Welcome to Let’s Talk Loyalty, an industry podcast for loyalty marketing professionals. 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.
The 2023 Consumer Trends Index shares attitudes and desires from over 10,000 consumers on topics such as purchase behavior, preferred marketing channels, privacy and data, as well as what drives loyalty with their favorite brands. You can get your complimentary copy of this report along with access to several free webinars by visiting meetmarigold.com.
Marigold is the home of cheetah loyalty, delivering world-class MarTech solutions and industry expertise designed to help marketers of all sizes grow the relationships that grow their business. Learn more at meetmarigold.com.
Hello and welcome to episode 332 of Let’s Talk Loyalty, where we’re sharing the latest insights from the 2023 Consumer Trends Index. I am chatting with Tim Glomb, formerly VP of Global Content at Cheetah Digital and CM Group, who are now operating under the new brand name of MARIGOLD. It’s now the fourth year of this Global Trends Index, and today Tim shares with us his favorite insights, such as how brand loyalty is continuing to grow, why consumers love the brands that they do, as well as some of the key reasons customers say that they’ve abandoned some loyalty programs. Also, as well as sharing the predictable reasons for engaging with loyalty, Tim also shares some of the less common strategies that consumers are beginning to expect from loyalty marketeers in 2023.
Please enjoy my conversation all about the 2023 Consumer Trends Index with Tim Glomb from MARIGOLD.
Paula: Hi Tim. Welcome back to Let’s Talk Loyalty.
Tim: Paula. It’s always great to see you, top of the year to you.
Paula: Thank you. That sounds very Irish. It’s always a privilege, Tim. And it’s always particularly exciting, I suppose, to share our, you know, joint love of content, uh, because we learned so much about the loyalty marketing and all of the work that we do.
So we’re here today to talk about the 2023 Consumer Trends Index Report, uh, which is directly a reflection and an update of what we did together last year. So before we get into that, as you know, we always kick off our interviews asking about your personal favorite loyalty program. So let’s start with that one.
What is your favorite loyalty program, Tim?
Tim: Yeah, sure. Well, look, we just got through the holiday season. A lot of travel for me. In fact, I’m, I’m still traveling. Uh, haven’t made it home after the holidays yet. , and I can’t say enough because I live in Denver, Colorado. Yeah. Which is a massive hub for United Airlines that that loyalty program just, it does me right. Their app is amazing. I think they’re just doing a lot of things really, really well.
Paula: Wow. Okay. And you know, you’re not the first person, Tim, and you know, I think I often reflect on this show that, you know, the airline industry, I suppose, essentially invented loyalty. So I think we’ve, we’ve taken all of our learnings from them, whether it’s transactional loyalty or emotional loyalty.
So it sounds like they really execute well because I think, you know, at the end of the day, you gotta get the basics right. And I think that’s something that comes through in your own overall, I suppose, research this year. So, Us an example, like how long have you been with United, or how do you experience their loyalty program?
Tim: Yeah, so I’ve been a flyer since 1995. I have nearly three quarter of a million lifetime miles with them. Oh wow. Living in Denver. It, it really is. It’s the hub. So it’s, you know, yeah. It’s kind of a no-brainer for me location-wise, but I gotta say some other industries, restaurant retail, they can really take a page from the United, they’ve got everything you need inside an app.
Once you’re authenticated through your, your mileage plus account, um, you know, you can chat, you can change a flight in the app in less than three minutes over chat in the app. Like that’s where brands, I don’t carry your industry. That’s where you need to be. It’s in my pocket. I literally, I bet if I pulled it up right now, it’s the first app in my thing and it is, it’s in the top left corner.
Yeah. I use it a lot. So, um, they just take care of you and they recognize you as an individual, which I think is also, um, yeah. You know, what, what a lot of brands across industries are struggling with, but United is, is really a, a blueprint, uh, for anybody looking for an amazing customer, experience.
Paula: Absolutely, and certainly if anyone from United is listening, we definitely want to get them on the show at some point.
So big shout out to United and all the wonderful work that they’re doing. And what struck me as you talked about it as well, Tim, is the fact that you know the lifetime miles that you have with United, because I actually don’t know my lifetime number of miles with any loyalty program because once I redeem them, of course we roll back to zero, whatever.
So that’s incredible that you have the, the sense of being a lifetime customer with them.
