Paula: 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.
Hello and welcome to today’s episode of Let’s Talk Loyalty. Today, we’re back with our friends in Mastercard, given their recently launched Holiday Spend Forecast Report, which is focused on what we can expect for the upcoming Christmas season based on insights from the Mastercard Economics Institute.
Joining me today to share insights such as the effects and opportunities presented by the 2024 holiday calendar, as well as the predicted growth rates for consumer shopping is Kyle Clark, Senior Vice President of Merchant Loyalty with Mastercard. Kyle shares a broad picture of the big trends expected to propel spending this season with key takeaways for loyalty managers, as you finalize your plant campaigns for both pre and post the 2024 holidays with some great new ideas you might consider for this year. I hope you enjoy our conversation.
So Kyle Clark, welcome to Let’s Talk Loyalty.
Kyle: Thank you. It’s good to be here. Thanks for having me.
Paula: I’m very excited, actually. It’s my very first conversation talking about the holiday season, Kyle. So tis the season to be to be busy and to be jolly, I guess, huh?
Kyle: That’s right. That’s right. No time to start the holidays like right now. It’s pulling earlier and earlier every year. So it’s good to be talking about loyalty in the holidays.
Paula: Indeed. Indeed. I think as marketers, we always have to be a step ahead of the consumers. So even if it doesn’t feel like that kind of season is yet, obviously we’ve got a lot of work to get done. And I know there’s a lot of exciting insights that you’re going to share with our audience today with that topic in mind.
But before we get into talking about our loyalty. programs as professionals. I want to just hear from you in terms of your own kind of preference. You know, you live in the US very sophisticated loyalty market, and we’re always keen to understand what does global best practice look like. So Kyle Clark, please do tell our audience, what is your favorite loyalty program?
Kyle: Yeah, it’s a loyalty marketer. I spent a lot of time thinking about how we want as consumers. We want to make things easy and flexible and give them freedom of choice in terms of how they redeem. And so the program I’ve been using probably almost 20 years is the Capital One Venture Mastercard.
And I love the program because I earn miles as I shop and I have the freedom and flexibility to redeem those miles for any of my travel If they’re not pre ordaining where I can redeem I can just go in make a purchase wherever I want to go and then I can redeem miles to offset the cost of that purchase and I love it. I love the simplicity. I love the flexibility.
Paula: Amazing. Yeah. At 20 years, I mean that you mentioned that very casually as if that’s a common behavior, but I think particularly in the US there’s a lot of people who do kind of, you know, look to replace or change their credit cards very frequently. So that’s incredible that you’ve had that card and you’ve been so loyal to it.
Kyle: I think the power of simplicity is spoken there. It’s definitely one of my favorites.
Paula: Amazing. Yeah. I’m actually the same. Once I kind of get my head around, okay, what is this program doing for me? Exactly, how am I going to get the value out of it? And what are they giving to me? So it’s that virtuous circle that keeps going. So as a well done Capital One, that’s absolutely amazing.
So let’s get into, I suppose, how you got into loyalty, Kyle. I think you’re somebody who loves loyalty as much as I do. And clearly this audience is full of people like us. And I always love to get the origin story. I think yours is a little different to a lot of our listeners. So tell us, how did you get into this industry in the first place?
Kyle: Could be. So I always say that I, I majored in loyalty and people say, Oh, wait, you actually majored in loyalty. That’s a major in college. I say no, it’s just a bad joke. But overall, I got into loyalty first as a software engineer. That’s my trade. I have a computer science degree. And so out of college, I got a role developing loyalty programs. And I thought, this is interesting. We get to touch consumers. You can see the marketing that’s out, you know, like, live and how that’s influencing consumer behavior and consumer spend.
And so over time I went from being an engineer, I did implementations of that software, and then I found a home in product. And that’s where I’ve really been over the last 10, 10 to 15 years in the product side, you know, first moving on from developing it to actually creating it and looking at the vision, how we stay ahead of trends.
