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While in high school my stepdaughter appeared stamped from a mold. She and her fellow clones would wear reassuring uniforms commonly accepted in the suburbs. American Eagle, Hollister, Lululemon, and Abercrombie & Fitch among others were accepted suppliers within her peer group. These girls also adopted the same hairstyle so when clustered together I would often fail the stepfather test of locating her in a crowd (she often used that to her advantage).

As a loyal Timmies coffee drinker, I was delighted to hear that Tim Hortons had launched an “official” loyalty program; I was finally going to get a reward beyond that early-morning “ahhhh” of my first sip.

The new Double Double card has some interesting things to offer: unique technology, no fee and an easy to understand 1% back in Tim Cash. Its low household income requirement – and student card option – makes the card highly appealing to those who wouldn’t qualify for premium credit card rewards programs. As an initial foray into loyalty, this card is an excellent way for Tim Hortons to capture some data, learn about shopping patterns and spending distribution and test some targeted marketing programs. I look forward to seeing Tims broaden its loyalty offering down the road to engage more of its customers – those who are already committed to their chosen payment methods.

We tend to think about loyalty from the customer standpoint and we envision points cards and mobile rewards apps—but this view can be narrow and does not fully encompass the enterprise benefits associated with an effective loyalty strategy. Enterprise Loyalty isn’t just a consumer value proposition, but a management proposition that offers up organization-wide tools and mechanics that can help your business rationalize and optimize technologies, operations and expenditures; all the while better understanding and engaging your consumers.

When many people think of loyalty programs, points cards and coupons, they think of retail department stores. This is because many consumers’ first interactions with loyalty and rewards are in the form of a store credit card or in-store rewards card. Kohl’s, a large department chain retailer that has over 1,160 stores nationwide and with JCPenney, Macy’s and Nordstrom, is known for its competitive pricing and cause-centered fundraising with Kohl’s Cares.

“The Butler did it, in the Service Bay, with unmatched listening skills”

While you may not have played the board game Clue recently, there is compelling evidence that great consumer experience begins with an insight followed by clear and sometimes surprising action. An insight, in our opinion is a fact married to intuition. We used this insight to tackle the need for improved hospitality in the automotive sector and offer an experience that would lead to a higher rate of satisfaction and therefore greater advocacy.

In fact, loyalty increased by 17% for consumers who were completely satisfied with the service on their previous vehicle while under warranty, according to the Maritz New Vehicle Customer Survey.

It’s that time of the year again! Summer is coming to a close and that can only mean back to school and back to campus. While this can be an exciting time of the year for students, with total spending on back-to-school items expected to reach $74.9 billion, it's also a huge time for retail brands. According to the National Retail Federation (NRF) report that breaks down into $26.5 billion for back to school (BTS) and $48.4 billion for back to campus (BTC) shoppers.

Experience matters. Every action in a relationship either builds or erodes trust. We see this in the staggering number of divorces that occur every day—over 6,000 in America alone. The same can be said for consumers and their relationships to brands and products. How many times have we “broken up” with a brand because they didn’t deliver the experience the brand had promised, failed to communicate well or even did or said something that was a deal breaker—remember the backlash from Lululemon brand fans when founder Chip Wilson said that some women’s bodies weren’t “right” for their pants?

Last month a Sobeys Urban Fresh location on busy Bloor St in Toronto closed its doors. Sobeys reported that they are closing 15 of their smaller format locations in addition to 35 other larger stores across the country.

There is more to engaging customers than points, discounts and rebates.

According to the 2014 Loyalty Report, the average American is enrolled in 10.9 loyalty programs, but are only active in 7.8 of them.

Something is getting in the way of a higher level of engagement among program Members. The answer lies in values alignment.