#188: VodaBucks: Loyalty Programme of South Africa’s Vodacom Group (Short Summary Show)

PAULA: Welcome to Let’s Talk Loyalty, an industry podcast for Loyalty Marketing Professionals.

PAULA: I’m your host, Paula Thomas, and if you work in Loyalty Marketing, join me every week to learn the latest ideas from loyalty specialists around the world.

PAULA: This episode is brought to you by Epsilon and their award-winning People Cloud Loyalty solution.

PAULA: Personalization should be integrated into the entire customer experience, including your loyalty program.

PAULA: With this in mind, Epsilon recently released a guide outlining six key components that will put you on the path to personalizing the entire loyalty experience.

PAULA: This guide challenges you to do some housekeeping and reconsider how you think about your current and future loyalty personalization efforts.

PAULA: So to download your copy of the report, visit epsilon.com forward slash let’s talk loyalty.

PAULA: Hello and welcome to this week’s episode of Let’s Talk a Little Loyalty.

PAULA: Today, I’m looking back on my interview with George Mendes, the chief officer of the consumer business unit for South Africa’s Vodacom Group.

PAULA: Vodacom is a telecommunications company.

PAULA: And when I met George, his team had just launched the Vodabucks loyalty program three months before.

PAULA: So in many ways, Vodabucks is like any traditional loyalty program.

PAULA: As members can earn points by buying Vodacom products, paying their bills and interacting with the app.

PAULA: But in many ways, this program is also very different.

PAULA: For example, I learned from George that in South Africa, people frequently have numerous different SIM cards for their phones.

PAULA: And they swap them in and out in an effort to save money.

PAULA: So Vodacom offers its members Vodabucks to simply keep their SIM card in the phone for longer.

PAULA: Vodabucks is also using gamification as a key component.

PAULA: And there are plenty of different games available that of course unlock different rewards for their members.

PAULA: Now, I think all of us share the fact that we don’t enjoy having to pay our mobile phone bill.

PAULA: So I love this idea of adding in a bit of fun to make it a bit easier to accept.

PAULA: And of course, a lot more rewarding.

PAULA: The one thing that really surprised me when I spoke with George was a decision for the programme where their members have to proactively either bank or save their points for later redemption.

PAULA: And as you all know, it’s rare to choose to add in manual steps as loyalty professionals.

PAULA: As of course, the focus is always to keep friction to a minimum.

PAULA: George did admit it was a risky decision, but the idea had been thoroughly tested and was working extremely well with increasing user metrics and really strong engagement rates.

PAULA: Another wonderful topic we discussed was creating additional channels for members.

PAULA: For example, my favourite WhatsApp.

PAULA: And because this platform is already on most people’s phone, it allows them to quickly and easily check their points balance and even redeem their points using WhatsApp.

PAULA: Finally, like many reward programmes, George discovered the power of working with partners to ensure that VodaBucks appeals to absolutely everyone.

PAULA: It also ensures that the partners can deliver great propositions and Vodacom can stay focused on its core competency.

PAULA: In closing, George told me that the Vodacom team had travelled extensively to discuss and discover global best practice.

PAULA: And I’ve no doubt that this level of curiosity and commitment to excellence is one of the key reasons that Vodabucks was already performing so well.

PAULA: That’s it for now.

PAULA: Of course, I’d love for you to go and listen to the full interview with George Mendes from Vodacom South Africa.

PAULA: You just need to go to letstalkloyalty.com forward slash 63.

PAULA: And you’ll find the episode directly on that page.

PAULA: And lastly, I’d love for you to join me, of course, again on Thursday, when I’m back chatting with Paul Smitten from Cathay Pacific Airways.

PAULA: And Paul shared their new master brand positioning and strategy and their new customer lifestyle and wellness proposition.

PAULA: Thanks a million, guys.

PAULA: Bye for now.

PAULA: This show is sponsored by The Wise Marketeer, the world’s most popular source of loyalty marketing news, insights and research.

PAULA: The Wise Marketeer also offers loyalty marketing training through its loyalty academy, which has already certified over 245 executives in 27 countries as certified loyalty marketing professionals.

PAULA: For more information, check out thewisemarketeer.com and loyaltyacademy.org.

PAULA: Thank you so much for listening to this episode of Let’s Talk Loyalty.

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