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As brands look ahead to 2026, loyalty programs are evolving beyond transactions toward deeper emotional connection, relevance, and trust. Shifting consumer expectations and broader uncertainty are accelerating this change. 

We recently spoke with Hayley Hanel, Senior Manager of Strategic Consulting at Kobie, who shared how growing unease around social, political, and economic change is reshaping loyalty strategies and elevating the role of community and belonging.

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Known for its irreverent attitude, unstoppable energy, and Seattle-style teriyaki bowls, Teriyaki Madness has always taken its food, but never itself, seriously. Founded in 2003 by friends who wanted to bring Seattle’s teriyaki culture to Las Vegas, Teriyaki Madness was purchased by its current CEO, Michael Haith, in 2016. 

Now headquartered in Denver, Colorado, the self-proclaimed “scrappy brand,” uses digital innovation to transform a fast casual dining concept from 30 shops, into a national brand of nearly 200 locations. 

Mark Johnson, CEO of Loyalty360, spoke to Jodi Boyce, Chief Marketing Officer of Teriyaki Madness, about the innovative steps the company used to build the brand and a loyalty program of nearly one million members. 

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In this episode of Leaders in Customer Loyalty: Industry Voices, Loyalty360’s Ethan Perry sat down with Chris Jones, Senior Vice President of Engagement Solutions at ITA Group, to explore how brands are translating emotional loyalty from an abstract concept into a measurable driver of business growth. 

As a returning guest, Jones expanded on themes from his previous conversation, sharing findings from ITA Group’s latest research on emotional connection and how it amplifies the impact of value and ease within loyalty programs. 

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Founded in 2008, WillowTree was built on a heritage of mobile applications. While the company still engages in much of that work, it’s grown into other areas in support of brands, including strategy and consulting, data and artificial intelligence (AI), digital marketing, loyalty program design, and more. WillowTree works alongside brands to develop successful loyalty programs and, in many cases, administers them. The company works in a variety of industries, including Financial Services, Health Care, Telecom, Travel and Hospitality, Food Service, and Retail and Consumer Goods, among others.  

Loyalty360 spoke with Caitlin Watson, Partner, Marketing Services, and David Shaw, VP, Business Development, at WillowTree. Watson has been with the company for the last three years, helping to develop the company’s marketing services department—specifically in the areas of loyalty, strategy, and technology—while also working to build out MarTech services, CRM, lifecycle, and all elements of the customer journey. Shaw has led insight and strategy teams for his whole career. At WillowTree, he leverages his experience in strategy development to help determine how the company can go to market with individual companies and with specific vertical strategies—many of which involve loyalty.

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Founded by William Carter, children’s apparel retailer Carter’s is nearly a 165-year-old company that helps parents navigate parenthood. Today, the company operates more than 1,000 stores worldwide. Carter’s family of brands—including Carter’s, OshKosh B’gosh, Little Planet, and Skip Hop—are recognized across the globe and available online and in Carter’s owned stores, while exclusive lines can be found at the brand’s retail partners, such as Walmart, Target, and Amazon.   

To learn about the recent updates to Carter’s loyalty program and how the brand is intentionally addressing the challenges and perceptions of parenthood, Loyalty360 spoke with Jeff Jenkins, CMO at Carter’s. Jenkins is an acclaimed marketing professional with extensive experience in multiple industries and has been with Carter’s for five years. In his role, he oversees marketing, brand strategy, customer insights, business intelligence, communications, creative, visual merchandising, PR and customer service experience, and more. 

In this interview, Jenkins discusses the concept behind the “More Than Just Cute” campaign, appealing to the next generation of customers, and how platform integration needs to work in a martech stack to create a seamless customer experience.   

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Hilton is a leading global hospitality company with 24 world-class brands for all guests’ stay needs at over 7,800 properties across 126 countries and territories. Through acquisitions that allow for more destination choices, technology innovations that make processes easier for guests, and brand partnerships that offer guests and Hilton Honors members even more benefits and perks, Hilton has set the bar high for what it means to truly deliver an elevated customer experience.  

As a hospitality brand, the goal is to make the stay better for guests in almost every corner of the world. This includes loyalty program design, enhancing the value proposition and loyalty redemption, and making travel more seamless and flexible for program members.

To learn about Hilton’s latest customer loyalty and experience efforts, Mark Johnson, CEO of Loyalty360, spoke with Brad Anderson, Vice President of Hilton Honors at Hilton. Anderson joined Hilton nearly eight years ago and leads the overall global strategy for the brand’s award-winning loyalty program, Hilton Honors, which now reaches more than 195 million members worldwide. Since joining the company, Anderson and his team have charted new courses for the program, achieving massive growth—almost 130 million new members. 

In this interview, Anderson discusses the brand’s growing portfolio, establishing the right strategic partnerships, and speaking the language of Gen Z and Millennial travelers through digital innovation.

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Paris Baguette specializes in whole cakes, pastries, and breads, as well as artisan coffees, sandwiches, and other savory items. Globally, the brand has over 4,000 locations. In North America, the brand currently counts almost 200 locations.

To learn about Paris Baguette’s recent changes to its loyalty program as part of a broader effort to enhance the overall guest experience, Loyalty360 spoke with Cathy Chavenet, Paris Baguette’s North America Chief Marketing Officer. Chavenet is a seasoned marketing professional with extensive experience in the food service industry, particularly in the coffee and snack shop sector. At Paris Baguette, Chavenet is responsible for brand marketing initiatives and menu innovation.

In this interview, Chavenet discusses the brand’s updated rewards program, approaching challenges while leveraging opportunities in technology, and building emotional loyalty by creating joyful experiences for guests.

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JOANN is an iconic 80-year-old brand that’s continued to succeed over the years by prioritizing relevancy with each new generation. JOANN operates approximately 850 stores in 49 states, and while the brand is the number one retailer in “all things fabric and sewing,” it also carries a large assortment of crafts, arts and crafts, and seasonal decor for customers.  

The brand has learned that while trends may change over the years, in its industry, millions of people remain hardwired to create items with their hands, minds, and hearts. The team at JOANN believes how a customer is served will make or break a customer loyalty program and focuses on delivering exceptional customer service in support of its Smiles Rewards program. This is one of the reasons for JOANN’s longevity in retail. 

