Loyalty Expo 2009 In Review

LOYALTY EXPO 2009

July 2009

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FROM THE EXPO

Expo Takeaways: “Keep it Real” by Al McClain – RetailWire.com

Some marketers are more in love with putting together programs and setting rules than they are in really connecting with their customers.

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LOYALTY EXPO 2009

S

o here’s the thing about loyalty—it’s whatever the individual shopper/consumer wants it to be, not a marketer’s program. One person is loyal due to personalized service, another likes the one free after ten purchases deal, while someone else wants to accumulate points, etc. The problem seems to be that at least some marketers are more in love with putting together programs and setting rules than they are in really connecting with their customers.

Citibank and American Airlines have a program, for example, where one can earn 20,000 Aadvantage® miles for doing the following: Open a checking account with at least $1,000 by 6-30-09. Make one direct deposit or pay two electronic bills or make five qualifying non PIN-based purchase transactions with their debit card per month for twelve consecutive months. Oh, and you have to remember to register for the program using a special code and once it’s all over it takes up to 120 days from completing all the activity to receive the miles. Meanwhile, speaker after speaker at this week’s Loyalty Expo advised marketers to “simplify”, “connect with consumers ” and “keep it real”. With the above example, we can see why that advice is necessary. BrandMIND noted that households have an average of 14 loyalty cards yet a Colloquy presenter said that only 6.2 of those 14 memberships are active. In other words, consumers have a lot of loyalty cards and can’t keep up with them all. Yet, here’s the program that started it all in 1981 making consumers jump through nearly impossible hoops to claim their award. For the 80 million 12 to 31 year olds classified as Millenials, programs like the above example make even less sense. Panelists at a session on “Building Engagement with Millenials” said that this group is very connected with friends and family, relying heavily on word-of-mouth for everything. Millennials want instant gratification—they prefer instant cash back (who doesn’t) versus mileage rewards that take a long time to accumulate. Traditional media with this group is less effective, and they have the ability to opt-out of everything, so marketers need to find reasons to keep them engaged with their brands. If a brand doesn’t deliver, they can tarnish it pretty quickly, via social networks and W-O-M. Panelists felt that marketers should take away complexity because, although this group can scan information more rapidly than previous generations, they are better at “scanning” than really reading in-depth. My overall impression is that consumers, if left to their own devices, would really prefer to just have better prices than wade through piles of special offers and loyalty program rules. (Can anyone say Wal-Mart or Southwest Airlines?) But, since there can be only one low price leader for any given type of business, everybody else needs to think about what else will work best and perhaps try the following tips:



“The Loyalty Expo was a well run conference with many great presentations and significant networking opportunities with clients, partners and prospects.” —Bob Fetter, Pluris

• Keep loyalty programs and special offers simple enough that harried consumers can figure them out easily and quickly. • Don’t try to trick consumers with onerous rules and regulations—you’ll get trashed via social media. • Personalize offers enough so that shoppers will know you are on the same page with them, but not so much that they think you are snooping on them or trying to be their “friend”. • Think about what you offer from the perspective of consumers who are going through tough times more often than not, and are continuously bombarded by “deals” from marketers of all sizes and stripes. L

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FROM THE EXPO

Eye on the Future by Julie Sturgeon

“There is no magic bullet, no simple solution to loyalty. We have to satisfy customer needs and wants at a sustainable profit. It’s the last part marketers forget.” The Loyalty 360 Expo in Hollywood, Florida, offered yet another chance for our association to show the industry how far we’ve come in one scant year. We’ve partnered with the International Marketing Association, the Motivation Show, the Petroleum Convenience Alliance for Technology Standards, and the National Restaurant Association. We’ve just rolled out an innovative best practices database on the newly launched website. Look for us to roll out councils, offer more webinar series and focus on innovations in the time of economic uncertainty. In short, our goal is to find the answer to today’s vital questions on how to retain loyalty, how to engage consumers and how to measure effectively. But we can’t drag the baggage of our past along on this journey if we intend to get to our destination, as Timothy Keiningham, global chief strategy officer and executive vice president of IPSOS Loyalty , made clear in his keynote address. “We see with our brains, not our eyes, so we accept the myths in this industry,” he told the audience of 300-plus. “That’s a problem.” Unfortunately, our brains are wired to see things consistent with our normal world—we do not see things we think are impossible. And as marketers, there’s a second twist: Our brains see patterns in everything. As a result, Keiningham

