Paula: 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.
This show is sponsored by Comark, a global provider of innovative software products and business services.
Comark’s platform is used by leading brands across all industries to drive their customer loyalty.
Powered by AI and machine learning, Comark technologies allow you to build, run, and manage personalized loyalty programs and product offers with ease.
For more information, please visit comark.com.
Welcome to Let’s Talk a Little Loyalty, my new shorter show for loyalty marketing professionals.
Today’s show is a summary of loyalty insights from Manav Fernandes, an award-winning marketeer here in the Middle East.
Manav has worked in marketing in Dubai for over two decades, both client side and agency side in multiple sectors, including hospitality, tourism, and even an unusual loyalty program he developed for the education sector called Gems Rewards.
Before we discuss that award-winning program, Manav quoted a powerful loyalty statistic from the Boston Consulting Group, who estimated that there is a revenue opportunity of about $800 billion for the 15% of companies who manage to successfully and effectively personalize their relationships with customers, quite simply getting the right message to the right person at exactly the right time.
It’s a stunning number, and one we know already plenty of companies are already chasing.
We then discussed Gems Rewards, a program from a private school operator here in Dubai, who wanted to make their fees more affordable for families who still want to enjoy the extraordinary lifestyle that Dubai has to offer, while also ensuring their children get the best possible standard of education.
Manav led the development of a value proposition which negotiated exclusive discounts for the families attending Gems schools, and also carefully measured the value of those savings.
Shortly after the program was launched, Gems Rewards was shortlisted for the Regional Loyalty Awards from Loyalty Magazine.
A year later, Gems had tracked savings for their families to the tune of over $15 million in total.
And then unsurprisingly, it won the Regional Award for the best loyalty program in the Middle East.
As well as Gems Rewards, Manav shared his expertise on the essential factors for a successful loyalty program, including relevance, simplicity and transparency.
But most importantly, the importance of corporate integrity, truly building a loyalty program that has its customers’ interests at the heart.
Finally, Manav shared some great quotes that he has picked up along the way in his career.
One I really liked is from Ogilvy, which simply stated, the customer is not a moron, the customer is your wife.
With that perspective, a marketeer will be much more likely to build their programs and their products from a place of respect and integrity, proving that these principles are no longer just nice to have, they’re truly essential.
Thank you for listening to this episode of Let’s Talk a Little Loyalty.
If you’d like to listen to the full interview with Manav Fernandes, simply head over to letstalkloyalty.com and look for episode number five.
This show is sponsored by The Wise Marketer, the world’s most popular source of loyalty marketing news, insights and research.
The Wise Marketer also offers loyalty marketing training through its Loyalty Academy, which has already certified over 170 executives in 20 countries as certified loyalty marketing professionals.
For more information, check out thewisemarketer.com and loyaltyacademy.org.
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Publisher’s Note:
This transcript was generated with the help of AI and podcast publishing tools such as Apple Podcast’s transcription service.
In the interests of efficiency and minimising our costs as a small business, it has not been checked by a human.
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