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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.

Fast Food or rather Quick Service Restaurants (QSR) are ubiquitous and in a time when consumers eat out an average of four meals a week, are a huge part of the dining industry. Many consumers, especially the ever important Millennial segment, are looking for a fast and healthy way to feed themselves and their families. As Millennials are the consumer demographic that are most influenced by loyalty and rewards programs and control 1.3 trillion in spending power, it’s clear why these QSRs are targeting them in their marketing efforts. Papa John’s, a QSR that gained top scores in both the ACSI Restaurant Report and The Loyalty Report, had a high customer satisfaction score with regards to both their product and their popular loyalty program Papa Rewards. But other than offering discounts and deals, how can brands in the crowded category of quick dining cultivate customer loyalty? As we see with Papa John’s, the recipe for getting customers to keep coming back is to offer them ways to connect with your brand on more than a "take out" level.

All of Marketing is caught up in ‪#CannesLions —but what’s the celebration really about? When we say that ‘All Marketing is Loyalty’—we mean it. Every step in the loyalty lifecycle that begins with acquisition and *must* continue in the form of an ongoing relationship, are equally important. Brands who do well by their loyal customers, offering them new and innovative experiences, are more profitably succeeding - if those experiences are good, they will tell others for you. We see this ideal in the submissions for this year’s Direct Lions and we are offered a close up look at what triggers bonding with a brand beyond the monetary.

Increased mobile presence is one of the most important shifts in the brand loyalty market right now, other than millennials, which we’ll talk about later! In fact, 65% of Americans want to engage with their loyalty programs through their mobile device (2014 Loyalty Report).

As people interact with brands more intimately, we are seeing a hunger for personalization—a step away from mass production and a movement towards agency and relevancy. This desire for engagement supports the 4-Drive Model of human motivation approach to brand loyalty, with regards to the drives to create and to bond—both of which in turn foster a deeper emotional connection between consumer and brand. 

Want this working mom to be loyal to your brand? Make my time count.

Working mom? Yes, every mom is a working mom, regardless of where or how you choose to work. Your work could be focused on home, school, volunteering, hanging with your kids as often as you can, or it could be at an office or in a law firm or on a police force. Guess what? I bet there is one thing we all have in common—the fact that there never seems to be enough time. Time to do almost anything, because it doesn’t matter what it is you need more time for, the fact is there just doesn’t seem to be enough of it to go around.

Your organization has come to the conclusion that a brand loyalty program would provide a marketable differentiator and strategic advantage for your business and now it’s up to you to make it happen.

The first steps are to assess your in-house capabilities, determine the operating model you would like to move forward with and how figure out how much expertise you need to hire on. You definitely don't want to start from scratch!

What makes us remember a moment in time, a brand we encountered, a person we met? Well, I bet it’s not the calendar, or seeing a logo, or even someone’s name (ugh, maybe that’s just me!); it’s because you experienced something in that moment, with that brand, or with that person that sticks in your mind and you recall it again and again. And I bet you tell people about it—billions of people on social media confirm I’m not the only one!