Tim: Yeah, I mean, since 1995 you opened the app. It tells you you’ve been a member since 1995. Uh, yeah. I think it’s just under 700 or just over 700,000 miles flown. Wow. And the points, the points are great. I have a, a wedding in the Dominican Republic for my nephew this year, and the points are gonna get me and my family there, or at least the bulk of it.
So there’s real value. I know every time I spend a little more by that next level seat up, if it’s only $50, I could double my, you know, premier qualifying points to retain that tier. I’m a one K flyer. Okay. And. And double my redemption points. Good for services and good. So again, I just think it’s a great program. I think any industry could look at it and figure out how to replicate it for their own use.
It’s, it’s really a, a gold standard in my opinion.
Paula: Fantastic. Fantastic. So, listen, I was looking back to our chat from last year, Tim. It was April, 2022, um, when we looked at the Consumer Trends Index from last year, and at that stage you joined us, and your title I was looking back is VP Content and Data, which Cheetah Digital, but of course there’s been some, uh, big changes uh, this year and now you are VP global content for the CM Group.
So maybe give us a quick insight on that.
Tim: Yeah, look, a lot of changes over here. All for the good. When I joined this company, Cheetah Digital, it’s literally three years ago this week, you know, late January. Um, you know, I didn’t know what was in store, and we have Sinced, uh, you know, we have grown into a behemoth and it’s great because we’re still independent.
Yeah. We’re still nimble. We still innovate. Yeah. Um, and, but we’re bigger than ever, so. Wow. We’re proud to announce the CM group which contains Cheetah Digital, Selligent Marketing Cloud, uh, sale through a couple other email platforms, Emma, campaign monitor even a, a great program called Future. Um, we are now known as Marigold.
We just rebranded under one roof, one Umbrella. Wow. And we’re super excited about it. We are literally the home for relationship marketing. Yeah. Everything from the mom and pop pizza shop, all the way to some of our biggest clients like Starbucks, American Airlines. Yeah. Et cetera. We are that one stop shop for everything.
Email marketing, mobile marketing, loyalty. Yeah, relationship marketing. Come talk to us. We don’t care how big, how small and where you sit on the globe. We are a home for you.
Paula: Oh my goodness. Wow. Well, super exciting. Congratulations. I know a rebrand can be, um, extremely difficult to kind of pull through and get to that level of scale.
So happy to share, uh, the announcement today. Um, and no doubt the investment, of course, in research is going to continue because I know you guys are super passionate about that. So let’s get straight into the 2023 Consumer Trends Index. Um, first and foremost, I think people outside the industry, Tim, sometimes think that loyalty’s dead.
They think that, you know, we’ve kind of done everything that can be done and that it’s just about points and prizes. So tell us in all of the research that you’ve done, first and foremost, where are we? Are we in a good place?
Tim: You know, we’re in an okay place. The consumers are definitely driving demand and consumers, they’re in the driver’s seat.
Um, brands are always trying to catch up to consumers, which is the big reason why we’ve been doing this Consumer Trends index and, and quickly, it’s a, it’s a global survey. This year actually includes 10 countries. Uh, nearly 11,000 consumer respondents. Uh, this is our fourth year doing it. So it truly is a trends index, meaning we can look at, uh, similar questions, attitudes, from consumers over time. So I, I’m super excited to launch this one. We’re launching it, uh, in, in, in January. It’s available right now. Usually it doesn’t come out till March or April. So if I’ve moved that forward. Yeah. Uh, and it is great. It talks about everything from their needs for personalization. Uh, how do they look at their data and how, you know, how private they want to be. We even asked this year about the recession, you know, a potential impending recession. Yes. How do consumers feel about that? And obviously Paula, a big, big part of this is brand loyalty. What is, what is making consumers tick when it comes to loyalty programs? So I’m super excited to see some, some trends continuing to hockey stick up and to the right, in the right categories.
Uh, but realistically, A lot of brands have to catch up. They have to invest in the technology into the people, into the process. Yeah. To meet the consumers where they are. And that’s what the trends, uh, report actually provides. It provides a real, you know, finger on the pulse of where consumers want you to be. Yeah. To win their loyalty.
Paula: Yeah, and we’ll definitely get into the detail now, Tim. And I know for everyone listening we’ll make sure people know where to find it. And of course we’ll be linking to the report in the show notes for this as well. But just a comment again, I was looking back to, um, to when we chatted last year, so last year I know it was about 5,000 respondents.
