#570: Pizza Hut Shares Insights as It Grows Customer Loyalty Globally from Dubai

This episode is available in audio format on our Let’s Talk Loyalty podcast, and in video format on www.Loyalty.TV.

Today’s guest is here in studio with us in Dubai, which is a rare treat with so many global loyalty leaders based in other markets around the world.

Begum Kaya is the Global Head of CRM & Loyalty / Pizza Hut for Yum! Brands, Inc, a company headquartered Kentucky, that operates a network of over 55,000 restaurants in more than 155 countries worldwide through its subsidiaries and franchisees.

Yum Brands concepts include KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and the Habit Burger Grill – all famous brands, many of which are global leaders in their respective categories.

Today, Begum shares her insights on loyalty with a particular focus on Pizza Hut, applying her many years of digital expertise to take that proposition and continually evolve it!

I hope you enjoy the conversation.

Show notes:

1) Begum Kaya

2) Yum! Brands

3) Pizza Hut

4) Watch the full video interview at www.Loyalty.TV

Audio Transcript

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 and Loyalty TV.Today’s guest is here in the studio with us in Dubai, which is a rare treat with so many global loyalty leaders based in other markets around the world. Begum Kaya is the global head of CRM and loyalty for Pizza Hut, part of the Yum Brands Group, a company headquartered in Kentucky that operates a network of over 55, 000 restaurants in more than 155 countries worldwide through its subsidiaries and franchisees.

Yum! Brands concepts  include KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, and the Habit Burger Grill, all very well known brands, many of which are global leaders in their respective categories. Today, Begum will share her insights on loyalty with with a particular focus on Pizza Hut, applying her many years of digital expertise to take that proposition and continually evolve it.

I hope you enjoy the conversation. Begum,

welcome to Let’s Talk Loyalty and Loyalty TV. Hello.

Begum: Thank you for inviting me for today.

Paula: No problem at all. You mentioned you work for this incredible global brand Pizza Hut. And I immediately of course jumped into the opportunity. We’re always keen to hear about what is going on with global brands like yours.

So an incredible amount to talk about. Particularly exciting for us to have you in the studio. Because we both live and work in Dubai. So that’s also a really nice experience. So thank you for joining us. And let’s kick off, as you know, with our usual opening question, um, which is all about trying to understand what do you as a loyalty professional admire, either from a personal perspective or a professional perspective.

So tell us, Begum, what is your favorite loyalty program?

Begum: Yes, definitely. Um, I like this question and I know that you ask it to everyone. Um, so, um, Um, I think, uh, I have a few, uh, favorite loyalty programs, um, but the one that I use more frequently outside of QSR brands, uh, is I think Sephora beauty pass.

They call it beauty pass here. I think they call it beauty insider in the other side of the world.

Paula: Yes.

Begum: Um, and I think there are several factors that drive Sephora beauty success.

Paula: Yeah.

Begum: One of them is a smooth onboarding process.

Paula: Mm hmm.

Begum: It is super intuitive and easy, simple to, to enroll for the program, but also sign in, uh, login for it and, um, navigate inside the program.

Uh, and the other, I think important factor is the, um, uh, simple loyalty program design. Okay. Why? It is simple because as a customer from the customer perspective, I always know which tier I am, and I also always know what I need to do in order to ladder up to the other higher tiers in the program. Yeah, I think what Sephora is also Doing great compared to the other brands, uh, other beauty brands, uh, in their, uh, industry, is that they do personalization.

Uh, they provide personalized offers, deals to their, uh, customers, especially to  the loyalty members. Mm-Hmm. because they collect a huge amount of data from their customers. Mm-Hmm. By this, they could create their offers, deals based on their purchase history. based on their preferences, uh, and their demographics.

Um, so there is always something, uh, for me inside Sephora loyalty program. And I think what they are also super successful at is that they are building a community. Um, I think building this community with their loyalty members by providing them exclusive events, uh, such as beauty classes, for instance.

