Loyalty Truth

Loyalty Truth was treated with a big shout-out from Barry Kirk at Loyalty Expo in Orlando this week. Barry works with Maritz and has been quietly leading the way into the field of game theory and how “gamification” can be incorporated into customer strategies to increase engagement and build enduring brand loyalty.

I have great respect for Barry’s work and therefore was humbled by his recommendation of Loyalty Truth as a leading resource for marketers seeking independent and unbiased insight into this evolving space.  After three years at the keyboard the acknowledgment was appreciated, and caused me to revisit just who we serve with this blog as well as reaffirm the directions in which we are heading.

Our intention is that three groups will find value reading Loyalty Truth on a regular basis:

1. Brands interested in customer loyalty and lifecycle marketing
2. The supplier community which serves these brands
3. Financial interests seeking to decipher the entire landscape in support of investment decisions

You’ll notice that consumers, the focus of all our work, are not mentioned here. Though consumers would find some interesting program reviews and commentary here, we write in the marketer’s lexicon and I think it better to not mix the two. Check out this old post for more explanation on this point. Consumers are far from forgotten by our staff and in the very near term, we will introduce a destination site specifically designed for consumers seeking to make the most of their participation in today’s spectrum of loyalty programs.

Concerning future directions:

1. Consumer Behavior: We plan to continue on the course charted about 4 years ago when we shared our studies on Generation Y (the Millennials) and how we can create loyalty across this demographic segment. The difference is that we have expanded the conversation to recognize that the Millennials are part of a larger group, referred to as Consumer 2.0, estimated to be over 50% of the U.S. population at this time.
2. Everything Social: My Mom encouraged me to be social as a young person, but I never knew it would have these implications in business! Social Loyalty, Social CRM, Social Shopping, Social Location Marketing, Social “fill in the blank”. You get the idea. As the firehose of new ideas continues to spew forth, we are faced with one of the biggest challenges to separate wheat and chaff in recent memory. Keep reading here and we hope you find clarity and direction.
3. Global: As the brands, suppliers and investors we serve expand their interests and footprints to a global market, the business resources they seek are evolving. As a co-founder of the Customer Strategy Network (CSN), we have direct access into every developed loyalty market in the world and many that are emerging. Anyone can do desktop research, but few have the ability to speak directly to people living and breathing data-driven marketing in diverse markets. We’re not bragging, just feeling privileged to be part of this group that will continue to grow and expand. Among other things, CSN has a new website on the way which will underscore our collective direction.

You’ve got to focus to succeed in any task. The picture of the US Postal cycling team here reminds me of the focus needed to win in sport. We plan to hone our focus here at Loyalty Truth and bring you more value over time.

Let us know how we’re doing from time to time. Leave a comment, send me an email, or just give me a call.

Thanks.