According to USA Today, on Monday, pizza chain Papa Johns will announce plans to give a free large pizza to every American — if the Super Bowl goes into its first-ever overtime. The catch: You must sign up for its online loyalty program before game day (Feb. 6).

“We’d rather give away millions in free pizzas than spend millions on a spot,” says Andrew Varga, Papa John’s marketing chief.

Because Papa John’s is an NFL sponsor — advertising in games all season, he says, “We don’t feel the need to make the investment in the game.” The free pizza deal — which he estimates could cost Papa John’s 100,000 pizzas — will be promoted digitally, he says. The chain also will randomly give away pizzas on Super Bowl Sunday to folks who order online.

According to Papa John’s Facebook page, customers simply need to go to papajohns.com, open an account and register for Papa Points to “get in the game.”  If Superbowl XLV goes into overtime, Papa Johns will offer everyone who registers a free large pizza.  You can see the official rules HERE.

Loyalty marketing publication COLLOQUY wrote a cover story about restaurant loyalty programs in 1997 noting that most frequent-diner programs were still “missing some key ingredients.”  The COLLOQUY article noted:

The fact that customers by the hundreds of thousands are ready and eager to enroll in these programs underlines and confirms their appetite for the value-added, interactive relationships these programs promise either explicitly or implicitly. But most of these programs fail to deliver on their relationship promises.

The current frequent-diner template is simple and superficial. Customers join and earn points based on dollars spent in the restaurant. Mag-striped membership cards are swiped by cashiers to capture visit dates, times, locations and dollars spent. Points are redeemed for gift certificates which can be used for discounts and/or free items in the restaurant. Point earnings and totals are printed on the dining receipt and/or on quarterly account statements mailed to the member. A toll-free number permits members to inquire about their account balances or about program features and benefits. What’s wrong with this picture? Lots.

More than a decade later, loyalty in the fast-food segment still hasn’t reached its full potential although social and mobile media are making it simpler and easier for customers to participate.

Hardees and Carl’s Jr. fast-food chains recently launched their own loyalty mobile apps for iPhone and Android phones that reward customers for “checking in” at any of their 3,000 locations.  The Happy Star Rewards application, available through iTunes, allows users to reveal their locations in exchange for free food and prizes.

Announcing a New Loyalty Program with a Single Member: You.

With all the talk of loyalty programs here on Loyalty Truth, I’m proposing a unique new program to kick off the new year. This new loyalty scheme is for a market that’s often under appreciated, overworked and overlooked—you, the loyalty marketing professional.

The fact is as we move into 2011, you’ve probably set up specific business-oriented goals for the year ahead, as well as personal goals. But a funny thing happens to the predominantly Type-A personalities who occupy the loyalty space—as the year progresses, your personal goals get squeezed out as business picks up.

The solution? A program that rewards your hard work, not with miles or points, but with the more valuable reward of time. And for the program strategy, I turn to one of the masters of business and life management, Napoleon Hill.

You may recognize Hill as the author of the classic Think and Grow Rich. First published in 1937, the book’s message about gaining monetary success through visualization, hard work and a positive attitude, still holds true today.

Even more compelling than that book though, is the sequel to Think and Grow Rich which was published 40 years after the original. In 1967, an 84-year old Hill had come to a slightly different conclusion about the role of work in our lives and what success truly meant. The sequel’s title: Grow Rich—with Peace of Mind.

It seems that after a lifetime of fame, riches and service as an advisor to three presidents, the elderly Hill began to whistle a different tune: be successful—but have a life, too. Hill’s not pitching a 4-hour workweek here, but suggests that one of the best ways to achieve peace of mind is to “make a time budget”.

Spread out over a 24-hour day, his time management program looks like this:

• 8 hours a day for sleep and rest
• 8 hours a day for work at your profession (but as your success grows, work less than 8 hours)
• 8 “particularly precious” hours “devoted to things you wish to do, not have to do.”

Hill’s suggestions for the final 8 hours include: “play, social life, reading, writing, playing a musical instrument, tending a garden, or just sitting and watching the clouds or the stars.” You can add to that, quality time with the family, prayer, exercise, cooking, sex, or whatever activity makes you happy.

Hill firmly believed that all business could be taken care of within an 8-hour time frame, and that the key to success was to consistently take advantage of the “8 precious hours”. He amplifies this point by stating: “Do not let a day go by without taking some time for yourself — some time you spend in pure pleasure, as you see it.”