So more than double in scope, which is exciting in its own right. Uh, obviously keeping you super busy, . Yep. But also much broader geographical scope. Uh, Tim, so tell us a bit about the countries that are featured, particularly in the global report.
Tim: Yeah, our global report, we we’re doing in Apples to Apples, meaning the last few years we’ve done the us, the UK. UK also includes Ireland, Spain, France, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan. So those are kind of the core countries we’ve been doing for three years. um, so our quote unquote global report, the first one we launched, we we’re gonna do many versions, uh, in the first quarter of, of 2023. Yeah. Global reporter of those countries.
However, because again, of our expansion here at Marigold with Selligent Marketing Cloud specifically, which really serves our, uh, EMEA, you know, European clients, uh, from a marketing cloud perspective, we added the Benelux region. We added Sweden, Denmark, Germany. And the Nordics. So now those are the new countries, thousands of consumers over there.
And it’s really interesting because, you know, a global report is homogenized, right? It’s, it, it, it, it’s a look at the entire globe. But what I’m excited to do in this year is break down those regions because Japan and consumers in Japan do not act like anyone else in the world when it comes to loyalty, privacy, personalization.
Yeah. So it’s really great for us to be able to get in there and look at the UK, only look at Benelux as a region only. Look at the US only, and then also our reports are breaking down age because obviously I, I think it’s understood and assumed, but the numbers tell the story on how things like email are number one across all age groups.
Yeah. But clearly boomers are more in tune with receiving emails from loyalty and personalization and offers. Yeah. And gen Z’s, he’s skewing more towards that mobile SMS. So the report is great. I mean, it dives so many different ways and, and adding these new countries, Just, uh, helps us, you know, get our customers closer to their customers.
Paula: Totally, totally. And I think, you know, I’m from Ireland, given the way that, that you, uh, said hello today. Um, and certainly Ireland is not a market that tends to get a lot of focus, Tim, so I’m delighted to hear that Ireland is in the report again this year because we definitely have a lot of people that listen to this show and like me, I suppose, are craving insights like this.
So, uh, so super exciting. So let’s get into the detail then. What are consumers saying overall about brand loyalty? I suppose before we get into loyalty programs and the mechanics in terms of exactly what are they saying, Tim? What are these, you know, 11,000 people saying in response compared to last year?
Tim: Yeah, sure. I’ll give you a couple of bullet points. Uh, high level, I mean, we’re audio here. The, the report, if it’s in your hands, you can, you can get it. It’s free. Um, it leaves, it dives really, really deep in, but you know, in general, , uh, we found a, a big rise in people willing to, you know, pay more for their favorite brands.
Um, 59% of global consumers have said that they are willing to pay more, and that’s a 4% uplift from 2022, and I can’t remember the uplift from 2021. Yeah. But everything continues to rise and that’s, that’s where the real trends come in. And if you’re talking to your boss, or you’re trying to sell something upstairs around, Hey, we need to invest in loyalty.
Please, please go get these free assets. They aren’t our opinion. Yeah, they’re actual hard data. And if you look at them year over year, it’s pretty clear, you know, people are willing to pay more from their favorite brands and that’s where brands need to be. So. Um, you know, that’s just one right there.
And then thirds are not loyal to any brands, so there’s a huge opportunity if you create the right program. As we mentioned, United is my program. Yeah. That I love, if you are not creating a value exchange and some sort of loyalty offering you know, those customers are up for the taking. So 29%, that’s a huge opportunity.
I see. I don’t see it as a detriment. I see it as an opportunity for brands to go win that, you know, loyal fan base.
Paula: Totally, totally. And you’re absolutely right. I think what I always used to struggle with, um, and I think everybody listening to this show does as well, is that internal justification. So, you know, when you’re going looking to source the budget and uh, uh, you know, potentially continually increase in your loyalty investment, uh, what we really need to be able to say is that we will get people to spend more to, to get more people to spend as well.
So that’s a super useful starting point. So I suppose.
Tim: Yeah. And to that, to that point, you know, one more stat here of the respondents. Remember this is 11, nearly 11,000 people. Only 7% of consumers, think that a loyalty program is not important to their relationship with the brand. So you know, the bulk, 90 plus percent generally, yeah.
