This Week's News
The weekly Loyalty Newswire from The Wise Marketer delivers a curated list of the latest news and announcements from around the globe on all topics related to customer loyalty. We share news on a spectrum of topics, all with the intention of giving you an “info boost” to start your week.
The Loyalty Newswire makes it simple for busy professionals (that means YOU) to quickly digest important industry news and to *maybe even* enable you to star in your next big meeting.
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- Visa introduces new Web3 Engagement Solution
- Lore Group joins Global Hotel Alliance
- New Brilliant by Langham
- More Hotel Loyalty news
- Microsoft partners with OpenAI's French rival Mistral
- More than half of workers forced back to the office plan to look for a new job this year
- Commonsense Loyalty Marketing by Mala Raj reaches #2 on Amazon’s Marketing Bestsellers
- The Bonus Awards celebrates best loyalty programs in Germany and Benelux
- 84.51°’s Omnichannel Special Report examines omnichannel shoppers
- Zenith Marketing, backers of the Irish Loyalty Awards, brings you Loyalty Connect Dubai 2024 Exclusive offer included for all Certified Loyalty Marketing Professionals™
- How to cater to the budget-savvy shopper
- Large Language Models and the end of business as you knew it
- The Wiser Marketer Series on Let’s Talk Loyalty
- Short Takes, Big News
Visa introduces new Web3 Engagement Solution
Recent announcements from Visa say its new Web3 technology will usher in a new era of brand loyalty rewards for a mobile-first generation. A Visa & Euromonitor Voice of the Consumer Digital Survey 2023 found that more than 77 percent of global consumers value real world experiences, while 60 percent of consumers seek curated experiences that show a brand understands their preferences.
Visa says the potential of Web3-based loyalty offers brands ways to engage customers across virtual, digital, and real-life experiences. The solution enables brands to create digital wallets that offer consumers a secure way to store digital collectibles, protect user behavior, simplify authentication, and enable connected consent, all without cookies being required.
Lore Group joins Global Hotel Alliance
Lore Group, an international hospitality company that designs, transforms, manages and operates hotels, restaurants and bars across Europe and the United States, has joined Global Hotel Alliance (GHA), the world’s largest alliance of independent hotel brands.
It will see the London-based group’s five design-led hotels – located in landmark buildings in Amsterdam, London and Washington DC – join GHA’s diverse portfolio of more than 800 hotels across 40 brands in 100 countries, offering the 26 million members of its award-winning loyalty programme, GHA DISCOVERY. GHA has started the integration of the properties and they all will be live in the programme by May 2024. Read the full release here.
New Brilliant by Langham
The Langham Hotels and Resorts are a portfolio of luxury hotels in prime destinations defined by sophisticated and gracious hospitality. The group has launched a new loyalty program to replace the Langham Supper Club and 1865 Privilege by Langham.
The new program is named Brilliant by Langham and it is reported that the purpose-built platform will deliver members personalised rewards and experiences across 30 participating hotels under LHG’s brands: The Langham Hotels & Resorts, Cordis Hotels & Resorts, Eaton and Ying’nFlo. Toronto’s Chelsea Hotel is also participating. Signing up for Brilliant is free and all members receive special room rates and discounts at over 100 restaurants. Members also earn status and award points for their stays and use of amenities. Read more about the program here.
More Hotel Loyalty news
Microsoft partners with OpenAI's French rival Mistral
Microsoft has announced a strategic partnership with Mistral, a French AI start-up based in Paris, further endorsing Microsoft's commitment to broaden its presence in the rapidly evolving AI industry beyond its existing alliance with OpenAI and at a global scale. The partnership includes joint research and development efforts aimed at creating AI applications tailored for governmental use across Europe.
While Microsoft has already invested substantially in OpenAI, the partnership with Mistral represents a strategic diversification of its AI portfolio. Emphasizing the emergence of what Microsoft calls the "AI economy," Brad Smith, President of Microsoft, shared the transformative potential of AI technologies across industries worldwide in this press release. This collaboration will allow Mistral to take advantage of Microsoft's extensive resources and expertise to bring its AI solutions to a broader, global audience.
More than half of workers forced back to the office plan to look for a new job this year
As the pandemic quieted down and the business world returned to its “new normal,” companies have implemented return-to-office (RTO) policies, forcing employees back into the physical workplace. While many have embraced the return, others developed an attachment to working remotely, which remains their preference.
Remember the importance of building workforce loyalty to achieving your enterprise business goals? There is a strong correlation between the two. This study from Resume Builder provides cautionary data that show not all employees agree with the push back to the physical office.
The report includes these key findings:
- 18% of workers forced to RTO say they are currently looking for a new job
- 36% plan to look this year
- Wanting a higher salary and better benefits drive reasons for job search
- 43% say RTO policy is a factor
- 60% want to work less than frequently from the office than currently required
- 24% want to work from the office less than once per week
- 17% want to be fully remote
Commonsense Loyalty Marketing by Mala Raj reaches #2 on Amazon’s Marketing Bestsellers
Mala Raj is a widely recognized strategist and advisor to brands throughout India and Asia. We met Mala and Brian Almeida during an era when the Colloquy Consulting Group was “the only game in town.” We have stayed in touch and more recently, Mala and Brian were hosts for the first 2022 Loyalty Academy™ Certified Loyalty Marketing Workshop™ in Mumbai, India. During 2023, Mala stepped back from her role at Strategic Caravan and began to publish her #mondaymusings on Loyalty on LinkedIn.
