Loyalty Truth

With the US financial markets in turmoil and the economy the hottest topic of the Presidential debates, everyone is looking for answers. When the effects of this nasty economy are distilled to the household level, most of us are anxious to know how and when the ugliness might affect our own lives. Once we have a sense of the potential severity, we turn to damage control, wondering where we should invest, what we should buy, and how to trim our budgets.

Let there be no doubt that the insidious nature of evil will play its hand in this cycle. I have seen news reports lately of fraudulent schemes targeting the elderly and other unsuspecting folks. Promises of extra lottery winnings and windfall government payouts have duped those that are feeling desperate and are looking for some quick and easy relief. Message to consumers….while you are busy fretting about your declining 401(k) and shrinking home equity, don’t stop looking at your credit report online and being attentive to everyday ways you can protect yourself against crimes of opportunity. Hint: upgrade your shredder!

Why am I writing on this subject in a blog dedicated to Loyalty Marketing? Well, the foundations of enduring consumer loyalty to a retail brand include trust, confidence, and consistency of service delivery. That said, why marketers employ the Loyalty Asterisk™ as a staple of their promotions is confounding. If you’re not familiar with the term, the Loyalty Asterisk™ is that fine print in which the maze of conditions are outlined which make an attractive offer crumble right before your POS. Several of these have been documented in previous posts,1-800 Flowers being a recent example.

Over the past week, I have twice been to the ATM to withdraw some cash and was surprised to have the machine eject the previous customer’s card right into my waiting hands. Good thing that I have boy-scout tendencies and was able to return the card to the person hurrying out to the parking lot. For a while I have noticed that few people collect their receipts from pay at the pump stations and only a few more retain their ATM receipts. Now, it seems that people are moving through life so quickly and are so easily distracted that they can’t remember to take their debit card with them. Talk about an invitation to fraud and financial misery. I can’t think of an easier scam. Now the bad guys don’t even have to rig the ATM with cameras and card skimmers, they can just stand around and scoop up the cards left behind.

The learning about the Loyalty Asterisk™ in this scenario is that marketers use it because they can. And I have been wrong to think that consumers actually evaluate all the conditions presented. Now I am believing that people are moving so fast that they intend to send in their rebate forms, fill out their warranty card forms, and pay their “same as cash” purchase within the allotted time period, but just can’t execute the details. When consumers put on the blinders, it offers free license for marketers to send any form of promotional shell game our way without responsibility.

One of the Vice Presidential candidates suggested during the debate that consumers need to shoulder some of the burden for their current circumstances. Many people now reluctantly acknowledge that they should not have turned their house into a credit card via their home equity loan. I hope we can slow down long enough to collect our thoughts – and our ATM cards – if we are to find our way forward in these tough economic times…..Bill Hanifin