Uh, it’s, it’s super important to build that bond with their customers and build that emotional connection. So everything that Sephora has been doing so far. Uh, I think it’s to foster, uh, the long term relationship with their customers, but also build repeat trust, uh, which is [00:05:00] super important nowadays and, um, long term relationships with them.

Paula: Beautiful. My goodness, there’s a masterclass in loyalty right there. So, um, honestly, yeah, no, I think you’re absolutely right. I mean, things like smooth, simple, the steps to the next level. So driving the actual behavior we want to, those are the principles that every loyalty professional has to focus on.

So you’re absolutely right. What I always think about Sephora is if they make it look so easy, we almost take it for granted. Like as consumers, it’s like, Oh, Sephora is just the most incredible brand in terms of wanting to have that relationship. But I don’t see other beauty brands putting the same effort in.

And as you said, that community feeling is there. And my sense is, I’d love your perspective on this. It just feels like that the management totally has a vision that they understand where loyalty will serve the whole business, not just be a discount program or a points program in the background. So it  feels like it’s business led, not loyalty led.

True. It is business led

Begum: and customer led, definitely.

Paula: Yeah.

Begum: Yeah. It requires a huge effort, trials, tests, optimizations in the background that we. don’t see normally. Yeah. But yes, I can clearly see that they have a long term vision. Amazing. To grow their loyalty program.

Paula: Indeed. And we’ll give a shout out to Sephora.

If anybody from Sephora is listening, we’re dying to have you on the show. So let’s try and make that happen. So tell us then about your background, Begum. I know you’re originally from Turkey, if I’m not mistaken, just in terms of nationality, living here in Dubai with a wonderful career, which I think is incredibly relevant for more and more loyalty professionals.

So tell us what you’ve done to get into this incredible role.

Begum: Yes, definitely. Um, normally I don’t like talking about myself, but I’ll go quick for my part. So I have 17 years of experience in digital and technology areas.  Uh, I started my career in telecom industry in Turkey, like you mentioned. Uh, so 10 years in Turkey, uh, and seven years I, um, worked Mostly in the digital product management and development.

Mm-Hmm. side of the things. Mm-Hmm. , uh, for 10 years. Mm-Hmm. . And when I moved to Dubai, I started in retail industry. Mm-Hmm. in me food team, which is, which is one of the biggest conglomerate in the region. And I was part of the, um, group digital excellence team. Uh, with a mission of accelerating the digital journey of the whole group, which was super exciting, uh, role for me because I learned a lot.

And three years ago I joined YUM group, um, and, um, I started as head of digital and e commerce for the Middle East, Turkey, Africa region, where I was responsible from building the digital and tech stack for the region and grow the online channels. Mm hmm. And one and a half years ago I  joined the global brand team in US and started to lead CRM brand at a global level. So I come from the kitchen and I am building now my marketing and brand know how in order to lay out like a long term CRM brand.

Paula: And it’s a huge credit to you because to lead from Dubai is actually quite unusual. We often see with global brands that they may be led from the U or from other markets, the U. K. for example, more, you know, perhaps perceived as being mature markets. So for you to be appointed into this global role, again, that’s why I was super excited to invite you here. For anyone who’s not familiar with Yum Brands, so the parent company that you’ve mentioned, so obviously mainly today we’re going to talk about Pizza Hut, but Yum Brands is an incredible company as well.

So just give us a brief introduction to, to the main kind of parent company, if you don’t mind.

Begum: Yes, definitely. Uh, I am happy to. So Yum Group is the, uh, one  of the biggest, uh, leading food group, QSR company in the world. Uh, and there are brands like. KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, and Habit Burger, which is only present in the moment, but these are all very well known brands and are childhood brands as well. That’s why there’s a huge love for the young brands. Um, speaking about Pizza Hut, Pizza Hut is one of the largest pizza company in the world. Uh, we are operating in 110 countries, uh, with almost 20, 000 restaurants, um, but with, um, more than, I think, 65 years of legacy.