The bottom line is this: sure, we all need to make money. But in the year ahead, let’s have a plan in place to reward and take care of ourselves. After all, success is measured by more than the money in our bank accounts. It’s also measured by the richness of our lives.

Marketers spend a lot of money tracking what we buy so they can tailor promotions to our specific needs. Now, we consumers can take that tracking into our own hands, and at home.

Enter CoupSmart, a mobile application wherein consumers scan the UPC codes of products they already purchased and in return receive customized packages of free samples and coupons each month. The brainchild of a former Kroger Co. executive in Cincinnati, CoupSmart has connections with retailers and manufacturers that make such fulfillment possible. The information is shared with these partners anonymously.

The app (available only on iPhone now, but coming to Blackberry and Android) is designed as an alternative to paper coupons, but has the added benefit of delivering rewards to consumers. Smart, because this in turn establishes a more intimate connection between shoppers and their brands.

For instance, every month CoupSmart gives out prizes to members who have scanned at least 30 items. It also gives out weekly and daily rewards and includes fun charts on its site showing the top scanners.

To join, consumers sign up at Coupsmart.com – this will require some personal info such as home address, in order to create an accurate profile. Next, they download the app and prepare to scan.

Marketers have set their sights on mobile marketing as the next frontier, and that territory is quickly becoming settled. Fortunately, this rapid advancement provides consumers with a powerful tool, underscored by the fact that mobile phones are literally held in our hands.

At a time when privacy is an increasingly looming concern, among consumers and government agencies, giving us more control is a big step toward assurance.

————

Lisa Biank Fasig is Director of Public Relations at JZMcBride and Associates

Often times, as I cash in my CVS Extra Bucks or Nordstrom Notes, I wonder how much these loyalty programs cost retailers. For some, I imagine they are a valuable loss leader. And done well, a good number should cross over into profitability.

So I ran a quick check of several recent quarterly reports and, well, it turns out a lot of retailers do not provide much detail. Costs related to their loyalty programs are typically included in the selling, general and administrative expenses, and not broken out.

But I did find a few, and the figures are interesting.

Nordstrom

The service-minded retailer is willing to pay a premium for our rewards. In its second-quarter report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Seattle-based Nordstrom said the cost of sales and related expenses, which include the “Nordstrom Notes” redeemed under its Fashion Rewards Program, rose to $18 million in the quarter, from $13 million the year before. For the first six months of the year, such expenses rose to $34 million, from $25 million.

Nordstrom went on to explain that the higher expenses were due to the increased use of Nordstrom credit cards and of program benefits. “We provide these benefits to our customers as participation in the Fashion Rewards program generates enhanced customer loyalty and incremental sales in our stores.”

Sales rose 12.5 percent in the second quarter, to $2.42 billion from almost $2.15 billion the year before. Credit card revenue, which includes finance charges, late fees and third-party interchange fees, rose 12.6 percent, to $98 million from $87 million.

Target

The style-focused value chain delivered lower costs from its loyalty program. In the second quarter, program-related costs declined to $17 million, from $21 million in the year-ago quarter. For the first half of the year, these discounts totaled $34 million, compared with $41 million in the first half of 2009.

Sales in the quarter rose about 4 percent, to $15.13 billion from $14.57 billion. For the first half of the year, they rose almost 5 percent, to $30.28 billion from $28.93 billion.

For those interested: Minneapolis-based Target lumps its rewards redemption costs with its new credit card account expenses. It then moves these expenses from retail SG&A and plants them in the credit card segment, as operations and marketing costs.

Ann Taylor

The specialty women’s apparel chain is scaling down on its loyalty costs, which are accounted for as either the cost of sales or sales discounts.

All together, those two expenses equaled $1.5 million in the second quarter, down from $1.7 million the year before. But in the first six months of 2010, these expenses rose to $3.1 million from $2.9 million in 2009 (most of that increase is weighted in the cost of sales).

Quarterly sales rose almost 3 percent, to $483.47 million from $470.23 million. For the first half of the year, sales rose 7 percent to $ 959.65 million from $ 896.98 million.

So next you get a “gimme” from your favorite retailer, it’s worth keeping in mind that someone is counting it.

About the Author: Lisa Biank Fasig is Director of Public Relations at JZMcBride and Associates.  In her previous life, she was a retail reporter.