While the brand has remained relevant in its authenticity with its customers, as the decades have passed, creators have evolved, too. More than ever, with a new generation of customers seeking to express themselves and connect with their communities through creative efforts, JOANN must ensure it is delivering the right message in the right channels to successfully engage younger creators while maintaining its connection to customers who have come to JOANN for decades.     

Mark Johnson, CEO of Loyalty360, spoke with Chris DiTullio, Chief Customer Officer at JOANN, about the retailer’s rebranding as “JO-AND,” serving the next wave of creators, and how the customer experience makes way for emotional loyalty.  

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Edible Brands was founded in 1999 by Tariq Farid, and the company has revolutionized the gifting industry by merging the innovation of a powerful e-commerce platform with locally owned brick-and-mortar locations worldwide. The brand’s expansive footprint and delivery network sets it apart. Edible can deliver to 80% of U.S. households in an hour. 

Seeking to ensure that the brand was truly meeting the expectations and demands of an increasingly busy consumer, Edible recently launched a new brand within its portfolio: FreshFruit.com, a direct-to-consumer fruit delivery service. Ease of ordering, quality, and a frictionless experience are designed to enhance relationships with consumers while strengthening emotional loyalty.

Mark Johnson, CEO of Loyalty360, spoke with Lindsey Servold, Director of Marketing at Edible Brands. Servold’s role encompasses a wide range of responsibilities to drive brand growth and enhance market presence. This includes managing integrated marketing strategies and overseeing the execution to help propel the company’s goals and vision forward. 

In this interview, Servold shares more about the new FreshFruit.com brand, growing emotional loyalty through delivering quality and delight, and investing in world-class technology in-house. 

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Harps Food Stores was founded in 1930 by Harvard and Floy Harp. Today, headquartered in Springdale, Arkansas, the grocery retailer counts 147 stores in six states, offering conventional to cost-plus formats. The company is the largest employee-owned company in the state. 

To gain more insight into today’s grocery retail industry while learning about Harps’ recently launched loyalty program, Loyalty360 spoke with David Ganoung, SVP and CMO, at Harps. In this podcast, Ganoung discusses the brand’s rewards program, personalized promotions based on a customer’s shopping habits and basket, and the challenge of bringing customers in-store in an e-commerce world.  

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What we are seeing and hearing for the week ending September 13th, 2024. Today we are going to discuss the top 8 challenges related to customer loyalty.

Loyalty360 has the privilege of being in a unique space in the customer loyalty industry, we hear from the leading brands and technology companies as to the “state” of the industry. We do brand focused research throughout the year based on areas of interest from the brand community. 

Loyalty360 also has an advisory board who helps shape the topics, trends and area of focus for the association. It is a very diverse group of senior level experts in the customer loyalty space.

During the 2024 Loyalty Expo, the group met and during a breakfast meeting we went around the table to discuss the challenges and opportunities they are seeing, which led us to this top 8 challenges of customer loyalty.

• Shorter Attention Spans
• Engaging Younger Generations
• Keeping up with Martech
• Increased Pressure on Cost
• Data & Privacy
• Partnerships
• Bringing Focus to Loyalty
• Framing Customer Loyalty - Cost vs. Investment

2024 State of Customer Loyalty Paper

Loyalty Expo Partnership Session

Amy Barnett’s – Lunch and Learn

Next Generation customer Loyalty Paper

Per Jenson’s July Lunch and Learn session on socialization of customer loyalty program

About the series:

Loyalty360’s videocast is “What We're Seeing and Hearing,” a weekly summary of trends, insights, and best practices that our team is hearing directly from leading brands — both member and non-members — as well as from supplier partners.

Many details in “What We Are Hearing” will be high-level and often anonymous to provide an open dialogue for those telling Loyalty360 their story. As a trusted advisor to the customer experience and the customer loyalty market, we see a significant amount of impactful and challenging scenarios in the market. This is Loyalty360’s way of bringing this inside information to the market in a timely and concise manner that others can learn from

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Kobie provides robust solutions for its brand partners. Thoughtful design on the front end, coupled with extensible, configurable technology, leads to a seamless customer experience. The company takes a strategy-led, technology-enabled approach as it works to narrow down to what truly drives a consumer to be loyal at an emotional level. This allows clients to grow the enterprise value of their membership and of their customer base through loyalty. Kobie’s market-leading platform helps deliver those end-to-end loyalty solutions.  

Kobie primarily works within retail, financial services, travel and hospitality, and quick-service restaurant (QSR) industries, but it also serves clients in a number of other verticals. From the company’s strategic services standpoint, it partners alongside clients in healthcare and manufacturing, among others. 

Loyalty360 spoke with Dr. J.R. Slubowski, Kobie’s AVP of Strategic Consulting and Head of Kobie’s Research Center of Excellence, about key findings in its recent consumer research report, leveraging the power of program tiers, and avoiding pitfalls when rolling out new program features or functionalities.

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Emotional loyalty is one of the most important facets of customer loyalty. Understanding what drives it and being able to leverage it throughout all the brand touchpoints is important—and extremely challenging.

David’s Bridal focuses on supporting the moments that matter to its customers. The brand endeavors to help customers enjoy these deeply emotional experiences and has developed holistic loyalty programs such as David’s Bridal Diamond and Diamond High to address the opportunities before them.

In this podcast, Loyalty360 CEO Mark Johnson talks to Dave Feldman, Chief Marketing Officer at David’s Bridal, about the brand’s loyalty programs and offerings. Feldman also touches on how providing customers with incredible value helps make the process of planning for “once-in-a-lifetime” events as stress-free as possible, as well as how a focus on next generation customer loyalty supports Diamond High and, ultimately, Diamond loyalty.     

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When you walk into a Newk’s Eatery, you’re greeted by the warmth of an open kitchen, the sound of sizzling steak and shrimp on the grill, and the fresh aroma of house-made salad dressings crafted from scratch. Founded in 2004, Newk’s has carved out its place in the fast casual dining space by staying true to two core principles: hospitality and freshness. Every detail, from the open kitchen to the made-from-scratch recipes, is designed to make guests feel welcome and cared for. 