So it is big. It is huge. Um, and our vision is basically becoming younger and more everyday, uh, brands. And I think CRM and loyalty are two, uh, powerful enablers in order to realize this vision. Um,  SP Zahat, what we have done so far, uh, what has been our journey is that, um, we believe CRM is a technology and the capability.

Um, which should be the foundational pillar off the off the martech stack. That’s why we have been working super hard with our digital and technology teams for the last couple of years to make sure that our top markets have CRM capabilities so that we can start building on when we talk about CRM, it is all about customer data.

It is all about how you segment your customers. Um, and. CRM also enables businesses, of course, to do regular communications, to do touch base regularly with the customers, to build that connection. And having that as the base of the strategy is super critical. That’s how we moved on. That’s how we have been moving on, basically.

And our next big thing will be redesigning and refreshing our loyalty program, um, to So we have been collecting customer data insights through feedback, focus group surveys that we have done so far, and our loyalty program will be fed by all these data, customer data, customer insights. We believe that it is super critical and important, um, and, um, we are really looking forward go live with it soon because we believe that it is going to be an important element of our pizza hut’s vision and purpose.

Yeah. When it comes to our purpose, um, pizza hut purpose is to connect people through the joy of pizza and our new loyalty program will help us. have an integral role to, to realize this vision purpose.

Paula: Totally. Pizza is a joyful moment. I will totally admit it. I love pizza. So of course, who doesn’t? My goodness.

Um, so thank you for  that bit of context as well, because when I did invite you on the show, I think you were immediately thinking maybe we should wait for a year or two because there’s so much work going on. Yeah. And hopefully I reassured you that first of all, the job is never done. So when anyone says, you know, it’s, we’re not ready.

I’m like, well, nobody is ever ready. Um, and I do, I suppose, also appreciate that there isn’t a loyalty program, as you said, in place, certainly in the UAE market as yet. So I feel like this is like the, the before interview, and I’m hoping we’ll do an after. So when you take all of this incredible CRM knowledge and expertise, as you said, from all of the markets, translate those into, I think you’re saying a global loyalty program, please God, and rolling that out, I’m sure in different markets.

So it’s going to be quite a long journey, I’m sure with all of the work you have to do.

Begum: Yes, yes, it is definitely going to be a very long journey. But it is always super important to start the journey. So, um, yes,  we are really looking forward to it. I am looking forward to our next session to share the results and our learnings with you.

Uh, we are collecting, uh, super, um, good insights and learnings from the markets. I think that’s, that’s the beauty of leading a loyalty global loyalty program because you have a success to a huge data insights and learnings. you can lift and shift to the other markets and basically implement to the essence of your, of your loyalty program.

So, um, yeah,

Paula: uh, I am hopeful and super excited as well. Exactly. Yes. You’re reminding me actually of when I got my first, I suppose, regional role for a global brand. I was working at the time for British Airways and I was running like British Airways holidays for the Middle East region. But I remember my boss at the time, a wonderful marketeer.

But he didn’t necessarily have the depth of knowledge about building the holidays business in the same way as the other people doing my job had in other markets. So I always find in a role [00:14:00] like yours, the opportunity to tap into global expertise. which is both internal, but of course, there’s amazing external perspective as well.

But you really do have that amazing opportunity to learn from both less developed markets in terms of sometimes they leapfrog ahead and also more advanced markets. So you’re taking that global perspective, consolidating a vision for Pizza Hut from a loyalty perspective, I suppose, fundamentally powered by all of this technology.

data and translating that into something, wow, that we’re going to see evolving in the coming

Begum: years. Yes, definitely. I think you summarize it very well. I think I missed to highlight one important thing about our approach, uh, how to cascade the global loyalty program and the learnings to the other markets is basically we pilot in a, in a few markets, one or two markets.

to get the reaction of the customers to collect feedback to understand what they really need or the program that we design is really suiting their needs and optimize it, fix it wherever needed and then scale it to the other markets is our main approach

Paula: in Pizza Hut. Okay. And you might not be able to answer this one, but do you, can you say it?

