After more than 100 posts I can say that Loyalty Truth has achieved a degree of permanency.

Founded on my own conviction and commitment, it is a welcome relief to have help. I express my gratitude to guest contributors Tom Rapsas, Jim Kuschill, Brian Kryzanski, and Mike Capizzi. They have each written about aspects of Loyalty Marketing where they have particular expertise and collectively they represent a growing foundation of support for this blog.

With so much to write about in the evolving Loyalty Marketing industry, the opportunity is here to establish some themes to follow for the future. Keep your eye out for articles categorized as “Loyalty 201“, “Loyalty in Any Language“, and “Loyalty Futures“. In addition, we’ll continue to document instances of the “Loyalty Asterisk“, to address the gotchas and tripwires of Loyalty Marketing.

• Loyalty 201 will address how essential elements of the business are evolving to meet the needs of increasingly empowered and knowledgeable customer groups. Here you will read about new directions in rewards, communications, and marketing technology which drive higher ROI for loyalty program sponsors. I’m assuming that my readers understand the basics and are ready to move on to consume solid food!
• Loyalty in Any Language will share learning from international markets. The influence of culture, custom, and unique business environments on the execution of effective marketing strategy is undeniable. These posts will provide a vital resource for any company with cross border interests. I will not only share my own first hand experiences working outside of our borders, but will showcase loyalty leaders from key markets around the world.
• Loyalty Futures will take inventory of just about anything that can be found in the crystal ball of Customer-centric strategic marketing. Where innovation in building brand loyalty and changing customer behavior is observed, we’ll share it here. Lots of big companies are trying to connect the dots of social media, millennials, digital CRM, and profitability and Loyalty Truth will makes its contribution to the cause.

According to what I read in the blogosphere, my approach to Loyalty Truth is somewhat non-conforming.

• I am driven by substance, not frequency of posting. Though I manage to get a dozen or so posts up each month, I have yet to publish a “throw away” article and hope I never do. There is so much change underway in Loyalty marketing that my inventory of “posts-to-do” is outpacing my time to properly research and post. This approach should translate into high quality posts that are almost mini case studies by themselves. You can be the judge.
• Balancing quality and readability is the next challenge. Beyond a certain length, you won’t spend time to read what’s posted, so I am saving some bigger topics for white papers to be published on the Hanifin Loyalty website.
• Lastly, I have to admit that while writing is an enjoyable pursuit, I publish Loyalty Truth with a purpose. The perspective, opinion, and experience that is baked into each post is meant to offer a teasing glimmer of insight into the value that Hanifin Loyalty brings to its clients. We confidently offer the highest level of strategic advice as well as exacting project management and tactical execution services to make sure clients reach their profitability targets. Give us a chance to serve as your portal for top-tier decision making. You’ll find there is still quite a value to be found in the dollar these days.

I hope you will enjoy these new features and spread the word about Loyalty Truth.

Enjoy the journey….

Editor’s note: I was fortunate to moderate a panel at  Loyalty Expo 2009 this week titled Building Engagement with Millennials. The panelists were rich in expertise engaging and building brand with Generation Y as well as using email and social media as tools for communications. Bjorn Larsen Founder & CEO Edhance,  Atle Skalleberg VP Marketing Student Universe, and Ragy Thomas Co-Founder & CEO Aiti Solutions took part.

One of my fascinations with extending the Loyalty Marketing model beyond its traditional borders is in working through resistance and dissenting opinions. I partnered with Loyalty 360 to use Twitter during the conference with mixed results and learned that not everyone shares the same view on what it will take to build loyalty among Millennials or if it can be done at all.  Contributing Author Brian Kryzanski offers his view on GenY with this post “Generation crY”

Click here to see the connection between Generation crY and “You’ll Get Nothing and Like It”

Let the debate begin!

Generation crY

I want everything now, for free. I want to be treated with respect and don’t try to outsmart me, because you can’t. I want to come right out of college into the CEO chair because I know everything and always win. Simply put, I do not fail! Welcome to Generation crY- a generation of spoiled brats who were brought up in Never Never Land and told by their parents that they are no less than perfect. A trophy for everyone, no losers, no wrong doing, completely invincible, and everybody plays! What have the Boomers and X-generation created?