In this edition of Leaders in Customer Loyalty: Brand Stories, we sat down with Chris Cheek, Chief Development Officer at Newk’s Eatery,to talk about how the brand blends heartfelt hospitality with innovative technology to build customer loyalty. From its scratch kitchen to its evolving digital tools and franchise strategy, Newk’s is proving that genuine connection, not just convenience, is the secret ingredient to long-term loyalty. 

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In this week's Loyalty360 What We're Seeing and Hearing, we dive into the ongoing discussions and trends shaping the customer loyalty industry. Key topics include the importance of training and socialization within loyalty programs and the latest insights from our peer group discussions.

Highlights:

• Training and Socialization: We explore the critical need for effective training in loyalty programs, focusing on recent discussions and insights from Stop & Shop’s Per Jenson’s impactful July session. 

Listen to Stop & Shop's discussion here.

Trends Discussed:

• Brand Refreshing: Leveraging customer loyalty programs to enhance brand experience.
• Employee Engagement: Identifying passionate advocates and improving internal understanding of loyalty programs.
•  Metrics and Training: Emphasizing the use of data to align sales incentives and exploring the effectiveness of bite-sized training.
• Upcoming Digital Roundtables: Join us August 27th at 12pm as Amy Barnett from Cracker Barrel shares strategies on brand transformation and loyalty ecosystem advancements. 

More information here.


About the series:

Loyalty360’s videocast is “What We're Seeing and Hearing,” a weekly summary of trends, insights, and best practices that our team is hearing directly from leading brands — both member and non-members — as well as from supplier partners.

Many details in “What We Are Hearing” will be high-level and often anonymous to provide an open dialogue for those telling Loyalty360 their story. As a trusted advisor to the customer experience and the customer loyalty market, we see a significant amount of impactful and challenging scenarios in the market. This is Loyalty360’s way of bringing this inside information to the market in a timely and concise manner that others can learn from.

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Driving customer loyalty can be a difficult task in the best economic times. As the year moves forward, economic headwinds are impacting a significant number of customers in varied ways.  

One of the industries most impacted is grocery, as customers continue to look for value. Many grocers seek to increase their assortment of private label and store brands to bring that value to customers while strengthening the bottom line. There are challenges and opportunities in doing so—navigating changes, educating customers, and working with consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies.   

These challenges are being deftly handled by Ryan Draude, Head of Omnichannel Loyalty at Giant Food. The award-winning Giant Flexible Rewards® program was configured by Draude, and he continues to administrate it. In this interview with Loyalty360, Draude shares what he is seeing within the grocery industry. 


Watch the full interview here.

Read the feature on Loyalty360 here.

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Elevating customer loyalty while driving personalized content, experiences, and incentives that truly resonate with the customer is critically important in today’s marketplace. Loyalty360’s brand members report the need to drive personalization at scale—necessitating a deeper understanding of disparate technologies that require seamless integration to allow for coordinated orchestration leveraging first- and zero-party data.  

Often, in challenging economic environments, budgets are constrained. Understanding new technologies and their actual functionalities can be a hurdle for many brands. Securing placement in the organization’s implementation queue and earning priority designation can be an uphill battle.  

Loyalty360’s research consistently indicates that brands do not feel they have the ability to understand the rapidly evolving martech environment, yet that did not stop Blaze Pizza from leveraging their legacy technologies into a series of manual processes to drive award-winning personalization. 

Blaze Pizza was a finalist at Loyalty360’s 2024 Loyalty Expo in the Customer Analytics, Insights, and Metrics category, taking home the Bronze Award. In this in-depth exclusive, the brand’s Senior Growth Marketing Manager, Lindsay Smith, discusses the company’s unique approach to customer loyalty, how it’s leveraging geo-fencing and gamification, and how—even in a cautionary economic environment—Blaze Pizza is creatively driving sales.


Watch the full interview here.

Read the feature on Loyalty360 here.

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Engage People is a technology innovation company with a vision to bring technology to the forefront to enable a better customer experience. The company seeks to leverage today’s technologies to drive improved outcomes for brands while elevating loyalty programs and the member experience.  

Jonathan Silver, CEO of Engage People, has worked in the industry for over 36 years. He began his career with Maritz Canada—now Bond—before holding various senior positions in the loyalty sector. Nearly 16 years ago, Silver co-founded the precursor to Engage People before rebranding the company in 2015. Today, his role at Engage People focuses on strategy and sales. 

Mark Johnson, CEO of Loyalty360, spoke with Silver about “paying with points” technology, the uChoose Rewards® program managed with partner Fiserv, and making the offer-redemption experience seamless for customers.

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In 2003, Insomnia Cookies was founded by Seth Berkowitz, a University of Pennsylvania college student seeking a late-night sweet treat—a shared need that turned into an opportunity for Berkowitz on the UPenn campus. He baked cookies in his college house kitchen and delivered them to hungry students in the early hours of the morning.  

The brand now counts two decades of serving up delicious cookies to customers, with nearly 300 stores across the U.S. and a couple in the U.K. and Canada. Select stores are open late—sometimes until 3 o’clock in the morning— depending upon the night. The cookies are served warm, and brand fans can also order ice cream to accompany baked treats.   

Mark Johnson, CEO of Loyalty360, spoke to Tom Carusona, Chief Marketing Officer of Insomnia Cookies, about launching a new loyalty program, understanding customer segments and how to activate them, and tapping into emotional loyalty.

Watch the full interview here: https://youtu.be/Or-mtujWRDQ

Read the feature on Loyalty360 here: https://loyalty360.org/content-gallery/in-depth-exclusives/insomnia-cookies-launching-a-new-loyalty-program-and-building-robust-customer-profiles-for-increase

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Switchfly was founded in 2003 as a travel technology startup. Today, Switchfly is a travel experience platform that allows brands to create memorable moments for employees. As a concept, the company is the silent partner in many of the major loyalty programs that consumers recognize. For the last 20 years, the company has been behind many of the loyalty points programs in financial services and the airline industry, which reward and engage consumers with travel. When consumers take points earned through a credit card to pay for travel, Switchfly works behind the scenes, applying those points to hotels and flights. The company also services car rentals and activities globally. 

About 18 months prior to sitting down with Loyalty360, Switchfly began to focus on Human Resources and Rewards and Recognition for Employee Engagement in corporate America. Internal customers—employees—have many of the same expectations and wants in a loyalty program as a brand’s external customers.