And so it’s been an amazing 20 year journey, all within loyalty. So something I’m super passionate about, and I’ve also focused on banks and brands and many different verticals. And so it’s awesome seeing the different nuances within each segment of loyalty that I’ve participated in over the years.
Paula: Well, I’m giving you full credit for majoring in loyalty. I know you said it’s a bad joke, but actually I think we’re all loyalty nerds on this show. So, and I guess what I like about the role that you do now, Kyle, is that you’re probably hearing, you know, from every single type of stakeholder, of course, you know, across the Mastercard group and in terms of building that, that product out and I suppose, future proofing it as well.
So while we’re here to talk about the immediate future, of course, and the holiday season I guess you almost get an advanced heads up from everybody in terms of, you know, what the roadmap must look like, I suppose, for the months and years ahead. So, on that side, I’m sure we’ll have plenty of opportunities to talk in the time to come, but let’s get into today’s topic, Kyle.
I know that you guys have literally just published the spending pulse forecast for the holiday season. So some great insights. I know you’re going to bring us to today, but let’s start with, I suppose, even the market context. You know, every year has its own nuances. I think it’s a particularly busy one for the US. So talk us through what are you hearing from clients and loyalty programs overall at this stage?
Kyle: Yeah, specifically as it relates to holiday. We know that the holiday season is shorter. This year, and it’s going to be more competitive than ever. And we know that consumers can find value in rewards and their loyalty programs to help offset the direct wallet impact that’ll come as a result of the holidays.
And so, but what we’ve been talking a lot about and thinking a lot about is we know there’ll be a lot of spend coming into December and that’s forecast and that makes sense. There’s shorter holidays, Black Fridays later this year in the United States. And so I think the key message is we’ve got to get started now and we have to think about how we, how we reach out to consumers and engage them prior to the holidays that we can engage, make them during the holidays and then even think about later on, like what we’re doing with them after the holidays.
So in terms of, you know, getting started, we have to think about what people want in what brands are doing. And we know that no matter what the industry is, people are seeking out brands that they know that know who they are and what they like, right? And that’s important. I think that speaks to both. Pointed that we all know that for a competition in that. In mind for attention on where we’re going to during the holidays.
But that also means there’s more opportunity. And what I love about being in loyalty is we are at the forefront of that consumer engagement, and we’re directly poised to be able to reach these consumers and help them. Have an enjoyable holiday season, but generate an emotional connection that lasts beyond the holiday season.
Paula: Absolutely. And I think you know, overall, I suppose, you know, you mentioned, you know, things like there’s so much going on in terms of, I suppose, the command of attention, you know, just for, you know, whether it’s political debate or, you know, there’s been so many kind of sporting activities this year, whether it was the Olympics or all of these other things.
So, I do think competing for consumer attention is something that we’re, I suppose, very lucky to have direct access to. But as you said, it’s really important that we do make use of that information and start thinking about it super early. So yeah, so, so coming in, it’s interesting, as you said, I never think about I suppose how long that holiday season actually might be depending on literally the calendar.
So I think you said it’s a definitely shorter this year, 27 shopping days between Black Friday and the Christmas itself. So a very intense period, I guess, for every single, particularly, I guess, retail marketers and listening to the show. Yeah, that’s right.
Kyle: And I think the importance there is thinking about what consumers want within this period to be able to really capture the most in that 27 day period, as you mentioned, and we think about just us as consumers.
We want two things. We want utility. We want value in. We want choice, right? And so as we enter the holiday season is loyalty. Just have to think about reexamining the traditional loyalty benefits is part of that, right? Leaning more on personalized interaction leaning more on benefits and leaning more on experiences during that period. We also have to be a little bit more selective and so everyone has budgets we need to make the most out of those budgets every dollar spent on an acquisition campaign for a customer that wasn’t going to sign up anyway is a dollar that we could have spent somewhere else to drive engagement. And so thinking about that how to measure it, then I think most important is it’s prioritizing the most valuable customers to drive quote, right?
