Tasti D-Lite Gets Social with Loyalty
filed in Case Study, Social Media on Jan.22, 2010
I’ve been in way too many meetings lately where I have been asked the question “Is Social Media just a fad that will soon blow away?”
Fortunately, I’m well schooled in responding to skeptics since, for the past dozen years, I’ve been answering the classic question in my core business, “Does this Loyalty stuff really work?”
I have a well-practiced response to the second question, but at times when asked about the staying power of social media, I feel like the kid who was just caught by his parents looking at a magazine not on his school reading list – as if I should feel guilty because I’m making a case for understanding how to incorporate social media into the traditional world of data-driven communication strategies.
Convictions aside, it is fortifying when we see offline businesses wading deeper into the social media pond. We’ve seen plenty of our favorite brands open a Twitter account and establish a public Facebook page. But really linking these venues with their mainline customer acquisition and retention efforts? Well, we are just beginning to see examples in the market.
A great one that I came across, courtesy of @ragythomas is the TastiRewards loyalty program, where customers can not only earn points for enjoying tasty ice cream treats, but can also earn extra rewards by connecting their accounts to Twitter and Foursquare.
The program is really simple and has adopted what I consider a QSR chain best practice by offering a dual-function gift and loyalty card. In this case, the card can be used across participating locations first to facilitate purchase, but with the added value of registering at MyTasti.com to qualify for extra points through social media updates.
TastiRewards members earn 1 point for each pre-tax dollar spent on qualified Tasti D-Lite products. Members become eligible for rewards once 50 points are accumulated and are eligible to receive a free medium Tasti cup or cone. Extra points can be earned for registering the card online and checking points balances. Providing a date of birth qualifies you to receive a free medium Tasti cup or cone on the big day.
The success of the TastiRewards program won’t hinge on its linkage to Twitter and Foursquare but, like most programs, will be judged by consumers on its overall value proposition. Points don’t 
expire, but earning is only possible when the physical card is presented at time of purchase. And there are questions of just how Tasti D-Lite will protect itself against members who try to use the social media option to game the system. As far as value is concerned, the social media point-accelerator seems to boost the perceived value of the program to 8-10% back, above average among today’s loyalty programs.
Tasti D-Lite has taken the important step of doing something with social media instead of just talking about social media. If their treats are as tasty as their innovative TastiRewards, good things should be in store for the chain. I found a store nearby and plan to visit soon.
January 22nd, 2010 on 11:30 am
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Bill Hanifin and Tasti D-Lite, minglecard. minglecard said: Tasti D-Lite Gets Social with Loyalty | Loyalty Truth Blog http://bit.ly/7nG9Lk [...]
January 22nd, 2010 on 4:17 pm
Actually, you don’t have to necessarily have the card present when you come in. We can look you up through our global loyalty customer database at our registers and get you your points recorded that way.
January 22nd, 2010 on 4:22 pm
Social comments and analytics for this post…
This post was mentioned on Twitter by billhanifin: Tasti D-Lite using social media in its rewards program: http://bit.ly/8RkBYG #loyalty…
January 23rd, 2010 on 12:05 am
I looked at the customer portal. It’s a fun idea … reward cards aside, I’m curious about the marketing. It wants to appeal to a healthier mentality, according to the tag line, “dessert your guilt” and according to the picture of the fit & fabulous, sporty-looking customer rendering … have you seen any of the storefronts? Is what they represent on their website fairly accurate as far as decor? How much are they charging for their treats? It appears they have ice cream cakes, etc, as well as the quick grab’n'go treat in a cup. “Dessert your guilt”, while very catchy, still sounds representative of something you’d want to do only sporadically, not something you’d be prone to do with regularity if you tend toward healthful habits.
Rewards via check-in are a great idea, though. I love the use of Foursquare. I’d be more inclined to use it as a one-time reward to get people in the door as first-timers, rather than card-based client-retention rewards which are based upon loyalty thereafter. My question, as far as point accumulation relates to price. This company doesn’t exist in our market, I looked it up, but I would think that if you have too many points generated through tweets/check-ins (50 to earn a reward sounds hefty), you could be in jeopardy of losing your loyal credibility through dilution of the message via abundant viral campaigning of media-frenetic users wanting to score from the system, instead of gaining the rare or the only occasional user of the service or program. Is that what you meant by “gaming the system”?
It’s very interesting marketing. I’ll be interested to see how it fairs.
Have a great weekend, Bill.
January 23rd, 2010 on 2:17 am
Lisa, I think the system is set up to limit social media posts to a finite number, probably 1 per each social media site involved. My reference to gaming means that if there is a way to get more credit and skirt the rules, someone will be looking for it – they always do.
Joe, How do they find members at the register? Is an alternate key such as phone number able to be used?
I feel like ice cream, how bout you?
February 9th, 2010 on 12:09 am
[...] I’ve also been using Foursquare for a while and, like a lot of social media waves, I engaged knowing that it would cost me a little time without being sure of a return. I’ve been having some fun with it around my local haunts and have been thinking about how something like Foursquare could intersect with location based offers as part of a loyalty marketing program. My first eye-opener was the blending of Foursquare and Twitter into the Tasti D-Lite rewards program which I talked about in a recent post. [...]
September 22nd, 2010 on 4:33 am
[...] based marketing trials as well as McDonalds, Starbucks, Bravo and MTV. In the restaurant space, Tasti-D-Lite has become the poster-child for integrating location based marketing with a loyalty program. Even [...]
February 9th, 2011 on 11:09 am
[...] Loyalty” using passive social network check-in was pioneered by Tasti D-Lite and Loyalty Truth applauded its launch about this time last year. The work done between Tasti [...]