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: Thank you.
Paula: So Siobhan Lynch is a senior executive with nearly 20 years experience in a number of companies, including Unilever, the Walt Disney Company, and Enterprise Ireland.
Paula: And now she has gained more than 13 years experience in the telecommunications industry, with the last three and a half years running the loyalty program for the three mobile phone network in Ireland, which is called 3Plus.
Paula: Now, from a personal perspective, I have to say, I’m particularly delighted to be interviewing Siobhan as one of my first guests on the show, because 3Plus was actually the very first loyalty program that I worked on myself nine years ago.
Paula: So I worked on it as a consultant, and it was under a different name at the time, but I’ll leave, she wanted it to tell us about the evolution of that over the last number of years.
Paula: So I worked on the earlier version of the program for about seven years, and Siobhan’s been leading it for about three and a half.
Paula: So it really is fantastic for me to be talking about a program and with somebody I’m so familiar with.
Paula: And I guess another reason I’m particularly delighted to be starting with 3Plus is because the program actually won the award for the best loyalty program in Ireland at the All Ireland Marketing Awards earlier this year.
Paula: So today we’re discussing a hugely successful loyalty program in the Irish market.
Paula: Plus, I get to chat to somebody who was a colleague and has since become a friend.
Paula: So Siobhan, welcome to the show.
Siobhan: Thanks for having me on.
Paula: Great.
Paula: Excellent.
Paula: So listen, in terms of getting started, Siobhan, as you know, I’ve done the background and the bio, and I’ve decided it’ll be really interesting to start all of my shows with like a statistic about loyalty, you know, just in terms of why it’s interesting, why it’s effective.
Paula: So can we start with you telling us about your favorite loyalty factor statistic?
Siobhan: Yeah, sure.
Siobhan: I tend to revert to the well-known stat that states that acquiring a new customer can cost 5 to 25 times more expensive than retaining an existing customer.
Siobhan: It’s a staggering reality, but it makes sense to avoid spending time and resources going out and finding new clients.
Siobhan: So I suppose the key thing is that we need to keep our existing customers happy.
Paula: Yes, absolutely.
Paula: Yeah, and I know you guys have done that amazingly well.
Paula: So we’ll have a great opportunity now today to talk through all of the detail.
Paula: So in terms of like why you like working in loyalty, Siobhan, did you consciously choose to move into this industry or did you just, I suppose, end up in the role?
Paula: So tell us how you got involved in it.
Siobhan: Yeah, I suppose it’s really interesting.
Siobhan: I didn’t consciously choose to work in loyalty.
Siobhan: As you mentioned earlier, I have over 13 years marketing experience, and I suppose it was a natural move into the field.
Siobhan: It’s really interesting area.
Siobhan: It’s gaining traction and it’s really growing in popularity.
Siobhan: More and more companies and brands are becoming attuned to the benefits of having a core base of loyal customers.
Siobhan: And I suppose the key thing for me is that loyalty is changing all the time, just as our consumer needs are changing.
Paula: Great.
Paula: Well, fantastic.
Paula: So I think it would be really useful even to get an understanding of the mobile phone network because I think when we talk about loyalty in general on a global level, you know, people associated with airlines and with hotels, and actually it’s much less common, I think, for mobile phone networks to have a loyalty program.
Paula: So it would be great to understand, you know, 3 as a mobile phone network in Ireland and maybe a bit about its history.
Siobhan: Yeah, sure.
Siobhan: Good.
Siobhan: 3 Ireland is the number two player in the Irish telecommunications market.
Siobhan: So it’s had a very interesting past.
Siobhan: It was launched in 2005, very much as a challenger brand to take on the key players in the market.
Siobhan: So you had the likes of Vodafone Ireland and O2.
Siobhan: And so the company really took center stage when in 2014, five years ago, it completed an acquisition deal to purchase O2 Telefonica, which was the number two player in the Irish telecom market.
Siobhan: So this means now that 3 is now Ireland’s second largest mobile operator.
Siobhan: It has over 35% market share and it’s fast catching up on its number one rival, Vodafone.
Siobhan: So it’s got over 2 million customers.
