Loyalty Marketing and More…

There’s an interesting Webinar coming up soon hosted by Loyalty Lab entitled Where Loyalty Fits in Your Customer Communications Strategy. If you aren’t familiar with Loyalty Lab, they provide a ready-made Loyalty platform used by a variety of different retail organizations. I’ve used it first hand and think it’s an interesting platform worth considering.

But for anyone looking to learn more about developing a successful Loyalty strategy, attending this Webinar would be a good first step. While this is the same information you could get from Loyalty Marketers, this Webinar is free so probably shouldn’t be passed up. It is scheduled for September 27, 2007 at 9:15 AM Pacific / 12:15 PM Eastern and is scheduled to last approximately 40 minutes including Q&A. But if you’re looking for help or an action plan on how to implement your Loyalty strategy, let us know and we’ll help you get started.

Here’s the description: Loyalty has taken on new meaning in the marketplace as more marketers examine their retention and relationship strategies. Join us to learn how to communicate to your customers that loyalty has its rewards. We’ll be discussing the following topics:

• Customer Communication: Talking “with” your customers instead of “at” them
• Points, Perks and Giveaways: Understanding how to properly use incentives is key to an effective loyalty message
• Do You Have the Data?: Customers expect a customized experience; do you have the horsepower to deliver one?

Wendy Lynes, practice leader for the retail market at Harte-Hanks, will discuss the role of loyalty marketing in a broader customer communications strategy.

Joining her will be David Rosen, Senior Vice President, Loyalty Lab.

You can learn more or sign up here.

In case you didn’t see the news, CauseLoyalty was acquired recently by Rakuten USA, the Amercian arm of the big Japanese Internet services company Rakuten. Here’s the press release. Rakuten USA acquired LinkShare and is now involved with both the merchants and the consumers. CauseLoyalty runs two sites, SchoolPop and OneCause, both of which raise money for schools and non-profit organizations. I’ve always wondered whether the cause marketing programs can convince enough people to participate and “donate” the money they can earn versus people joining programs where they get the money themselves. I’ve always been a big believer in enlightened self interest where if the person can benefit, they will do the right thing. I know there are companies out there that “share” the money earned through affiliate marketing so the consumer and a charity can each get some money.

I don’t know how successful these programs have been but clearly Rakuten USA saw something good in the opportunity with CauseLoyalty or they wouldn’t have acquired the company. Let’s see if this renewed interest can reinvigorate their programs and make a difference in the world. Good luck to both companies…

I learned of another new Loyalty program yesterday that combines a social mission with the enlightened self-interest of the consumer. The program is called Boston Community Change and is an effort to keep people in the many Boston neighborhoods shopping at locally owned businesses. The program is part of Boston Main Streets, a public-private initiative established by the City of Boston in 1995 which has been the driving force behind the revitalization of the city’s neighborhood commercial districts. The businesses give rebates based on certain minimum spending levels with everything tracked through the Boston Community Change card. The rebates go to local charities or can be divided between the consumer and the charity to further motivate the member. I just signed last week so am still learning how things will work. (more…)

I can’t really tell yet what this new company is up to but it sounds intriguing. I know the guy who founded the company from his days at cMarket - the online auction provider to non-profits. I used their software for a non-profit online auction and it worked really well. The new company called good2gether says their goal is “finding a more efficient and effective way to bring people and causes together.” I’m not sure if this involves Loyalty or not, but the idea is very inspirational. According to their blog, they have some very interesting meetings taking place. I’d suggest keeping your eyes on this company as they are about to make a big splash. And you heard it here first.

In case you missed it, Upromise and McDonald’s announced the launch of a new platform that allows Upromise members to earn savings at McDonald’s on the purchase or reloading of a stored value card (also known as a gift card). While this in itself might not be all that interesting, the announcement mentioned that Upromise is actually launching this as a platform that could integrate with other merchant gift cards. The gift card industry is huge and growing every year. For those merchants that were afraid of Upromise and the traditional registered credit card model, the gift card platform is a great alternative. Integration is simple depending on which company processes the gift card transactions. And consumer intentional behavior is huge since they have to go out of their way to register the card in their Upromise account – no accidental behavior here. Congratulations to Upromise on the launch of an innovative way to drive loyalty.