You’ve done any pilots in or is that too commercially sensitive? And the only reason I asked that is because I’m from Ireland, you might know that, I think the audience knows it pretty well. We were often used as a test market and we loved that because we would often be powering, you know, again, or be part of a global business and perhaps the UK market would be too nervous to roll out something.

But But in Ireland, they’d be, they wouldn’t think we really mattered enough. So if it went really badly, the brand damage would be minimized, which was a little bit strange at the beginning, but then we just embraced it. So any particular markets that you have chosen or any ideas or insights on that?

Normally we

Begum: start with U. S. Okay. Uh, and then with all the data that we collect there, we basically, uh, proof test it there. Yeah. Do proof [00:16:00] of concept. Okay. And then we roll it out to the other markets. Mm hmm. Uh, Ireland is not in our pilot markets, that’s all I could say now. Maybe now. Yeah, maybe now.

Planting a seed. Yes, exactly.

Paula: Yeah. Um, but yeah, we start with U. S. Okay. And what would you say the vision is then, Bigham? You know, because it is, I suppose, not an easy, uh, objective or challenge or task, but if you were to kind of think about what does success look like? Like, what are you actually aiming for?

You referred to it there about the joy. Like what, what do you think you actually want to see? Let’s say in a couple of years time, I don’t know when you’re launching, of course, but let’s see after it’s launched, how would you feel? What would it look like?

Begum: That’s a great question. And I’m going to link it with the vision that I highlighted earlier.

So we want to become, Pizza Hut wants to become younger and more everyday brand. Okay. And, uh, how does success look like for us is basically having, um, attracting the youth segment, attracting Gen  Z.

Paula: Yeah.

Begum: it needs to be an appealing loyalty program for them so that they want to use it more and more every day.

Uh, and our loyalty program should basically establish repeat behavior for our consumers for different segments, not only for Gen Z, of course. Um, Because we are after frequency, and we really believe that as a success metric, uh, purchase frequency will be something that we are looking for, along with, of course, sales, redemption rate, number of loyalty, uh, members, et cetera.

Okay. But yes, like you said, I think joy and fun is an important element. Customers always remember fear and joy feelings. And I believe that joy is something that we need to foster with the truth to our loyalty program, basically.

Paula: Yeah. You said that to me actually in preparation for today and you’re absolutely right.

We all remember fear. It’s a very strong motivator. Clearly in our jobs, we’re looking for the opposite. So what can we  do that brings extreme joy? And as you said, creates that emotional connection and particularly for emerging generations, because I think we all know that there are different behaviors.

And even when I was thinking when you talked about the fact that you are piloting things in different markets, I really think that makes a lot of sense because I think some brands are overly reliant just on research. Yeah. And there is incredible insights that come from research, but We all know what people say they want and how they behave when you actually launch something and offer it to them.

Exactly. Is totally different. And you’re nodding here. Definitely. I can see that this is something that you also resonate in. You actually have to to give it to them and see if they buy it. Yes. Yes, exactly. Yeah, definitely. Amazing. Okay, so a long journey ahead, what would you say are the biggest challenges?

Again, you’re here in Dubai, you’ve got the whole world at your feet, um, all of that amazing expertise. You mentioned a 65 year legacy, and I’m sure that also brings as well as incredible learnings, it probably brings additional challenges. Sometimes there’s marketing technology perhaps that was bought a long time ago.

So what would you say are the biggest challenges that you’re working through as you work through this process?

Begum: Yes, when we talk about 60 more than 65 years of legacy. Of course, we are talking about Martek stack or technology stack and its legacy as well. Like you rightly mentioned, I think it is super important to make sure that we keep renovating, renewing our Tech stack, making sure that our, um, my tech stack is, uh, really suits the needs of the markets and our global brand vision and purpose.

Uh, this is something that we have been, uh, basically experiencing facing as a challenge. Uh, but like I mentioned at the beginning, one of our key, uh, initiative while we, um, we, uh, were embarked on this journey is to. Uh, make sure that there are CRM capabilities in the markets, which is part of our martech stack.