Siobhan: And its head office is here in Dublin and it has our customer care center.
Siobhan: It’s located in Limerick, so it’s fully Irish based.
Siobhan: And we have a footprint of over 65 retail stores throughout the country.
Siobhan: And yeah, in terms of employees, we have over 1,500 employees throughout Ireland.
Siobhan: So it’s had a really interesting history and it’s at a really interesting stage of its evolution.
Paula: Absolutely.
Paula: Yeah.
Paula: And I remember, again, I was around at the time the three bought the O2 network and the customer base.
Paula: And there was a lot of concern at the time as to how that would affect customers.
Paula: And I can tell from the loyalty program, it’s just been hugely successful for everyone.
Paula: And I probably at the time hadn’t appreciated globally how significant the three mobile phone network was.
Paula: And I remember distinctly the level of ambition as well in terms of getting to number one in Ireland.
Paula: So hopefully in a year’s time or whatever, we can have another conversation and you’ll be telling me the three is number one.
Paula: So love to kind of hear the ambition that’s driving the business.
Paula: So listen, tell me then about the loyalty program.
Paula: How did that begin and how has it evolved over the years given the acquisition?
Siobhan: Yeah, as you’re aware, Paula, the program existed in a previous form.
Siobhan: So Priority Moments was the name of O2 Telefonica’s previous loyalty program.
Siobhan: So like the name suggested, that program offered customers access and a select range of offers and discounts.
Siobhan: The name suggested that the customers could get priority access to music gigs happening in the O2, which is one of Dublin’s largest concert venues.
Siobhan: So in April 2015, post 3 Ireland’s relaunch of the O2 brand, 3Plus was born and it was relaunched to the market.
Siobhan: So 3Plus is the name of 3 Ireland’s loyalty program.
Siobhan: And back in April 2015, at the very beginning, it had a base of about 200,000 customers.
Siobhan: And the majority of these were legacy O2 customers.
Siobhan: They had a varying degree of participation in the program.
Siobhan: But since then, we’ve really taken it forward.
Siobhan: So as the name suggests, 3Plus really, it delivers a clear loyalty proposition.
Siobhan: So it gives customers a plus, an extra for being with their telephone network.
Siobhan: And so the first job that we had to do back then was to communicate the benefits of the program and the new elements of what we were offering.
Siobhan: So I suppose in a nutshell, how can you describe it?
Siobhan: It is 3Plus is 3 Ireland’s digital loyalty program that rewards and thanks customers for being with 3.
Siobhan: So the sole purpose, the primary objective really is to strengthen the relationship that 3 has with its mobile customers.
Paula: Yeah, yeah, and I remember again being involved with some of that kind of thinking Siobhan, and it really is in an industry, particularly utilities, where it’s quite hard to differentiate in terms of obviously price plans and all of that kind of stuff, in those particular industries to have something that really differentiates and says to customers, okay, if you’re with our network, here’s a load of extra benefits and bonuses.
Paula: And that’s something that 3Plus has done extraordinarily well.
Paula: So I’ll be keen to hear all the kind of latest numbers and stuff.
Paula: But even actually before I ask you about that Siobhan, from a business perspective, we’ve alluded to the fact that acquiring customers is so expensive.
Paula: What would you say at board level, I guess, in 3 there in Ireland, like what’s the kind of key business need that the 3Plus program is used to support?
Siobhan: I suppose the key business need is that customers, they really want to see something that’s different, but that is that response to their actual needs.
Siobhan: So they want to get a little bit extra from their phone network, and they want to be thanked.
Siobhan: So it’s a way of reinforcing the fact that the company acknowledge and thank them for their custom.
Paula: Yeah.
Paula: And I love that actually Siobhan, and you’ve reminded me at the time, obviously, I am Irish as my listeners know.
Paula: And I remember when I started working on the program, that a good friend of mine said to me, I have been a customer with this network for 10 years, and nobody has ever just even said, thank you for doing that.
Paula: So I think at the time, we had been struggling with getting the communications out with that clear message.
Paula: So obviously, that’s something that you’ve really nailed, and the simplicity of saying, thank you for being our customers.