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says, we think that correlations are the cause, which means we buy into myths such as customers become more profitable the longer they stay with the company. (Wrong. Buyers fall into either profitable, break-even or unprofitable buckets. You simply want to encourage the profitables to stay, not everyone in a blanket statement.) Or we believe loyal customers pay higher prices. (Just the opposite: they are quite price sensitive because they’ve learned how we tick.) “There is no magic bullet, no simple solution to loyalty,” Keiningham said. “We have to satisfy customer needs and wants at a sustainable profit. It’s the last part marketers forget.” Here’s a glimpse of how other loyalty marketing players are using what we know today to reshape our future. L

LOYALTY EXPO 2009

L O Y A LT Y E X P O S U M M A R Y

Census Talk 2009: Sizing Up the U.S. Loyalty Marketing Industry Rick Ferguson, editorial director of Colloquy, knows a few disheartening facts about the loyalty marketing industry. In a nutshell, we’ve reached saturation, with the average household enrolled in approximately 14 programs. Yet the average consumer carries only three or four of those cards in their wallets. Additionally, the engagement numbers his company is seeing are flat. “There’s a lot of signing up and walking away going on,” Ferguson said. “It’s loyalty marketing’s dirty little secret: a lot of these programs are a waste of money.” So, if you’re not a member of the card-carrying set, do you push the envelope or get out of the game? Ferguson recommended that participants who attended his session survive by stop expecting a revolution and begin concentrating on the four Cs of the current evolution: Convergence: When different technologies like telephone, video and computers merged, the world welcomed broadband. In marketing, this convergence will be partnerships, as airlines and Citi have begun to demonstrate. The idea is to reward people for behavior across an entire network of partners as opposed to limiting them to one brand. For marketers, it means critical mass, which is why Citi teamed up with Expedia to use points toward travel in 2008, and even in the midst of a financial industry meltdown forged forward with a similar plan with Amazon. Coalition: Air Miles was revolutionary, and its position has proven strong enough to bear repeating in the U.K., Germany, Australia, New Zealand and Brazil. So far, the United States hasn’t had a successful attempt at a coalition. “But I’ll stake a body part that it will happen here in three to five years,” he said. “At that point, you’ll either need to join or compete. Get your plans together for that direction now.” Cooperation: When it comes to word-of-mouth advertising, Colloquy has found that 71 percent of the U.S. population is willing to recommend any given company, but whether their actions meet their attitude is uncertain. Fifty-eight percent of the population is a connector who has the ability to recommend the product to folks in their real-life and social networks but aren’t necessarily into your brand. The sweet spot—that interaction between advocate and connector—Ferguson calls a champion. The best news: 55 percent of loyalty members are champions, “so your database has a ton of people who like you and talk about you.



“There were many improvements this year...The content was strong and very relevant for the times, the location was easily accessible to many airports and the venue allowed for easy networking.” —Adam Bashe, Destination Maternity “Now, how do you get them involved in your business model?” he added. Ask Club Lego, which let its members design a kit that proved to be the biggest seller in the company’s history. Cause marketing: No, we’re not just talking about going green. Customers are demanding companies to do business in socially responsible ways, like American Express’ Members Project that let participants vote on where to donate nonprofit dollars. Likewise, Air Miles suggests ways its members can burn points in green ways. “We have the ability to put the right products on the shelves to hit our profitability numbers,” Ferguson said. “All we have to do is focus on the things that matter. L