Think that a loyalty program is somewhat or very important again. Yeah. Like two sides of the fence there to tell the story. Yeah. Invest in loyalty.
Paula: And I love that that’s also coming across, as you said, Tim, in terms of global, because I think our perception, again, is maybe a more mature market like the US where we know that consumers really do get it and then obviously actively choose whether to engage or not.
But for me, certainly I don’t have a sense of what’s happening, you know, in Japan, which you mentioned, of course is included in this report. So it seems to be absolutely that the global maturity, global awareness and importance of, I suppose, the customers seeing that we’re being loyal to them. And I know you guys also reference, for example, other research in your own reports as well.
So that’s certainly something that, that I think we all see coming through as more and more important. It’s one thing to say. Let’s get all of our customers to be super loyal to us, but actually we have to demonstrate that loyalty. So it’s important I think, for brands to be hearing that they need to continually invest.
So, um, yeah, that’s amazing that so few think it’s not worth considering from a consumer perspective. So thank you for adding that extra piece in. But tell us then, Tim, what did you learn about the elements that drive loyalty? Because again, there’s things like loyalty programs, but we all know that the whole customer interaction with the brand, uh, drives the loyalty.
So the feeling of loyalty can be driven by anything and everything. Um, you know, when things go well, when things don’t go well. and even the actual marketing from a brand. So tell us exactly what do you think brands need to be thinking about in order to drive that brand loyalty overall.
Tim: Yeah. Look, uh, at the end of the day, any survey run by anybody, any part of the globe, discounts and prices are always gonna be a huge factor, especially in today’s, you know, macroeconomic, you know, conditions, you know, an impending, uh, you know, recession, some would say.
Yeah, I, I, I tend to be in that bucket. I think there is going to be a, a, a recession coming this way globally. Yeah. Um, so discounts and, and great products, those are always gonna win the day, right? Yeah. They’re table stakes. Everybody needs to have a great quality service, great quality product, and they gotta have it at, at an affordable price.
So let’s take that off the table because that’s not a differentiator or com competitive advantage. Totally. Um, but people do want rewards, uh, in fact. A lot of ’em said they just want to be part of the community as well. So what can you do? What is the extra value you can add beyond that simple product that you’re offering?
Right. If you sell plate glasses, all right, cool. But what can come with the plate glass to make that experience? you know, even more, is it a free case of beer? Is it a free case of juice? Is there a partnership to be had, you know, to extend that loyalty offering? Um, 29% on average, one exclusive access.
So if you’re selling that plate glass or that service can, can a certain number of your rewards members get that first? Can they get it a month early? Can they get it a day early? Can they be invited to your site to buy it directly from you before it hits retail shelves? Yeah. Things like that. And then 24%. want products suggested based on their preferences. And this goes back to something I’ve been talking about for years and Cheetah Digital and now Marigold is, is deep into this zero party data. Do you actually understand what your customers individually want? Right? Does Tim want the trip to the mountains or does Tim want the trip to the beach?
So you know it, it’s one thing to have a great quality product, give a discount, maybe give a little value add. , are you in a real conversation at scale, asking people, listening to their preferences, these signals they’re giving you? Yeah, and literally outright survey questions like, Hey, Tim, would you rather go to the beach or the mountains if you knew that information and had it in my profile?
your loyalty offering and your products can be so much more in tune with what I actually need. So consumers are re clamoring about it. It’s rising year over year. Again, go get all the reports, you know, previous years and look at these trends as they climb. Because what I like about this report, it’s the consumers, there’s so many reports you can get from adage, from digital A, all these great services that pull marketers.
But you know, the consumers, the consumers are the ones you gotta win over. So I love seeing that, uh, that they care about this. And even 19%, not a huge percentage, but 19% said, Hey, just offer me a contest. Gimme a chance to win something randomly here and there. You know, it’s like a lottery. Yeah.
Everybody likes to you know, potentially have, have a, a chance to win something that they normally would not get. So some great ideas and suggestions in that report. But those are just some numbers off the top of my head.
Paula: I love those, Tim, and again, when I think back to my days, you know, owning a program, leading a program, and wondering and worrying about my program, sometimes you just want a bit of that kind of clarity in terms of where should we focus our efforts, even in terms of researching new propositions with your own base.