When I was growing up, and it wasn’t long ago, I was taught that hard work and determination is rewarded. I didn’t get trophies for simply showing up, and didn’t make the team if I wasn’t great or at very least showed 100% passion and effort. I was taught it was ok to fail, to lose, and it was just one step closer towards winning. My high school baseball coach use to say “second place is no place”, and if you were not first or the best, you were told you stink and no one sugar-coated it. You practiced harder, played tougher, studied more, and still were not guaranteed success. If you did bear fruit from your efforts, you then truly know what it is to be a winner, or successful, and appreciate the process.

Athletes are great examples of exactly what I am talking about. Pitchers pitched 9 innings and threw over 120 pitches “back in the day”. People played when they had bruises and bumps, and there were no such things as Social Anxiety Disorders. Why do we have that? Simple, when they get to the “bigs” and are not stellar, they cannot comprehend it. Rookie quarterbacks demanding multi-million dollar contracts before taking a snap in the NFL, or crying it’s not their team of choice – our fault!

We have made Never Never Land a reality! A place where our upcoming consumers are never fooled! The days of hard work and sweat equity are over, and we have created an environment that we are not only responsible for, but challenged as Loyalty or any other genre of marketers to succeed in.

We are told that we are too old and don’t understand the space they play in. Ah, but are fools being fooled? After all, we created Never Land and Tinker Bell has been hard at work creating a new Never Land called My Space, Facebook, and Twitter!

Are the Boomers and GenX marketers really worried, or are they simply still playing the game that they started years ago? We will continue to tell them how good they are as long as they continue to drink the cool aid. Maybe when the responsibilities of GenY increase they will realize that Facebook cannot warm the baby bottles and they actually have to get up and put it in the microwave! Don’t underestimate the X-Factor. We have built the technology and societies you play in, and hold the pixie dust that has been sprinkled among your communities. If all it takes is pizza and beer to hear how good our tactics are working, then we get off cheap.

Editor’s note: I was fortunate to moderate a panel at  Loyalty Expo 2009 this week titled Building Engagement with Millennials. The panelists were rich in expertise engaging and building brand with Generation Y as well as using email and social media as tools for communications. Bjorn Larsen Founder & CEO Edhance,  Atle Skalleberg VP Marketing Student Universe, and Ragy Thomas Co-Founder & CEO Aiti Solutions took part.

One of my fascinations with extending the Loyalty Marketing model beyond its traditional borders is in working through resistance and dissenting opinions. I partnered with Loyalty 360 to use Twitter during the conference with mixed results and learned that not everyone shares the same view on what it will take to build loyalty among Millennials or if it can be done at all.  Contributing Author Brian Kryzanski offers his view on GenY with this post “Generation crY”

Click here to see the connection between Generation crY and “You’ll Get Nothing and Like It”

Let the debate begin!

Generation crY

I want everything now, for free. I want to be treated with respect and don’t try to outsmart me, because you can’t. I want to come right out of college into the CEO chair because I know everything and always win. Simply put, I do not fail! Welcome to Generation crY- a generation of spoiled brats who were brought up in Never Never Land and told by their parents that they are no less than perfect. A trophy for everyone, no losers, no wrong doing, completely invincible, and everybody plays! What have the Boomers and X-generation created?

When I was growing up, and it wasn’t long ago, I was taught that hard work and determination is rewarded. I didn’t get trophies for simply showing up, and didn’t make the team if I wasn’t great or at very least showed 100% passion and effort. I was taught it was ok to fail, to lose, and it was just one step closer towards winning. My high school baseball coach use to say “second place is no place”, and if you were not first or the best, you were told you stink and no one sugar-coated it. You practiced harder, played tougher, studied more, and still were not guaranteed success. If you did bear fruit from your efforts, you then truly know what it is to be a winner, or successful, and appreciate the process.

