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- Preferred Hotels & Resorts is celebrating International Women's Day by sharing insights on diversity from its female leaders
- Martha Stewart has joined BurgerFi's board of directors
- New research finds that men are unsure of how to support gender equality in the workplace
- A group of over 2,000 women employees of India's Future Group have appealed to the Prime Minister in hopes of ending the Amazon/Future Group dispute
- Eagle Eye's platform was selected to power Virgin's New Rewards Program Virgin Red
- Based on Statista's America's Best Loyalty Programs 2021 survey, regional retail chains have the highest rated loyalty programs
- Bloomingdale's has enhanced its Loyallist program plus removed branded credit card requirements for members
- Gap takes a new approach with the announcement of a multi-year deal with Kanye West's Yeezy label
- Settle Group enters Bulgaria making it the largest collaborative mobile payment network in Europe
- Wawa has agreed to a proposed settlement in which it would pay customers up to $9 million and spend $35 million upgrading its cybersecurity software and protocols
- Accellion's data breach continues to worsen as more companies acknowledge they've been compromised by the incident
- Aeroplan members can now earn and redeem points at Starbucks locations across Canada
INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY:
Women in Leadership at Preferred Hotels: How to Achieve an Equal Future in a Post-COVID-19 World
Quotable: “"As we approach International Women's Day - and in fact, as we look ahead to every day in the future - it is especially important to recognize the efforts, successes, and tips from women on our team who hold vital leadership roles and whose example inspires more hospitality companies around the globe to work toward increased diversity at the executive level," said CEO Lindsey Ueberroth.”
Martha Stewart leading BurgerFi's innovation team
Quotable: “Florida-based BurgerFi International Inc. has named food entrepreneur and cultural icon, Martha Stewart, to its board of directors as the chair of the Product & Innovation Committee. 'Highly regarded as the 'original influencer,' her lifetime of successful achievements and knowledge of marketing, product innovation and food expertise are second to none,' Ophir Sternberg, executive chairman said in a company press release.”
New Global Research Reveals Men Unsure of How to Support Gender Equality
Quotable: “LEWIS, the global marketing agency, today revealed findings from its new global research on gender inequality, conducted in support of the global HeForShe movement. The report shows the impact and perceptions of gender inequities during the pandemic across 13 countries. The findings reveal an alarming trend: 98% of women want men to help address gender inequality issues, yet less than half of men indicated being ready to help.”
Future Group's women workers appeal to PM Modi
Quotable: “In a letter dated 8 March, ‘Women of Big Bazaar SOS (save our Sustenance)’, a group of women employees who work for retailer Future Group appealed to the prime minister to save jobs of 10,000 direct employees as well as indirect associates of the retailer that runs stores such as Big Bazaar, Central, Brand Factory, Easy Day, Heritage City among several others.”
LOYALTY PROGRAM NEWS:
Eagle Eye’s AIR Platform Underpins Virgin’s New Rewards Club, Virgin Red
Quotable: “Eagle Eye, the marketing technology company, is pleased to confirm its role as a key technology provider for Virgin Red, Virgin’s new rewards club. Virgin Red launched on an exclusive, invite-only basis in November 2020 and on 8 February 2021 removed the invitation-only format so that anyone could join, including all UK Virgin Atlantic Flying Club members. The Eagle Eye platform was chosen for its ability to process and manage the billions of points flowing across the programme, being earnt and spent across multiple organisations.”
Regional retail chains have the highest rated loyalty programs
Quotable: “The America’s Best Loyalty Programs 2021 survey, conducted by Statista and reported by Newsweek, found a number of smaller retailers beating out larger national chains. The study was based on a survey of 4,000 customers in the U.S., according to a document detailing its methodology. The researchers used six criteria to evaluate the quality of a loyalty program: ease and enjoyment, benefit, overall satisfaction, customer support, trust and likelihood of recommending the program to a friend.”
Bloomingdale’s Adds Extra Tier, Removes Branded Credit Card Requirement from Loyalty Program
Quotable: “Bloomingdale’s has expanded its Loyallist program by adding an extra tier of benefits, and allowing all shoppers to reach every level even without their having a Bloomingdale’s-branded credit card. Customers who reach the new “Top of the List Unlocked” level will still be incentivized to use a Bloomingdale’s card with a 5% back feature for purchases made with a branded card.”
RETAIL NEWS:
Gap Inc. Bets on Yeezy, Loyalty Programs and New Categories
Quotable: “Though total sales for the Gap brand were down in Q4, Syngal anticipates a strong 2021, thanks in part to its highly anticipated Yeezy launch in the first half of 2021. In June 2020, Gap announced the multi-year deal with rapper Kanye West’s Yeezy label to deliver a co-branded line of apparel and accessories to the market in 2021. According to Syngal, Gap is already gaining traction with the Gen Z demographic ahead of the Yeezy debut.”
PAYMENTS NEWS:
Mobile payments firm Settle enters Bulgaria
Quotable: “Settle Group adds Bulgaria as their 22nd market, making Settle the largest collaborative mobile payment network in Europe...Settle does not require the users to have a bank account, and you can enroll in 30 seconds. You get a free Settle Account, where you receive and store funds sent to your phone number. If you do have a bank account, funds can be transferred to that account for free. With Settle you can send, receive and pay to businesses without having to wait for a tedious identification process to be completed.”
DATA & PRIVACY NEWS:
Wawa would pay customers up to $9 million for hackers exposing credit card info, proposed settlement says
Quotable: “Under a proposed settlement filed in federal court Friday, the convenience store chain would provide customers with up to $8 million in Wawa gift cards and pay up to $1 million in cash payments to affected consumers. The agreement must still be approved by a judge overseeing the case. Wawa would also have to make “significant data security enhancements” valued at $35 million after hackers installed malware in 2019 that exposed cardholders’ names, numbers, and expiration dates used in-store and at gas pumps.”
The Accellion Breach Keeps Getting Worse—and More Expensive
Quotable: “Firewall vendor Accellion quietly released a patch in late December, and then more fixes in January, to address a cluster of vulnerabilities in one of its network equipment offerings. Since then, dozens of companies and government organizations worldwide have acknowledged that they were breached as a result of the flaws—and many face extortion, as the ransomware group Clop has threatened to make the data public if they don't pay up.”
TRAVEL & HOSPITALITY NEWS:
Aeroplan announces first-of-its-kind partnership with Starbucks Canada so Members can pour on the points to their next reward
Quotable: “This new Starbucks partnership is another example of Aeroplan's commitment to rewarding and recognizing all travelers—both frequent and occasional. In addition to launching this new partnership with Starbucks and other everyday marquee brands yet to be announced, Aeroplan will be introducing a series of "Aeroplan Ahead" offers throughout 2021. These time-limited offers will give members special earning opportunities on the ground and at home, setting them up for future travel, whenever they're ready to get back in the skies.”
Did you miss last week's news? Catch up here: Loyalty Newswire – March 1st, 2021
The Loyalty Newswire is compiled and edited by the staff at The Wise Marketer.