Those bite-sized insights inspired the book that she recently published, COMMONSENSE LOYALTY MARKETING. The book is available in paperback and Kindle versions on Amazon and just made the #2 spot on Amazon's Marketing Bestsellers list. Wise Marketer CEO contributed the book’s Forward. The book covers the principles and practices of Loyalty Marketing culled from decades of experience as a loyalty practitioner and her role as instructor with the Loyalty Academy™.
The book is easy to read and could serve as a textbook in a university setting. It’s a great companion for anyone who has gained CLMP™ status as it can be a source of reference on topics covered in the course. It’s a “Wise” choice to add this book to your collection on Loyalty Marketing.
The Bonus Awards celebrates best loyalty programs in Germany and Benelux
The Bonus Awards celebrates excellency in customer loyalty in the heart of Europe. Almost three quarters of German citizens actively participate in bonus programs, which is well above the European average. Belgium and The Netherlands are nations of value seekers and over 70% of Belgian and Dutch people actively participate in loyalty programs, with an average of 3.4 loyalty programs per person. Together, there are almost 2000 programs and experts claim there is a massive opportunity for growth.
The German Bonus Awards offer consumers, experts, media representatives and VIPs a platform to recognize the achievements of an industry that has been inspiring numerous customers for years with its commitment, innovation, and inspiration. You can find an overview of all the winners of the 3rd German Bonus Awards here.
84.51°’s Omnichannel Special Report examines omnichannel shoppers
This new report is available now. It covers key questions about the shopping habits of the modern consumer:
- Who is the omnichannel shopper and where do they shop?
- Why are they called “Hybrid” shoppers?
- Why are omnichannel shoppers choosing to shop online?
- What’s important to the omnichannel shopper?
You can download the full report here.
Zenith Marketing, backers of the Irish Loyalty Awards, brings you Loyalty Connect Dubai 2024. Exclusive offer included for all Certified Loyalty Marketing Professionals™
Loyalty Connect Dubai 2024 is a new event brought to the market by a highly experienced group based in Ireland, Zenith Marketing. The event will be held in the World Trade Centre Dubai 23-24, April 2024. Brands can register free using this link.
Eileen McGuinness CLMP™ and Marian Kelly are organizing this massive expo in the “crossroads of the world”, Dubai. The conference and expo will also be the site of the International Loyalty Awards which will be held outside of London for the first time in its 13-year history. Zenith Marketing has been managing the ILA over the past two years and the Gala Awards Evening will be held in a new collaborative partnership with the Loyalty Connect Dubai conference on 24 April. The theme for this year’s event is ‘Unity in Shaping Tomorrow Together.’
As Media Partner for the revolutionary Loyalty Connect Dubai 2024, The Wise Marketer is delighted to extend an exclusive complimentary pass (ticket value £750) to all Certified Loyalty Marketing Professionals™. This pass provides unrestricted access to the ‘premier’ event on the loyalty industry calendar in 2024. To confirm your attendance and make the most of this opportunity, kindly register, using the link provided in a separate email to CLMP™s sent on 26 Feb.
How to cater to the budget-savvy shopper
Today's consumers are busier and more budget-conscious than ever and retail data science company 84.51 has identified how CPGs and retailers can win loyalty by offering these shoppers easy access to healthy food that won’t break the bank. Did you know that 74% of shoppers prepare by making a shopping list ahead of time, whether on paper or digitally and nearly half (44%) of shoppers estimate the total basket cost beforehand?
Once in the store, customers are looking to cross items off their shopping list—but they’re open to discovering new items as well. You can find more insights and supporting data about what it takes to cater to busy, budget-conscious shoppers in this blog post.
Large Language Models and the end of business as you knew it
Transformational technologies used to occur once in a lifetime, but in the past two decades, we’ve been party to four: the Internet, the smartphone, social media, and now generative artificial intelligence. Of these, artificial intelligence stands as the most transformational. With the advent of large language models and generative AI, permanent, deep transformation is here.
This talk from TrustInsights.ai Chief Data Scientist Christopher Penn, given as a keynote at Social Media Marketing World will teach:
- What large language models can and cannot do
- How large language models are built
- How your organization should be thinking about their usage
- 12 use cases of generative AI in 6 different areas of focus
- How various jobs will be impacted
The Wiser Marketer Series on Let’s Talk Loyalty
#502: Don't Mind the "Say-Do" Gap, Emotion it - This week’s episode of the “Wiser Loyalty” podcast series ties up the month’s focus into select constructs taken from the Psychology of Human Behavior course curriculum of the Loyalty Academy™. Hosts, Bill Hanifin, and Aaron Dauphinee, lead a discussion about the much discussed “say-do” gap, the phenomena that often frustrates marketers when customers “say” one thing and “do” another. Listen to this episode and learn how this universal problem to all marketers can lead to unsatisfying and inaccurate observations or marketing actions
Short Takes, Big News
- Americas Best Loyalty Programs
- Are Loyalty programs ruthless? The Globe and Mail seems to think so.
- FTC halts merger of two US grocery giants, Kroger, and Albertsons
- Domino’s loyalty relaunch draws 2M new members
- E.l.f. Cosmetics expands loyalty program with data, gamification
- Spinx Celebrates Loyalty Members
- Team Liquid relaunches fan loyalty program on Sui web3 platform
- Hooters of America picks PAR Technology
New Job Opps in Customer Loyalty
In Europe