While I’m a firm believer that you shouldn’t post anything online that you wouldn’t want everyone to see, many might be happy to know that Facebook’s privacy capabilities are getting stronger. This week, Facebook announced a new feature called Groups, which will allow users to divide their network into smaller sub-networks, like friends, relatives, classmates and coworkers.

With Groups, users can selectively share their information, instant message and edit online documents with the people in a chosen group. Now “Work Stefanie” and “Play Stefanie” don’t have to be the same person.

Yes, this does sound familiar. Facebook already has something called Friend Lists which let you set up subgroups in your network, but compared to Groups, Friend Lists is much more manual – and only 5 percent of members regularly use it.

If you wanted to create a group of old college friends, you had to weed through your friends list and manually click on each person to add them to the group. With Groups, you can set up a ‘College’ group and only add a few people. The people you added can then add other people to the group, and before you know it, your whole group is set up. And if you are tagged into a group you don’t want to be in, all you have to do is leave.

Stefanie Stricklin is a Public Relations Manager at JZMcBride and Associates.

Editor’s Note: Does this seem like a clever or clumsy way for Facebook to address their ongoing privacy issues?

Would the owner of a blue Honda Civic please come to the front desk…Your lights are on. It’s situations like these that Bump.com is trying to help resolve more efficiently. Theservice, touted as “AAA meets Foursquare” by founder Michael Thrower, is essentially a social networking tool that links drivers through their automobile’s license plates.

The idea is that drivers will be able to communicate with other motorists, the government and marketers—using license plates as identifiers. Bump’s video explores a bevy of solutions that it will offer fellow drivers, including everything from alerting when a taillight is out to letting someone know about leaking oil.

The possibilities of Bump do not end with simply helping other drivers. The company has also expressed how there are endless other ways to put the service to use. A few of these, according to Wired Magazine include, “Fleets and cab companies using Bump to contact their drivers, meter maids alerting you when your car is about to get towed, car manufacturers sending important recall information directly to Bump accounts and eventually drivers being able to renew their licenses and registrations through the service.”

As with any new social networking service, Bump has raised privacy concerns. Objections to social media that can track an individual’s location and activity will always exist. A Bump member can choose to share their personal information or not, but this does not answer all of these legitimate privacy uncertainties.

Thrower said Bump will be in a public beta by Thanksgiving, so that leaves the rest of us to speculate. Will Bump take off and enjoy similar success like its social networking kin? Predictions are all over the map for Bump, but the service’s critics seem to be the loudest right now.

Don’t forget though, back in 2004 people said a website with that linked 1 million college students would never grow to become worth an estimated $40 billion and redefine how the world uses the Internet.

Everyone has to start somewhere, right Facebook?

By: Ray Kowatch, of JZMcBride and Associates

Earlier this week, social media author Chris Brogan wrote a blog post about how to get your press release/news noticed by influential bloggers titled “Improve Your Pitch’s Chance of Success.” Brogan’s blog concludes with this thought:  ”PR isn’t bad. Bad PR is bad. You’re probably doing it right. Unless you’re doing it wrong.  For more classic examples of bad PR, check out the Bad Pitch Blog.

There are many effective ways to generate media coverage.  Often, a targeted pitch (preferably after you’ve done your homework about what the reporter covers, likes, etc.) is the most effective tactic.  However, when you’re trying to reach a broad audience, a press release can be a very effective vehicle, if it’s crafted correctly.

It’s a common mistake to be thinking of newspaper and magazine readers when composing a press release. The only true audience for a press release is the reporters and editors who decide if the information ever sees the light of day. Here are some unfiltered tips:

• Let writers do the writing, not the executive secretary, not the director of development, not someone from IT.  Communicating with the media is too important to be left to the amateurs.
• The reporter isn’t interested in helping you make money. He could care less about your great selection and super customer service. He only wants the info that will help him get a good story. Take your inclination to sell, sell, sell out of it. Marketing-speak offends reporters.
• Say something is first, most, fastest, tallest – that’s likely to get attention. Use words like money, fat, cancer or sex and you’re likely to get some ink.
• No good whatsoever are words like solutions, leading edge, mission critical, end-to-end and turnkey.
• Avoid the temptation to clutter your lead with a glowing generalization about your company, such as: XYZ Corp., a global leader in the manufacture of high-end widgets for the royalty of Europe. Many releases are written this way, despite the fact that editors delete this kind of fluff. Everybody says they’re the leader. Don’t waste the editor’s time.
• Don’t tease them. Get the most important information out at the top of your release and then give more details. Don’t forget the specifics, such as numbers.
• No more than three pages. Two pages are good, but one is better. No more than one page… you get the point.
• Create a small text box with bulleted content that adds relevancy to the story.
• Take William Safire’s advice and “avoid clichés like the plague.”