Of course.

Paula: Yeah.

Begum: And while we were doing it, of course, we were also checking that it is working properly, uh, implemented, uh, in the right way, in the best way possible in order to make sure that we do it, uh, with the right manner. So this was one of our challenge. The other challenge I. don’t want to call it as a challenge, but I think it is an opportunity, uh, for the QSR brands is that customers, uh, continue, still continue to, especially the QSR customers still continue to look at, um, taste value, uh, affordability.

However, there is a increasing trend of customer preference, uh, about. ease, convenience, uh, and trust. Okay. So I think, uh, again, I, we can also position it as a challenge, but also an opportunity for the brands to consider while they are building their loyalty program. Uh, cause building trust is challenging.

Yeah. Building trust of the customers is challenging. Yeah. But trusts. support loyalty. With trust, we build loyalty and loyalty reinforces trust. That’s why I think there is kind of a symbiotic relationship in between. And in order to balance it, which is challenging, uh, I think brands need to double down in their loyalty program and the value that they provide to the customers.

Paula: Yeah. You know, I probably wouldn’t have expected you to say that and thank you for that, Begum. I think it’s absolutely right. I think, you know, maybe before we started this show, I would have thought about trust being essential in banking, in airlines, you know, in, in other sectors where maybe there’s a higher average spend.

Yes. But in QSR, for example, it feels like, um,  perhaps, uh, you know, uh, a more transactional relationship, but, but that’s the whole point. I guess that’s what we’re here to say is you want to be part of, as you said, everyday life. You want to earn their trust. You want to respond to their evolving needs, which you’ve talked about in terms of value affordability.

And I know you also told me even in terms of like food innovation to respond because some people want healthier varieties. Some people just want the pizza on a Friday night, but all of that you have to factor in like, like nothing, nothing can be left or assumed if you’re going to be successful in the future as you have in the past.

Begum: Definitely. I think you have highlighted a super important point, which is, uh, transactional. loyalty program. There is also a big shift from a transactional functional loyalty program to experiential emotional loyalty program. Um, for instance, one of the way to build trust with the customers, maybe it seems like a  super, super small point, but Even the data, how you collect the data from the customers, whether you take their consent or not, or be transparent about how you are going to store their data, makes a huge difference, to build this trust with the customers.

Of course, there are some other ways to build this trust over the time with the customers, such as, um, investing in sustainability or giving the options to the customers during their checkout process to donate, uh, to the, to the certain events going at the moment. So I think it is super critical, uh, what kind of actions, uh, to be taken in order to build this trust or what kind of actions to prioritize.

Uh, but in the long, long run, uh, it is challenging, but a big opportunity to gain the, gain the, um, votes of the customers and their trust.

Paula: Totally. I can see you totally relishing the challenges. One more that I wanted to ask you about is, I suppose, the fact that it is a franchised business. We’ve had other QSRs on, and again, just sorry for anybody who doesn’t know that jargon, it’s quick service restaurant.

I always assume we all know all of our jargon, but I should have clarified that one earlier. But I also have admired, of course, the power of franchising, and but also the amazing expertise. I feel like franchise businesses, because they’re owned and operated by so many individuals, essentially, the pressure that it puts on a corporate brand is actually a lot more.

And it proves them that loyalty has an even bigger responsibility and I suppose respect it, almost, because it’s if it’s accepted by a franchise community. And again, we’ve seen it in other brands. I feel like that’s almost the ultimate test. Yes.

Begum: Uh, I think it’s a great point. Um, um, it is exactly how you, um, pictured it.

Uh, for us, it is  super critical and important to get the wins of the franchises, uh, to convince them. Yeah. Because at the end of the day, like you mentioned, they are executing, they are the, they are doing the operations, they own the operations and they own the execution. That’s why it is super critical to, um, convince them why to invest in loyalty program.

Loyalty program. Yes, we have been talking about loyalty program for more than 10 years now. However, it is still new. Yeah, it is still a new topic, especially for the QSR industry. That’s why, um, Supporting the Y part with the customer data with the real data is always super powerful to convince them and also make them part of the journey.