Paula: And even before you get into rewards and recognition, just to have that one-to-one and to say thanks for being a customer.
Paula: I really think that that is often missed because it’s so simple.
Paula: So yeah, so that’s really good that the business gets that.
Paula: So tell us then, so what have you built?
Paula: What’s the value proposition for the members?
Siobhan: So yeah, the key to the success of this program is that it is a clear value proposition and it’s easily accessible via the app that we have and which customers have at all times on their phones.
Siobhan: So we place a lot of emphasis on the ease of access and the ease of navigation once this customer has downloaded the app.
Siobhan: So we’ve built a really clear value proposition.
Siobhan: It offers customers a suite of content which we refresh every month.
Siobhan: So that is, we partner with leading brands and we offer offers, competitions, you can get access to experiences that leverage 3’s sponsorship assets and we also push out rewards via the app on an ad hoc, on a surprise and delight basis.
Siobhan: So customers really like that and it’s a way of keeping customers interested and using the app on a frequent basis.
Paula: Absolutely, and obviously I know partnerships with leading brands are the core of the program, the kind of always on piece.
Paula: So tell us about some of the biggest partnerships that you have.
Siobhan: Okay, so we have a really key offer with our cinema chains.
Siobhan: We partner with the cinema chains here in Ireland.
Siobhan: So we offer our consumers two for 10 euro cinema tickets, so they can go to the cinema on 3Plus for 10 euro.
Siobhan: It’s a significant discount and that offer is available from Sunday to Thursday every week.
Siobhan: We also partner up with some of the leading food companies here in Ireland, leading pizza chains such as Milano’s, we’ve got sportswear providers.
Siobhan: We have a mix of big and small leading Irish retailers and then global players.
Siobhan: So we mix it up and we change the content every month to keep the program compelling and interesting.
Siobhan: And we place a lot of importance as well on what our customers are telling us via the NPS, the Net Promoter Scores.
Siobhan: We monitor their verbatims and we take on board what they’re saying.
Siobhan: And that forms our future planning process and partnership process.
Siobhan: So yeah, it’s really interesting.
Siobhan: And the money camp buy experiences, like the competitions that customers love to enter.
Siobhan: Competitions are really, really popular.
Siobhan: So yeah, it’s an interesting program.
Siobhan: So it leverages the strategic partnerships and then also 3’s own sponsorship assets.
Siobhan: And we also have a really interesting program this year where we partnered with local businesses around the country.
Siobhan: So these smaller players in towns across the country.
Siobhan: And we have over 160 offers available now across 22 countries in Ireland.
Siobhan: So that’s really interesting.
Siobhan: And again, that came from the feedback that our customers gave us via the net promoter scores.
Paula: Amazing.
Paula: Amazing.
Paula: Yeah.
Paula: And verbatims are really extraordinary because it’s amazing.
Paula: You know, you hear something and you go, Oh my God, I think I knew that at a subconscious level, but I hadn’t maybe articulated it.
Paula: And somebody gives you that feedback and you can go and sort it out.
Paula: So local offers sound really, really important.
Paula: And I also love the fact, you know, I’ve done a lot of research, obviously, around the world now as a consultant.
Paula: And the fact that you guys have that cinema offer like five days a week, that to me is something I have not seen in any other country because Orange Wednesdays is, I know, the model that it came from.
Paula: And, you know, that worked extremely well in the UK, I think, in France.
Paula: And it was very much a single minded like Wednesday offer.
Paula: But for you to have that for your customers five nights a week, I think that’s amazing.
Paula: You know, must be driving loads of people into the cinemas.
Siobhan: Yeah, it’s one of our key anchor propositions.
Siobhan: And it’s just gone from strength to strength.
Siobhan: The Irish are really big fans of the cinema.
Siobhan: I think it’s next to the French that we’re number two in Europe.
Siobhan: So we use that to our advantage, but our customers really love it and they keep coming back to it.
Siobhan: So it’s great.
Siobhan: So I suppose you’ve hit on a point there, Paula, that’s really important to keep things simple and to have less restrictions.