Mark Johnson, CEO of Loyalty360, spoke with Nowell Outlaw, CEO at Switchfly, about effectively engaging employees with loyalty program benefits, modernizing tools in the travel ecosystem, and leveraging technology to make “smart” recommendations for customers. 

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Affectionally labeled as the “most Canadian brand in Canada,” Tim Hortons is a beloved quick-service restaurant (QSR) featuring coffee and other beverages, delicious donuts, breakfast favorites, and sandwiches. The brand counts more than 5,000 restaurants worldwide—with the majority of them located in Canada. Tim Hortons restaurants can be found in the U.S., with more concentrated pockets close to the Canadian border.   

The company was founded 60 years ago in Hamilton, Ontario, and has since become the largest restaurant chain in Canada. Tim Hortons serves nearly 7 out of 10 coffees purchased in the nation, which represents approximately 80% of Canadian visits to Tim Hortons’ restaurants at least once per month. Today, the brand is arguably embedded in the fabric of Canadian life, with core values rooted in those of Canadians.

Tim Hortons was a finalist at Loyalty360’s 2024 Loyalty Expo in the Customer Experience Strategy and the Loyalty Program Design categories, taking home the Silver Award in the former and the Bronze Award in the latter. 

Mark Johnson, CEO of Loyalty360, spoke with Ricardo Frydman, Director of Performance Analytics & Pricing for Tims Financial, and Shannon Torabi, Senior Manager for Digital & Loyalty Growth at Tim Hortons, about the launch of Tims Word Challenge, authentic emotional loyalty, and how customers must always be top of mind.

Watch the interview here: https://youtu.be/uImmE12atxI

Read the feature on Loyalty360 here: https://loyalty360.org/content-gallery/in-depth-exclusives/tim-hortons-cultivating-and-increasing-customer-engagement-by-leveraging-a-unique-and-innovative-ap

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The company that would eventually become Stop & Shop was founded in 1914 when the Economy Grocery Store opened in Somerville, MA. In four short years, 32 stores made up the thriving grocery chain. By 1942, Stop & Shop, Inc. became the company’s official name, and expansion into surrounding states continued. Today, Stop & Shop is one of the several grocery brands operated by Ahold Delhaize, with roughly 400 stores located throughout New York, New England, and New Jersey. 

Stop & Shop was a finalist for this year’s Loyalty360 Awards at Loyalty360’s 2024 Loyalty Expo, taking home the Bronze Award in the Technology and Trends category for its innovation in engaging technology-adverse customers through in-store kiosks.   

Mark Johnson, CEO of Loyalty360, spoke with Per Jensen, Head of Loyalty at Stop & Shop, about the reason behind implementing the kiosks, improving personalization, and securing program support from organizational leadership. 

Watch the full interview here: https://youtu.be/4TtR5WL1qIw
Read the feature on Loyalty360 here: https://loyalty360.org/content-gallery/in-depth-exclusives/stop-shop-increasing-customer-engagement-by-leveraging-in-store-technology

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Wunderkind works alongside clients using an AI-driven performance marketing solution, helping them form stronger brand-audience connections through identification resolution and hyper-personalized triggered messaging. The Wunderkind Identity Network identifies anonymous website traffic through a network that recognizes 9 billion devices, enabling clients to recognize anonymous users, gather first-party data, and make targeted offers across email, text, and ads.  

The company connects with any industry with ties to retail or that has direct-to-consumer revenue channels. Wunderkind is mostly active in apparel and fashion spaces, as well as beauty, luxury goods, and electronics. It is also fairly experienced in travel, hospitality, and even event ticketing verticals. 

Loyalty360 spoke with Tim Glomb, VP of Digital, Content, and AI at Wunderkind, about leveraging AI, data collection and maintenance, and offering an intelligence layer to help brands better understand their customers.

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With more than 20 locations in the U.S., Great Wolf Lodge is a popular chain of hotels featuring water parks and attractions that engage guests with a diverse set of lodging and dining options. Daily events are designed to entice families seeking a fun getaway and water park enthusiasts alike. Great Wolf’s Voyagers Club program provides members with special deals to encourage them to book their next visit. 

Dave Van Saun is the Vice President of CRM and Ancillary for Great Wolf Lodge. In his role with the brand, he spends much of his time on the ancillary side of the business—which is everything guests can do at Great Wolf outside of booking the room. Van Saun works with pricing, packaging, and promotion of all the brand’s food and beverages, retail, and attractions alongside Great Wolf’s line of business leaders. 

On the CRM side, Van Saun oversees customer communications, and that is where loyalty fits into his purview. Great Wolf launched its loyalty program a couple of years ago, and Van Saun and his team have managed the day-to-day activities supporting Voyagers Club since. 

Mark Johnson, CEO of Loyalty360, spoke with Van Saun about the brand’s loyalty program, forming strategic partnerships to elevate the customer experience, and measuring success.

Watch the full interview here: https://youtu.be/ytKu1PluJU0

Read the feature on Loyalty360 here: https://loyalty360.org/content-gallery/in-depth-exclusives/great-wolf-lodge-making-an-impact-on-the-full-customer-experience-by-evolving-customer-loyalty

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Every traveler knows the paradox of modern flight: one moment you’re gliding through security and boarding early; the next, you’re navigating delays, lost bags, or crowded lounges. The difference between frustration and delight often comes down to how a brand manages those moments. In an era where expectations evolve faster than itineraries, emotional loyalty is forged not by luxury, but by reliability and relevance. 

In this episode of Leaders in Customer Loyalty: Industry Voices, CEO Mark Johnson sat down with Andrew Harrison-Chinn, Chief Marketing Officer at DragonPass, to discuss how the company is reshaping the airport experience and leaning in to what emotional loyalty means for travelers in a post-pandemic, high-expectation era. 

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Engaged Nation provides a suite of services and solutions designed to captivate, motivate, and drive measurable results. The company’s offerings include interactive web-based incentive programs that align seamlessly with each client’s unique objectives, whether they aim to boost brand visibility, enhance customer lifetime value, or drive incremental revenue. Powered by the REACH™ Digital Ecosystem of technology, Engaged Nation offers a platform to create engaging and personalized experiences. 

