Paula: Welcome to Let’s Talk Loyalty, an industry podcast for loyalty marketing professionals. I’m Paula Thomas, the founder and CEO of Let’s Talk Loyalty and also Loyalty TV. If you work in loyalty marketing, you can watch our video interviews every Thursday on www. loyalty. tv. And of course you can listen to our podcasts every Tuesday, every Wednesday, and every Thursday to learn the latest ideas from loyalty experts around the world.
Today’s episode is part of The Wiser Loyalty Series, which is hosted by our partners, The Wise Marketer Group. The Wise Marketer Group is a media education and advisory services company providing resources for loyalty marketeers through the Wise Marketer digital publication and The Loyalty Academy program that offers the certified loyalty marketing professional or CLMP designation. I hope you enjoy this weekly podcast, The Wiser Loyalty Series, brought to you by Let’s Talk Loyalty and The Wise Marketer Group.
Bill: Welcome everyone. It’s bill Hanifin and we’re back with the wiser marketer series sponsored by Let’s Talk Loyalty and, I’m here again with Aaron Dauphinee.
So the two of us are your hosts for this series. Aaron, how are you?
Aaron: I’m well, Bill. How are you doing today?
Bill: Good. Doing great. We’re unpacking this month as we do every month. You know, we key off a theme from The Loyalty Academy Curriculum. We highlight a particular course, and then we have four to five episodes, depending on the month, kind of digging in deep and trying to give you really current information, updated examples, and it’s real world kind of, hopefully insights that you can use in your business.
So this month in July. We decided to build off of course, 106, which is called how to create a winning value proposition. So we started off last week, talking about the mindset that marketers need to have in the, in the kind of preparation they have to have in knowing their customer, maybe looking at some other data points beyond what you would traditionally do with a segmentation in, in this.
And then we talked about sort of the foundations of value proposition, proposition creation. Today, we’re going to talk about something that’s really interesting. I can’t wait to get into it. Which is talking about alternate currencies. What are the most valuable currencies out there today that you can build a value proposition around or incorporate into a really good one that you already have?
So that’s where we’re going today. This is going to be fun. And Aaron is like on fire with some ideas and some some personal stories here to share. So I’m going to let him kick it off and then we’ll, we’ll keep it going.
Aaron: Yeah, why don’t I help in and kickstart this topic today, since it is one that I quite enjoy talking about and have actually formed some research backed opinions over the years based on it.
So, particularly when I was at Bond Brand Loyalty with their loyalty report we had looked into consumer behavior and preferences when it comes to these alternative currencies a number of time in their reports. So, I’ve got some backing, but that’s not to say that they’re the only source.
There are other firms around the world that have done research with consumers around alternative currencies. And, and this topic runs deep not only North America, but globally. And in fact, I, I think I was just searching The Loyalty Academy both the other day and came across the For The Love of Money 2022 report by the point of loyalty. I believe they’re out of Australia, so they offered some, some good idea in preparation for this as well, too. So, I guess my point is really that if you’re a brand that is fully invested, And only changing the behaviors of your customers by offering points or discounts or cash inducements, then yet you really might be missing the mark on how to foster a truly meaningful and really a material relationship with your customers.
There are currencies that come with collecting, analyzing and taking action. Like, you can get that information and data and then be able to utilize it to amp up the impact of your loyalty program. And so, you want to avoid effectively. What could be that we’ve talked about a number of times here, build that race to the bottom.
If you’re too solely focused on cash or cash reward equivalents. So, you know, we’re not saying that they’re not, those aren’t important. We’re just saying that they may not be as valuable as currency currencies that you can tap into that to have non financial components to them. So you can’t put a financial value to as easily.
So perhaps perhaps an example will help. And what I would say here is I’m actually getting on a flight this evening and I have a status with the second highest status in, in the airline partner that I fly with out of the Star Alliance family and typically I fly for business reasons over personal, but and I recognize they’re both different in that you want with one and you may have more time at your disposal and time is the currency. I want to talk about a little bit but I tend to pack a carry on. I don’t check luggage. It’s a particular for business. If I’m running to a meeting or trying to catch a plane, I don’t want to loss of time to be waiting at the baggage claim because that is a detriment to me. But you know, yeah. If I didn’t have status, the ability to board that plane earlier than most, you know, creates a stressful situation for me.