Siobhan: And the fewer restrictions that you have means that more and more customers can enjoy it and can avail of it.
Siobhan: So keep it simple, reinforcing the benefits, but at the same time, changing the content and keeping that refreshed and interesting.
Siobhan: Makes for a more interesting program for customers.
Paula: So how have you got to, in terms of, say, your KPIs, Siobhan?
Paula: I know you measure the total base, so we’re dying to hear how that’s progressed.
Paula: And then just in terms of overall engagement, because again, we all know there’s no point having a load of people signing up to things if they’re not actually enjoying the content.
Paula: So tell us how you’ve got to on those kind of KPIs.
Siobhan: Yeah, I suppose in terms of KPIs, the two main ones for us are the base, so that’s base growth and also digital engagement.
Siobhan: So in terms of our base growth, we monitor the total number of customers that are joining the program on a daily, a weekly and a monthly basis.
Siobhan: And we run a series of activities across all of our channels to drive the active base growth and get more and more customers signed up to the program.
Siobhan: And again, we also look at the profile of the customers that we are acquiring, so we measure their churn.
Siobhan: So we look at them from a retention perspective and from a value perspective as well.
Siobhan: So we run our analytics and we can tell that the customers that we are acquiring tend to stay longer.
Siobhan: So that’s really great from a retention perspective.
Siobhan: And we can also tell that these customers tend to have above average spend levels.
Siobhan: So this is the true essence of the program, really, because it delivers to the company’s bottom line.
Siobhan: So it’s a key acquisition.
Siobhan: It’s a key retention driver for 3, and it’s the retention of the profitable customers.
Siobhan: And I suppose this, in fact, brings me back to before I did the podcast, I was doing a bit of research.
Siobhan: And there’s a really key stat that was completed by Frederick Reichelt of Bain & Company.
Siobhan: This is the guy who invented the Net Promoter Score.
Siobhan: And he proved that increasing customer retention rates by 5% increases profits of a company by 25% to 95%.
Siobhan: So I suppose that just signifies the essence of the success of our loyalty program.
Siobhan: So if you can crack it, if you find a meaningful way to get your customers to stay longer with you, you will harness this value of the customers because they in turn are more profitable.
Paula: Absolutely.
Paula: And yeah, I think Net Promoter Score is amazing.
Paula: I’d love to get a sense of how many companies actually really use it.
Paula: So I know three, obviously, you guys use it, as you said, for all sorts of things, including verbatims.
Paula: And I think what I loved from reading and researching NPS as well is it’s one thing to say, you know, will you continue to use our service and whatever, because there’s an element of complacency around, you know, we’re all busy people, so we don’t want to change our mobile phone network maybe too often.
Paula: But a Net Promoter Score obviously measures, you know, would you recommend our network to other people?
Paula: So it’s almost like when you put your own reputation on the line and say to people, yeah, three is the mobile network I want to be with, then that really is the key insight as to why that’s a particularly effective metric.
Paula: So really good that you’re monitoring that.
Paula: And just the engagement scores as well, Siobhan, because I know you do have a media model, and your partners obviously do give you, I think, a combination of exclusive offers, and they use it as a digital marketing channel to get to, you know, I suppose that the two million customers, the three has.
Paula: So, you know, do you see increases in engagement when you have new offers, or how often, I suppose, do you measure the engagement levels?
Siobhan: Okay, yeah, engagement for us is the second most important KPI.
Siobhan: So that measures the customer’s participation in the program.
Siobhan: So again, we look at that on a weekly and on a monthly and on a quarterly basis.
Siobhan: Engagement on loyalty programs is, it’s a known fact that there is, there are seasonal trends that are at play.
Siobhan: But the fact that we swap out our content every month and refresh it means that we are keeping the program compelling for customers, which in turn drives the engagement.
Siobhan: So typically, at the start of the month, we can see an increase in our engagement, and that’s great.
Siobhan: And that in turn feeds the attractiveness of the program to new partners that we wish to partner up with.
Siobhan: So if you look back at 2015 when the program was born, I mentioned earlier we had a base of about 200,000 customers with varying degrees of participation.
