This Week's News
Today is Monday, and it’s a special one around the Wise Marketer Group. Today is Mike Capizzi’s birthday. Mike and Bill entered the Loyalty Marketing business on literally the same day. Our first day on the job for a predecessor company of Alliance Data and Loyalty One was the first of many interactions over roughly 20 years.
Soon after Bill acquired Wise Marketer with two other people, he invited Mike to join the group and pursue his dream of creating professional education for the industry. The result is The Loyalty Academy™. Mike led the creation of the content that originated from the Loyalty Academy and as the world spins forward at a desperately fast pace, we are renewing the course content from beginning to end. You’ll hear announcements over the next few months as we relaunch updated courses.
Mike retired from the Wise Marketer Group this past December and is enjoying the fruits of his labors. We wish him well on his birthday today!
Stay. Loyal. Always.
- New CRMC Webinar - Revolutionizing Rewards: The Currency of Customer Loyalty
- Tito’s Continues to Build Community
- UPSIDE publishes new loyalty report – How to turn Customers into Super Users
- Valuedynamx Partnership with Expedia Group drives 20% growth
- Visa Joins AWS Partner Network to Help Simplify Global Digital Payments
- Seth Godin’s Take on the Net Promoter Score
- Marriott Bonvoy research on Gen Z and Millennial groups in Australia
- The Impact of AI on New University Graduates
- Retailers Facing a New Loyalty Test – How They Treat Employees Matters
- What is Yappy?
- METRO Inc. to launch Moi Rewards in Ontario
- Episode Six announces expansion to Asian markets
- Royal Caribbean partners with Hard Rock International
New CRMC Webinar - Revolutionizing Rewards: The Currency of Customer Loyalty
The latest in the CRMC/Wise Marketer webinar series is only two weeks away and there is still time to register. On Wednesday May 1 at 1pm ET, Barbara Ann Hagen, Vice President, Sales, and Marketing, ThriftBooks and Bill Schneider, Vice President of Product Marketing, SheerID will be covering the topic Revolutionizing Rewards: The Currency of Customer Loyalty.
ThriftBooks transformed the focus of its ReadingRewards program from discount-driven to a rich, community-focused loyalty initiative, with these key learning points covered in the discussion:
- Understanding the emotions impacting customer loyalty
- The power of marketing to communities for deep emotional connections
- Effective data attributes for personalization
Don’t miss this enjoyable conversation. You can register here.
Tito’s Continues to Build Community
Tito’s Handmade Vodka (the best-selling Vodka brand in the US in 2022) is one of the brand examples we use in our new Loyalty Academy course #102, The Psychology of Loyalty. Tito’s has created large communities of fans who are passionate about their dogs and excited to include Tito’s branded merchandise or custom cocktails in their wedding plans. This latest initiative from Tito’s validates their commitment to building community. Here’s what just happened.
For 55 years, the South Florida Wildlife Center has served as the largest wildlife center in the state, working to rescue, rehabilitate and release animals as well as educate the public about the importance of living in harmony with wildlife. Just last year, more than 7,200 animals were brought to the shelter, ranging from racoons, opossums, squirrels, migratory birds, and seashore birds.
The facilities that support this work were in decline, but now, thanks to a $50,000 donation from Tito’s Handmade Vodka, the nonprofit now has new digs to work out of as well as funds for important programs. “We’ve already had a special place in our hearts for animal welfare,” says Sarah Taylor, partnerships manager for Tito’s Handmade Vodka. “We felt one of the best ways to give back was to support the staff and volunteers who are working so hard.”
UPSIDE publishes new loyalty report – How to turn Customers into Super Users
Upside, the digital marketplace dedicated to empowering individuals and businesses financially, released the second report that concludes its two-part series on loyalty programming and its impact on consumer behavior. Here is the link to download the full report.
In Part One, the data showed that there’s a mismatch between loyalty membership and loyalty behavior. In Part Two, they take a closer look at loyal customers, how they behave compared to regular customers, and explore what retailers can do to make super-users out of those infrequent visitors.