Of course, before launching something. For me, the piece around exclusive access is for sure, one that every loyalty marketer needs to think about because to be honest, it’s usually the kind of thing that’s the most affordable, probably the easiest to deliver cuz you usually have full control over it. And I often think, you know, in our rush to market to get something launched, we kind of forget to prioritize certain people and to build in that exclusive access.
So definitely. Would that be your experience, Tim, in terms of Sure. You know, the kind of clients that Marigold is dealing with.
Tim: Oh a absolutely we have, we have a great sport, global sporting equipment manufacturer. and they launch products every November. That’s their flagship product. Yeah. Um, one product, big product.
It’s a thousand dollars ticket item and they launch it every November. And the way that they launch it, number one is it, it doesn’t go launched and say, Hey, this is the best product ever. Yeah. They have five different attributes to the product. And depending on what consumers have told them, they will actually say, Hey, you told us this is the prettiest product.
You’ve told us this is the strongest product. Yeah, this is the, you know, least expensive. And they literally launched a product. with personalized marketing campaigns, and they give exclusive access to their loyalty program. And even if all you have to do is simply register your previous purchase with them.
Mm-hmm. , and you instantly are gonna get the emails and the offers to buy this product direct from the company before anyone else. Mm-hmm. . And that alone, to your point, they completely control it. It’s like, okay, we can launch an email to the entire world and run our Facebook ads and everything else on this.
But two weeks before, we can send this email to this targeted audience and actually see if they bite. And those two weeks could be the make or break difference to see how it was received and then change your global mass launch and, and it gives them so much control. And it just helps them just, you know, align with the market and the market needs so much better.
So we’ve got great case studies there. If you wanna learn how brands are actually doing that in these small microcosms to loyal fan bases to really hone in their global launches for products and services.
For sure. And also I think the other, I suppose huge benefit, Tim, is, you know, those loyal customers feel that they’ve been seen, feel that they’ve been heard, they, they realize they’ve been prioritized, and they know that that’s a big deal, particularly for the kind of clients that you guys are dealing with.
So, so I think you’re right. There’s. You know, there’s commercial benefits which, you know, help refine perhaps and improve the overall proposition for any particular campaign. But I also think it’s hard to measure the loyalty that you get by saying, you know, Tim, you are first to get this particular product cuz we know that you loved it last year.
So, uh, you kind of feel like, oh, that’s cool. I really like that. So, yeah, I think there’s a lot to be. They’re basically,
you know, and look, this is a great way for brands to start, even if you have an email list, you know, you don’t have a traditional loyalty program, identify those high value customers or those really engaged customers because yeah, you can, you actually can measure it.
So let’s say you give early access or even let them know about a product that’s hitting the market. Uh, maybe it’s all hitting the market on the first of the month, but you can let them know early and they’re in the. Without having guardrails or having to subscribe or something. It’s a great way. Yeah.
And measuring those engagement rates on those email and s m s offers to that small audience first, that will tell you that it’s working so, You know, it’s not just open rates. If they’re clicking to your offer, if they’re going to that webpage to see that product before it hits the street, that’s a signal.
Yeah. That’s a signal that you’re hitting the mark and that those people fill in it. Yeah. I, as a kid, I love the KISS Army, right? I, a lot of people won’t understand the KISS Army, but you have to, you had to mail in a $5 check to get into the ki, the Kiss, the band, the Rock band , and you. You were the first ones to know because you got something in the mail.
As a child, I’m dating myself. I’m almost 50 , but you got something in the mail. Yeah. Telling you that a new album was coming before Sam Goodie, or Tower Records would tell you. And that alone, that simple act put me in the club inside the fence, you know, front row, so to speak with the band. And brands have a huge opportunity to do that in very, very simple low-cost.
For sure,
Paula: for sure. And that’s a course relating to your other point as well about community, Tim, because I, I loved your statistics about, I, I guess two were my favorite. So one was that you mentioned, um, 10% uplift. Um, in terms of consumers who said they love a brand that it communicates in the channels they prefer.
And I, for one, increasingly get impatient if I don’t get correspondence in the way that I really. Because I have different ways to manage my mind, manage my life, and I expect the brands to have that capabilities. And then you just alluded to the piece about community. So again, for everybody listening to understand that there’s an 8% uplift, um, you know, for people, if you know, interested in the brand’s community, I think that’s also a huge opportunity.