Siobhan: I think they were between 14 and 15% over a 90-day period.
Siobhan: Now, I am happy to say that our base has, we’ve more or less, we’ve more than tripled the size of the base, and our engagement scores have really soared.
Siobhan: We tend to see at the end of the year, our engagement scores will increase because we run a very successful Christmas campaign.
Siobhan: And that leverages the fact that a lot of new customers get new mobile phones for Christmas.
Siobhan: So, bring up a lot of new people there.
Siobhan: And yeah, engagement is, it’s really, really interesting.
Siobhan: But if you can crack it, that is where your program success lies.
Paula: Absolutely.
Paula: And again, I always loved the fact that it was a win-win-win proposition.
Paula: And for me, that’s why loyalty is such a fun part of marketing to work in.
Paula: Because yes, you have hardcore commercial needs as a business, and your customers just need you to provide a mobile phone service.
Paula: So that can feel a bit transactional.
Paula: And then partners obviously would love to just get access to the base.
Paula: But when everybody actually is benefiting overall, so there’s exclusive offers for your customers, you’re seeing that you’re retaining the higher value customers as well.
Paula: And then the partners suddenly have digital access to your customers with their full permission and really welcome.
Paula: So yeah, I think there is something around the really positive, like virtuous circle that the program has really managed to create.
Paula: So yeah, really well done.
Paula: I think the fact that you’ve tripled the base has really nailed the fact, that you’ve got the value proposition right for all three parties.
Paula: And I think that’s always the delicate balancing act, is to get it for everyone.
Siobhan: Absolutely, 100% agree.
Paula: Cool.
Paula: So let me ask you then Siobhan about technology.
Paula: That’s always something that I’m interested in knowing behind the scenes.
Paula: So consumers never really know or really care, obviously, in terms of how the program is being operated.
Paula: And I think a lot of us, when we get started in the industry, probably underestimate the complexity of managing everything from the customer’s data, all of the privacy controls, and then the tracking and rewarding, and I suppose the personalization piece as well.
Paula: So in 3Plus, do you have an in-house technology platform, or did you go externally for that?
Siobhan: Yeah, we took the decision to outsource, and so we carried out a full technical swap.
Siobhan: But we selected a vendor that we felt very much matched our needs and our future needs.
Siobhan: This is an overseas vendor, and they brought a lot of new functionality, which enabled us to evolve and shape the program.
Siobhan: The fact that this vendor works with other telco companies around the globe was very important for us because we could learn, and that informed our future planning process.
Siobhan: So that experience was really valuable for us.
Siobhan: So what this involved was a massive integration project.
Siobhan: So, yeah, like you mentioned, technology, not many people realize the complexity of it.
Siobhan: But I suppose you must keep in mind always the customer, because they sit always…
Siobhan: The customer is key in whatever you’re developing or whatever you’re bringing to market.
Siobhan: So in terms of what we did, this involved a full backend swap-out of our technical platform and a full front-end rebuild.
Siobhan: So for the customer, what does that mean?
Siobhan: That meant that we built three brand new native apps.
Siobhan: So native in the sense that they were native to their handset features, their Android, their iOS, or their Windows handset features.
Siobhan: And the app then is the key doorway into our program.
Siobhan: So we put a lot of emphasis on perfecting the customer experience.
Siobhan: The UX of the app from end to end had to be absolutely flawless.
Siobhan: And so, yeah, it was a massive, massive project.
Siobhan: The platform is a cloud-based platform.
Siobhan: So that’s great in terms of it’s hosted on the cloud.
Siobhan: So that caters for future growth.
Paula: Yeah.
Paula: And I think the other key point you made there, Siobhan, is that the software partner that you’ve chosen is specialized in your industry.
Paula: And I think that gives two huge benefits to you.
Paula: So one is obviously the roadmap going forward.
Paula: So you know they’re always one step ahead in terms of what customers of Telcos are expecting.
Paula: And I love the fact that you kind of see them really, I suppose, as partners as well, to learn from and to ask them, how best can we run this program in our market?
Paula: So yeah, there’s people like me around there, obviously, that do advise on loyalty programs.