And, and I would be have been in the past wondering if I’m going to have room to put my luggage above and it becomes unpalatable because I’m a bit of an anxious person to begin with. And there was a time when this was a regular angst for me. And now status that’s gone. And I have this peace of mind. So time and peace of mind are the two that I’m kind of combining here.
And, and really that’s a really simple, easy call out when you think about it. And it’s a longstanding practice in the airline industry of having your best and next best customers board the plane before, you know, those that let fly less with you. And it speaks to these two alternative currencies that come with being a higher frequent flyer status, you know, time savings.
I’m, I’m often nearer to the front of the plane. So I’m. On and off quicker peace of mind. I can confident I’m going to get my luggage stowed and I’m definitely not waiting at the other end for the luggage to arrive on the baggage carousel. So really, I’m using this simple and very obvious example because it’s it’s something we all well know and it’s something that we probably all experienced to some degree.
And, and, but then here’s the sound of the other shoe falling or one shoe falling. You know, when this gets disrupted for me. It gets incredibly perturbing. Like I almost lose it, quite frankly, I’m not a good flyer. And recently on a flight leaving Frankfurt, the positioning of the boarding lanes was completely counterintuitive with zone 1 actually further into the concourse than zone 2. So it was backwards like flipped. And then they did pre boarding which seemed so haphazard on whom they were allowing into it because they were families, but not all with very young children. They had tweens and teens and they were permitting and there was upwards of about 40 people that were that really in this queue ahead of me.
And so it was a lot for that plate. And so, and then on top of it, they announced that there was a full flight. And so my angst came back to me. I had this, this reminiscence of the things before I had status. And, and Bill, there was no amount of cash or currency points they could have given me in that moment that would have appeased the distaste and the frustration and the angst that I was experiencing.
So, you know, that’s where we think about these things is when, particularly when they’re given to us for a longstanding. Yeah. Period and we take them for granted that financial currencies just won’t offset the experiences that they’ve created as a part of being a member of these little two programs.
So maybe enough about me. I’ve talked a bit more with the mic. Maybe do you have an example that you can share with us? Talk through?
Bill: Yeah, it’s good. You know what, Aaron? It ties a lot to the discussion we had when we were talking about technology and the expectations set by innovative technology. Like when the brands come out and say, take Mary out, for example, they’ll say we have a digital room key and you can check in in advance and we have this digital key and you can, you can sweep right to your room and, and, and avoid the line at the check in registration desk.
And it’s wonderful. That would be time saving currency loyalty. I might like that better than the extra 500 points for the bottle of water, honestly, for me, but everybody’s different. Only problem is it doesn’t always work so well. We talked about that. And so it also falls into the category of what you said that expectation set. I’m excited. I want to save time, oh, disappointment. And so it can have that, that other kind of impact. And I would say something that struck me. This might seem mundane. Maybe to some people listening. They say this happens all the time, but in America. I’ve only experienced this interestingly enough on a non US airline that was taking me to Europe recently.
It was Virgin. I’m pretty sure. And when I was waiting, and, you know, there’s that massive people. In Miami international. It’s messy. It’s busy. It’s loud. And I started to get flight updates on my cellphone. So I apparently didn’t even know I had opted in. And this was a benefit because I had joined their program.
I’m pretty sure, but just the fact that they were doing something as simple as telling me how the boarding process was looking, when I should get up, when my zone was going to be called. I mean, it allowed me frankly, to have a glass of wine and sit and relax for a little while instead of having to go and stand and just kind of. You know, camp out at the gate and sort of defend my position instead. I can relax and just be there when I needed to be there. So some of those kind of things are great. That the thing I’d say about, like, some of these alternate currencies is they’re much easier to talk about. And it’s harder for us to come up with examples.
So, I mean, you might have a couple more, but I think it’s not as many examples as we’d like to have.
Aaron: Yeah, I think it’s one of those things where it says we’ve worked with another partner about the art of the possibility. Like, if you think about what’s just going to make my life simpler, easier, convenient power of information that you talked about, like, like, know who you are, knowing where you’re going and just making the experience seamless and, and, and I hate to use friction, friction free, but here we go back to frictionless environments. But it’s much simpler and fluid, I guess. That, that is the, the, the should be the goal or the hallmark for the brand is to create those memorable experiences in a way that just makes it so that people want to get on shows like this and talk about them to some degree.