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FROM THE EXPO

L O Y A LT Y E X P O S U M M A R Y

Gamification of Loyalty: Driving Deeper Customer Engagement Through the Power of Play A large chunk of our society evolves around games: American Idol is clearly one, and some viewers swear the TV series Lost is as well. But when you define “game” as a structured experience with rules and goals that is fun, suddenly all of life is eligible for this label. And, as Barry Kirk and Tim Crank of Maritz advocate, that includes loyalty marketing programs. “Games tap into competition, status, flow, play, reward, achievement and mastery—primal psychological needs,” Kirk told his audience. And that’s exactly why they could be the big ticket to solving pervasive challenges in the loyalty marketing arena, such as commoditized programs, the public’s growing attention scarcity and social media’s message that everything needs to be interactive and immersive. Kirk offers three steps to take immediately: 1. See yourself as a game designer: Call it a loyalty program if you insist, but the goal is still to tap into the same power engagement triggers. The real transformation happens when you throw in the fun. 2. Focus on your player. As a game designer, your role is to be an advocate for the player. Yes, it’s a radical shift for folks who traditionally think in terms of price per point. 3. Master these game mechanics: Points, or even more precisely, scores. Coca-Cola has turned its bottle caps into tokens; YouTube encourages participants to strive for hits and ratings. Anything you can do to create experience points to go with the spend points is golden. Tiers to let people know where they are relative to the game. Think of American Express’s card color progression, or Yahoo Answers passing out gifts built on interaction levels. Collecting, because if you put it in a set, the human brain feels compelled to gather the entire thing. Think Boy Scout badges, Burger King Star Trek glasses, and McDonald’s Monopoly cards. According to Kirk, if you bundle behaviors you currently aren’t getting with actions the public is comfortable with, they’ll strive for it.

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“I had a great time at the expo and found the sessions helpful and insightful. I was particularly impressed with the Gamification of Loyalty.” —Adriana-Vethencourt, Office Depot Leader boards give players status to compare. It’s basically the YouTube “most watched video” hits announcement, but in loyalty, that might translate to a lifetime point accumulation recognition. Exchanges make the games social. When you let people interact—think sending gifts on Facebook or retweeting on Twitter—they’ll play longer Customization, such as avatars, cement folks to your program. The more time they invest in creating their stamp, the higher the exit barrier. PetSociety gamers did exactly this when they discovered players had made a point to collect the different color dog poos in the competition. Now, there’s an added goal: to earn golden and rainbow poo. “We have as much data on how people use loyalty as gaming companies do,” Kirk pointed out. “Why not use it to fit the program to the players?” Feedback shows where you stand relative to a personal goal in addition to the big picture. Randomness plays on the popularity of slots. Psychologists will tell you that variable reinforcement is the most powerful carrot. Take, for instance, Charter cable company’s loyalty program. Participants know how to collect points (yawn) but they have no idea when the window to redeem them will open and close. The suspense means they open every email just in case. It also helps with a program’s liability if you control when people can redeem, Kirk said. Spectators are a given. Face it, without an audience Facebook wouldn’t exist. Bosses, as the last great Herculean task before completing a level or game, intrigues the best of us. If you fail, it’s human nature to work to get that second (third, fourth and fifth) crack at it. And when you do conquer the obstacle, the emotions are very positive. “It’s all about looking at your existing programs to see where game tactics fit,” Kirk encouraged. L