One key takeaway that we’ll tease you with is that “superusers” make up about 22% of a given program’s members and generate nearly half (46%) of total transactions and revenue.
Valuedynamx Partnership with Expedia Group drives 20% growth
Valuedynamx, a Collinson company and leader in curated, data-driven purchase rewards, has reported a significant 20% growth, attributed to its strategic partnership with Expedia Group. This collaboration has revolutionized the way Valuedynamx's loyalty program partners offer travel rewards, providing unprecedented flexibility and choice through Expedia's extensive network of over 700,000 lodging options globally.
Key Highlights of the Partnership include:
- Enhanced Travel Redemption Program
- Consumer Benefits
- Strategic Growth
You can read the full press release here.
Visa Joins AWS Partner Network to Help Simplify Global Digital Payments
Visa, a world leader in global digital payments, announced it has joined the AWS Partner Network (APN), a global community that leverages AWS technologies, programs, expertise, and tools to build solutions and services for customers. Visa’s presence in the APN will help enable its partners and clients, including cloud-native fintechs, to access and integrate select Visa services more efficiently.
One of the first services to be available is Visa Cross-Border Solutions, which assists in streamlining the process of sending and receiving money globally and holding multiple currencies. This strategic positioning will allow Visa’s clients to integrate solutions like Visa Cross-Border Solutions into their business operations - eliminating the need for them to step out of their established platforms.
“Visa is dedicated to better serving our clients in cloud environments, which is why we’re excited to bring Visa Cross-Border Solutions to the AWS Marketplace,” said Vanessa Colella, Global Head of Innovation and Digital Partnerships, Visa.”
Seth Godin’s Take on the Net Promoter Score
One of the mysteries of the world is how certain things become immensely popular while at the same time, objective observation leads you to say, “it’s flawed.” The Net Promoter Score (NPS) has always been in this category for us. It is useful to gain insights and the framework built around it by Bain & Co. can lead to tangible organizational change.
It is also so widely adopted that to question the framework too loudly, you risk suffering a Jerry Maguire moment. If you remember that movie, Tom Cruise played the part of a sports agent who torpedoed his successful career by taking a stand on a philosophical/ethical issue in his business. We are not going that far to dissent on the efficacy of NPS, but you should read this short piece from Seth Godin about NPS. You can read the entire post here and we share a short excerpt:
“The P stands for ‘promoter,’ but of course, it doesn’t actually measure promotion. If that many of your customers are actually promoting and recommending your business to others, you would be so busy you wouldn’t have time for a survey. “Would you recommend” is not the same question as, “how many people have you told?” … “Smart marketers understand that peer-to-peer recommendations are scarce and precious, and we shouldn’t be distracted by an NPS that doesn’t actually measure that.”
Marriott Bonvoy research on Gen Z and Millennial groups in Australia
According to this press release, Marriott Bonvoy, the award-winning travel program of Marriott International, has found that a majority of Gen Zs and Millennials in Asia Pacific excluding China (APEC) prefer the simplicity of belonging to one comprehensive loyalty travel program.
While 60% of APEC Gen Zs and Millennials are actively subscribed to loyalty programs, the challenge of juggling several loyalty programs has led most (57%) to seek out one program that meets all their travel needs. Marriott Bonvoy carried out the survey of 1,000 respondents across ten markets in APEC to better understand the shifting attitudes of Millennials and Gen Zs and their travel behaviors. The survey identified an emerging generation of travel-focused, value-driven "Savvy Explorers" in APEC who seek to maximize their travel dollars and unique travel experiences.
The Impact of AI on New University Graduates
Fear of job elimination has been top of mind for the working public ever since Open AI launched Chat GPT. Since that time, there has been lots of rational thought put forward on the benefits of AI for business and how it will impact the workforce.
For the most part, we have read that AI will impact areas of business – and the supporting jobs – that perform lower level, repeatable tasks. The news from this latest report shocked us a bit as it describes the potential impact of AI on College or University graduates. The press release can be found here.