So I’m guessing as 2023 really kicks off, Tim, you, you guys are gonna see a lot of activity in those. Oh,
Tim: absolutely. Absolutely. And again, we’re throwing out numbers and stats. I know they’re hard to, to remember here without visualization, but this report Yeah. Is chock full of them. And, and these numbers don’t lie.
I mean, they are, they’re hardcore data points. Um, . And the good news is, I, I guess to to, to really answer your question that you started this with is, yes, we are in a good place. The consumers are telling us exactly what they want. Yeah. They’re giving brands the blueprint. I mean, they’re laying it out and telling them, Hey, if you do X mm-hmm , I will, you know, uh, reimburse you in in this way.
So the numbers are there, the stats are there. Just follow , follow the numbers on the Golden Go Yellow Brick Road. Yeah.
Paula: Yeah, no, you’re absolutely right. And I suppose our job is to sit up and listen and, uh, yeah, absolutely. Go and be as creative as we can be. And I know you guys are brilliant at finding those kind of creative solutions, so plenty of case studies.
And again, we’ll make sure that, uh, this report, the Consumer Trends Index is easily available. I’m sure it’s on the Merry Gold brand new website. So yeah. Yeah.
Tim: This place, yeah, our new, you cannot miss it. This is our anchor piece. We we’re proud to launch the report the same day we launched a new brand, so you can simply visit meet marigold.com.
It, it’s front and center and as I mentioned, there’re gonna be several different versions. We’re doing a version. Uh, on the US where we break down ages, as I mentioned, you, you know, there’s different variances of, of how these generations act. Uh, and not just loyalty, personalization, privacy, messaging. When do they want, what channels are they actually using?
Um, we’re doing a UK version. Okay. We are doing an EMEA version, as I mentioned, Benelux, Sweden, et cetera. Mm-hmm. . Um, there’s, there’s all kinds of different versions, and then we’re gonna do industry papers. So if you’re in the restaurant industry, We’re gonna break down, not a full-blown 40 page. , but more a five, six page.
Here’s what you need to do on the top trends that we’re seeing across these different categories that the report covers. So, you know, you can think about travel, hospitality, restaurant, retail, C P G, et cetera, medium publishing. We’re gonna break all those down so that you can literally read, you know, the synopsis of what you need to do per your industry.
So this is my biggest anchor as the head of content here. It’s the thing I invest in the most. I see the most traction. Yeah, mainly. Uh, you know, up until three years ago I was a brand marketer. I, this is the data I needed to drive my brands forward, et cetera. Totally. So I know it’s important to brand marketers to get the voice
Paula: of the customer.
Totally, totally. And I always say this show, Tim, is about education and inspiration. So again, the report is exactly delivering on, on exactly those needs as well for people. So I guess the other main part I wanted to ask you about today, Tim, Eh, watch outs. So when it comes to, you know, any big kind of concerns that consumers have, um, when they’re connecting with brands, I guess as consumers we tend to be quite critical and we’re always looking for things to improve, but what would you say are the single biggest things to make sure that a brand is doing or not doing to make sure that they win that kind of loyalty from their customer?
Tim: Yeah. Look, some main drivers of consumers kind of abandoning their favorite brand would simply be lack of promotions, right? And really tailored promotions. 33% said that they’ve left a favored brand just because they’re not getting the right promotions, and that’s a 6% increase year over year. So, um, are you aligned?
Are you actually creating those moments of excitement? Uh, we know we all have to drive sales, right? The CFO f wants to see revenue. Yeah. But at the end of the. What are the promotions? A fifth of consumers have actually switched brands because of a poor or outright lack of a loyalty program. So again, if you’re, if you don’t have a loyalty program, or maybe you need to kick the tires, reboot it, you know, uh, invigorate it, um, you have to look at this because people are going to leave you.
And, um, that’s also an opportunity if you have a great program. , how can you go against your competition where you know they’re wounded, they haven’t invested in the right loyalty offerings, value exchange, et cetera. How can you go target and get them? Because a lot of people are moving around. There’s some other stats.
There’s one other one I wanted to share here. Mm-hmm. , um, 43% of consumers are more likely to take part in a loyalty program than the previous year. That’s an 8% uplift. So again, wow. You know, we just talked about how can you win, how can you retain Right. Have great promotions, et cetera. Yeah. Um, if you have the, a a lack of a program or a bad program, they’re gonna leave you.