LOYALTY EXPO 2009 L O Y A LT Y E X P O S U M M A R Y

iPhonifying Loyalty—Micro Offers and Mobile Interaction: Leveraging Today’s Mobile Technologies to Move Product, Reduce Inventory and Increase Communication It’s official: On May 21, 2009, Vatican City launched www. pope2you.net to reach out to Catholics around the world via Facebook, YouTube and iPhones. In his public relations announcement, the Pope told 20,000 listeners in St. Peter’s Square, “to use the technology in a positive way to build up bonds of friendship and solidarity that contribute to a better world.” Consumers certainly haven’t waited for this blessing. Don Hughes, CIO of Kobie Marketing, says 1.6 billion people are connected to the Internet today, while 140 million smart phones will be in use by 2013. At least 65 percent of mobile web browsing takes place on an iPhone, the device that now accounts for 32 percent of AT&T’s business. Even more damning for ordinary phones: 72 percent of iPhone users told surveyors in December 2008 that they are very satisfied with their smart choice, while 52 percent at Blackberry (RIM) rate echo that sentiment. Other cell phones have fallen into the 30 percent ratings category, and Nokia, which clocked in at only 32 percent on the very satisfied scale, lost 10 percent of market share in the last quarter. “With the advent of the iPhone we’re seeing a seismic shift in the market” said Hughes. “We saw a huge opportunity to integrate that experience into our customer’s loyalty experience and so we developed iPhone and WAP applications that integrate into Kobie’s Alchemy loyalty platform. It has been an overwhelming success from our clients perspective.” The medium’s user profile only makes the story better. The average smart phone user is 35 years old, works more than 50 hours a week, and has double the average U.S. household income. Fifty-four percent are college educated, 61 percent have kids, and 53 percent say they don’t have enough “me” time compared to 40 percent as the national average. Best of all, 24 percent of smart phone users make purchases with it today, and 81 percent use their smart phones while shopping. Kobie’s studies even show that 94 percent of customers will complete a loyalty profile over mobile versus the 47 percent who follow through on the web. What’s more, the idea of registering and not returning is a foreign concept to smart phone users. After all, they have it at their fingertips to tinker with when they are bored at the airport, the doctor’s office, or between seminar sessions at a conference.



“Had a great time at Loyalty Expo. Met a lot of great people, looking forward to building partnerships for Dukky.” —Mike Paine, Dukky The sky is the limit on how companies can use this tool. Already, the iRewardsCard application allows users to store their loyalty program bar codes on one iPhone and simply scan the appropriate one at the point of sale. This means they carry all of the cards virtually and constantly. Companies are also experimenting with models that push information about products and offers to the screen when the user takes a photo of a UPC. Surveys, point auctions on rewards, and sweepstakes games are a snap to do on a mobile platform as well. The only thing that’s failed so far: GPS tracking inside specific stores. According to Hughes, the accuracy is still too weak to be effective as an in-store GPS. Convinced this is the next frontier? Then your assignment is to plot a way to “earn attention” via the right content and the right distribution because customer intimacy— knowing what the consumer wants and being relevant with your message—rules this medium. And Hughes assured his audience that armed with the right loyalty platform architecture; the technology actually takes no more than two to four weeks to implement. L

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FROM THE EXPO L O Y A LT Y E X P O S U M M A R Y

L O Y A LT Y E X P O S U M M A R Y

Going from 0 – 120 MPH in 18 Months:

Wake Up and Smell the Loyalty:

How Sainsbury, UK is Using Granular Customer Data to Shape the Shopping Experience, Build Customer Intimacy & Drive Customer Loyalty in One of the World’s Toughest Markets Putting the infrastructure together to build the Nectar coalition in the U.K. wasn’t easy, and Mike Blyth, president of LMG USA (Groupe Aeroplan) will be the first to admit that. Simply connecting earners and burners alone presents a challenge, since everyone thinks their points are worth more than the next guy’s, he laughed. Yet grocer Sainsbury did just that , pulling together 16 earners and 30 burners that now have 50 percent of households in the United Kingdom participating. Together they collect information on 3 billion transactions—and this is in a country where the gross domestic product is far lower than the United States. The marketers’ challenge, of course, is keeping the program fresh. So far they’ve done this by adding a credit card, a music store, an insurance program and a wine and film club. The public expects innovation, not just “me, too” add-ons everybody else has. In 2007, the Nectar coalition added an emotional aspect, calling its rewards, “treats you deserve,” and pumping up the fact these prizes are all about thrilling experiences. It’s given out more than $1 billion GBP in rewards value to date. From a database side, the challenge is even greater. For starters, Sainsbury opted for speed on the report runs, coming in at 2 minutes, 32 seconds, a time that fundamentally changes the business. Now the consumer package goods brands can access information themselves without waiting—and everyone from the sales department to public relations is helping themselves to the facts, figures and patterns stored here to improve their game. They’re accessing tings like spend per customer, daily sales, which stores stock their products, repeat purchasing patterns, crossshopping, and even how their product high loyalty buyers rank compared to category loyal buyers. You can even see which pop singer album more Kit Kat Senses bar buyers have purchased. (Psst, the answer is Mariah Carey.) “A very well thought out service agreement between the players is crucial,” Blyth warned. On the other hand, the work is worth it, as every piece of data helps determine how to communicate with target customers. That makes NextGen tools, and NexGen digital content and management crucial. “If you don’t think through the process, you just have data,” Blyth added. L