Paula: But if you have access to that through your software partner, I think that’s really ideal, because then there’s a vested interest as well, that you use their latest technology and they make sure that you’re successful.
Paula: And yeah, it’s a really good way of doing it.
Siobhan: Yeah, exactly.
Siobhan: It’s a win-win.
Siobhan: But I would say that the innovation and the flexibility and the adaptability and the willingness to try new things has really paid off.
Siobhan: And we do love trying new things frequently.
Paula: So, yeah, what fun.
Paula: It’s amazing when you get great fun in your work.
Paula: So tell me, Siobhan, just in terms of communications, how do you, I suppose, communicate with the members of 3Plus, and what kind of channels do you find to be the most effective?
Siobhan: So we communicate with our customers on a weekly, on a monthly, on a daily basis if we so wish to do so.
Siobhan: So we can leverage our in-app messaging functionality.
Siobhan: That’s our way that we push out our messages via the app to our customers.
Siobhan: So that’s really important because it allows us to reward customers on the spot, or on, say, for example, we wanted to just run a spur-of-the-moment campaign.
Siobhan: We can push out an unexpected surprise to reward a specific cohort of our customers that we identify that these guys need to be rewarded.
Siobhan: And that’s been really successful for us.
Siobhan: We also leverage our traditional below-the-line communications, such as email and SMS.
Siobhan: We send text messages to the base, to both the base of non-engaged customers, that’s the customers within 3 who have not yet joined the program.
Siobhan: So we dangle the hook in front of them.
Siobhan: We share the specifics of an offer.
Siobhan: We get them to sign up, then we bring them in, and we send them our welcome campaign.
Siobhan: And we have a full life cycle management campaign, a suite of content and communications up there.
Siobhan: So yeah, communication and the below the line has been an effective channel.
Siobhan: We treat it as another channel to drive the future base growth of the program.
Siobhan: And it is a really important tool for us to convey the benefits of a specific campaign or a specific offer that we’re running with a specific partner.
Siobhan: That in turn then drives the digital engagement.
Siobhan: So we measure the frequency and the impact of our communications.
Siobhan: I suppose we measure everything really that we do.
Siobhan: We place a lot of emphasis on analytics and the cause and the effect of any of our marketing activity.
Siobhan: And all those results then feed into the overall program success and our future planning, our future market.
Paula: And I know there’s a huge amount of work goes into all of that Siobhan.
Paula: Tell us, how many people do you have on your team?
Siobhan: So there is a team, I suppose, for two teams really in effect.
Siobhan: We have a core team on 3Plus.
Siobhan: There’s myself and three other people.
Siobhan: So I lead from a strategy and a planning perspective.
Siobhan: Then I’ve got one person who’s designated.
Siobhan: Their sole job is from a product management, from the future roadmap and the functionality, working exclusively with our vendor to make sure that the roadmap is delivered.
Siobhan: And then we have two people who are full-time working from a go-to-market perspective, from a marketing activity go-to-market, and also from the content management perspective.
Siobhan: So we build and create all of our own content ourselves.
Siobhan: So that helps us be agile and be flexible.
Siobhan: And that helps us respond to the needs of our customers.
Siobhan: And then we work very closely with our sales team.
Siobhan: So we have a team of people.
Siobhan: You know this very well, Paula.
Siobhan: These are the people that would go out and source the offers that we bring to market.
Siobhan: So their sole remit, really, I suppose, is to acquire.
Siobhan: And retain key brands that we wish to partner with.
Paula: Super.
Siobhan: So there’s a team of four people there as well.
Siobhan: So I suppose we are a lean enough agile team.
Siobhan: But we’re very passionate.
Paula: Busy and passionate.
Siobhan: And we really love what we do.
Siobhan: And we get a good kick out of it as well.
Siobhan: So I suppose that for me is one of the key things.
Paula: Yeah, and I guess the biggest kick you got out of it this year, Siobhan, is obviously the amazing award that you won.
Paula: So tell us exactly how all of that came about.
Paula: And you’re probably still thrilled to bits with the whole thing.
