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In many cases, the distance between the offices of marketing and the operations staff is too far. When it comes to loyalty programs, Marketers can fall into the trap of missing executional realities—including the ability to turn front-line staff into evangelical brand ambassadors.

Neglecting to include front-line representatives and other key stakeholders early in the loyalty program design process can lead to poor promotional execution of campaigns, unchecked accountability and other issues. There also can be a lack of clarity and continuity of expectations, especially with new hires. Then, as competing business priorities arise, the program becomes little more than a sideshow over time.

It doesn’t have to be this way. Our recent Loyalty360/Bond Brand Loyalty webinar, “Measure Twice, Cut Once—Get it Right From the Start!” provided a case study of a leading North American retailer whose loyalty program has set an industry gold standard. It’s not just that enrollment goals for the entire first year were met within the first month. It’s also that front-line staff were and continue to be enthusiastic participants themselves, continuing to create excitement, share tips and engender loyalty with customers. 

A funny thing is happening in the loyalty industry. Consider the average North American consumer is enrolled in a record 13 formal programs that include typical features like monetary rebates, points and discounts to lock members in and keep them coming back. Now consider that actual participation in those programs (that is, customers engaging and making purchases) shrank 14% from the previous year, according to the 2015 Bond Loyalty Report.

The widespread availability of these programs is outpacing consumer demand. This oversupply is creating a growing sense of customer indifference toward the most potent mechanisms that differentiate a brand.

Funny, right? Not so much.

Just the other week, the Boston Consulting Group announced that Tesla had joined Apple and Google at the top of an annual ranking of innovative firms. In fact, Tesla raced into third position from the 41^st position in just two years. As a Tesla owner, I am not at all surprised by this rapid leap to third place. Such acceleration is highly becoming of a brand that boasts a 0–60 miles acceleration, in just under three seconds.

Have you heard the news? This year will be the year of mobile! 

We have been hearing this phrase uttered every year for at least the last five years and yet, somehow, we are still not prepared. We are barely scratching the surface of what is possible with mobile and are expecting big things, which are not going to happen by themselves.

We are aware of the consumers’ love affair with their mobile devices. According to Pew Research Center:

• 64% of American adults now own a smartphone of some kind.
• 44% have slept with their phone next to their bed because they wanted to make sure they didn’t miss any calls, text messages or other updates during the night.
• 29% of owners describe their mobile phone as “something they can’t imagine living without.”

Also, quite importantly for marketers, consumers use their mobile phones while they are shopping.

Have you ever considered your product a commodity?

Perhaps not—and we wouldn’t recommend that you do so.

But you must be prepared for customers who may. Like it or not, a mortgage is a mortgage, a car is a car and a hotel room is a hotel room, and your product is one of many.

Regardless of your sector—be it banking, retail, automotive, health care, or something else altogether—your customers make decisions about what they purchase for a variety of reasons. The product itself is increasingly just one of many influencers; the brand may contribute equal weight in the decision-making process.

More and more, aligned values and customer experience are key choice differentiators.

A few months ago, I was asked what my vision of the future of marketing would be for when my 3.5-year-old son becomes an adult. This sparked my imagination and I felt compelled to share my vision of the future of marketing. Being a data-driven marketer myself, I realize that this vision is slightly utopian, and I don’t know how many years it will take for this vision to be realized in reality. Regardless, I would love to play a key role in making this dream come true.

The young man asking this question elaborated to ask whether I believe my son will be bombarded with too many messages and too much information when he comes of consumer age, which frankly I believe has already started. My simple answer at the time was “no.” By the time he becomes an adult, all content will be curated for and by him. Even today, we have the technology to personalize all content.  Just a few years ago, this meant knowing who the customer was and targeting the message to her.  In this day and age, we can go far beyond knowing “who.”  We can push personalization to “where” and “when.” With the consumer carrying her mobile phone on her person virtually 24 hours a day, I know not only who she is, but I know where she is and even the time and the weather in her exact location.

A few months ago when I purchased my Tesla Model S, I had no idea that Tesla had a loyalty program. Perhaps I was distracted and mesmerized by the brilliance of the technology housed in this vehicle. Maybe my attention was diverted as I was infatuated by the gorgeous design of the car. Or was I overwhelmed with joy at the prospect of never again having to fill my car up with fuel? As a loyalty practitioner, how could I have missed this, as loyalty is part of my very DNA?

As I continued to engage with the brand, it became evident that Tesla has a very clever and covert loyalty program. In fact, every Tesla owner is a member of the Tesla loyalty program, yet nobody has ever heard of the Tesla loyalty program. So how can a brand’s loyalty program exist if their customers have never heard of it, don’t recall enrolling in it or participating in it?

Smartphones have given consumers instant access to resources and apps that compare prices, offer customer reviews or even enable instant feedback from their networks all while standing in the retail environment. Now, mobile payment solutions are making it faster and easier to convert these browsing shoppers and showroomers into purchasers.

While making mobile payments is still in its infancy, the release of Apple Pay is really driving mainstream adoption – something other solutions, Google Wallet for instance, seem to have failed at even after being in market for a number of years. Leave it to Apple to make it the norm.

The Internet has spoken – and it isn’t pretty. Turns out Amazon’s hyped up exclusive "Prime Day" event for Amazon Prime members failed to impress, leaving the “tens of millions" of members feeling a little slighted. Not to mention, the bad impression on the browsing non-members Amazon was attempting to court.

Buzzfeed was quick to publish this article with some of the best Internet responses. Of course, that was just the beginning. #PrimeDay trended on Twitter throughout the day with users even creating a second hashtag: #PrimeDayFail.

If played right, you too can earn #millennialoyalty.

A recent study reported by Forbes affirmed that contrary to what many brands and marketers believe, Millennials can be brand loyal. They are no longer the noncommittal bachelors and bachelorettes of the demographic cohorts – they are capable of brand love. The study reports that 60% of Millennials are often or always loyal to brands that they currently purchase.

Realistically, Millennials have been capable of brand love the whole time. But with so many marketing messages in their faces – they have simply tuned out. And why wouldn’t they? With so many brands vying for their hearts, Millennials will wait for the ones that try harder – the ones that understand and engage them on a personal level. And at 80 million strong with an estimated $200 billion in annual buying power (in the US alone), they can.