And so acquisition campaigns are super important. Honestly, like if you’re doing that during the holidays and I’m standing there at the till waiting to check out and they say hey, do you want to sign up for the rewards program? I don’t know. There’s pretty people behind me give you 10 percent off. Sure. Great.
Now they’re in the program, right? But did we just give away a discount and are they going to engage? That’s what we as loyalty marketers have to think about is how do we carry that momentum through to really hit back on what consumers want, which is that utility can be used in value. So that’s a critical part of how I’m thinking about the holidays in particular.
Paula: For sure. Yeah. And of course I always think about the attribution as well. And you’re right because it is a busier season and it has to be very clearly thought through, you know, what is our loyalty strategy, I guess, across the whole organization as, and when we do have people, as you said, at the till and maybe willing to spend, you know, the full value you know, and potentially, you know, not get in I suppose the way in terms of like signing up and taking time when it is a very busy season. So lots to really think about.
And what I find is particularly useful, I guess, is the back catalog of data Kyle. You know, like, you know, there’s so much data that is captured. And one of the principles we talk about a lot on this show is, I suppose, not capturing data unless you can actually use it.
And this is the perfect time of year to particularly, I suppose, understand things like, you know, the timing of communication that you might want to send out to a particular consumer. I think you made some great points to me last time we spoke that, you know, getting the product relevant is obviously the first step, but then there’s also different shopping windows that we should be thinking about to make sure that we’re not maybe over communicating or under communicating.
Kyle: Yeah, I think you said something there about the importance of data. And one thing is thinking about loyalty is we as consumers, we’re willing to share our data, right? And there’s only one thing that we want in return is. What a meaningful experience. It’s simple and it’s easy to understand and it resonates with us.
Then you talk about those shopping windows as well, right? And I always think about, you know, you make a purchase at a retailer and you like buy a new coat or something. And then two days later you get an email that’s got the same coat in it you just bought. Missed opportunity because we’re not leveraging the data. We have to have that timely communication. A good thing would be he got that code. Well, here’s a pair of pants. I think would really go well. And you get some credibility in there by saying, and this is how many other people have bought it after, right? So you get that social validation as well.
Paula: Yeah.
Kyle: And so back on the point of data, willing to share that data as long as we get that meaningful experience, but also the loyalty program and the brand that the company needs to make sure that it is protected, permissioned, right? That we’re being transparent about how that data is being used. That’s important because it also builds trust with the consumer and trust is foundational to the loyalty program itself.
So you talk about those different time windows and loyalty can really be the fuel to engagement. And so thinking about that permission data and using it to connect with the consumer in that example, I said, right, give me something relevant next time window, but also I’ve been shopping a lot before the holiday and you have that information for me last year. Connect with me before the holidays. Maybe I’m an early shopper. Maybe I’m trying to beat the bush. Maybe I’m somebody that purely shops online. I never go in store, right? Don’t give me an in store only coupon. Push me to digital, but give me that coupon in a time bound way before the holiday to engage with me and to look at that information that I’ve been sharing and then use that to segment communications out, not just to me, but to the, to your entire consumer base as well, timely promotions and offers based on how consumers have shopped in previous years and executing those in waves through the shopping season.
It was back to that budget point, you know, segment down in a meaningful way. And that was emotional kind of response. We’ll get from consumers really going to drive loyalty in the long term versus my example of being a picture of the same quote in an email where they got my attention. I had the email up, but it was a missed opportunity to really drive home content.
And then the final thing I would say there is just the role of personalization. Right. Does it even personalizing what the incentive is? Is it 5 percent off? Maybe an exclusive perk or some stores have coffee shops in them. Is it me getting a free latte while I shop? We should really reimagine what the benefit is it doesn’t always have to be discount right which can have profitability impact as well.
Paula: I love the point about the relevance and you mentioned the missed opportunity, Kyle. I literally had one last week. I mean, I have a co brand card in partnership, like, you know, with a hotel. And I love it. And I have redeemed and I’ve enjoyed so, so they know me and I know them and that trust is there. And I think everybody listening to the show knows I live in Dubai and I got a marketing email with them. You know, why don’t you take a trip to Dubai? And I’m like, I live here and you know.