Paula: So yeah, tell us about the award.
Siobhan: Yes.
Siobhan: So earlier on this year, in May, the 3Plus team and the program was recognized as the winners of the Loyalty Marketing Award via the AIMS, the All-Ireland Marketing Society.
Siobhan: So yeah, that was a great moment and a great accolade for the team to be recognized externally.
Siobhan: Like we know from our own results internally, we can track all our metrics, but to be recognized externally was really something.
Siobhan: And yeah, as you know, Paula, the AIMS are well recognized in Ireland as the marketing award.
Siobhan: So yeah, it was really good fun.
Siobhan: And we enjoyed it and celebrated the success.
Paula: For sure.
Paula: And again, I know very well, having worked in a number of big companies in Ireland, like everyone takes the AIMS like so seriously because it’s the award you really want to win.
Paula: It’s because it’s got that just ultimate credibility.
Paula: We know that every marketing director in the country is going to be there on the night.
Paula: So yeah, so the whole thing to prepare and go and pitch that you’ve delivered those amazing results.
Paula: So yeah, just it is the one to win that you got.
Paula: So congrats on that.
Paula: So yeah, so I suppose just the last few things I was going to ask you about then Siobhan.
Paula: You know, if there was somebody maybe thinking about, you know, coming into loyalty as a career, what would you think?
Paula: Like what kind of advice would you give them?
Paula: Do you think it’s a growing area or do you think that that’s something that they could consider as an exciting area of marketing?
Siobhan: Yes, I definitely think it’s a growing area.
Siobhan: I definitely think that it is very interesting and it is constantly evolving and constantly changing.
Siobhan: I see, in fact, that there’s a slight trend of veer away from the points-based loyalty programs, and they’re given way to programs that really seek to drive deep emotional connections with brands.
Siobhan: So any advice?
Siobhan: What advice could I offer to somebody?
Siobhan: I would say, you know, really get your marketing experience, but keep a really clear view of the customer and a clear view of the customer’s needs as these change.
Siobhan: I think that customers really love brands that tell a story, brands that invite customers to come on a journey of discovery with them.
Siobhan: So I would urge anyone interested in marketing to follow, pick out a few examples of that, of companies that are really inviting their customers to come on a journey of discovery with them and to follow them and, you know, just assess and critique and keep an open mind.
Siobhan: And don’t just be focused on your own sector or your own country that you’re actually working in, but look and think globally and look at the different examples.
Siobhan: That whole area of MPS and the way that loyalty programs act as powerful influencers for a brand is gaining more and more prominence.
Siobhan: And that, for me, is really, really interesting.
Siobhan: So, I mean, sky’s your limit, really.
Paula: For sure.
Paula: And you know what I also think, Siobhan, and you guys have literally, I suppose, invented it from going back to 2009, 2010, when the whole thing started.
Paula: I think digital loyalty is a really interesting area because, again, loyalty programs have been around probably since the 50s or 60s, but to have an app-based program in the palm of customers’ hands, so many people love going into digital, but digital loyalty I just think gives that commercial return that you can really measure.
Paula: So for me, it’s always been the area of marketing where I go.
Paula: I love to know that I can measure and see the analytics.
Paula: I’ve never been one that understood SEO or all of the other parts of digital, but when it comes to behavior change, I really think, again, you guys have done an extraordinary job.
Paula: And back in 2009, when the whole thing was literally being created, there was very few digital loyalty programs in the country.
Paula: So it’s an extraordinary place to own that space.
Paula: So, yeah, phenomenal.
Paula: And I guess just the last couple of questions then, I’m really keen that we share, I suppose, throughout the podcast, all the loyalty resources around the world so that we all know what magazines to be reading, what conferences to be going, and all of those information and learning opportunities.
Paula: So how do you stay up to date, I suppose, in terms of the latest best practice, or what would you recommend for listeners?
Siobhan: Okay, so I would recommend for all things strategic and the latest research from a strategic perspective to consult the Harvest Business Review.
Siobhan: Their website is very informative.
Siobhan: I also tend to revert always back to the Mindshare world, their website.