Engaged Nation works closely with brands across various industries—C-store, CPGs, financial services, restaurants/QSR, travel/hospitality, and many more—to help them drive engagement, boost revenue, and build lasting customer loyalty. Engaged Nation tailors solutions to meet the unique needs of clients based on their customers and industry, with the goal of helping them stand out in a crowded digital marketplace. 

 Mark Johnson, CEO of Loyalty360, spoke with Daniel Wood, Chief Customer Success Officer at Engaged Nation, about the company’s REACHTM platform, keeping customers engaged, and leveraging technology to understand individual customer preferences or behaviors. 

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In his new book, BIONIC RETAIL: HOW TO THRIVE IN AN EXPONENTIAL WORLD, author Gary Hawkins discusses how the pace of change outside organizations is accelerating faster than within, creating a growing gap between what once made retail successful and what will be required in the future. There is often a disconnect between shopper expectations and the traditional store, and retail brands must pivot and adapt to remain relevant and achieve success.  

Hawkins grew up in grocery retail, and his family once owned stores in the wholesale business in Upstate New York. It was in one of those stores, nearly 30 years ago, where Hawkins launched one of the first loyalty programs in the U.S. supermarket retail sector. The program served as a leader in the industry, providing much learning around customer data, shopping behavior, customer-level economics, and more. Eventually, his efforts switched to assisting other prominent retailers in the U.S. and around the world with a focus on capturing, understanding, and using shopper data. From there, Hawkins worked with bigger brands before moving to technological pursuits. 

Mark Johnson, CEO of Loyalty360, spoke with Hawkins about his book, the exponential environment brands operate in today, and how change outside an organization moves more quickly than change on the inside.

Watch the full interview here: https://youtu.be/LEZwEDVw-RE

Read the feature on Loyalty360 here: https://loyalty360.org/content-gallery/in-depth-exclusives/author-gary-hawkins-discusses-his-new-book-and-how-an-evolving-society-impacts-retail-technology

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Founded in 2009, vLoyalty is a privately held company headquartered in Dallas, Texas. The company combines the power of payments, card-linking loyalty and promotions, and text messaging to help companies easily enroll, engage, understand, and reward customers to drive repeat visits and sales.  

vLoyalty offers clients a patented cloud-based suite of solutions that meets the needs of small businesses as well as large franchise enterprises. These solutions enable efficient and convenient loyalty program enrollment at the point of purchase. Clients can also take advantage of real-time access to historical purchasing data to optimize point-of-sale (POS) targeted offers and leverage compliant SMS text messaging to engage customers—all with seamless payment integration. 

Loyalty360 spoke with Peter Vogel, Chief Revenue Officer at vLoyalty, about loyalty program automation at the checkout, vLoyalty’s recent quick-service restaurant study, and what’s coming next for the company in 2024.

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Baesman Group helps brands solve personalized marketing challenges with a strategic focus on loyalty programs. Their team of customer engagement strategists, made up of former brand-side marketers, specializes in helping their clients truly understand their customers’ buying behaviors and mapping that to their overall loyalty journey. Baesman also offers its own customizable loyalty platform, Intuition, or has the ability to integrate and work with any platform on the market. Baesman believes in evolving loyalty programs so loyalty strategy drives the program, rather than technology limitations that can often exist.

Mark Johnson, CEO of Loyalty360, spoke with Kelsey Crookes, Account Management at Baesman. Crookes is a fourth-generation member of the family-owned company—her great-grandfather started the business in 1952. Kelsey is experienced in deriving strategic insights and customer engagement strategies from data to create a more loyal customer. In this interview, Crookes discusses loyalty program differentiation, leveraging “secret” or “unpublished” tiers, and harnessing customer data to create more personalized communications.

Watch the full interview here.

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A&W Restaurants was founded in 1919 as a root beer stand in Lodi, California, to welcome the troops home after World War I. As America’s oldest franchise restaurant chain, today, there are nearly 450 locations across the U.S. and another 450 in Asia spanning four markets.  

The chain is 100% franchisee-owned. The brand ensures franchisees have a voice in company decisions that will affect their businesses, and franchisees are represented by the National A&W Franchisee Association (NAWFA). A&W works collaboratively with franchisees on everything that happens in their restaurants—particularly on brand and marketing initiatives. The brand engages franchisees to ensure that anything new that’s launched—whether it’s products or advertising and marketing programs—is there to support profitable same-store growth as well as new restaurants being established.  

Betsy Schmandt, President and COO of A&W Restaurants, oversees all revenue at A&W Restaurants, driving aspects of the business, operations, training, marketing, innovation, and franchise development, as well as technology and legal. It’s a broad scope, but Schmandt affirms it’s wonderful to be a part of a great American brand with 105 years of experience.  

Mark Johnson, CEO of Loyalty360, spoke with Schmandt about A&W’s new enterprise reporting and analytics solution, connecting with customers on an emotional level, and next generation customer loyalty.

Watch the full interview here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lQLjA5FJP8

Read the feature on Loyalty360: https://loyalty360.org/content-gallery/in-depth-exclusives/a-w-restaurants-building-customer-loyalty-through-data-driven-insights-and-personalization

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Addtowallet.io offers a mobile wallet marketing platform that lets brands create, manage, and distribute digital offers and pass them on to Apple Wallet and Google Pay. Traditional coupons, loyalty cards, gift cards, and event tickets can be made visible and accessible to customers no matter where they are—dynamically updated in real-time and tracked from inception to intent-to-purchase to redemption. 

After the Addtowallet platform was built, the company realized that there were not many marketers active in the digital wallet channel. The company saw an opportunity for marketers and brands to start learning about the technology as the team at Addtowallet believes the digital wallet channel is the next place for marketers to focus.

Mark Johnson, CEO of Loyalty360, spoke with Steven Douglas, Founder and CEO at Addtowallet, about how the wallet channel offers marketers the opportunity to personalize loyalty efforts and how customers’ interactions with coupons in their digital wallets can reveal an intention to buy.

Watch the full interview here: https://www.youtube.com/live/Pf5HRlPoMJ0?si=kOjYh7GZqWdwBozq

Read the article on Loyalty360 here: https://loyalty360.org/content-gallery/daily-news/loyalty-live-addtowallet-on-how-brand-marketers-can-harness-the-power-of-digital-wallets

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Founded in 1982 in Minneapolis, MN, Great Clips, Inc. counts more than 4,400 salons in the U.S. and Canada. The brand is 100% franchisee-owned and is the largest salon brand in the world, employing over 28,000 stylists. The brand prides itself on fast and convenient walk-in haircare services and allows online check-in to minimize the time customers spend in the waiting room. 