Kyle: That’s right.
Paula: It’s just, you know, I think there’s so many people and everybody I think is well intentioned and very busy, but you’re right, you know, they could literally have given any other GCC country and I would absolutely love to go and take a trip there or anywhere else in the world.
But by not at least, I suppose, excluding me based on what they know about me, that was definitely felt like something where, you know, somebody sending out perhaps too much of a mass communication and not leveraging those data and insights that you’re talking about. So, so I think we’re far from perfect, but I think we’re very clear on the focus. So that’s exactly the purpose of these kinds of conversations and keeping it keeping it top of mind.
The other piece I really liked about what you talked about is is this idea about, you know, looking at what has happened over time.
So I’m thinking about even my Christmas last year, Kyle. So I did, you know, as usual, spend a fortune of the credit cards in preparation for going home to friends and family. And what I then discovered actually is when it came to January, so, you know, after the holidays was over, I did have a lot more credit card points than I would typically have.
And I did manage to redeem actually on that hotel program I mentioned. So I think it’s a good opportunity for everybody listening to this show to think about that, I suppose, extended holiday season of what is the benefit and the upside of people, you know, the data we’re going to collect now, as well as the data we’ve collected before.
Kyle: And also what you’re saying about the after holiday season. I’ve always thought of it as like second Black Friday, because what happens is during the holiday season, you have all this shopping and then you have time at home with family and friends and, you know, there’s a little bit of a down period.
What’s happening during that time? You’re getting gift cards. You’re getting gifts that you may or may not want. You’re getting gifts that may not fit. And so, dare you brave going out the 26th, the 27th. There’s a lot of interaction in store that is another post holiday opportunity to use that loyalty program to engage.
I love your comment around redemption and storing up a lot of points. We know the next transaction after a redemption is usually larger, right? And so you redeem all of these points, make a big transaction on your next transaction. You don’t have any points, perfect time to put an incentive in there, right? Perfect time to engage. And so thinking about when someone’s redeeming like you did. Also thinking about them coming into the store. How can we draw them into engaging? Maybe they got a gift card for a brand they’ve never shopped with, right? And if that’s the case, there’s another opportunity to acquire that person.
So acquisition campaigns are still relevant. But then if somebody has just redeemed, think about maybe giving them Two X points on that next purchase to incentivize them to make that next purchase, right? Somebody that’s making a return. How can we give them an incentive to not just return and take the gift card and maybe give it to someone else, but how can we incentivize them to return as well?
There’s another time period post holidays as well, which is going into January. What’s the next holiday? Valentine’s Day in the list goes on. And so how do you bridge your loyalty program in your marketing efforts from the December period going into January and take advantage of that? And it goes back to the role of that data that we’re willing to share as consumers It’s making the most out of that data and personalizing that experience.
But also I think It’s about thinking about the role of status and benefits. Maybe give somebody a higher tier in your loyalty program on a promotional level and allow them to experience, you know, what those benefits look like. Give it to him for a month, give it to him for two months, allow them to redeem, to try out that status.
There’s a lot of tactics we can go into for that post holiday period, but it’s critical if you acquire those folks during the holidays, you can retain them early in the year that you’ve got a best and loyal customer growing, and we can repeat going into the next holiday season.
Paula: I can hear that major coming through right there, Kyle.
Kyle: Thank you.
Paula: No, but you know, it’s exactly, I’ll tell you that happened to me as well. I got an upgrade to a, an airline go kart status about two years ago. And at this very moment in time, I am just short of the number of points required in order to get back up. Like I did drop down because actually my travel isn’t enough to get there. Like I don’t buy business class or whatever. And so now I’m in this kind of like very, I’m going to say quite a strong word like a hungry phase where I’m status chasing. I have literally looked at how many tier points would I get if I took a short hop to the next country closest by. And I know so many people listening to this show have done those extra legs. And I haven’t found the solution, but you’re right. It’s actually a lever that I just hadn’t thought about. And it’s particularly powerful at this time of year.
