I mentioned in the recently published case study of Zions Cash Rewards that one of the toughest aspects of the loyalty business is the dearth of publicly shared information on program performance.

The most useful insights are gained through hands-on experience while managing a program, and much of what I have learned can only

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be shared on a summarized basis due to confidentiality agreements with clients. It’s just plain tough to find unbiased information on reward program trends, performance, and consumer preferences in the marketplace.

The Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Council has conducted many research initiatives in various fields of marketing and soon, new insights into measuring the effectiveness of rewards programs will be available. The CMO Council has launched a new authority leadership program sponsored by Ricoh/IBM InfoPrintSolutions in association with other partners to “evaluate the degree to which loyalty and rewards investments and programs are contributing to business performance in today’s recessionary environment”.

I am proud to have been named as a member of the Faculty Board for the project and invite you to take part in the survey to help advance the loyalty marketing knowledge base available to practitioners.

There are two surveys in which you can participate:

• The Marketer’s Survey is designed for executives and those with influence over the strategic direction and execution of their company loyalty program. The survey takes only a few minutes to complete and is well worth the effort. The CMO Council does a wonderful job of collating and interpreting results to deliver value to the industry.

• The Consumer Survey seeks input on preferences and trends on loyalty programs from (guess what?) a consumer viewpoint. Change hats and offer up your best take on what is working and what is a bust.

Early responses to the Consumer Survey include these findings:

• The highest participation rates are in Supermarket and Airline programs, while Health & Fitness clubs and Internet/Cable providers ranked among the lowest in participation.
• “Discounts and savings” currently ranks as the most key benefit of loyalty and rewards programs, while “receiving too much spam email and junk mail” ranks as the biggest detractor.
• More than half of the survey respondents say that they have given up their loyalty or rewards club membership because of poor product or service experiences with a brand.

I’ll wait to express opinion until the survey is completed, but can say these early indicators will spark some healthy debate among sponsors, suppliers, and advisors to the industry.

If you are directly involved in the management of your company’s loyalty program, please take a few moments and complete the survey.