Athletes are great examples of exactly what I am talking about. Pitchers pitched 9 innings and threw over 120 pitches “back in the day”. People played when they had bruises and bumps, and there were no such things as Social Anxiety Disorders. Why do we have that? Simple, when they get to the “bigs” and are not stellar, they cannot comprehend it. Rookie quarterbacks demanding multi-million dollar contracts before taking a snap in the NFL, or crying it’s not their team of choice – our fault!

We have made Never Never Land a reality! A place where our upcoming consumers are never fooled! The days of hard work and sweat equity are over, and we have created an environment that we are not only responsible for, but challenged as Loyalty or any other genre of marketers to succeed in.

We are told that we are too old and don’t understand the space they play in. Ah, but are fools being fooled? After all, we created Never Land and Tinker Bell has been hard at work creating a new Never Land called My Space, Facebook, and Twitter!

Are the Boomers and GenX marketers really worried, or are they simply still playing the game that they started years ago? We will continue to tell them how good they are as long as they continue to drink the cool aid. Maybe when the responsibilities of GenY increase they will realize that Facebook cannot warm the baby bottles and they actually have to get up and put it in the microwave! Don’t underestimate the X-Factor. We have built the technology and societies you play in, and hold the pixie dust that has been sprinkled among your communities. If all it takes is pizza and beer to hear how good our tactics are working, then we get off cheap.

Editor’s Note: Brian Kryzanski is one of the visionary leaders in the Loyalty Marketing industry and we are proud to introduce him to you as our newest Contributing Author at Loyalty Truth. Brian broke new ground while leading the launch of “Live It With Charter”, the new loyalty initiative at Charter Communications.  I hope you enjoy Brian’s insightful article on what it takes to gain traction for Loyalty programs in the Executive suite and at the Board level of major companies. Brian can be reached via Brian.Kryzanski@chartercom.com

The Art of Selling Customer Loyalty

Over the past five years customer loyalty has become a high priority for many businesses, but a low one when it comes to pulling the trigger on the financial investment and overall commitment that is needed to be successful. The bad economy has been top of mind for many businesses as they look to tighten their belts on their budgets and many times loyalty doesn’t make the cut.

Why is this? Most companies want to see an immediate return on their investment and lack the vision needed to see the benefits of building strong relationships with their customers over an extended period of time.

Companies that have loyalty programs are relying on them heavily as a retention tool as marketing dollars diminish. We all know it is much cheaper to retain a customer then to get new ones. Loyalty programs not only build stronger relationships with current customers, they increase share of wallet as well.  In tough economic times it is important to remember that the consumers are belt tightening as well, and have more choices today in how they do business than ever before.

If you are the one spearheading the charge in gathering the facts for your company in regards to the benefits of a loyalty program, assume your audience has minimal knowledge. When pleading your case, most executives want to see hard core numbers, ROI, and what results it will generate in the next 6 months.  Loyalty marketing is based on emotional stimulus, which can be complicated to measure and explain. It would be like telling your spouse you love them and then having to prove it on paper through analysis. It can be done, but you must set the expectations up front.

When I started “Live It With Charter” the new loyalty program at Charter Communications, we put a compelling proposal together backed up by a pilot program that proved its effectiveness. Be sure to understand your executive audience and show them what is needed to prove your case. Many times when they hear “loyalty programs” one assumes it comes with spending a lot of money on awards and prizes in hopes to retain customers. It is crucial to explain the back end analytics at work and how easy it is to gather valuable data from loyalty program members. The goal is to enable 1:1 marketing utilizing customer insights that lead to better response rates through email, direct mail and telemarketing in your acquisition efforts.

It is very important to remember that loyalty programs are not a magic bullet. The concept needs to be embraced by the entire organization, and excellent customer service needs to be at the forefront. Loyalty is just a piece of the overall customer experience and many consumers want to feel like they are getting something for doing business with you.

As we transition to the new era of loyalty marketing, it is important to be as educated as possible. I was grilled from all members of the organization, and the more I was able to answer questions and back them up, the more comfortable they became. Loyalty is a very “loose” term as it means different things to different people.  Building Loyalty requires a long term investment, and companies cannot make the mistake of sticking their toe in the water instead of jumping in. The results are not immediate, but will sure pay off long term.