Just prior to the 2024 Super Bowl, Great Clips and mobility manufacturer Kawasaki partnered in a campaign featuring Kawasaki’s RIDGE® side x side while tapping into the power of a legendary haircut.  

Mark Johnson, CEO of Loyalty360, spoke with Lisa Hake, the Vice President of Marketing and Communications at Great Clips, about the fun promotion with Kawasaki, collecting zero-party data, and building a path to loyalty.

Watch the full interview here: https://youtu.be/er1rcH8OJhs

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A part of Xponential Fitness, a large global franchise group of boutique fitness brands across verticals including pilates, barre, cycling, rowing, dance, yoga, and more, Pure Barre is a barre-focused franchise boasting over 600 wellness studios across the U.S. and Canada. Thousands of members of all fitness levels enjoy Pure Barre’s low-impact classes every day in support of strength, cardio, and flexibility goals. A standout in barre and fitness boutiques, Pure Barre ranks in Entrepreneur Magazine’s Franchise 500 List each year.  

Mark Johnson, CEO of Loyalty360, spoke with Caroline Linton, CMO of Pure Barre, about forming strategic partnerships, leveraging the power of fitness challenges to increase engagement, and the brand’s recently launched ClassPointsTM program on the Pure Barre app. 

Watch the full interview here: https://youtu.be/oQh4WCAE_lw

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The brainchild of Adam Breeden (All Star Lanes, AceBounce, and Flight Club) and brothers Steven and Dave Jolliffe (Topgolf), Puttshack is a high-tech mini golf concept where technology has been injected into the traditional game to make it even more exciting and fun. The 9-hole mini golf games feature Puttshack’s proprietary TrackaballTM technology, and each game takes approximately 30 minutes, depending on how busy the course is and the number of people playing in the group. While reservations aren’t required, walk-in groups will be served on a first-come, first-serve basis.  

The Puttshack experience is enhanced by food and beverage options, and guests can enjoy bar and restaurant areas when visiting. At present, the brand counts 14 locations in the U.S. and 18 locations worldwide, with more locations under construction. 

Mark Johnson, CEO of Loyalty360, spoke with Susan Walmesley, Chief Marketing Officer and Chief Operating Officer of Puttshack, about the brand’s popular Ace Puttman campaign, the Puttshack Perks program, and leveraging data in support of personalization.

Read the full article on Loyalty360 here: https://loyalty360.org/content-gallery/in-depth-exclusives/puttshack-engaging-and-educating-customers-with-a-whimsical-brand-ambassador

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In the latest edition of Loyalty360’s Leaders in Customer Loyalty: Brand Stories series, Tara Roth-Sterger, Senior Loyalty Program Manager at MANSCAPED, shared insights into the brand’s journey and its customer-first approach. Founded in 2016 by Paul Tran, MANSCAPED has grown from a men’s below-the-waist grooming company into a global leader in men’s personal care, expanding into beard, skincare, and grooming products. Tara discussed the launch of the brand’s new Members Only Rewards program, which integrates seamlessly with its strong subscription model to deliver simplicity, recognition, and exclusive perks. She emphasized MANSCAPED’s focus on building trust, community, and advocacy, highlighting partnerships like the one with the Testicular Cancer Society, while also underscoring how emotional loyalty and personalization are driving the brand’s next phase of customer engagement. 

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In 1965, a mail-order veterinary supplies business named UPCO was founded in San Diego, California. By 1979, it became Petco, and in 1980, the first Petco store located outside of California opened in Tigard, Oregon. Petco’s significant growth began in the late 1980s after acquiring two pet supply chains, WellPoint and the Pet Department. The purchase not only expanded the footprint of the company but more than tripled the brand’s store number from 40 to 130. In the early 1990s, Petco opened its first East Coast stores, and by 2001, Petco.com was launched. In 2013, the company opened its first Petco stores in Mexico, with one in Mexico City and another one in Guadalajara.  

Today, Petco is a successful pet health and wellness company, reflecting nearly six decades of providing thoughtful customer service to “pet parents” and their beloved pets. The brand has created an environment in which customer loyalty is built through the emotional connections nurtured by in-store employees.     

Mark Johnson, CEO of Loyalty360, spoke with Justin Tichy, Chief Operating Officer for Petco, about growing into a health and wellness company, building emotional loyalty with pet parents, and fostering an environment of engaged employees.  

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Capillary Technologies is a managed SaaS solution powering 500+ loyalty programs with its best-in-class loyalty technology platform and expert services. Founded in 2012, Capillary has a strong global presence across the United States, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East, working with 400+ brands like Tata, PUMA, Shell, Petron, Domino’s, Kanmo Group, and Marks & Spencer. The platform’s suite of products—Loyalty+, Engage+, Rewards+, Insights+—are all AI-powered and sit on top of a powerful consumer data platform that has touched more than a billion end customers.

As part of the Loyalty Expo Speaker Preview Series, Loyalty360 interviews presenters who will lead dynamic sessions at this year’s Loyalty Expo in Orlando, Florida, from June 4–6.  

Mark Johnson, CEO of Loyalty360, spoke with Don Smith, Chief Consulting Officer at Capillary, about the upcoming session he will lead in June. The session will address the mechanics of customer loyalty programs and what metrics to tap into when measuring customer loyalty efforts.

Read the article here: https://loyalty360.org/content-gallery/daily-news/capillary-s-2024-loyalty-expo-session-understanding-the-mechanics-of-customer-loyalty-programs-and

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Capillary Technologies is a managed SaaS solution powering 500+ loyalty programs with its best-in-class loyalty technology platform and expert services. Founded in 2012, Capillary has a strong global presence across the United States, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East, working with 400+ brands like Tata, PUMA, Shell, Petron, Domino’s, Kanmo Group, and Marks & Spencer. The platform’s suite of products—Loyalty+, Engage+, Rewards+, Insights+—are all AI-powered and sit on top of a powerful consumer data platform that has touched more than a billion end customers.

