Who should be loyal to whom? The consumer to the brand? Or the brand to the consumer? A pretty heavy question to explore, isn't it? With many marketers pondering this question, I wonder why so many brands are changing their loyalty program strategy to include a "pay to play" component for their best customers. ... Read More

Marketers looking for a new way to create a dialogue between consumers and their brand may find the answer in the QR code.

First there was the smartphone. Then there was mobile messaging, mobile coupons, mobile loyalty program apps. What's the next mobile marketing trend? It may very well be QR Codes.

Short for "quick... Read More

Attention, retailers! We know it’s tougher than ever to turn customers into loyal evangelists for your brand. The experts say:

Christine B. Whittemore: “The winners in retail today are retailers who understand that the customer calls the shots. Few retailers can compete strictly on price…”<... Read More

Although 2012 holiday gift-giving is officially over, we’ve got another present for you: Game-Changers 2013 Predictions – Part 2. Yes, more than a dozen thought leaders (guests on previous Coffee Break and In the Cloud programs) will gaze into the SAP Game-Changers Radio crystal ball, joining our 14 experts from last week&rsquo... Read More

Recognize and reward your customers for their support

To get my child to join me at the dog park in the mornings, I've resorted to bribing him with a stop at Starbucks. With my "mom" hat on, it's proven to be an effective enticement. As a frequent customer and loyalty practitioner, I... Read More

I just spent a couple days at Loyalty Expo at the lovely and capacious Rosen Shingle Creek Hotel in Orlando. It was a very good conference, and there was a lot of good thinking around the nature and direction of loyalty, and it was led off by some surprising findings for a show about how to do loyalty.

The first session was a panel... Read More

This Valentine’s Day I sent my wife flowers, bought her a small gift from Tiffany’s and took her away for the weekend—all things well deserved for a loving soul mate and mother, who tolerates my continual travel, demanding work schedule and me in general.

On Feb. 27, I received a handwritten thank you note from... Read More

Acxiom and Loyalty 360 released their joint research project, “Making Every Interaction Count: How Customer Intelligence Drives Customer Loyalty,” at Loyalty Expo 2012. The research focuses on how most brands “are not leveraging (customer data) as a ... Read More

Whether you’re collecting credit card rewards or frequent flier miles, you probably already know that loyalty programs can lead to compulsive buying behavior.

Question is, should you participate – or shouldn’t you? Full disclosure: I spend a lot of time covering travel-related issues, and for years,... Read More

If you think "likes" equal loyalty. Think again. Social media can indeed help to build customer loyalty, but it takes much more than a few promotions that push "liking" a brand. It requires a personal, holistic approach that emphasizes service, responsiveness, and ongoing interaction.

While many marketers... Read More

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is increasingly becoming an integral part of brands’ business strategies. Typically, when we think of socially responsible hotels examples of environmental stewardship come to mind. But in today’s increasingly competitive business landscape, CSR efforts can - and should - go beyond the... Read More

Marketers have concerns about the impact their retention programs are having on customer loyalty, according to the top-line findings in a paper from SAS and Loyalty 360. Only 24% of them believe their efforts are very effective in delivering desired results, while 22% indicate their programs are neutral in their impact – or worse.

The rise of customer-driven digital research has tended to harm brand-related loyalty programs, according to a study from interactive marketing services company Acxiom Corp.

According to Acxiom's “Making Every Interaction Count: How Customer Intelligence Drives Customer Loyalty,” (based on a poll conducted with... Read More

“Customer Engagement” It’s a term you’ve heard about quite a bit over the last couple of years - and one that should be at the forefront of your marketing efforts.

But what is customer engagement? Is it satisfaction? Is it loyalty? Is it recommending your brand? It’s all of these - plus more.
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Loyalty has long been the ultimate aspiration of marketers and customer experience managers. But it remains ever elusive—difficult to get and even harder to keep. In fact, when Accenture conducted its Global Consumer Survey earlier this year, polling more than 5,800 consumers in 17 countries about their experiences with 10 industries,... Read More