Bill Hanifin
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I was privileged to hear Seth Godin speak this week. Let’s face it, there are many high priced keynote speakers around, and I have listened to several who give an entertaining 45 minute talk, generate a few laughs, but leave me with nothing to take back to the office.
Seth Godin was not one of these. His one hour talk was awarded by hearty and sincere applause from the audience, and I had to drop my pen while taking notes to join in the appreciative celebration.
I have read most of Seth’s books and have admired his ability to capture a short list of important concepts and communicate them in succinct and readable fashion. While introducing Seth, the MC of this event reminded us that typing “Seth” into the search field of any browser will lead you right to Seth Godin. Try it. That is as impressive as any other SEO result I have seen, underscoring his impact on the marketing industry.
As relates to Loyalty Marketing, Seth hit several hot buttons for me. Today there are a variety of descriptive terms used by suppliers and consultants in the business talking about the “Art and Science” of Loyalty Marketing, treating it as “Alchemy”, or otherwise expressing that customer loyalty should be generated through more than rote design. I agree there is an interpretive side to strategy development that in some cases can be equally important as quantitative analysis.
The trouble is, as Loyalty Marketing has become a widely applied strategy to achieve financial results for big brands, the industry has become populated a mile wide and an inch thick with customer loyalty “experts”. Large commercial agencies dismiss loyalty as just one more service that can be provided to a client under an umbrella retainer agreement, and there are still too many cookie-cutter solutions in the market which focus on cost efficiency and ignore customer engagement and results.
Seth Godin challenged the group yesterday, contending that, “competence is no longer important”. He warned that “if you can write it down, a customer can find it cheaper” and suggested that as we allow our creative trade to become more systematized, we risk becoming evaluated on price and delivery, rather than on the greater value we can deliver to our clients.
Seth urged the group to seek to “solve interesting problems” and to strive to “do work that matters”. This really is our calling as loyalty marketers, and the complex digital world we live in will reward this perspective more each day.
There are some interesting and challenging problems to be solved indeed, and the people which find the answers and deliver practical solutions to clients will forge a new wave of innovation in our business.
- Who will connect the dots to make the concept of Social Loyalty a reality that can be executed and measured by brands?
- Who will transform retail bank customer marketing from its continuing product focus to a broader customer relationship model that is practical and affordable to operate?
- Who will turn the key to unlock coalition style loyalty marketing in the United States?
- Who will find the artful way to engage affluent consumer groups through loyalty programs? To reach those that “have everything they need”, we have to break the mold.
Seth concluded by making the point that we have to be willing to take some chances, to stop being afraid to trial new approaches, and to create the path for brands to follow.
People welcome and embrace leadership. Often there just isn’t enough to go around. Today, there is a big opportunity for a new position of leadership to be established in Loyalty Marketing. I’ve got my machete in hand and am ready to carve the new path. How about you?