So, cause it’s positive experiences that they should be talking about over some of these negative, more irritable types of experiences. But Bill, I know we talk about financial currencies and, and should be clear, like, we’ve identified obviously points and cash and discounts. There are other financial currencies, like crypto currencies and things like that.
You know, we don’t need to speak because of those 3, but really, when we talk about alternative currencies, we’re talking about those that don’t have that financial element to them. Yeah. So there’s, there’s a whole host of them. Yes, there’s maybe some that are more positioned as ideas as opposed to actualized in construct or in concept.
But you know, how do we make this simple for people to, is there a way to categorize them all?
Bill: I, I think so, kind of breaks down into four for me, so maybe I’ll, I hit a couple, but. I mean, to me you’ve got some things like time and ease, for instance. So think about things that make your life easier, makes the loyalty program members life easier empower them a little bit with some time savings, make you feel like.
You actually care about them. It’s, it’s that old thing about, I respect you. So I’m going to help, you know, give you back some time you know, help you optimize your experience, which is my optimization, a little bit of that with the airport example. But this could range from a lot of different things, maybe giving you a different physical line, which is always a sensitive topic.
Like if you’re in a branch banking environment, or maybe really important would be the IVR type set up. So when I call in. With the bank that I have been doing business with, and we have all our business accounts with, you know, they do put you into a different queue. You do get a quicker turn time and things like that.
Those kind of things are important. You know, some people say, is that loyalty? Well, maybe it’s not a loyalty program benefit, but it helps me build a real feeling of affinity for the brand. It makes me want to continue to to work with them. So, those kind of things are really important. You know, anything to do with like expediting luggage, getting luggage to a, to your hotel, even, or something like that.
Maybe any kind of thing where if you think about a personal service that you would need in a pinch, and I know you have a fantastic story about this, about getting a tux at the last minute and getting it fixed before a big event. But those sorts of things where you feel like I’m in a pinch, this could be bad.
It’s so frustrating. And then because of who you are, and here’s the second one knowing about me so that the brands that know you because they not only have the data about you, but they’re talking, but they’re evidence to you that they know you through the data. But you know, there’s there’s the ability of getting things done because they know who you are.
They recognize your value to them, and they’re going to return that value in a respectful way. So whether it’s, you know. In giving you back some time or giving you an extra service or something like that, but it to me, it’s you know, people, there’s a scarcity of good service. They’re exclusive offers that we might have aspirational feelings towards it.
There are a lot of things that we’d like to have. And we don’t always know that we get them. So, honestly, maybe by using the data properly and showing that, you know, me and you and I’ve heard more of these examples from you. Somebody gave you the run around at an airport. 1 time. You told me. And you were being kind enough not to throw your status in their face.
And ultimately, when the person saw on screen, the status you had with the airline, their tone changed and I thought, oh, my gosh, it would have been a lot better from a knowing me perspective. Had they, like ascertain that fact from the get go, and then they could have said Mr. Dauphinee hey, let us help you out, you know, go ahead to your hotel. Don’t miss your meeting. We’re going to get your luggage there for you. So, I mean, those, so those are the first 2 that come to mind.
Aaron: The one that I always like is, is, as you said, is it being able to identify someone and treat them with the status that aligns in the service that’s there? Because it’s okay to have different service.
I think that sometimes we fear that, like, some brands, they want it completely the same, but, but like, you’re going to have a lot of program. It’s okay to differentiate between customers. Not all customers are created the same. And so, for me, the, the, the categories that pop up, like the first two that you mentioned probably a 3rd and 4th real quickly here are are social currencies, seen a lot of social sees rising, particularly since the pandemic you know, that idea of we over me came into the forefront and certainly turned back towards me a little bit, but that larger role of staying socially connected is, is here to stay. And so, for individuals who are actually doing good social deeds, there’s ideas of status badge badges, or perhaps ambassadorships that align to the ad actions that they’re taking with the brand to benefit the communities or the causes around them. But when I say social, it’s not just about charitable giving. It it could also be about actually creating experiences around that the brand creates for the individual customer member that involve new friends.
So a joint experience that, you know, really empowers you and says, Hey, this is important to Aaron and, and, and bring my friends along for the the ride. And quite literally the example I would say is, you know, creating a test drive day Aaron and 4 or 5 friends at Audi, right? Like, that would be, that’d be a super cool idea.