I’m about to give you some news about the results of a Pew Research Center study released this week on American news consumption trends. So, if this is the first you’ve heard of thePew study, consider your source to be an online blog.

Pew’s major finding is that Americans are spending more time following the news than they have over much of the past decade, as a consequence of the fact that there are many more ways to get the news.

According to Pew, instead of replacing traditional news platforms (television, radio and print newspapers), Americans are increasingly integrating Internet and mobile digital technologies into their news consumption habits.

“The net impact of digital platforms supplementing traditional sources is that Americans are spending more time with the news than was the case a decade ago. As was the case in 2000, people now say they spend 57 minutes on average getting the news from TV, radio or newspapers on a given day. But today, they also spend an additional 13 minutes getting news online, increasing the total time spent with the news to 70 minutes. This is one of the highest totals on this measure since the mid-1990s,” Pew said.

First thing I should say is – thanks for spending some of your 70 minutes on this blog. Before I run out of time, here are some tidbits from way down at the bottom of the Pew release that your other sources of news (traditional or digital) might not include in their reporting:

• In 2008 67% of liberal Democrats said they enjoyed the news a lot, compared with just 45% today.
• While 26% of all Americans say they read a print newspaper yesterday, that figure falls to just 8% among adults younger than 30.
• Most Facebook and Twitter users say they hardly ever or never get news there.
• The public struggled with a four-question current events quiz — just 14% answered all four correctly. But about half (51%) of regular Wall Street Journal readers aced the quiz, as did 42% of regular New York Times readers.

Tim Sansbury is Vice President of Public Relations at JZMcBride and Associates.

Editor’s Note: The interesting stats Tim shares in this post should make marketers think about how they should be planning their next communications campaign. What are your thoughts?

A new loyalty program may soon be rewarding shoppers who purchase brands by Madonna, Martha Stewart and Donald Trump – and they do not have to charge it.

Macy’s Inc., which sells exclusive labels under each of these celebrities, is testing a new loyalty program in three U.S. markets. The Cincinnati-based department store company is pretty mum on the pilot – it does not want to risk skewing the results – but did confirm the test launched in the spring and that it is tender neutral, meaning customers can earn rewards whether they use a Macy’s card, a third-party card or pay by cash or check.

In an Aug. 11 conference call with analysts, Macy’s Chief Financial Officer Karen Hoguet said early results of the pilot are encouraging, but it is “way too early to judge the results.”

The test is designed to complement Macy’s Star Rewards, a four-tiered loyalty program that awards points and discounts for purchases. But instead of delivering the rewards in the mail with a statement, the pilot program also delivers them at the register when a customer makes a purchase – again, by cash or credit.

A company spokesman said the test markets are in the West, Midwest and Northeast U.S. and that an end-date for the run has not yet been established.

Macy’s has made significant strides in terms of customer engagement since completing the roll-out of its national My Macy’s merchandising program in 2009, a sweeping reorganization designed to improve sales by tailoring merchandise on a store-by-store basis. This localization effort, which puts merchandisers and planners right in the aisles, is credited with improving sales and margin. (Same-store sales rose almost 5 percent on the second quarter, beating expectations.)

Macy’s also is in the midst of training 130,000 sales associates and managers on customer engagement, a process expected to be complete in September.

As for those celebrity brands – that has been a Macy’s strategy for several years. Being a national department store brand, its CEO, Terry Lundgren, recognized that  private labels and exclusive merchandising agreements would differentiate the chain from competitors. Almost 20 percent of its 2009 sales were generated from private labels, such as Alfani, I-N-C and Hotel Collection. Martha and The Donald, et al., kick in an estimated 15 percent to 20 percent on top of that.

The loyalty program, if it succeeds, would be one more differentiator, with the added benefit of encouraging dedication to these brands.

About the Author:  Lisa Biank Fasig is Director of Public Relations for JZMcBride and Associates.