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How Loyalty Metrics Could Have Prevented Starbucks from Burning the Brand (and Other Predictive Loyalty Applications) Certainly the famous coffee company out of Seattle isn’t the only company to hit hard times. General Motors and The Gap have also run into problems with brand identification and the loyalty that fosters. But when the executive vice president of client services at Brand Keys, Leigh Benatar, needs an example of how loyalty models can provide the information CEOs need to steer a company, it doesn’t get much better than Starbucks. For starters, coffee is a category Brand Keys has watched for 12 years now. Its researchers know that four areas drive customers: location/value, quality, service/surroundings, and variety/selection, with quality and service weighing in more heavily. So in 2006, Starbucks was sitting pretty ahead of Dunkin Donuts and Krispy Kreme. After all, it brought the European coffee experience with its handground beans aroma. But by 2007, sales slipped and research indicated it was because of the long lines. Corporate axed the hand-grinding, killed the sofa and stopped the newspapers in an effort to fix the problem. In essence, they took out the theatre of coffee— an area loyalty metrics could have warned him mattered to his customers. Starbucks consumers began rating other coffee competitors above this once cherished brand. Oh, the brand tried to introduce new blends and coupons, but these attempts addressed the lesser categories and thus didn’t have the impact CEO Howard Schultz wanted. “They used brand marketing but not brand strategy,” Benatar noted. By 2008 the service/surroundings category shot up in both importance and consumer expectations—a normal phenomenon in Benatar’s experience, with product and service expectations increasing an average off 24 percent annually across the board. So Starbucks continued to fall from grace, with stock prices plunging and many stores shutting their doors. By 2009, even McDonald’s has surpassed Starbucks in coffee satisfaction surveys. Brand Keys’ predictive model also shows premium media touch points in the same way, helping executives to fine-tune their marketing channels for the right audience to boost sales. “The idea is to anticipate various audience segments’ needs, wants and expectations. Then you can identify the true value proposition that drives behavior,” he wrapped up. L

LOYALTY EXPO 2009 L O Y A LT Y E X P O S U M M A R Y

Economic Downturns: Is Loyalty Dead? As a marketer, John Bartold ignored economic data. Now, as the vice president of loyalty solutions at Irving, Texasbased Epsilon, he is slicing and dicing the 2009 recession. Most loyalty markers know a recession is defined as two or more quarters of negative GDP. We’ve seen 11 recessions since World War II, with the expansionary period afterwards substantially longer than the recession. “It’s like the ocean. The tide will come back,” Bartold told attendees gathered Sunday morning.

“The market will turn around when real wages increase, which is happening now. Retailers will start to see an upsurge in personal spending, so get ready. We will fight for every customer.” Yet, while holiday retail sails were down but not dismal, gift card sales plummeted because of folks’ perception the companies might not be around to redeem them. It’s just one tidbit that signals to Bartold and his co-presenter, senior vice president and Epsilon’s loyalty sector lead Todd Nelson, that this time, the game is changing. Some predict loyalty marketing could be dead.

