In the past week, business has taken me to Vancouver, BC and San Jose, Costa Rica with a pit stop in South Florida for a day or so at home. None of that was a big deal until my colleague Mike Atkin noted at dinner that we’ve been hitting these spots in conjunction with some [...]

After spending the last few weeks thinking through reasonable responses to my new favorite question for 2010 “Do you think Social Media is here to stay?“, I’ve recently been re-directed to my “old” favorite question that I have been answering for 12 years “Do loyalty programs work?“
Without disappearing completely down that gopher-hole, I’ll just say [...]

Where is everyone’s Brand Loyalty? Is it with NBC, Leno or Conan? There’s no apparent popular effort to bring Leno back to the Tonight Show – but there is a whole lot of buzz on the Social Media web sites in support of Conan. Simply put, NBC would be stupid to let Conan go.

I read some really great year end posts during the week leading up to New Year’s Day. Amidst the “Top 10/50/100″ lists, there were thoughtful, humorous, and motivational takes on how to evaluate 2009 and approach 2010 with energy and enthusiasm.
One or two that caused me to take my finger off the mouse and pause [...]

Atlantic City, the famed gambling Mecca about an hour down the coast from me, is on a nasty losing streak. A recent story in the NY Times quoted a top gambling executive as saying “the city is in a death spiral.” Few disagreed.
It seems that after a rough couple of years, 2009 is looking even [...]

At times, Marketers can be real Bozos…….or is it BOGOS?
Striving for creativity can unleash the best and worst in marketers and while I’m not afraid to make mistakes, I try to avoid outsmarting myself as much as possible.
Folks working in the marketing space will agree that we have to be sharp as tacks to stay [...]

How many people still get excited about getting mail delivered to their home?
I remember waiting for the mailman to pull up to the mailbox as a kid and running to see what came. Was there something for Me? A new flyer from my favorite store? A card from Grandma? It is something that stays [...]

Back in late-April, on these very Web pages, I called out the Saturn car company for its failure to engage with its customers.  As rumors circulated about the company’s potential sale—or imminent demise—I pointed out there was a glaring lack of information coming from the company’s ImSaturn social network site, a place where many true [...]

In the beginning, there were punchcards. Since then, man has created magnetic stripe and bar code cards, smart cards, java rings, and RFID cards. Technology has evolved greatly over the past 25 years, and loyalty sponsors and providers are still seeking the silver bullet of delivery devices.
While we’re busy debating which technology will win out, I [...]

We recently published a new Case Study examining the competitive scenario between two leading retailers of cycling gear and supplies – Bike Nashbar and Performance Bike. There is a de-facto advantage to one of the players and a key channel that the other can leverage to fight back.
The ultimate question: What would you do if [...]