Yeah. But 43% of consumer. Are more likely to take part in a loyalty program. So every year we see the same. It’s hockey sticking up, so, and only 8% said they’re less likely, you know, to get into a loyalty program this year. So it’s right for the taking if you’re not thinking . Yeah, thinking about loyalty.
You are not listening to your audience. For
Paula: sure, and I always think as well, Tim, that loyalty programs are countercyclical in terms of, I suppose, when they resonate the most with consumers. And we’ve already briefly touched on the fact that there is a lot of concern how the economy is gonna perform this year.
Inflation is a key issue. So I often think actually loyalty programs become a way that people say, again, first of all, this brand is listening to. , it’s actually giving me opportunities when the promotions and stuff are there, but it is genuinely a way for people to almost manage their monthly budget team.
Like I think it’s, it’s super important.
Tim: I’m glad you’re bringing that up because this is a focus of a new study that I’m doing that’s gonna, uh, hopefully launch in early May with the Loyalty 360 Association. Um, look, loyalty programs can become a, a completely separate economy, right? Yeah. That’s really what they, what they are anyway.
Right? You get your points, you get rewards. I don’t care if it’s. . Buy 10 pizzas, get one free. That’s an economy. Um, yeah, yeah. Katie Knight, the c r o, uh, chief Revenue Officer at Friday’s, you know, the global, uh, restaurant chain has said as much. She’s been looking at this for almost 20 years in the beverage and restaurant space, and she knows come Friday it’s eat out night or, or, you know, delivery night.
She knows if they give you extra value while you’re a normal customer. You’re gonna consider that when you go to make your purchase. I’ll go back to what I said earlier. It didn’t even dawn on me, but, um, when I said, Hey, I will spend that extra $50 to get into the next, uh, it’s not even class, it’s not going from coach to co to first class.
But yeah, there are fully refundable fairs. If I can buy a ticket for $200, but it’s 250 and I get triple the points. That point becomes another economy in my wallet. And as I mentioned, I am doing that and I’ll probably spend another few thousand dollars between now and when I have to go to this summer vaca, uh, summer wedding because I’m getting triple points.
Those point provide value in that my kids can fly for free to the destination. Yeah. So, you know, it, it, it could be subliminal and, and psychological. But can you actually give extra value? They’re United is getting the money upfront from me. They’re getting cash in the bank. I’m spending an extra $50 on every ticket.
On average. Yeah. Just to get points on the back end that I’ll redeem, you know, eight months from now. Yeah. So would you like cash in the bank from your customers right now? Create that program, create that economy, because when a recession hits, especially in fast food, quicker, et cetera, Those points and redemptions become real meaningful things, especially to, you know, uh, you know, families that money is tight.
It’s gonna get tight. You know, how, how many layoffs have we seen from Amazon? Such 18,000 so far? Yeah. You have a lot of people out there looking for secondary economies and a loyalty program. With the stats that we just shared, people’s willingness to get into loyalty. It’s a whole nother economy you could create for your.
Paula: I, I really love that, Tim, and earlier you referenced all the various different verticals, for example, that this research covers. And to me that’s one of the critical things, particularly for, let’s say the less typical sectors like you mentioned, F M C G, you know, but also like the newer models. Like as you said, if there’s a cash flow positive opportunity where essentially you’re trading miles and there’s a deferred cost, then absolutely.
There’s some super clever ways that brands could start to think about that. And I think you’re absolutely right. You know, this is the year to be super conscious about how sensitive people are. We’ve already come out of one traumatic period in terms of a pandemic, and now we have obviously economic things to consider.
So, Loyalty is a differentiator and it is a way that people want to see the brands offering them ways to engage in a way that that actually is meaningful to them. So I’ll be super excited to hear about your trip to that nephew’s wedding goes. It sounds amazing. Yes. And clearly making a meaningful difference to your whole year and your wallet.
As you said, your bottom line this year means you don’t have to budget for those flights anymore.
Tim: Yeah, well, well, you know, I’m, I’m, I’m more that high end traveler, so again, me paying $50 per ticket, you know, I just changed a flight yesterday and I’m, I’m flying this Sunday, so, you know, spending in there for 50 bucks, to me, I’m, I don’t think about it.
