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 Comarch, a global provider of innovative software products and business services. Comarch’s 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. I’m your host, Paula Thomas. And today I’m looking back on my chat with Lisa Brightwell, Managing Director at Bright Insights Consulting based here in the UAE. Lisa joined me in my studio last year to chat about some of the innovative ideas for the loyalty industry that we are both really passionate about.
By way of background, Lisa has a very impressive career in various senior loyalty and partnership roles, including some of the biggest brands in the UAE, such as Jumeira Group and EMAAR Hospitality Group, then she set up her boutique agency called Bright Insights Consulting about seven years ago. As a consultant, Lisa is naturally curious about which emerging new technologies and platforms have a relevance and application for loyalty marketing professionals. And we had a great conversation discussing the potential of various ideas, such as WhatsApp and chatbots among others. Most importantly, finding ways to use them in ways that truly enhance the customer experience and build trust between the customer and the brand. Certainly here in the UAE, and I know in many countries around the world, WhatsApp is a great tool for people, messaging their family and friends. And it’s definitely a platform we all already have on our phones. Lisa loves finding ways for brands to use it, to maximize the customer experience, and she explained to me some of the quite strict rules that are required by the platform, which of course is focused on protecting its users to make sure it doesn’t ever become a way for brands to send unwanted messages as spam. As a result, the open rates for WhatsApp messages remain sky-high compared, especially to SMS, making it the ideal tool for marketing if and when customers want to hear from that brand.
We then talked about chatbots and how they can also be a superb way to communicate very efficiently and answer simple customer service queries, but I think we’ve all also experienced when they are not fully tested in every scenario or programmed thoughtfully, and in those situations, they can be absolutely infuriating to customers, So we agreed there’s plenty of learning ahead for brands experimenting with this technology.
Another big topic we talked about was the idea that just because a brand launches a loyalty program doesn’t mean that their customers will be excited enough to download yet another app to their phone to sign up. It can often seem like an app is the answer to every marketer’s dream. But the challenge of driving downloads is an entirely separate marketing task and challenge that needs to be overcome if the program is to become successful and engage its customers, as it’s meant to.
Finally, Lisa and I are both really passionate about card linking, and Lisa has more experience with this technology than anyone else I’ve spoken to. Card linking is one of the best ways to ensure that every single transaction is captured for your customers. And I really think it’s also the simplest. Once the customer trusted the brand and is comfortable sharing their credit card details, then they truly experience a seamless way to earn their loyalty points with that brand.
That’s it for this short summary episode. I really hope you’re as curious as I am about innovative technology ideas, such as WhatsApp, chatbots, voice marketing, and card linking for your loyalty program. And if so, please do listen to my interview with Lisa Brightwell from Bright Insights Consulting, which is super easy to find on letstalkloyalty.com/98.
Now for the rest of this week, it’s actually shaping up to be telecoms week. Tomorrow I’m sharing the story of the award-winning Verizon Up Program in the USA. Then on Thursday, we are sharing the story of the Smiles Program here in the UAE from Etisalat, the telecoms brand of the E& Group. Thanks for listening today and please do continue coming back and joining us to listen every Tuesday, every Wednesday, and every Thursday.
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 245 executives in 27 countries as certified loyalty marketing professionals. For more information, check out thewisemarketer.com and loyaltyacademy.org
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