“Thanks for everything you did at the EXPO. I thought it was an outstanding meeting, and I am looking forward to the next event.” —Chip Hall, Kobie Marketing

Bartold and Nelson assure the opposite is true. Certainly, enrollment rates and activity levels on the consumer side are down, and because 80 percent of a loyalty program’s cost is awards, CFOs are itching to cut down on that part of the budget. Bartold understands that reality, but said savvy companies will put half of the savings from such changes into infrastructure and future loyalty analysis. “The market will turn around when real wages increase, which is happening now. Retailers will start to see an upsurge in personal spending, so get ready. We will fight for every customer,” he warned. Indeed, in 2000 the marketing model heavily emphasized economy and emotion. Today dialogue and continuity is king, Nelson added. Simply putting a name on an email doesn’t equal “personal” any longer—today returning guests at a hotel chain want the check-in staff to recognize their status and treat them like they know the score. That takes more precise internal data gathering for starters, and a revamped way to measure results.



“It’s about best processes more than best practices,” Bartold said. “Finding out her birthday and sending a card is a tactic. Everybody does it. It’s more import to understand how you identify the innovation, not how you copy innovation.” Finally, 66 percent of Americans say they intend to spend more or the same as always in this recession—do you know who they are in your loyalty program? Once you find them, drive them to redeem their rewards. After all, there is no value until there is consumption. One of Epsilon’s clients saw flat sales until its consumers began redeeming their $10 certificates at the company’s urging. Most spent far more since the $10 didn’t cover the whole shopping trip, and boosted sales for the entire period. “A recession is a stress test to clean out garbage and force us to grow,” Nelson summed up. L

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FROM THE EXPO

The Loyalty Expo gets Social with Twitter by Bill Hanifin – Hanifin Loyalty, LLC

Whether using mobile handsets or social media for communications with loyalty program members, the discussion of new communications platforms and channels was a hot topic at Loyalty Expo 2009.

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LOYALTY EXPO 2009

A

ttending recent conferences around different vertical markets, I had been struck by the stark contrast in conference style and structure. At one banking event, there was almost palpable embarrassment in the air when attendees were asked to raise hands acknowledging their use of Twitter. At another more digital-friendly event, interest in the keynote speaker was validated by the sea of attendees tweeting and texting on their mobile devices during the presentation.

Given these contrasts, the suggestion to engage an experiment with Twitter at Loyalty Expo 2009 seemed to make sense. After all, if we are to lead innovation in loyalty marketing for the next generation, how can we do so without being familiar with the tools of the trade? The use of Twitter was designed to enable real-time communications with fellow attendees opting-in as “Followers” while listening to chosen colleagues and competitors participants were “Following”. The effort was complemented by the texting program sponsored by Vayulogic and allowed conference participants two new ways to keep abreast of schedule changes, provide evaluations on presentations, and facilitate networking. In all, about 40 people were seen posting updates using the “hashtag” LE360 to designate the event. Hashtags are a Twitter convention used to make comments (Tweets) searchable when used in the message. Over 100 messages were bantered about and there were probably 10 power-users of the micro-blogging tool posting during the 3 day event. Given the size of the event, adoption of Twitter could have been much higher. Reluctance to participate is partly due to misunderstanding of the tool and its implications for corporate users. A pre-conference Twitter webinar (Twebinar) was held to answer many of these questions and I have done my best to put social media tools in perspective in a recent post on my blog Loyalty Truth. During the Social Media Roundtable on Day 2 of the event, value was at the center of our discussions. A common concern was how smaller brands would use social media as opposed to corporate brands to differentiate in crowded markets. The answers seem to lie in understanding corporate objectives for social media campaigns. There are many examples of large corporate brands (Comcast, JetBlue, Zappos) using social media, Twitter specifically, to meet customer service needs, offer promotions, and to listen to what consumers are saying about their brand. For smaller organizations, the same tool could be a channel for promotion, public relations, brand awareness, and networking. Another recurring question asked “If you had to choose just one or two tools, what would they be?” Again, the answer is found in defining objectives. If customer service and primary