As part of the Loyalty Expo Speaker Preview Series, Loyalty360 interviews presenters who will lead dynamic sessions at this year’s Loyalty Expo in Orlando, Florida, from June 4–6.  

Mark Johnson, CEO of Loyalty360, spoke with Don Smith, Chief Consulting Officer at Capillary, about the upcoming session he will lead in June. The session will address the mechanics of customer loyalty programs and what metrics to tap into when measuring customer loyalty efforts.

Read the article here:  https://loyalty360.org/content-gallery/daily-news/capillary-s-2024-loyalty-expo-session-understanding-the-mechanics-of-customer-loyalty-programs-and

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SheerID is an identity verification company serving commerce brands and working with globally recognized names like Walmart, Target, Nike, T-Mobile, AT&T, Spotify, and YouTube. The SheerID verification platform is built on a foundation of 200K+ authoritative data sources, which power instant consumer verification, establishing whether a person is part of a particular community — e.g., a college student, teacher, member of the military, etc. — or a profession like fitness instructors. 

Retail brands work with SheerID to provide exclusive offers and rewards to select groups — i.e., Target’s back-to-school program designed to engage educators. Brands leverage SheerID’s service to ensure that the people responding to offers and redeeming rewards are truly members of the specific “community” a brand desires to reach. SheerID’s verification engine works in the background and performs a lookup of the customer record to confirm if access to the reward should be granted. 

Today, brands are using SheerID’s solution much more for loyalty use cases to collect valuable first-party data while providing special offers. Mark Johnson, CEO of Loyalty360, spoke with Bill Schneider, VP of Product Marketing at SheerID, about the company’s verification platform, customer data privacy, and how marketing to people based on the communities they identify with is a powerful strategy for driving engagement.  

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With a clientele spanning across the U.S. and Canada, nventive specializes in crafting impactful mobile, web applications, and software solutions that increase engagement and enhance the user experience for brands. From strategy to delivery, nventive’s approach seamlessly blends creativity, technology, and strategic thinking. 

The core of nventive’s work involves developing custom web and mobile applications, and within the loyalty sector, the company works frequently with coalition programs. Because those programs tend to be more complex, the integrations are vast, requiring nventive to develop many solutions around that vertical.  

nventive works in other sectors as well — manufacturing (productivity), financial, retail, and more. Working within these distinct industries allows nventive to glean the best practices across trades and apply them to a specific vector. The company also advises clients and works with existing programs to maximize the experience on mobile platforms. 

Mark Johnson, CEO of Loyalty360, spoke with David Hamel, Vice President of Strategy, CX and Design at nventive, about creating a rewarding experience for the customer, the role of micro-interactions in personalization, and leveraging evolving technologies.  

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Ansira is an independent, global marketing technology and services company with clients across B2B, B2C, and B2B2C industries that leverage the company’s suite of proprietary technology platforms across website, media, and channel partner marketing. Ansira guides clients operating in distributed ecosystems to connect with their customers, fostering brand loyalty by seamlessly integrating digital and physical experiences from the enterprise level to the hyper-local level. Recommending best-in-class products, Ansira also works with clients to strengthen loyalty efforts. Loyalty, incentives, and rewards all fall within the company’s integrated loyalty practice.  

Mark Johnson, CEO of Loyalty360, spoke with Sukumar Muthya, EVP of Integrated Loyalty at Ansira, about integrated loyalty, how brands can go beyond loyalty mechanics, and ensuring reward complexity is kept to a minimum.

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Rodney Strong Vineyards was founded in 1959 when Rodney Strong chose Sonoma County in California as the ideal place to produce some of the best-known wines in the world. Three decades after its founding, Rodney Strong Vineyards’ management shifted to the Klein family, and today, their leadership continues the tradition of developing premium wines while prioritizing sustainability efforts.    

Vineyard location is critical, and land is carefully selected. At present, the brand owns 12 estate vineyards in Sonoma County, and Rodney Strong itself is right in the middle of the Russian River Valley. 

The marketing team at Rodney Strong Vineyards is involved in everything from advertising to strategy to social media, packaging, and brand creation. Marketing also works closely with sales and hospitality. Initiatives not only include luxury events drawing wine lovers to Sonoma but also promotions designed to highlight Rodney Strong’s commitment to sustainability.  

Mark Johnson, CEO of Loyalty360, spoke with Erica Odden, VP of Marketing for Rodney Strong, about the brand’s sustainability sweepstakes, meaningful customer engagement, and creating an environment for emotional loyalty to flourish.

Read the full article on Loyalty360 here: https://loyalty360.org/content-gallery/in-depth-exclusives/rodney-strong-sustainability-efforts-engage-consumers-and-cultivate-emotional-loyalty

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From its humble beginnings as a hardware store in a small North Carolina town, Lowe’s grew to become one of the largest home improvement retailers in the world. The company counts nearly 300K associates, encompassing 1,700+ home improvement and outlet stores in the U.S. With more than 16M customer transactions every week, the brand celebrated $86.4B in 2023.

Mark Johnson, CEO of Loyalty360, spoke with Amanda Bailey, VP of Customer Marketing and Loyalty at Lowe’s, about building a tiered approach in the brand’s MyLowe’s Rewards program, applying personalization within customer loyalty, and engaging millennial homeowners.

Read the full article on Loyalty360 here: https://loyalty360.org/content-gallery/in-depth-exclusives/lowe-s-home-improvement-a-tiered-rewards-program-designed-to-engage-diyers-and-attract-millennials

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As brand marketers seek to comprehensively understand and use the customer data they’ve collected, one of the first considerations centers on integrating a customer data platform (CDP) into their martech stack or better leveraging the one already in place. While a CDP houses disparate data gathered by various technologies used in an organization, unless a clear process of persona-building, establishing customer journeys, and purpose-led engagement is prioritized, brands can fall into a pattern of trying to engage customers solely through transactional loyalty efforts — which might leave them left behind in a competitive marketplace. 

TCS Digital Software & Solutions offers software solutions that activate artificial intelligence (AI) across various industries, domains of customer engagement/experience, sustainability, and smart enterprises. TCS Customer Intelligence & Insights™ (CI&I) for retail is an integrated software solution that combines intelligent loyalty, real-time customer data platforms (CDPs), and AI-driven customer analytics. 

