Carrabba’s Italian Grill stands apart from many of its chain restaurant competitors. Sure, the food is freshly prepared, the wood-burning grill adds ambiance to the setting, and the service is excellent, but I was thinking about their approach to building customer loyalty.
Looking at several national competitors in quick-serve (QSR) and white-table restaurant chains, I found [...]

Anytime we review a loyalty or rewards program for our readers, we use the available facts as assumptions in a model that estimates the effectiveness of the program.
Because all customers are not the same, we normally create a customer profile based on spending patterns and objectives and project the earning velocity for those segments. As [...]

Today was a groundbreaking day for brands that sponsor loyalty and rewards programs.
I woke up this morning and scanned my email. My local coffee shop sent me a free coffee coupon by email and, upon ordering in the store, was able to flash my Android smartphone to the server and cash in my coupon.
Later that [...]

Every day I play on the seesaw.
It seems like I have one call with a person who expresses doubt about the efficacy of traditionally structured loyalty programs, and then turn around and inadvertently encounter a new program to add to my growing list that I have catalogued and reviewed.
Every seesaw has a balance point.
In this [...]

There are two forms of brilliance in business – one displayed by people who invent things we haven’t thought about before (Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare) and those that find a way to incorporate these new communications channels into mainstream business to generate revenue.
In many aspects of social media, we are waiting for the dots to be [...]

What do chocolate, red wine, credit cards and the internet have in common?
Each offers benefits or represents risks for human beings. And, if you read the results of consumer research on a regular basis, you’ll find that each fills the role of hero and villain depending on which survey results you read.
If you follow nutritional [...]

What do chocolate, red wine, credit cards and the internet have in common?
Each offers benefits or represents risks for human beings. And, if you read the results of consumer research on a regular basis, you’ll find that each fills the role of hero and villain depending on which survey results you read.
If you follow nutritional [...]

I’m honored to have made strong alliances with respected people in my industry. Though I wouldn’t turn down sensible sponsorship, each of the icons on the right hand panel of the Loyalty Truth are there through mutual agreement, not due to an advertising deal.
Once in a while, one of my strategic partners gives me time [...]

I’m honored to have made strong alliances with respected people in my industry. Though I wouldn’t turn down sensible sponsorship, each of the icons on the right hand panel of the Loyalty Truth are there through mutual agreement, not due to an advertising deal.
Once in a while, one of my strategic partners gives me time [...]

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 [...]