“Kudos to Mark Johnson, Erin Raese & the Loyalty 360 crew for putting on a great event in Florida. Met great folks; learned a lot!” —Mark Frisk, Thinking Like a Customer research are top on the list, then Twitter and a Facebook Fan page might serve the purpose. For more established brands, building a community (we used to call this a forum) might be the right venue to encourage candid comments from preferred customers. If brand building and awareness are the goals, then a corporate blog might be the foundation of an evolving social media strategy that would include Twitter and other tools. Concerns were express in our Roundtable about the time investment needed to “do social media right”. The choice of who sits at the keyboard to execute blog posts and Tweets was a related issue and most in the group acknowledged that the value of executive time should be weighed against the risk of unapproved voices speaking out about the brand. The fact that consumers continue to be empowered, first with the information generally available on the internet and now with tools to share this information at increasing velocity should be the focus of our energies. Whether Twitter survives and becomes the Google of its category remains to be seen. Less in doubt is that micro-blogging and other forms of social media are here to stay. L

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FROM THE EXPO: Behind the Brand

Beverly Hollifield AT&T

Panelist at the 2009 Loyalty Expo! Beverly is responsible for the strategic development and management of the AT&T Select Business Rewards program, the AT&T Universal Business Rewards credit card and third party offers for the AT&T small business customer base. She spearheaded the introduction of numerous exciting enhancements to the small business loyalty program to include partner points, a mobile application and an online community. What do you consider your greatest achievement?

Where do you go to keep up to date on the latest trends in your business?

While I am extremely proud of my company and my accomplishments in the areas of bringing new products to market and bringing loyalty initiatives to our customer, my greatest pride would be my children and seeing the amazing young adults they are today.

An avid reader of books, I also read numerous publications related to loyalty and attend conferences and seminars related to loyalty and the customer experience.

Which talent would you most like to have? The talent I would like most to have would be to be able to sing. My fellow church members would probably really appreciate it if I had this talent as well.

“Wonderful”—A word I feel expresses appreciation and has the power to make people feel good about themselves and what they are doing. Wishing someone a wonderful day will hopefully make the day just that.

Which person has made the most impact in your life?

What can we expect from AT&T Select Business Rewards in 2010?

My great grandmother is the person who had the most impact on my life. She was a woman before her time, the epitome of a “steel magnolia”. She taught me that a woman could be and achieve anything as long as she stayed true to herself, her faith, stayed committed to whatever endeavor she undertakes and maintains the highest integrity.

The AT&T Select Business Rewards program is currently in the southeast. As we continue to see the critical impact of loyalty initiatives, especially in this economic downturn, our strategy will be to expand its current boundaries. At the same time, new enhancements will be made to the current program to keep it exciting and relevant to our current member base.

Which book(s) are you currently recommending? I am an avid reader. Team of Rival about Abraham Lincoln’s rise to the presidency would be my first recommendation. It is amazing how little politics have changed over the last 100 years. My second recommendation would be Outliers by Malcom Gladwell. Interesting and entertaining at the same time about how successful people arrive at the top of their field.

If you were not doing what you do today, how would you be spending your time? I would work with children who have been abused, emotionally and physically, pursuing with the greatest passion improvements in their rights and the systems that protect them.

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What words or phrases do you most over use?

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What have been your biggest challenges in 2009? As with everyone, the economic downturn and its impact on our small business customers is our biggest challenge. Our focus has been to find ways to provide services and benefits that would ease the pain of the current environment for them.

Word of advice for a novice loyalty marketer: Loyalty Programs should work to strengthen your relationship with your customers, recognizing them for what they are already doing with your company. These programs, in no way, replace your commitment to deliver best in class products and customer service. Never loose focus on “what brought you to the dance.”

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Thank you to the 2009 Loyalty Expo Sponsors The show was a great success!

Media Sponsors: Colloquy | PayBefore | The Nilson Report | RetailWire.com

We are looking forward to seeing you all again next year at the Omni ChampionsGate in Orlando, Florida, June 6th–8th. Visit LoyaltyExpo.com for details.

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