#202: Loyalty Insights from Scandinavia (Short Summary Show)

In this short summary show, I look back on an interview exploring “mindful marketing” and how it relates to loyalty from an interview with Maths Mathisen, founder & CEO of an innovative app designed to promote loyalty for brands in the age of digital distraction and addiction.

The HOLD app uses the power of gamification to help FMCG brands and retailers compete in the “war of attention” by rewarding users for putting down their devices and focusing on the things they decide are most important.

An interesting way of engaging consumers for dis-engaging!

Show Notes:

1) #68: Mindful Marketing & Loyalty Insights from Scandinavia

2) Maths Mathisen, founder & CEO, HOLD

3) HOLD app

Audio Transcript

#202: Loyalty Insights from Scandinavia (Short Summary Show) (8m)
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 for loyalty specialists around the world.
This show is sponsored by Comarch a global provider of innovative software products and business services. Comarch platform is used by leading brands across all industries to drive their customer loyalty powered by AI and machine learning. Comarch technologies allow you to build, run, and manage personalized loyalty programs and product offers with ease.

 

For more information, please visit comarch.com.
Hello, and welcome to this week’s episode of Let’s Talk Loyalty. When I’m looking back on my interview with Mats Matheson, the creator of an incredibly interesting idea, an app named HOLD the business started when maths and a few college friends were trying to find a way to minimize the distraction of checking their phones when they were supposed to be studying. They decided to begin competing with each other, to see who could avoid their phones. The longest, those who did were rewarded with free cups of coffee, and of course, better exam results, because they were more focused from that incredible insight.

Paula Thomas

00:01:37
The holdup was created quite simply HOLD incentivizes users, not to use their phone for defined periods of time HOLD users or loyalty points when they choose not to use their phone. And those points can then be redeemed for free products in convenience stores. The idea perfectly matches students who need to focus on their studies with brands who are keen to reward them and get in front of this key demographic HOLD was first launched in 2016 and quickly partnered with some great brands like Disney and seven 11, who pay marketing fees to be promoted on the platform for users.

Paula Thomas

00:02:23
Once they download the app, they can browse through offers that have different thresholds as rewards. The thresHOLD sound quite high, such as 17 hours off your phone to earn an award. And of course, being asleep doesn’t count, but they do clearly ensure that the user has to change their behavior in order to earn them. It’s essentially a digital detox for free and with benefits and I, for one, I’m certainly guilty of using my phone constantly. So I think this idea is incredibly intelligent and powerful for all of us. As we realize the importance of planned and scheduled digital disconnection, I was also reminded about the power of word of mouth marketing with Matt’s telling me that 99% of HOLD users come from referrals.

Paula Thomas

00:03:16
He also noticed that those friends of his users trust his platform much more than users acquired on other channels like Facebook Matt’s talked me through the business model with brands like Coca-Cola keen to be visible with this key demographic. Traditionally, they might have relied on product sampling in order to target young consumers who are just at the start of their adult life. And of course at that stage, they’re forming habits and product choices that sometimes last a whole lifetime. My interview with MOTS Mathison was done in late 2020. And it of course was the first year of full lockdowns.

Paula Thomas

00:03:59
And plenty of our time was spent in digital channels and mats estimated that screen time consumption increased by 60%, just in 2020 alone. Now, while the app was originally designed to help students become more productive, it clearly also has an important role to play for any of us working from home and even families who can sometimes be distracted from spending time together because of the power of our phones that keeps us scrolling with so much distraction coming from our devices. Totally think that this is a valuable tool for all ages and people of all types.

Paula Thomas

00:04:42
In closing, math’s shared his belief that marketers are still not taking sufficient care to manage their marketing and much of the tactics like cookies, still feeling highly invasive. He believes the idea of interruption marketing has been around for too long and that we as consumers deserve better. I, for one, think that HOLD is one of those great ideas, driving people to strive towards positive goals and along the way, creating a real tribe and a connected community. If you love this innovative idea, as much as I do, please do go back and have a listen to the original interview.

Paula Thomas

00:05:27
It’s Let’s Talk Loyalty.com/68. Finally, join me again tomorrow when I’m talking about the latest consumer research in the UK with the 2022 release of “What Britains Want From Loyalty Now”, a wonderful white paper from Mando-Connect and UGov. Then on Thursday, I’m chatting with Derek Gaskins, a popular American market here who is leveraging loyalty as a tool to drive exceptional marketing performance for one of the fastest-growing US convenience store chains called Yesway.

Paula Thomas

00:06:10
This show is sponsored by The Wise Marketer the world’s most popular source of loyalty marketing use insights and research. The Wise Marketer also offers loyalty marketing training through its Loyalty Academy, which has already certified over 245 executives in 27 countries as certified loyalty marketing professionals. For more information, check out thewisemarketer.com and loyaltyacademy.org.

Paula Thomas

00:06:55
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. 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 this show.

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.

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