HOW TO KEEP THEM COMING BACK TO US
It is thought that we each gain energy from different types of activities. For me, I tend to become energized from certain types of conversations. In particular, conversations that reveal a set of thoughtful insights or offer up a fresh perspective are energy builders because they raise my understanding and are the most rewarding.
However, it’s not just “what” is discussed but also “with whom” the discussion is taking place that matters. The spark that comes from talking with individuals that are humble enough to hear from others, yet confident enough to state their own claim, are unparalleled in creating better understanding and very often, I’ve noticed, foster some form of change – a change in voice, a change of direction, a change in ambitions or other.
This is why I’m very excited about the conversations that will take place in only a few weeks among a group of approximately 100 leading loyalty marketers. At our fourth annual Loyalty Academy Conference these executives and industry professionals, whether attending in-person or through our livestream video cast, are sure to be immersed in very energizing conversations.
On March 7th we will be talking about what changes companies have made to improve their loyalty promise with their customers, why they focused on specific change agents, and how they instituted their customer strategies to keep customers coming back to their brands. Here is what attendees can expect to learn from and discuss with our speakers:
LOYALTY IS HOTTING UP IN NON-TRADITIONAL VERTICALS
- Yesway kicks off the conference talking about why and how this fast-growing convenience store retailer has made loyalty a hallmark of its organizational psyche. We will talk about how loyalty is gaining traction in c-store and quick-serve verticals, but also how its enabling gains for Yesway across its unique customer base, with its CPG partners, and driving uptake of its private-label merchandise.
TECHNOLOGY IS FUELING PRACTICAL COMMUNICATIONS BASED ON BROADER DATA SETS
- Modernization and sound use of consumer data is the path forward for Kroger’s 84.51 to keep atop the competitive USA grocery landscape and to protect against competitors, such as Amazon, entering into brick and mortar retail. This conversation will center on the benefits that come from using advance customer profiles with data from the web, social, and in-store interactions with customers.
- Canada’s largest coalition program, AIR MILES, will outline how levering data across a diverse retail partner base is creating meaningful value for their collectors. This conversation will be dually charged as it offers a view to the robustness of analytics that comes from broad data sets and then how these long-standing coalition experts are evolving as the coalition loyalty landscape is shifting on how “coalition” is defined.
CONSUMERS ARE BEHAVING DIFFERENTLY … AND IT’S EMOTIONAL
- Loyalty marketers have always been focused on how to keep customers coming back to buy more in the future. Maritz Loyalty creates a conversation that will blend their practitioner with an academic point of view from the University of South Carolina on what cultural shifts are influencing the attention of consumers and the means for how a digitally conversant generation is making purchase decisions given their bevy of choices.
- Kobie Marketing talks with us about how to foster stronger relationships by focusing on the influencers on purchase decisions that are emotive in nature. This conversation is going to be interesting as it shifts the thinking for loyalty marketers to consider how they can monetize the emotional connections that brands establish with their customer base through their customer strategies.
FEE-BASED LOYALTY IS OFF THE SHELF AND BEING DUSTED OFF
- “What’s old is now new again” is a phrase that seems appropriate for the active discussions taking place in our industry around introducing paid-loyalty models into customer marketing programs. This resurgence is a result of Amazon Prime’s ability to successfully create an ancillary revenue stream that clearly is contributing to a consolidation of spend by Prime members with the e-commerce retailer. But fee-based rewards programs are not a new concept, which is why some brands, like the SCENE Rewards Program for Cineplex and Scotiabank, are taking a more moderated approach to introducing this model to their movie goers.
The Wise Marketer and the Loyalty Academy are committed to creating a forum for the exchange of ideas, thoughts, and opinions on the issues that are most material for loyalty and customer engagement marketers. Our approach to conferences is different than others since we’re focused on curating a day of forward-thinking conversations and doing so in a much less commercialized environment.
I think this set of conversations meets the expectation we’ve created for our thought-leadership conference. Now we’re looking to enhance this content with a richness of commentary that comes from having a room filled with a diverse set of industry professionals and brand marketers that are customer-first in mindset.
If you haven’t yet registered to join us in Fort Lauderdale on the evening of March 6th and for the full day of March 7th then I recommend you click here to register today.
Don’t miss out. I hope to see you in Florida!
Aaron Dauphinee, Chief Operating Officer
Wise Marketer Group