Um, but it does come back to me and, and a lot of people do. And by the way, we have a few recession questions in that report. I’m, I don’t have all the stats in front of me right now, but yeah, I know that over 60% of these 11,000 global consumer. We’re extremely concerned about economic conditions in 2023.
So again, wow, there you go. Like we, we assumed consumers are feeling it, but they are really worried about it. 60% we’re extremely, uh, concerned about Wow. Wow.
Paula: So, oh my goodness. Focuses the mind for sure. So listen, my final question then, Tim, is. You know, when it comes to asking people about why they might leave a loyalty program, because we all know the statistics.
For example, certainly in the US there’s an average of 16 loyalty memberships. Um, but you know, about half of those would be considered active. So we do know that there is, you know, a lot of concern around, you know, when people join. And how much they actually do engage. But then, you know, to acquire people into your program and then to have them actually leave is probably the ultimate, um, disappointment, I guess for, for a lot of loyalty marketers.
So what did you get back in terms of your research in this report, um, as to what causes that particular behavior?
Tim: Yeah, so well, look, I, I’m gonna, we did a lot of research and we do constant research, uh, all the time. And I, I found this one report from LendingTree recently in July of 2022, where they found, um, people just think the rewards aren’t worth it, right?
52% are leaving a loyalty program cuz the rewards aren’t worth it. So again, , are you operating in a bubble? Is it you and five other, you know, smart marketers getting in a room going, oh, this is what our loyalty program needs, right? Needs tiers, or they gotta spend X to get X. Well, you know, put yourself in the consumer shoes.
Are the rewards worth it? Also, they found, you know, uh, loyalty program being too expensive. 37% left because of that. Now, that could be subscription based. That could be. You know, again, I don’t mind spending $50 for the extra points on a particular flight, but a lot of people do. So Sure. Are, are your levels in line with their, uh, threshold?
Um, But the report goes in in depth. There’s all kinds of things. As we mentioned a little bit, people have, uh, 22% of switched brands because of a poor or lack of, of program or the lack of promotions, you know, um, the report goes into depth. It gives you some examples. I don’t have all of ’em privy to me right now.
There’s about, I think, like 90 some data points you can really slice and dice. You can hand it off to your team and have them break it out. Um, but you, you gotta be in tune. You gotta start listening to these customers cuz they’re telling you exactly why they will lead your
Paula: brand. For sure, for sure. Well said.
And yes, as I said, we’ve all been busy enough, uh, in 2022, but we’ve already into 2023. We’ve got lots of ideas, lots of excitement, and lots of impetus I get from, uh, from consumers who, who really want to see us, um, showing up for them. So, uh, super exciting. Yeah. So I think that’s all the questions, Tim, I have from my side.
Is there anything else that you wanted to mention before we.
Tim: No, this is great. Look again, uh, we build this resource a free resource. I don’t care if you’re our client or not. Like you should have this thing. Yeah, it should be one of the many tools you’re looking at to, to keep your marketing efforts aligned with your, you know, total addressable market.
So please just go get it from us. Uh, again, you can get the previous years as well, so you can look at these trends year over year. Um, we have tons of webinars coming out. I appreciate you doing this podcast. We’ve got maybe five or six webinars all before the end of March that looks at this deep dive, uh, from different lenses.
So, By all means, go get the report. You know, keep up with this. We’ll, we’ll end. Call us. You know, we, we, we’re happy to dig in. There’s a giant appendix. Mm-hmm. . We have an amazing tool on it. If you’ve got a question or a particular subset in a, a region or an industry or an age that you wanna learn about, give us a call.
We’re sitting on all this huge data. We’d love to talk to you.
Paula: Amazing stuff. Okay. With that said, Tim Glomb, VP of Global Content for Marigold. Thank you so much from Let’s Talk Loyalty.
Tim: Thanks again. We’ll see you soon. Paula.
This show is sponsored by The Loyalty People, a global strategic consultancy with the laser focus on loyalty, CRM and customer engagement. The Loyalty People work with clients in lots of different ways, whether it’s the strategic design of your loyalty program or a full service, including loyalty project execution, and they can also advise you on choosing the right technology and service partners.
On their website. The Loyalty People also runs a free global community for loyalty practitioners, and they also publish their own loyalty expert insights. So for more information and to subscribe, check out theloyaltypeople.global.
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