Paula: Totally, totally. Yeah, no better woman. How else do you see QSR evolving, Bigum? Is there any other kind of trends that you think, you know, other people listening around the  world? As you know, we’ve got a lot of listeners in the US. UK, Australia, from all sectors. But are there things happening in the quick service restaurant sector that you think are also maybe important to be thinking about as you go on this long journey?

Begum: So, um, QSR industry is a highly competitive Uh, one. And we have super powerful, big players in the industry, but there are also some other players joining the game every day. So it is a cluttered industry, uh, and highly competitive one. And in this kind of competitive environment, I think it makes it super critical for the brands to invest.

to double down in loyalty, to gain this competitive advantage, to differentiate themselves, uh, for the customers. Uh, cause for the customers, as you know, they have millions of options. They receive millions of emails, SMS push every day, and they need to make a choice at the end of the day. And in order to be preferred or be the option, uh, or the choice of the customers, uh, you be distinctive, and you need to provide something meaningful and relevant to them.

I think these are the, these are the key things that QSR players need to do. And what I see in the QSR industry, um, it is going to increasingly grow. And while this industry is growing, it is It will also put a lot of pressure to the CSR players to invest in loyalty in order to build these long term relationships and emotional connections with their customers.

Paula: Absolutely. Yeah. And you mentioned to me off air as well that there is obviously the emergence of AI. that is happening in QSR as much as any other sector. Is there anything that you can say in terms of what you’ve seen about that as something again, I, I tend to assume is not happening right now. You know, I still  feel we’re quite early in our journey, even for personalization as much as we’ve been talking about it for so many years.

But what do you think are the important things? Are you seeing AI starting to come into your industry? And if so, in what ways? Yes. From the business

Begum: perspective, AI is a big game changer, is a very popular trend. And yes, I think brands should definitely invest in AI because it brings a lot of convenience and cost saving, effort saving to the brands, to the companies, businesses, just to give an example.

For instance, in order to segment the customers, you need to do, you need to basically put a lot of data algorithm and queries there with AI. You can do it. That’s it. in kind of seconds. Uh, cause there is a huge data. There is a huge customer data purchase history points and preferences demographics of the customers in order to blend all these data and come up with meaningful segments is  kind of like two, three seconds with AI.

That’s why it is super critical and convenience for the customers. Uh, uh, uh, sorry for the businesses, but when we look at it from the customer lens, um, There are also a couple of trends that we need to be aware of, and maybe we need to stay ahead. Um, so one of the trend is basically the mobile applications, uh, mobile applications.

Yes, we also, everybody is using mobile applications, especially the youth segment spending too much time on mobile platforms. Uh, but it is proven that loyalty program success has a direct correlation, uh, with the mobile app growth or expansion. Because we have seen that customers, um, engaging much more on the mobile platforms compared to web.

That’s why I think mobile app. Providing a seamless mobile experience to the customer is super critical.  Make it simple, intuitive, and to the point is super important from the customer lens to engage them more. I think the other point is, um, providing something meaningful to the customer. And you can only do it by knowing your customers.

You need to collect data as much as you can. Maybe. Um, and progressively throughout the mobile app experience without disturbing the customers so that you can provide more created kind of options, solutions, product to your customers or product lists to your customers. And I think the third important trend that I see is growing the omnichannel experience.

Uh, I think Sephora is also doing it very well because they educate their staff, um, They spend time to educate their staff so that they are, uh, very well aware of what is going on with the loyalty program. And they also dedicate, assign some certain KPIs to their staff as well. Mm-Hmm. So that they could attract more customers to the loyalty program in, in the store.

Mm-Hmm. Um, and I think the synchronization between online and offline is super critical. Mm-Hmm. , that’s what you get out of omnichannel experience. Mm-Hmm. and. Customers are really looking, looking to it, um, that they have a consistent experience on online platforms and in the stores as well. Um, and of course the overall experience when it comes to whether it is personalized or gamified, especially for the loyalty programs are super, uh, I think, um, important cause customers, especially Jancy is really looking for it.