Kyle: Absolutely. I also think in that example, there’s a great opportunity for brands to say they’re so close. Gift of status, right? And this has happened to me in programs before.
I’m so close and maybe I can’t make that travel, right? Maybe I thought I was going to make it by doing maybe a mileage run, and I didn’t get there. There’s a lot of ways, but gifting that status costs so little, but the emotional loyalty that it drives with you is so high. And then we talk about it on podcasts like this and everybody hears it, right? And so the power of gifting in the loyalty program, I think is under, is under utilized as a mechanic.
Paula: Yeah, you’re absolutely right. And actually, I don’t think we’ve talked about it on this show before, but, that idea of just the goodwill and the generosity. And it probably happened again, back in those terrible days.
We don’t want to refer back to when nobody was flying, but now that we are back to normal, as you said, I’m so close and I am, you know, taking up every single offer I possibly can and what would it do now? And again, I actually have a media profile, so maybe I’ll send them this episode and see if I can get that sorted.
But no, I, the other point I wanted to pick up on Kyle that you made actually is one I also haven’t thought about. And that is the the acquisition opportunity with the gift card people. So that is definitely a case where, for example, you know, we might get that gift card to go into a store that we typically might just walk straight past.
And that’s absolutely a prime opportunity for loyalty marketers to make sure that they those front of sale, you know, point of sale staff are really looking out for those acquisition opportunities. Cause to me, that’s the moment of truth. Like all the loyalty strategy that we design and develop and think about can be lost if you don’t have that briefing in place to make sure they’re looking for that window.
Kyle: Right. And think about that data, right. In terms of if it’s a new person in the program and their very first purchase is acquiring on a gift card probably have never been there before. Well, basically, you could say they’ve never been there before. And that goes back to the role of personalization and just kind of thinking through the responsible use of that data to make sure that we have the right time, right place interaction to get them to make the next purchase and become a best in world customer.
Paula: Totally. Yeah. And you’re right to remind us about the policies and procedures and the willingness, I suppose, of consumers on their side. You know, I come from Europe. We’ve had GDP or for a very long time. I think the US now is very strict as well in terms of capturing the right data, using it the right way. And again, with a global law audience of people who are, of course, always having to think about their local laws in terms of what they can capture and use to the ultimate benefit.
But I do think the point is absolutely valid that people want to give their data as long as obviously that trusted relationship that you mentioned is in place. So it sounds like you’re hearing that from your kind of clients and stakeholders as well, is that consumers are happy to give it again, as long as that trust lever is there.
Kyle: And the trust lever and also getting value from the program, getting simple value, right? And it goes back to that example of I get an email and it’s the same thing won my attention, open those communications.
So I’m loyal to the brand. But then there’s that missed opportunity. And then if another brand can come in and give me those recommendations. I, my, my loyalty may drift towards that brand. So it’s not just about the, how it’s used to create that emotional connection in a different, in addition, I should say, in addition to the responsible use and just being clear that you’re protecting my information as well.
Paula: Yeah, absolutely. And listen, we referenced this spending forecast, Kyle, at the start of the show. I’d love to get a sense of anything that you are seeing coming through. Again, there’s a very education hungry audience that listen to this show. Love to get a sense of what brands like Mastercard are hearing. So anything you can share in terms of what you’re hearing.
Kyle: I think it goes back to the trend around we know we are forecasting that spend will grow 3%. And we’re also forecasting that the shift online spend will go up an additional 7%. And so I think that’s important when we go back to how short the holiday season, we believe there’ll be more spend in December.
