BrainTrust Query: Loyalty 360 Weighs in on 12 Key Loyalty Marketing Trends for 2010

Commentary by Mark Johnson, President and CEO, Loyalty 360

Through a special arrangement, presented here for discussion is a summary of a current article from the Loyalty Marketing 360 blog.

Engagement. Collaboration. Sustainability. ROI. Some may call these buzzwords, but I predict these are bottom-line concepts that will drive loyalty marketing in 2010.

Overall, 12 key trends will dominate the Loyalty Marketing Industry in 2010:

1. Engagement is the goal. Most organizations don't know how to define engagement, how to incorporate it into their marketing strategies, and most importantly how to measure, monitor, increase and sustain it.
2. There is a keen focus on sustainability. Given customers' confusion over "greenwashing" and often higher prices for green products, brands that claim to be environmentally responsible need to be authentic and transparent in their marketing efforts in order to achieve true commitment.
3. Loyalty programs will become more collaborative. Merchants and banks want to work with the other's members to create unique communities that can provide value, behavioral information and insight they cannot get in the market.
4. The need for metrics and quantifiable ROI is profound. The market wants to know what types of return they should be achieving, yet benchmarks are not to be found.
5. There is a vast dichotomy between old school and new school incentive programs. The market is moving toward adopting the new school mindset, which is focused on data, insight, and sustainable behavioral change.
6. Customers are dissatisfied with old school "what has my customer done for me lately" loyalty programs. Brands need to implement loyalty programs that respond to this opportunity.
7. Focus is on "voice of the customer" to drive bottom line results. Those who engage in a true "voice of the customer" approach within their loyalty, engagement, and customer experience initiatives will continue to increase their market share, profitability and brand equity.
8. Brands, CPGs, and channel program providers have been dis-intermediated from their customers. Merchants want to develop programs that will give them more access and insight to their customers and dialogue with them directly.
9. Changes in the funding for credit card loyalty programs are shifting costs, which impacts how the programs are implemented and run. Banks are looking for more engaging loyalty/incentive/engagement marketing programs with different costs models that can prove unique and provide measureable behavioral change. The interest in open forums and communities to address these opportunities continues to grow.
10. Large retailers are trying to leverage their brands. They want to expand the control, impact and overall direction of their customer experience, loyalty, and engagement marketing initiatives.
11. There is a large and growing interest in social, mobile, and emerging media. Yet the responses we are seeing suggest that there is still confusion over how to implement these programs. The "vanguard" and the "visionary" leaders in this market at times seem to be more interested in "chest thumping" instead of listening to market opportunities and solving problems.
12. The interest in webinars, case studies, and best practices is more and more important to the market. The market wants to leverage those organizations, which have completed these processes (case studies), understand practical market based solutions (best practices), and have presented them in an ongoing learning process (webinars).

Discussion Questions: What overall trends do you see driving loyalty marketing in 2010? Which theme mentioned in the article do you think is most important?

• Loyalty 360 Weighs in on 12 Key Loyalty Marketing Trends for 2010 - Loyalty 360