for them to achieve: Direct-to-consumer loyalty across multiple retailers. While print-at-home, load-to-card, and rebates were good stop-gaps, they’ve not achieved the scale necessary to be transformative. They leave brands disconnected from consumers and provide limited market feedback and almost no attribution on advertising efforts.
These solutions were effective when there was no other option, but thanks to the convergence of payments and marketing, brands are now able to reward consumers for loyalty while optimizing and tracking their return on advertising spend. For retailers, this opens up an entirely new channel of all-digital, brand-funded offers that redeem without any labor or processing costs which brings incremental value to their shoppers while increasing their bottom line.
How will redemption become automatic and hassle-free?
According to Inmar, 78% of consumers want coupons to redeem automatically so in that sense it has to. With Linkable, consumers only have to opt-in once for their loyalty to be rewarded or their coupons redeemed automatically. We call this Invisible Redemption™ and it allows consumers to avoid printing, cutting, and clipping, thus creating a more satisfying, seamless check out process. The process is simple because as soon as a consumer sees a Linkable offer (identifiable by our Links icon), they click and link it to their preferred account from American Express, MasterCard, PayPal or Visa. Once they shop and pay, the award or offer is instantly redeemed.
Is your platform specific to millennials?
No, but they will love it. Millennials value loyalty and “perks” over discounts and coupons. According to the Brand Loyalty Report, 60% of them would switch brands and 68% would change where they shop if it meant more benefits. Linkable enables brands and retailers to give this next generation of shoppers the exact experience they desire while saving time and money for everyone.
How do you define customer loyalty and has that definition changed or evolved in recent years as customers have become so empowered?
In the 1950’s, loyalty was based on a personal connection a consumer felt with a brand or with a retailer. Now, it’s based on a nearly immeasurable number of inputs – only some of which the brand or retailer can directly impact. And, the typical brand or retailer loses half of their most loyal consumers and shoppers every year. This doesn’t need to happen, though, as technology, including mobile, personalization, and Linkable is enabling brands and retailers to go back to the days where the focus was on the consumer. In doing so, they can build relationships with their most loyal consumers, which is beneficial to everyone in the ecosystem. It’s almost ironic that digital innovation is going to help make us more personal again.