But those are 2 social constructs that come together for currencies. And there’s a whole host of different ideas that come. Within that that particular category, the last category is really, we talked about them a little bit already is some of the experiential things. And you already outlaid a few examples.
I think I have many to draw from, but real quickly in terms of experience, like, these are the surprise and delights and the game of occasion interactions to get to deep engagement or or even different access because of status or VIP level that you have, but you’re basically providing something different here than the members.
Every day life experience for everyday interaction with you. That’s kind of the way I like to think about this. And in the interest of time, I’ll go quick, but I won’t hurry. I was in Dubai a couple years ago, and I love this story. It’s one of my favorites. I tell all the time. Some people who know me will be tired of hearing it, but I was there and I also love ziplining and I talked to the concierge about the how, when and where to go do that.
And, and in hindsight, I learned that they were trained as an, as employees on the property to ask the guests three more questions every time the guest asked them of something. And so that, that, that training kicked in for me at the concierge desk. And that’s because they really wanted to understand the true request, but the point of the story really is that the concierge took away from that conversation that, you know, 10, 15 minutes. It wasn’t a super long time, but it was enough time for her to realize that I was there for a work for a week. I have a dog named Pepsi and Pepsi is one of my preferred choices of beverage. And so when I arrived back from zip lining. In my room, 2 bottles of Pepsi and embossed cake with the Pepsi logo on it and a handwritten card from the GM thanking me for for my status and then also stay with them and hoping that this will help ease my, my missing of my dog while I was away on business travel.
So anyway, that’s just kind of a one way to tie about a really cool experience, but I’ll leave it to you to take us home.
Bill: I’ve heard that story before, but I’ll hear it as many times as you want to tell. And you know what? I’m sure the hotel is not this calculating, but if you measured the cost of what they did for you in that instance, probably a bit less than giving you 5, 000 points is some kind of bonus for some, whatever reason they would have.
Aaron: Yes, I agree.
Bill: And then, and none of that stuff went on the balance sheet. It’s, it just got absorbed in the course of time and it was, it cost them virtually nothing to do it. And it had a significant impact on you and the way you felt about the brand. So that is a really good example. And I think we’ve got to crack our heads a little bit to come up with more.
And maybe we’re the ones that need to create some of these so that we can talk about them in a year or two, but I don’t know. I think we better pause there. We really hope that you’re enjoying these episodes. These are short podcasts. We try to make them a little bit shorter. If we can, but just hard hitting to the point.
Hope you’re getting some practical advice out of these things. Take away some of this knowledge and take it back to your office and. You know, add your own intel on top of it and do some good things for your clients, because that’s really why we’re doing these. And we appreciate Paula giving us the opportunity.
So, one note, the community of professionals that have earned their CLMP with The Loyalty Academy is now really close to 1000 over about 53 countries. We’re having our 1st workshop later this month with a partner in Saudi Arabia, and there’ll be more in that region as well. Some announcements in India and Morocco and some other places.
So. If you want to be part of this global community, please go to loyaltyacademy. org and find out more and for sure be a part of our community and come back and enjoy the rest of the series this month as we talk some more about how to make a great value proposition.
Aaron: Yeah, that’s a great way to capstone this. Wonderful. Okay. I’ve got to run to a plane. Good to see you, Bill. Thanks for your time.
Bill: Thanks, Aaron. Thanks everyone.
Paula: This show is sponsored by Wise Marketer Group, publisher of the Wise Marketer, the premier digital customer loyalty marketing resource for industry relevant news, insights, and research. Wise Marketer Group also offers loyalty education and training globally through its Loyalty Academy, which has certified nearly 900 marketers and executives in 49 countries as certified loyalty marketing professionals.
For global coverage of customer engagement and loyalty, check out thewisemarketer.com and become a wiser marketer or subscriber. Learn more about global loyalty education for individuals or corporate training programs at loyaltyacademy.org.
Thank you so much for listening to this episode of Let’s Talk Loyalty. If you’d like us to send you the latest shows each week, simply sign up for the Let’s Talk Loyalty newsletter on letstalkloyalty.com and we’ll send our best episodes straight to your inbox. And don’t forget that you can follow Let’s Talk Loyalty on any of your favorite podcast platforms. And of course, we’d love for you to share your feedback and reviews. Thanks again for supporting the show.