Siobhan: They produce an annual publication of consumer trends.
Siobhan: It’s really insightful.
Siobhan: It’s very up to date.
Siobhan: I would also leverage Twitter.
Siobhan: Twitter is excellent in terms of it’s such an amazing resource that you can sign up to the latest, the key thinkers or the key people in loyalty or track agencies that produce up to date sources of information.
Siobhan: So yeah, there’s quite a lot out there, but I would always tend to go back to the two sources that I’ve quoted, the Harvest Business Review and the Mindshare World.
Paula: Okay, brilliant.
Paula: So Siobhan, is there anything else that we haven’t covered that you wanted to add?
Paula: I know we’ve talked about a lot, but is there any other aspect of 3Plus or loyalty that you wanted to talk about?
Siobhan: No, I suppose the key things really for me, in terms of the program’s success, is that we have mapped out our journey.
Siobhan: We always have a clear vision of where we want to go.
Siobhan: We keep the customer at the center of everything that we’re doing.
Siobhan: Anytime we’re challenged or we’re faced with a particular issue, we always revert back to the customer.
Siobhan: Just keep it simple.
Siobhan: Keep it customer-oriented.
Siobhan: Mix it up.
Siobhan: Don’t be afraid to try anything.
Siobhan: Trial, innovation, always move forward.
Siobhan: Even if some things don’t work or the results aren’t as good as you had fully expected or thought they were going to be.
Siobhan: Don’t be afraid to try things.
Siobhan: Then you’ll see where it takes you.
Paula: Absolutely.
Paula: Yes.
Paula: Well, great advice, Siobhan.
Paula: You’ve been doing it for three and a half years.
Paula: I think all of us actually got into loyalty learning by doing.
Paula: Three and a half years on, there’s some amazing insights there.
Paula: From a listener’s perspective, where can people get in touch with you if they have any other kind of questions?
Paula: Maybe they want to reach out to you.
Siobhan: Yeah, sure, Paula.
Siobhan: Anybody can contact me via LinkedIn.
Siobhan: I think that’s the best way.
Paula: OK.
Paula: Well, what I’ll do then, Siobhan, is I’ll put your LinkedIn direct access in the show notes.
Paula: So Siobhan Lynch, obviously, there might be a few around Ireland, but I’ll put that in the overall show notes so people can directly connect.
Paula: And then I suppose just from my side, in closing, I think when I was preparing to kind of sit down and have this conversation, and I was looking back to working on the programme for seven years, and I really remember how much disruption and how, I suppose, unstable at the time the mobile phone business was in Ireland.
Paula: And over the seven years I was involved, I actually counted there was seven different loyalty managers.
Paula: So there was a huge amount of change, and it was almost hard to keep up with that level of change with different people coming in and obviously wanting to do things differently.
Paula: And I really realised, actually, because you’ve been there now for three and a half years, to have somebody senior and strategic driving a programme forward and to be given, I suppose, the responsibility, the authority, and the power to just get on and do it and have the team and resources behind you.
Paula: Like, I really think that’s why you’re winning the awards.
Paula: So, yeah, I really think 3Plus is very lucky to have you.
Paula: And I just wanted to congratulate you on all of your amazing work and wish you the best of luck with 3Plus going forward.
Siobhan: Thank you, Paula.
Siobhan: It is very much appreciated.
Siobhan: And it has been lovely chatting to you again today.
Paula: Fantastic.
Paula: Thanks a million.
Paula: Best of luck.
Paula: Bye bye.
Siobhan: Thank you.
Siobhan: Bye.
Paula: Thanks so much for listening to this episode of Let’s Talk Loyalty.
Paula: If you’d like me to send you the latest show each week, simply sign up for the show newsletter on letstalkloyalty.com, and I’ll send you the latest episode to your inbox every Thursday.
Paula: Or just head to your favorite podcast platform.
Paula: Find Let’s Talk Loyalty and subscribe.
Paula: Of course, I’d love your feedback and reviews, and thanks again for supporting the show.
Paula: Thank you.
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.
If you have any comments or concerns about the accuracy of this content, please do contact us for changes or corrections.
