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I recently participated in a focus group that was centered around how dating apps – match, eHarmony, Tinder, that sort of thing – could evolve; how more features or fewer, additional controls or less stringent, search options, endorsements, buttons, clicks, options and tassels might help sort through the proverbial haystack to find the needle. Deciding I did not need a needle that desperately (and wondering when the last time I saw a haystack was, or why it wasn't tied tight with twine like any decent farmer would do, that it would force one on hands and knees to fanatically search for some irreplaceable needle), a gentleman on the panel made a fascinating inquiry – far more interesting than any profile I had seen in a moon's time. He asked if perhaps we were articulating that we might prefer to take dating offline. 

Take dating offline.

There is no debate. Retail has largely been an anonymous and aggregate game. The public sale is pervasive and perpetual, and the arms race to deeper discounts was in full swing during the holidays. But, some of this past season’s sales results suggest there may be fatigue in this model. Our recent Holiday Study suggests that good old brand loyalty may play a more important role in holiday shopping than previously believed. With over 40% of a retailer’s sales happening during the holidays, it’s a critical time to attract new customers, but also key is to focus on retaining existing customers who often account for 55-70% of sales.

It’s a truth that retailers have lived by for decades: To have a successful year, you have to have a successful holiday shopping season. And sales figures tend to bear this out. While it can vary widely by category, across the board a retailer can expect 20 percent of annual sales to come from the holiday shopping season.

As featured in Quirks Marketing Research Media.

Relationships between companies and their customers are forged and secured when a bond of trust has been established. Some of the strongest of these relationships are created when both sides speak to each other face to face. 

It all begins with a common goal — your brand promise. This promise could be to have the best customer service, or to offer customers the best value for their dollar. The important thing is to remember that no one organization can do everything well. You have to pick and choose. Frances Frei put it best when she said that to be the best in class at something, in order to be great — you have to be bad. And that the well-intentioned desire to be great at everything is exactly what leads to “exhausted mediocrity.” To differentiate yourself, your brand promise must be enterprise-wide, sustainable and measurable. Once the promise is identified, it needs to permeate from the top down and employee engagement is how you do that.

This is important because a recent Gallup report found ”an alarming 70% of American employees aren't working to their full potential.” Of those 70%, 52% are not engaged and another 18% are actively not engaged, which can lead to their lack of productivity, more likelihood that they will drive customers away and disloyalty to their employers.

Scott Robinson leads our loyalty consulting and solutions discipline, and is our thought leader for consumer loyalty strategy engagements. His focus is enabling clients with the best possible solutions for their specific objectives and environments, and ensuring Bond Brand Loyalty maintains market leadership in terms of loyalty and CRM innovation, technique and approach.

Q: What is it about brand love vs. program love that is important to CMOs?

Over the last few months, fraud prevention and detection have been coming up to a greater extent with clients. As consumers become savvier, this becomes an ever-increasing challenge. So, if you’re launching a loyalty program, here are two questions you’ll need to think about:

What measures can be put in place to prevent fraudulent activity?  

And knowing that you’ll never be able to think of everything, what can be put in place to detect or alert you to fraudulent activity?

Carlo Pirillo is Bond Brand Loyalty's Executive Vice President of Digital Solutions. Carlo oversees the technology and immersive interactive assets that advance human interactions and bridges the gap between brands and people.

Loyalty is a hot topic today for brands that are looking to differentiate themselves from the competition. But, many brands are unsure how to approach loyalty beyond a rewards card or timely discount. The Loyalty Report, which surveyed over 6,000 consumers on over 160 loyalty programs, captured key insights about consumer attitudes, behaviors and interactions with brands. Though the report is rich with insights and trends, here are the top 10 takeaways from the 2014 Loyalty Report.

Attention CPG brands! You are accustomed to retailers calling the shots and controlling the consumer relationship. You have also invested massive marketing dollars on acquisition based tactics ranging from promotions, in-store media and sweepstakes to FSI's, social media and sampling programs, all to compete for the attention of the consumer. Another reality is that the consumer landscape is changing, bringing with it empowerment and brand promiscuity. It is up to CPG manufacturers to differentiate themselves and move ahead of the competition by forging a direct relationship with consumers. Here, loyalty can be a key strategy to strengthen relationships and to gain valuable data at the same time. With this in mind, we thought we'd share some of the challenges and opportunities that CPGs and retailers are facing now.