That’s everything that we’ve talked about so far. And it’s the importance of engaging early engage now. Right. If tombstones are showing up in July, never too early to start to engage in home improvement stores and things like that. You know, the holiday season keeps coming earlier and earlier in the year, it’s now is the time to engage. Even if I’m going to do my holiday shopping in December, engaging with me now puts that brand top of mind. And I think. Oh yeah, it’s top of mind for me. I should engage during the holiday so you can leverage that loyalty program. So, yeah, just looking at the forecasted increases in spend and the shift to online, but also thinking beyond the physical channel and going into the online channel personally shop them up, right? Everything will arrive at my door, it’s convenient I think it’s a time saver And so thinking about what those in store incentives look like where you can go into more experiences and benefits that you may not be able to do online and then think about the roles of promotions online to incentivize people it also goes back to those prior shopping behaviors, right?
If i’m shopping in October or i’m shopping in December make sure that you’re giving me timely, relevant, like right place, right time communication that fits with my prior habits of how I’m making purchases with your brand.
Paula: Amazing. So overall spending is forecast to grow, as you said, then 3 percent overall. And great to hear actually, just because I’m such a fan of, I suppose, e commerce and online, Kyle. It’s something I’ve been involved in for a very long time. So great to hear that actually online as a channel definitely still has a big role to play because I find these things sometimes go on cycles and we don’t quite know, as you said, whether people might want to go in store and have that that experience, but online still sees a massive opportunity by the sounds of it.
Kyle: Yeah. And driven by loyalty, right. Driven by those promotions and discounts because consumers are seeking value and they’re seeking and they’re seeking choices like we’ve discussed.
Paula: Totally. Totally. Yeah. I suppose the final point I wanted to talk to you about, Kyle, this is something I think, you know, I’ve been traveling a lot to the loyalty conferences around the world.
And there’s a topic that’s been coming up actually an awful lot this year and in every market. And I’d love to know if you’re hearing it. And it is that role of the loyalty program to actually balance the household budget in, in some markets, the most extreme that I came across, for example, was in South Africa. And in certain demographics, the salary that an individual might might get will probably only get them halfway through the month. So loyalty programs then are actually a massive opportunity. They can literally say, now I can redeem points for whether it’s fuel or grocery. So I think that’s probably quite extreme example, but I hear it as well in the UK, I’m guessing in the US as well, like it’s an amazing opportunity if you do have the loyalty points as a consumer in a program and you’re looking for gifting ideas that you can use your loyalty program to solve that.
Kyle: Yeah, that’s right. I think definitely that has always been there. Consumers do turn to loyalty programs as a way to find value, but it’s all through also through offsetting expense.
And so lots of different personas of individuals going into the holidays. A lot of people will use their loyalty points, maybe to redeem for a gift card, right? They might, they might we might use it to buy anything in store or get a discount. And so we are turning to loyalty programs to maximize our ability to shop during the holidays, right? Or maximize just the ability to offset our household expense outside the holiday. And so loyalty programs are always important there, but this ability of gifting I think is still understated, right? It can be right now. We can do it through the redemption of gift cards as we’ve talked about, obviously we can buy merchandise and gift that. But I still think there’s the idea of being able to share points with friends and family, and some programs have done this.
I think it’s an extremely powerful way to engage. I always think about things, even outside the holidays, but just life events, right? Everybody can share their points or their miles and then allow somebody to redeem. Great marketing for the brand, a great feature, and it really resonates with consumers who are looking for value out of the program.
Paula: Totally. And again, I suppose a personal anecdote just because I’m so in the zone at the moment. But for me, that idea of sharing is most powerful when it’s done, when there’s maybe no cost to the member who might want to give it as a gift. And I’ve had both experiences, for example, with a hotel program where I was immediately able to send points to my husband and he was able to make the booking that we wanted.
And then I looked at a, at an airline program and actually there was a small cost associated, which to me, I just felt like I just didn’t want to pay. So to me, the ultimate loyalty to your point, especially that emotional loyalty piece is, can I just share the points? You know, can we just make it something that is quite generous that the brand kind of goes, look, these are the people that you want to gift to.
And so, yeah, again, I always feel like that’s something that I notice as I go through as, you know, perhaps quite an experienced loyalty person at this point, you know, in terms of the membership side, the consumer perspective. So to me, I love the generous approach because I feel like I’ve earned these points. They’re mine. So I should be able to give them to people.