- 78% of hiring managers say their company will lay off recent graduates due to AI use
- 69% believe that AI can do the work of a recent college grad
- Some companies are already hiring fewer interns, recent grads due to AI
- 7 in 10 say AI can do the jobs of interns
- More than half trust AI over interns, recent grads
The positive message in this otherwise dreary report is that research showed that “nearly all hiring managers are more likely to hire a recent graduate with AI experience.” A word to those still in school, have a look at that major and consider making a shift that will make you more attractive in the eyes of prospective employers.
Retailers Facing a New Loyalty Test – How They Treat Employees Matters
As reported in European Supermarket Magazine, a 2023 Value Shift study from Hall and Partners researched 2,000 UK consumers about their attitudes to brands and found that the way that retailers treat their employees is foremost in the minds of consumers. This is particularly as they continue to adopt a discretionary lens for everyday purchases in the face of a continued high cost of living.
For consumers, this matters almost as much as being rewarded for loyalty through good deals and incentives. Nearly half (45%) of UK consumers want brands to support staff and keep people employed. This compares to 60% who expect good deals and incentives and 52% who want to be rewarded for their loyalty.
What is Yappy?
Yappy is a money transfer app from Banco General in Panama. The P2P mobile payment platform processes 25 million transactions monthly between 1.4 million users. Around $9.5 billion in transactions was reported by the Yappy payment platform in 2023.
Real time money transfer via mobile devices is a growing trend globally and Yappy provides an e-wallet to transfer money using the customer’s cell phone number. Felipe Motta, executive vice president of Consumer Banking at Banco General, explained in this article that 85% of the entity's customer transactions are carried out through the mobile application, online banking or through debit and credit cards.
METRO Inc. to launch Moi Rewards in Ontario
METRO Inc. will launch Moi Rewards in all 275 Metro and Food Basics stores in Ontario later this year. Moi Rewards will allow members to save on their grocery purchases by accumulating and redeeming points in-store and online, and to receive personalized promotions from our two leading food banners reaching 75% of households in Ontario.
Jean Coutu Pharmacy customers in Ontario who already benefit from Moi Rewards will be able to accumulate more and redeem faster by combining their purchases across all participating banners. The Moi Rewards program, an evolution of METRO’s original metro&moi loyalty program, has been built with the solid expertise developed by the METRO team over the years and was successfully launched in May of 2023. There are currently over 2.5 million active Moi members in Quebec.
Episode Six announces expansion to Asian markets
Episode Six is a platform that can transfer any value, such as cryptocurrencies, fiat currency, brand value points, and gold. Episode Six operates in 25 countries globally and has a growing team in the US, UK, Europe, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Australia. The company's headquarters are in Austin, Texas, and it has employees in the US and the Dominican Republic.
The company announced it will expand its footprint in Hong Kong this year on the back of growing demand for virtual-payment technologies. “We’re seeing increasing demand for virtual card payments, which our platform is perfectly suited for,” said John Mitchell, E6’s co-founder and CEO. “We’re also seeing an increase in demand for our virtual account, and we’re expected to have growing penetration around these two products in Hong Kong throughout the rest of the year.”
Royal Caribbean partners with Hard Rock International
The biggest names in travel and hospitality have entered into a partnership to offer vacationers and team members rewards at Hard Rock and Seminole Casinos, Hotel and Cafes, and on Royal Caribbean International and Celebrity Cruises vacations. The press release can be found here. Travelers will have new ways to enjoy the best of what Hard Rock, Seminole Casinos and Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruises have to offer. Benefits from this new partnership will be available for Unity by Hard Rock members, Royal Caribbean’s Casino Royale members and Celebrity Cruises Blue Chip members.
Details of the program benefits are yet to be released in detail, but promotional messages say the partnership expands the ways guests can enjoy their vacations and experience entertainment, dining, and gaming from ship to shore. And, employees are included in this program. Team members of Hard Rock and Seminole Gaming will be allowed to participate and reap benefits.
