Loyalty Marketing and More…

Upromise, the folks that help millions of families save for college has launched a new promotion with Volkswagen that will allow members to earn $1,500 on the purchase of a new Volkswagen minivan - the Routan. This sounds like a really great fit given the Upromise demographic with lots of soccer moms. Members have to pre-order their vehicle before it actually goes on sale and take delivery by the end of November. But the car looks really cool (if you like minivans) and comes at a variety of price levels. Anyone in the market for a minivan should check this out and if you aren’t already a Upromise member, you should join just to get this rebate.

In other news, Incentive Solutions has launched a new business-to-business Loyalty offering for mid-size U.S. companies. Incentive is based in New Zealand and is making their first foray into the U.S. with Reward Paths. Having worked on a number of BtoB Loyalty programs and done a variety of research on what solutions are out there, this is welcome news.

It also appears that Citizens Bank, which has its own Citizens Bank Rewards Program, is shifting around their program. Consumers are now required to opt-in and even pay a fee if they don’t meet certain basic requirements. Here’s a link to their explanation. This is a great idea in my book as it will re-engage those who may have dropped off or kick out the dead wood. I know some other programs that should consider a similar strategy.

Finally, the folks at uBoost have re-launched their service with a variety of upgrades and enhancements. For those of you that don’t remember or didn’t read my previous post, uBoost is an educational rewards program that helps incent children to do well in school. It’s a great concept and if you haven’t done so already, you should check it out.