EMEA Loyalty Leadership Forum Races to the Finish
The going was definitely good for our EMEA Loyalty Leadership Forum - which took place last month at the historic Jockey Club Rooms in Newmarket, Suffolk, home of British horseracing. A big thank you to all our clients who attended this year and for giving the Forum such positive feedback:
“I found the leadership forum very educational and inspirational. I hope to implement some of the elements we saw there into our rewards program to enhance its attractiveness.”
“The event was informative as it had been last year too, As well as that it was a lot of fun!”
The day began ‘at the starting gates’ with a presentation by our CEO Dr David Cox on the latest trends for coalition in B2B loyalty promotions. ‘Double dipping’ coalition programs have been popular in B2C loyalty programs for some time – for example, buying a flight on your credit card and earning air miles for both transactions. This trend is now extending to the B2B loyalty sector especially if the purchase process is lengthy – bundling products together so that participants can earn extra points, drives higher levels of engagement.
Next up was a session on Best Practice for Structuring a Learning Program presented by Lincoln Smith, VP sales & marketing at our USA ally in excellence HMI.
First and foremost, explore your objectives: Who’s your target audience? Is this a short term initiative, or are you aiming to shift buying behaviour long term? Is the aim of your loyalty program to grow market share, or maintain market share? Then craft your loyalty program strategy. Keep evaluating it – if the program isn’t achieving your goals, adjust the tactics.
Our loyalty professors, Dr Debbie Keeling and Dr Ko de Ruyter gave insightful presentations on the ‘Hurdles of Enablement’ and innovative practices in e-learning.
“Did you know that if you can engage a participant in completing one module, the odds are they will take a further four modules? ”
Did you know that if you can engage a participant in completing one module, the odds are they will take a further four modules? The key driver is personal sense of achievement. Also, make sure multiple choice questions (MCQs) aren’t too easy. Learners don’t like it when the answers are too obvious – it devalues the training.
Afternoon sessions explored gamification in the loyalty marketing sector, the growing relevance of social media and creating communities within a loyalty program; and the value of incentive travel in creating a deeper sense of loyalty.
Delegates also took part in a lively debate on the do’s and don’ts of launching a loyalty program. Take outs included:
• Make sure you get buy-in from internal stakeholders and your sales team;
• Once a program is up and running, don’t keep changing the rules
The final furlong of this year’s Leadership Forum was an evening of networking at the legendary Newmarket racecourse.
If you are interested in attending our next loyalty event please fill in your details below so we can add you to the invite list when it is announced.