They want to see a gamified experience. They want to. earn when they purchase. They want to earn when they, um, spend more. That’s why I think gamifying it and making it super clear when and how they earn is, um, also something that customers are. paying attention for.

Paula: You’re totally right. You know, I actually remember the very first time that I kind of engaged, I suppose, actively in a loyalty program here in Dubai.

And that would have been 24 years ago, actually, back when I worked in Emirates. But I remember kind of describing myself as like a loyalty junkie. Like the points really became like, I know that’s a really horrible word, but actually, I was just like, I know that this is like something I really care about.

So that is definitely not changing, um, as you said, how we actually get there is, is perhaps evolving. Of course it’s evolving. Um, and you’re right. The omni channel piece is something consumers don’t know and don’t care if it’s complicated. They just want it, you know, and expect it. Like they just kind of assume that that’s just an easy thing to do.

So we all know technically and operationally, that’s not the reality, but it is our job to, to deliver on that. So to get there. Yeah, absolutely. And I totally agree. The mobile first thing, like. I don’t envy you the task of asking people to download an app because I know how much work goes into all of that.

But I agree, it’s absolutely essential if you want to be part of somebody’s everyday life of your is already talked about in terms of your vision. So, um, so lots going on for you, my goodness, extremely busy. Yes. So listen, final question for me then with all of what you’ve done so far, um, all that you’re, you know, currently doing and about to do, what would you say you’re most proud of?

so much.

Begum: Um, like I mentioned, I think, uh, we are at the very early stage of our loyalty journey, but, uh, we have um, one destination. Mm-Hmm. , very clear Rota. Mm-Hmm. and super talented crew to sail. Piece of hu in the right direction.

Paula: Mm-Hmm.

Begum: Um, I am super proud of to be part of this journey ’cause I’m learning by day.

Uh, but I’m also super proud to be given that kind of  important responsibility for a brand, for a global brand that I have grown up with.

Paula: Yeah.

Begum: So, um, I think I have huge responsibility from that perspective and I am super excited to deliver it with our, uh, cross functional teams. Like I mentioned, I think people Uh, loyalty project is a cross functional project and it requires a huge teamwork being the conduit for that type of huge teamwork and kind of being the ignite or the wind for the pizza hot sailboat is making me super excited and privileged, feel privileged.

Um, I am super excited for what is going to come. next for Pizza Hut, especially in the loyalty journey and looking forward to share the results and success learnings in our next session, hopefully.

Paula: Amazing. Absolutely. Well, you’re already very kind and very generous to come  in so early in the journey. I know you weren’t sure what you know, where we would go with the conversation, but I already feel like you said you’re learning every day.

I’ve certainly learned so much. So much from you, so, oh, thank you. Yeah, no, I think it’s extraordinary. And as you said, I love the fact that you feel privileged. I think that’s a beautiful word. And what I’m hoping is if other people maybe who listen to this episode, if they wanna reach out to you on LinkedIn, definitely.

If that’s okay, because yes, I

Begum: would be happy.

Paula: Yeah, I love that idea. ’cause I think our role here is. You know, when I go back to when I was sitting in your shoes in a telecoms brand, actually, what I really wanted was other people who understood, you know, what I was working on. So I think you have that amazing expertise.

So we love connecting people and doing that kind of matchmaking behind the scenes. So thank you so much for your generosity with that. And listen, that is all of the questions I have from my side, Bigam. Do you have anything else you wanted to say before we wrap up?

Begum: Thank you. Thank you for inviting me to the session.

I know when we first met, I shared with you that it might be too early  for me to be a guest for your program, but thanks for, um, empowering me to be here. Thanks for encouraging me. It has been a lovely chat and I’m really looking forward to the next one.

Paula: Indeed. Absolutely. Well, with all of that said, Begum Kea, Global Head of CRM and Loyalty for Pizza Hut.

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