Loyalty NewsWire

Loyalty Newswire February 26, 2024

By: Wise Marketer Staff |

Posted on February 26, 2024

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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Bank of America and Starbucks Launch Loyalty Partnership

Bank of America and Starbucks announced a new partnership that offers Bank of America cardholders and Starbucks Rewards® members in the U.S. the ability to earn more benefits by linking accounts. Through the new partnership, Bank of America cardholders and Starbucks Rewards members can earn 2% cash back on top of the rewards or card benefits they already earn on qualifying purchases, and 1 Star per $2 spent at Starbucks when they link an eligible debit or credit card with their Starbucks Rewards account at BofA.com/starbucks or starbucks.com/bofa.

This new program is open to currently enrolled Starbucks Rewards members and Bank of America cardholders, as well as new members or cardholders. Full press release here.

American Airlines changes OTA Awards Policy

American Airlines will stop rewarding miles and loyalty points for most online travel agency (OTA) bookings starting May 1, 2024. This includes bookings made through third-party services unless the booking is made directly with American or through a preferred travel agency. A list of preferred travel agencies will be shared in late April 2024.

Ravindra Bhagwanani called this out smartly in this post and a strong discussion – worth reading - ensued.

Loyalty Science Lab publishes a practical guide to Brand Love

Does your brand evoke love in consumers? Research shows that brand love can be a powerful emotion to cultivate. It increases brand loyalty and word-of-mouth, lifts share of wallet, and creates higher returns for a company.

Loyalty Science Lab just published a practical guide to understanding, building, and measuring brand love, based on two decades of scientific research on the concept. We’d “love” for you to read it.

Canada’s Aeroplan updates Terms & Conditions with focus on fraud prevention

In late November, Aeroplan members received an email noting that the frequent flyer program operated by Air Canada would be making changes to its Aeroplan general Terms and Conditions effective February 5, 2024. The key points noted in the email seemed to be oriented to establishing preventive measures for fraud, specifically account takeover measures.

“We have clarified some terms with respect to Aeroplan Accounts, including that attempts to register more than one account using different email addresses or other identification methods are prohibited.”
“We have clarified that a member may be eligible to create or join a Family Pool and have clarified that how we handle fraud in a Family Pool also applies when a Family Member has undertaken actual or suspected fraudulent or illicit activity.”
“The time period after which we may close an inactive Aeroplan Account and terminate Aeroplan Membership has been shortened to three consecutive years.”
“We have added some terms that prohibit the participation in our program via script, macro or other automated means.”

More clauses related to fraud prevention were included and you may want to read the entire Terms and Conditions here. It’s not often that loyalty program members take time to review T & C’s, but in this new digital world, it is highly advisable. As a Loyalty Program manager, have you addressed these issues in your Terms and Conditions?

Zenith Marketing, backers of the Irish Loyalty Awards, brings you Loyalty Connect Dubai 2024 Special 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.

From Coke cans to shoes to menus: What's behind the rise in personalized products?

In a world where carbon copies of products are everywhere, retailers have to make their products stand out and provide customers with a unique purchasing experience. Personalization, through bespoke products and personalized services has been listed by international business magazine Forbes as one of the ten biggest business trends for 2024.

This article provides a solid look at the value behind personalization and takes another stab at providing examples of what “personalization at scale” can mean in practice.

Upside report release

Upside, the digital marketplace dedicated to empowering individuals and businesses financially, released the first report in a two-part series on loyalty programing and its impact on consumer behavior.

Even though the survey uncovered encouraging insights regarding loyalty programs, certain survey findings from the survey suggest the necessity for additional strategies for grocery retailers.

SugarCRM “Sugar Sell” added to the Constellation ShortList for Sales Force Automation in Q1 2024.

In the ShortList, Constellation Research Vice President and Principal Analyst Liz Miller underscores the paramount importance of SFA usability for sales teams’ adoption, noting that mobile access, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) powered digital assistants and copilots, automated workflows and processes for data capture, entry, augmentation, cleansing and analysis, have become must-have features.

Sugar’s sales automation solution, Sugar Sell, empowers sales teams to drive revenue, increase efficiency, shorten sales cycles, and deliver meaningful buying experiences. Powered by SugarPredict, Sugar Sell helps accelerate deal velocity and improve productivity with AI-driven lead conversion, Ideal Customer Profile (ICP), and opportunity-close predictions. Read the full press release here.

BRIA Raises $24M Series A to Pioneer Responsible Visual Generative AI For Enterprises

BRIA, the leading responsible visual generative AI open platform, announced it has raised $24 million in Series A funding. The round was led by GFT Ventures, Intel Capital, and Entrée Capital with additional investors including, Publicis Groupe, Getty Images, Samsung Next, and others. BRIA’s Generative AI Open Platform empowers companies to produce visual content at scale, tailored to their brand identity or visual style.

BRIA is dedicated to fostering a sustainable economy that benefits data owners, artists, and visual generative AI users alike, and was one of the first companies to be recognized by Fairly Trained, a non-profit that certifies generative AI companies for training data practices that respect creators’ rights. Read the full press release here.

The Loyalty Academy Joins Let’s Talk Loyalty in new Wiser Marketer Series

Senior faculty from the Loyalty Academy™, Bill Hanifin and Aaron Dauphinee, are hosting the “Wiser Loyalty” podcast series. The constructs discussed each month are taken from the Certified Loyalty Marketing Professional™ (CLMP™) curriculum and elements from different courses will be covered as a theme each month.

The Wiser Marketer Series, whose purpose is described here, kicked off with a deep dive into specific elements of the Psychology of Loyalty. The Loyalty Academy has been making connections between human behavior theory and customer loyalty strategy since its inception in 2017 and Course #102, The Psychology of Loyalty, is one of our most popular.

Three episodes have been released so far:

#493: A Loyalty "Minded" Month Kicks Off with a Little Self-Determination

#496: Get "the Skinny" on Skinner and Operant Conditioning

#499:Endowed Progress Effect: Perception [of progress] is Reality.

Short Takes, Big News

New Job Opps in Customer Loyalty

Antavo has two new job openings you may want to explore:

Customer Director – London (Remote)
Solution Consultant - London (Remote)