Scott Robinson, Senior Director, Loyalty Consulting & Solutions, Bond Brand Loyalty, will be one of the featured speakers during the June 17 webinar hosted by Loyalty360 titled, “Brand Loyalty – It’s the Outcome, Not (Just) the Program.”
The webinar, which will be presented by Bond Brand Loyalty, is set for 1 p.m. EDT. To register for the webinar, click here.
The Bond Loyalty Report–2014 U.S. Edition, which was released this month, is a comprehensive study that surveyed nearly 6,000 consumers regarding their preferences, behaviors, and attitudes towards the loyalty initiatives in which they participate. The study identifies key themes pertinent to marketers today, and reveals the drivers of loyalty across six key industries, including retail, CPG, payments, travel, hospitality and entertainment.
The report will be a major focal point of the webinar.
Robinson participated in a Q&A with Loyalty360 to discuss key findings and trends from the report.
Given the findings from your report, what specifically would you say loyalty marketers are doing well and what areas do they need to improve upon?
Marketers will be pleased with results in this year’s study that confirm customers increasingly agree that loyalty programs are having a positive impact on behavior. For instance, 64% of customers say, “I modify when and where I buy items” as a result of the benefits derived through programs, which is up from 57% in last year’s study; also, 55% of customers agree they modify the brands they buy, up from 46% from last year.
Still concerning to marketers though, is that only 39% of customers claim to be spending more after having enrolled in a program, than before–in other words, marketers are investing in program benefits costs among the 61% of customers whose behavior has not changed following enrollment. Clearly, a one-size-fits-all approach to program design is not the best course of action.
Why do you think so many brands lag behind on the mobile front when it comes to loyalty?
There is a tidal wave of market factors related to mobile, converging in the marketing space–this can be dizzying for marketers and for consumers to decipher–mobile payment, digital wallet, e-receipts, location-based services, communications and more. It is exciting, yet this market’s complexity is likely one factor impeding marketers’ progress; another factor impeding marketers’ progress is that consumers appear undecided on exactly what mobile features they want.
For instance, our study reveals that 72% of customers are interested in interacting with their loyalty program through a mobile device, yet interest in any one thing specifically is low. This suggests to us that mobile-enabled features need to be experienced to be fully appreciated; as such marketers’ must get better at anticipating, even shaping, consumer needs and be willing to test new features quickly.
Compared to one year ago when you released your report, what was the biggest surprise you saw from this year’s report and how can it impact loyalty marketers?
Each year, we continue to introduce new topics into our study that are salient to marketers. One of the things about which we were most surprised, and similarly are most excited to share with marketers, is the evidence confirming the importance of brand alignment. Brand alignment refers to the proper relation of the ‘program’ components with the attributes embodied by the brand. Only 57% of members agree, “my experience with the program is consistent with my experience with the brand.” There are significant differences in the behaviors of Members in brand aligned programs as compared to Members in programs that are not brand aligned. Satisfaction is three times higher. The propensity to advocate for the brand is six times higher and the likelihood to repeat purchase is eight times higher, in brand aligned programs.
Given the current trends in loyalty marketing, what do you expect to see more of in the next year or two?
Many brands rely overly heavily on monetary incentives–points, discounts and rebates–to influence customer behavior. As a result, for some brands the love for the program among customers is higher than love for the brand–in our study, this is the case for brands such as Safeway, Amazon and Regal Theaters. The challenge for marketers is that customers who are only loyalty to the discount and not to the brand, are at higher risk of defection when a higher discount is made available by a competitor–and moreover, brands cannot expect to simply continue to outspend the competition and expect to remain profitable in the long run. Brand loyalty will serve as far better defense against competitive threats than program loyalty.
Underway in loyalty marketing is a convergence between loyalty marketing, in its traditional sense, and customer experience, and there is strong evidence in our study to support the assertion that the gateway to brand loyalty is a stronger customer experience. We uncovered a very strong link between brand love and elements related to customer experience: making customers feel delighted, special, recognized and comfortable. In the year ahead we expect to see more brands applying the principles of customer experience, to the practice of loyalty marketing.