Mark Johnson, CEO of Loyalty360, spoke with Suman Mahalanabis, Head of Product Management, TCS Digital Software & Solutions, and Padmashwini Raghunathan, Product Manager, TCS Customer Intelligence & Insights™ for retail and Loyalty Management, Digital Software & Solutions. The three discussed how a CDP supports a brand’s customer loyalty efforts, customer data privacy and responsible AI, and key personalization initiatives. 

Read the full article on Loyalty360 here:

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The Coca-Cola Company’s global initiative, the ‘Best Coke Ever?’ debate, is using artificial intelligence (AI) to create a truly unique experience for consumers and Coca-Cola fans. One of the key elements in the campaign includes allowing Coke Zero Sugar to “speak for itself” to engage consumers through visual and auditory experiences. Partnerships with social media influencers and leveraging platforms like TikTok are additional components in the global icon’s efforts to increase brand love and attract the next generation of Coca-Cola fans.  

In this podcast, Mark Johnson, CEO of Loyalty360, spoke with Oana Vlad, Senior Director of Global Strategy for The Coca-Cola Company, about the brand’s global initiative — the ‘Best Coke Ever?’ debate, leveraging AI as a vehicle to create unique consumer experiences, and measuring success in a campaign with many components. 

See also: Coca-Cola Launches AI-Powered Holiday Cards 

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Step into Moe’s Southwest Grill and the first thing you’ll hear is the signature shout: “Welcome to Moe’s!” As part of the GoTo Foods platform company, Moe’s taps into enterprise resources in technology, culinary innovation and guest insights that help the brand translate flavorful energy into long-term loyalty. But what really keeps guests coming back isn’t just the burritos, bowls and queso, it’s the energy, the personality and the way the brand makes loyalty feel fresh and fun. 

In this edition of Leaders in Customer Loyalty: Brand Stories, we sat down with Mike Smith, Chief Brand Officer at Moe’s Southwest Grill, to talk about how the brand is blending bold flavors with bold ideas. With more than 7 million members in Moe’s Rewards, Smith shares how the team is reimagining loyalty with flexibility, personalization, and plenty of brand personality. 

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As today’s brands continue to seek ways to improve their customer loyalty programs, marketers and loyalty professionals are challenged to provide enhanced experiences and authentic personalization that can lead to greater brand affinity. Emotional loyalty is not built overnight; brands must commit to knowing their customers and preferences, leveraging the knowledge in the right way at the right time. This can be accomplished through customer data insights prioritizing personalization.      

Ernst & Young (EY) operates in over 150 countries, working through four integrated service lines — Assurance, Consulting, Strategy and Transactions, and Tax. The organization offers loyalty program services, partnering with brands so that they can cultivate deeper emotional connections with customers. EY’s loyalty programs are designed to enhance customer retention and engagement, increase sales and encourage frequency, facilitate heightened brand awareness and referrals, and provide greater insights into customer data.  

EY’s research concluded that 87% of consumers are at least somewhat comfortable sharing data. However, when EY surveyed corporate decision makers that have control over loyalty budgets and programming, personalization and data management capture were lower priorities for investment among companies. EY reports less than half — around 42% — said that they were focused on personalization and customized touch points. 

In this podcast, Mark Johnson, CEO of Loyalty360, spoke with Patricia Camden and Michael Anders, Loyalty Leaders for EY, about the state of customer loyalty, why personalization is the number one thing brands must focus on today, and how traditional loyalty programs focused on frequency and volume are giving away to more nuanced approaches that consider a customer’s entire relationship with the brand.

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The first Melting Pot restaurant, established in 1975 by businessmen Bruce Knoechel and Roy Nelson in Maitland, FL, offered a simple menu of only three items — Swiss cheese fondue, beef fondue, and a chocolate fondue dessert. In 1979, with the support of two siblings, Melting Pot employee Mark Johnston opened another location in Tallahassee, followed by a third restaurant in Tampa in 1981. In 1985, brothers Mark, Mike, and Bob Johnston purchased all rights to the Melting Pot brand from the original owners.  

Now a chain of franchised fondue restaurants, Melting Pot counts close to 90 locations across the U.S. and one Melting Pot restaurant in Canada.   

In this podcast, Mark Johnson, CEO of Loyalty360, spoke with Ana Malmqvist, CMO for Front Buner Brands, about the importance of personalization in a customer loyalty program, leveraging data from multiple integrated technologies to better understand customer data, and focusing on innovation to create an enhanced customer experience. 

See also: Restaurant Brands Elevate the Customer Experience by Offering At-home Meal Kits 

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Quick-fire Questions: 

What is your favorite word? 
 Energy. 

 What is your least favorite word? 
 Leverage.  

 What excites you? 
 Growth.  

 What do you find tiresome? 
 Process. 

 What is your favorite fondue? 
 Alpine. 

 What profession other than your own would you like to attempt? 
 Diplomat. 

 Who inspired you to become the person you are today? 
 My mother. 

 What is your favorite book recommendation to make to colleagues? 
 The Da Vinci Code. 

 How do you want to be remembered by your friends and family? 
 Present.  

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In 1963, Consumer Value Stores was founded in Lowell, MA, providing customers with health and beauty products. The company name changed to CVS by the end of its first year in business, and by 1967, pharmacies began to appear within its stores. The brand focused on healthcare, and huge growth followed through multiple acquisitions and the establishment of new locations. 

In the early 2000s, CVS Pharmacy launched ExtraCare®, its first loyalty program, and experienced much success in the loyalty space. By 2018, the brand acquired Aetna, and this development supercharged and accelerated CVS’ goal of helping customers with health and wellness goals. CarePass® — the brand’s premium program — was launched in 2019, driving loyalty efforts and creating more convenience for shoppers, and in December 2023, the brand scaled same-day delivery nationwide. 

Mark Johnson, CEO of Loyalty360, spoke with Zach Dennett, Vice President of Loyalty, Omnichannel and Hispanic Formats, CVS Health, about the brand’s premium customer loyalty program tier, customers engaging with the brand digitally before shopping in-store, and how the customer experience should be personalized, but not overtly obvious.

Read the full article on Loyalty360 here: https://loyalty360.org/content-gallery/in-depth-exclusives/cvs-pharmacy-evolving-customer-loyalty-programs-and-creating-a-more-convenient-customer-experience