Marketers, it seems, have to go back to the drawing board to find a customer loyalty program that fits, as technology levelled the playing field for companies with something to sell.
In a report, Bain & Company partner and global practice leader Rob Markey pointed out that the lower investment requirement to initiate customer rewards programs has made them available to more companies wanting to drive consumer loyalty.
Thus, he said, it is now more difficult to differentiate a specific company’s program from the pack.
Difficult it may be, but not impossible.
Markey stressed the need to move beyond simply providing economic or monetary rewards to the more visceral values of experiential and emotional marketing.
In taking into consideration the experiential value of a rewards program, a company must identify the aspirational or “bucket list” goals of their target market, and be able to provide these accordingly. Some of the examples Markey cited were a meet and greet with a celebrity or a space shuttle ride, or more specifically “a passport to party”.
On the other hand, the emotional component of an effective rewards program involves the attainment of a perceived prestigious status that would lend the user “bragging rights” to friends and family, or a heartfelt pitch.
To effectively wield these values, Markey noted that companies need data that will help them differentiate their rewards programs from the competition. He added that current technology allows back end data to become a powerful instrument for measuring consumer response to customer loyalty and rewards programs.
Also, he said that companies are now taking data mining a step further by subverting the typically anonymous nature of customer data through deeper engagement and social media accounts.
In the end, he said, companies must not mistake a rewards program with a loyalty program.
“You can never buy a customer’s loyalty…you can only earn it,” he observed.
