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. Hello,
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Welcome to episode 103 of let’s talk loyalty. And in this show, I’m summarizing a conversation all about creating emotional connection with your customers, and obviously loyalty by tapping into things that they’re already passionate about. So this means things like movies, things like music as sport and even video games. And the reason being that all of these different areas of our lives are really things that already have massive fan bases and already incredible amount of loyalty. So for us as brands, what better way to create loyalty with our customers than perhaps giving our members access to something that they really do love.
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So I ended up having a fantastic conversation with a gentleman from a marketing agency in London, which specializes in doing exactly this kind of specialized work. The gentleman I spoke to is by the name of Tom . And he in fact, had been working with brunt culture, the agency for about 15 years, and certainly brand culture seems to be an agency that’s leading the field in and negotiating, particularly film partnerships and in the UK market. So what Tom was able to do was share with me some really great case studies. We started with a specific loyalty one and to make sure it was really exciting and relevant for this audience.
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And that was a proposition for the Marriott Bonvoy group, which at a particular time was really am keen to reposition its brand as a hotel chain. That was also for families in fact, and for, and for holidays and its own research had said that a lot of people really saw Marriott as particularly a business hotel. So in the interview, Tom talked through the marketing partnership that was set up to address that and had some phenomenal results with, he also talked about a partnership for a pet branch. So a company that was retailing products for pet parents and how they actually partnered with a leading animated film, all about pets as well.
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So you can imagine the relevance and the incredible results that was achieved there to the third. And probably for me, the most exciting example that we talked about was in the FMCG sector. So for Energizer batteries, which is a very well-known brand, but again, probably something that’s quite hard to differentiate. So Tom’s company ended up developing an unpack promotion and which tapped into really, I suppose, the passion for movies and allowing customers to download a promotional code and then watch a movie of their choice on the Google play platform. This one, again was incredibly successful, started in five countries and was eventually expanded to over 55 countries.
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So from my side, I really enjoy the conversation with Tom. I really believe that brand partnerships are a highly specialized way to develop brand loyalty and brand culture is a multi award winning marketing agency. And for me, I suppose the key point was to remember that we don’t just have to rely on points and prizes. And sometimes if your loyalty program, I think if it needs a bit of a refresh than brand partnerships is a really innovative way. That’s new for customers using you for brand owners. And I think can add a whole new perspective in terms of how your customers perceive you. I suppose, in closing, one of my favorite examples that we talked about was the McDonald’s happy meal, which I’m sure all of you are familiar with.
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It’s been run for many, many years, and again, just leveraging the power of films to connect with McDonald’s customers and clearly something that has worked extraordinarily well for them as a global brand. So in my mind, partnerships are a win, win, win approach. It’s a win for the brand, win for the M the assets or rights owner, and very much a win for customers. And in my own experience, it’s definitely a powerful way to create loyalty for consumers. So if you’re interested in the whole idea of harnessing the power of entertainment, and I suppose any lifestyle assets as a social currency in order to excite and inspire your members, then head on over and listen to the all interview it’s episode.
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Number 20 of let’s talk loyalty. This show is sponsored by the wise market here. The world’s most popular source of loyalty, marketing news insights and research. The wise marketeer also offers loyalty marketing training through its loyalty Academy, which has already certified over 170 executives in 20 countries as certified loyalty and marketing professionals. For more information, check out the wise market tier.com and loyalty academy.org.
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Thanks so much for listening to this episode of let’s talk loyalty. If you’d like me to send you the latest show each week, simply sign up for the show newsletter on let’s talk loyalty.com and I’ll send you the latest episode to your inbox every Thursday, or just head to your favorite podcast platform. Find let’s talk loyalty and subscribe. Of course, I’d love your feedback and reviews. And thanks again for supporting The show.