Kyle: That’s right. That’s right.
Paula: So anything else then you wanted Kyle to talk through today? As we said, we, you guys published the spending pulse forecast. Good to see that spending is going up and a prime opportunity for everyone listening to this show. And I’m sure people have been planning to their best of their ability. But as you said, there is that short shopping window. There’s the immediate post holiday season, which again, I hadn’t really thought about where people literally might go in store, you know, 26, 27th with the gift cards, and then thinking through extending it through the other side, and I remember my days actually in travel you know, when I worked on, you know, travel agency websites.
And in January, it was always that time where, you know, the website would nearly crash with everybody getting excited about planning for the year ahead. So there is that prime opportunity again, I think for loyalty program owners to think about what we might do immediately after the holidays. So lots of food for thought, any other kind of key points that you wanted to mention before we wrap up?
Kyle: Yeah, I think two things to reinforce. And one is just what you said about data, right? It’s without unified data and a 360 degree view of the consumer, retailers and brands are going to be missing out on valuable interactions, but that’s only part of the equation.
The other part of the equation that is around the role of the organization having organizational alignment, right? Everything that we’ve talked about today can only be achieved if we have KPIs that are driven across the organization. We have an alignment between groups. If loyalty is just a segment of the organizational strategy and they’re saying, Hey, I have KPIs can help me meet these KPIs. You may not be doing everything we can to get value out of our budget and really drive value to the consumer. So having top down alignment on what those KPIs are and having loyalty at the forefront of the organizational conversation on how to drive organizational goals, that’s really critical to achieving everything that we, that we’ve talked about today.
And then going back to what you said just about thinking about the holidays like pre, during, and post, it’s the fact is the holiday season that does not end when the ball drops. Smart brands are going to plan from the fall into the new year and they’re going to attract new customers and retain the ones they’ve gained during the holidays.
And so I would just encourage everybody listening that we think about the holidays, think about beyond, you know, just December period. Think about how we drive that engagement and carry that engagement going into the new year so that you have loyal customers that are emotionally connected to you because of the value you provide as you go into the next holiday season.
Paula: And I love that terminology, Kyle, actually. And the idea of organizational alignment is a very powerful phrase. And one of the key things we want to do on this show is absolutely kind of, you know, bring that kind of C suite perspective as we go forward into 2025.
Because I think there is, you know, so many conversations that we have around making sure that you’ve got buy in at the top. But there’s no point just having it at the top either if it’s not aligned all the way through. So I think you make a very good point about making sure that it literally comes all the way through the organizational organization.
So that literally, as we said, when it comes to whether it’s the point of sale or the communications team or whoever is doing the planning or the execution. There’s a lot of alignment that’s needed to make sure that’s all going to work for everybody.
Kyle: Agreed.
Paula: Fantastic. Great stuff. Well, listen, I am sure there are going to be lots of our listeners, Kyle, who would love to connect with you. In terms of social media, is LinkedIn a good place perhaps for people to connect with you?
Kyle: Always. I love LinkedIn.
Paula: Amazing. Me too. I’m on there all day, every day. I get my news there. I get my business stuff there. It’s absolutely amazing. And what we’ll do of course, as well, Kyle, is make sure to link to the Spending Pulse Forecast in the show notes for this episode as well. We’ll link to your own profile. And if anybody wants to talk loyalty, of course, with Mastercard, we’d be more than happy to connect you.
So on that basis, I’m going to say to Kyle Clark, happy holidays, Senior Vice President of Merchant Loyalty, thank you so much from Let’s Talk Loyalty.
Kyle: Thanks for having me. I’ve enjoyed the conversation.
Paula: This show is brought to you by the Australian Loyalty Association. The leading organization for loyalty professionals in Asia Pacific. Visit their news and content hub for the latest loyalty insights from around the world. Or, why not submit your own article for publication?
For more information on their loyalty services and networking opportunities, visit AustralianLoyaltyAssociation.com
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