Loyalty 360 held its Loyalty, Reward and Incentive Expo 2009 at the Westin Diplomat in Hollywood, Florida between May 31 – June 2.  Over 500 attended the second edition of this conference and the report which follows was published at www.TheWiseMarketer.com on June 16, 2009 as filed by Bill Hanifin, North American Contributing Editor.

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New Channels Aid Loyal Customer Dialogue

The recent Loyalty Expo 2009 conference in Florida saw nearly 400 delegates (I was corrected by the organizer later that the number was over 500) gather to share ideas and innovations, with the overall informal theme being the discussion of new channels of communication that have recently become available to loyalty programme sponsors, and ways of fostering more meaningful dialogue with programme members, according to our US contributing editor Bill Hanifin.

Mobile phone applications and social media were hot topics and the conference sponsor, Loyalty360, put both into action itself during the event. Partnering with Vayulogic and Hanifin Loyalty, the organisers solicited feedback for conference sessions with SMS messaging and shared a live Twitter feed to foster networking and encourage real time discussion of presentations.

The three day event began with a series of workshops, most compelling of which was arguable “The Gamification of Loyalty“, presented by Barry Kirk and Tim Crank of Maritz Loyalty Marketing. The session demonstrated how game playing and competitive scenarios can be introduced in loyalty schemes to drive higher engagement, participation, and activity levels.

The general session keynote presentation featured Timothy Keiningham of IPSOS Loyalty, speaking about the realities and myths surrounding customer loyalty (largely based on Keiningham’s recently published book, Why Loyalty Matters).  Deborah Eastman of Satmetrix followed with an overview of the Net Promoter Score (NPS), and expanded on the basic concept to describe a methodology that could be applied as a planning mechanism for loyalty initiatives.

The conference then featured a range of subjects including sixteen panels on topics ranging from mobile marketing, B2B loyalty strategy, and global approaches to loyalty, grocery specific learnings, and how to translate the voice of the customer into higher programme engagement.

Among the highlights, Matt Howland of Loyalty Lab and Greg Dolan of Campbell’s Soup presented a compelling case for extending the relationship between CPGs and consumers beyond traditional channels, while Phil Rubin of rDialogue shared his thoughts on measuring loyalty programme performance.

Jonathan Silver of Affinity Solutions and Nick Medina of ExxonMobil provided insights into on how merchant funded rewards can be made more effective through strong retailer and bank relationships, while Bjorn Larsen of Edhance, Ragy Thomas of Aiti Solutions, and Atle Skalleberg of StudentUniverse joined forces for a lively discussion on how to engage with ‘millennials’.

The second day of the conference featured some 15 breakout sessions followed by roundtable discussions that Hanfin described as “the loyalty marketing version of speed dating“. Among the highlights, Mike Blyth of Groupe Aeroplan presented an insightful look at how UK grocer Sainsbury’s has connected loyalty programme data to SKU-level product information to drive more relevant promotions.

Another key presentation with implications for the future of loyalty was made by Don Hughes, CIO for Kobie Marketing.  Speaking from research recently completed by the company, Hughes talked about leveraging today’s mobile technologies to move products, reduce inventory, and increase communication.

Noting that there will be over 140 million smart phones in use by 2013 and that satisfaction ratings for smart phones are more than double that of conventional handsets, Hughes emphasized the importance of incorporating this medium into loyalty programme communications. Kobie’s study found that 94% of customers will complete a loyalty profile application through the mobile channel, compared to only 47% on the web.

This article is copyright 2009 TheWiseMarketer.com

The hazards of business travel aside, it’s good to see and be seen.  You can find Bill Hanifin at one of several events in the next few weeks. If you are attending either Card Forum or the Loyalty Expo, I hope you will say hello. Here’s where I can be found in the near future:

April 20 – 22, 2009
21st Annual Card Forum and Expo
Marco Island Marriott Beach Resort
Marco Island, FL

May 14th 2:30pm ET
Creating Loyalty Among Generation Y
Webinar sponsored by OnSite Conferences

May 31 – June 2, 2009
2009 Loyalty, Incentive and Reward Expo
Westin Diplomat
Hollywood, Florida

I recently made a presentation at the Loyalty Expo in Orlando, Florida about Marketing to Millennials. Even though I was working from a research base that covered the past 12 months, I was unsure if my observations would gain traction with the audience.

You know the drill, everyone knows everything these days and original thoughts are as rare as the Blood Diamond. To my surprise, people put their forks down during lunch, set their Blackberry’s aside, and listened. From this experience I learned an important lesson, information circulates rapidly these days but the increasing velocity encourages razor thin subject matter expertise rather than depth of knowledge.

If there was ever a time when people were spinning towards identification as “jacks of all trades and masters of none”, it is now. I also embraced another reality, that I am not an expert on this topic, just the guy who is dedicating time and resource to understanding the space and trying to make connections between traditional customer loyalty best practices and the ways we must adapt to reach Gen Y.

A source of confidence for those of us trying to figure out how to reach the younger generation comes from Howard Lax, Sr. Consultant, Harris Interactive who stated: “the drivers of loyalty are not materially different across the generations – the difference is how we communicate and the impression we make”.

Every human being wants to be rewarded fairly for their brand patrongage and wishes to be recognized in a personal manner along the way. Customized interaction and personal service are concepts that cross generations.

I had a great coach who once told me that he could “train any monkey to finish an Ironman”. Though not the highest complement at the time, the message was clear. Follow the plan, do the work, be diligent and patient and you will reach your goal. The same holds true in the rapidly changing marketing world. The people who blend wisdom learned from experience with diligent study of new trends will reach the finish.

Oh yea, there is one more requirement – you have to possess the courage to do the training and step up to the starting line.