Host Announcement - Former President of AAdvantage - Bridget Blaise-Shamai

PAULA: Hello and welcome to Let’s Talk Loyalty and Loyalty TV, a show for loyalty marketing professionals.

PAULA: I’m Paula Thomas, the founder and CEO of Let’s Talk Loyalty and Loyalty TV, where we feature insightful conversations with loyalty professionals from the world’s leading brands.

PAULA: If you work in loyalty marketing, join us every week to hear the latest ideas and insights for loyalty marketing specialists around the world.

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

PAULA: Today I’m thrilled to be announcing a new member of the Let’s Talk Loyalty family, and growing again our network of guest hosts around the world.

PAULA: This strategy is allowing me to focus on growing Let’s Talk Loyalty and Loyalty TV.

PAULA: While tapping into some extraordinary loyalty expertise with other experts around the world for your continued learning and enjoyment.

PAULA: Today’s announcement is incredibly exciting, as we are being joined by someone who has led one of the biggest airline loyalty programs in the United States.

PAULA: Bridget Blaise-Shamai is most notably a former president of the American Airlines Advantage Program, the award-winning travel rewards program of American Airlines, which of course includes leadership responsibility for the entire proposition and partnerships portfolio, where she led a team of over 700 professionals to deliver that world-class program.

PAULA: She’s also a regular guest speaker at universities on how to affect customer preference, loyalty and digital marketing and data analytics.

PAULA: Today, Bridget is bringing her over 25 years of experience in loyalty and leadership to Let’s Talk Loyalty and Loyalty TV, where she’ll be hosting monthly episodes featuring guests from various programs and industries across the United States.

PAULA: I hope you enjoy our conversation.

PAULA: So, Bridget Blaise-Shamai, welcome back to Let’s Talk Loyalty and Loyalty TV.

BRIDGET: Thanks, Paula.

BRIDGET: Delighted to be here.

PAULA: It’s a true honor and an extremely exciting moment, actually, for me, Bridget.

PAULA: Five years on from when we first recorded together, we’re here to talk about a big announcement.

PAULA: You’re getting more involved with us on the show, which is going to be an extraordinary experience.

PAULA: And that’s the main purpose and main topic, of course, for today’s episode.

PAULA: But before I give the whole game away, as you know, we have a new opening question, which is very different to what you would have talked about with us back in 2020.

PAULA: And I guess this question is designed to get a sense of you both as a leader, but just as a human being as well.

PAULA: We all have things that we’re very passionate about.

PAULA: So I know you have two answers to this question, because we like to ask about a favorite nonfiction book, something to do with life, leadership and loyalty.

PAULA: But you also have one that is fiction you’re very passionate about.

PAULA: So I’ll kick us off and you can give us either answer to start.

PAULA: But I do want to from you.

PAULA: So Bridget, what is your favorite book in each category?

BRIDGET: Oh, thanks, Polly.

BRIDGET: Great, great question, right?

BRIDGET: So one of my favorite fiction books is by a very successful author, Ken Follett.

BRIDGET: It’s Pillars of the Earth.

BRIDGET: And it’s situated in about the 13th century or so about, you know, the construction of a cathedral and the entirety around what it meant to build this cathedral about life and families, et cetera.

BRIDGET: It was just amazing.

BRIDGET: And why it’s one of my favorites.

BRIDGET: I read that book probably 35 years ago, and it still sits so strongly with me.

BRIDGET: And it’s a very, very long novel.

BRIDGET: And it’s so well structured and so well written that you’re absolutely drawn in to the characters of this period of time.

BRIDGET: And, of course, the grandness of the cathedral that’s being constructed.

BRIDGET: So I recommend Ken Follett generally.

BRIDGET: He’s got an amazing series of books, and notably so Pillars of the Earth.

PAULA: Okay, that sounds beautiful.

PAULA: I like the fact that it’s historical fiction as well, Bridget, because I kind of feel like history is more interesting to me actually as I get older.

PAULA: But I can’t imagine sitting down to read a history book.

PAULA: But I do love learning through books that are historical fiction.

PAULA: So it sounds like a beautiful mix of both.

BRIDGET: I agree.

BRIDGET: And Ken Follett has a true art on how it happens, so that you are drawn in and learning history at the same time.

PAULA: Beautiful, beautiful.

PAULA: Okay.

PAULA: I think I need like a cruise or something to go and take that one with me.

PAULA: But you know, I agree, it’s definitely on the to-do list.

PAULA: So take us to then to the non-fiction.

PAULA: So again, we’ve predominantly business audience, of course, loyalty professionals.

PAULA: So what do you think might be really interesting from maybe a business point of view for them?

BRIDGET: Well, this is a fairly recent read of mine and really a terrific one as well.

BRIDGET: And it’s Adam Grant’s Give and Take.

BRIDGET: And, you know, he’s a terrific, you know, professor, teacher, author, et cetera.

BRIDGET: And what I really like about this book is he thinks about people in one of three groups.

BRIDGET: You’re either a giver, a taker, or a matcher.

BRIDGET: And his whole scope is around how these interactions, these engagements you have with others, I really affect your success personally and professionally.

BRIDGET: And so if you’re a giver, you are someone who really wants to help someone give something to someone.

BRIDGET: And really the art and science of being successful with being a giver is to make sure that you do it in a way that feels good back to you, that you don’t feel taken advantage of or exploited or anything like that, but that you feel really good and that it’s received well and appreciated et cetera.

BRIDGET: The second one is the takers.

BRIDGET: Those are the ones who are always open to receive and don’t necessarily or at least not very often give back.

BRIDGET: And the last group are the matchers, those who really try to be very balanced in what they do.

BRIDGET: And you’ll learn through this book that the group that’s typically the most successful are those in the givers, the givers group.

BRIDGET: So, I really think it’s worth your read, worth your time, pardon me.

BRIDGET: He does it through a series of vignettes that feature somebody, a real professional and talks you through what it is that he’s observed about their behaviors and how it’s been successful, that I think really is quick for you to get your head around and how you can then apply it to yourself.

BRIDGET: So, strong endorsement to Read, Give and Take by Adam Grant.

PAULA: Okay.

PAULA: And of course, immediately, I’m curious as to which one I’m naturally drawn to.

PAULA: I was looking forward to your explanation of what a matcher might be, because I think sometimes it is important.

PAULA: You know, they often talk about having that balance of give and take.

PAULA: And of course, my ego wants me to see myself as a giver as well.

PAULA: So I’m going to think about that one, of course, and reflect as well.

PAULA: And of course, always with these books, Bridget, as you know, we’ll put links in the show notes.

PAULA: I think at some point, actually, we might have to have a book club so people come and talk about the books together.

PAULA: So we can actually reflect instead of just naming them.

PAULA: But anyway, you’ve given us a lot of food for thought.

PAULA: So you’re obviously a reader at Heart, Bridget.

PAULA: Sounds like something you love to do.

BRIDGET: Yeah, I spent a lot of my time reading either the news or a book.

BRIDGET: So I think it’s just a privilege that we are provided so many books broadly and for a very long time.

BRIDGET: And they’re there for the taking.

BRIDGET: So I encourage everyone pick up a book versus your phone.

BRIDGET: Pick up a book.

PAULA: It’s a totally different experience.

PAULA: And I do find actually it is both relaxing and inspiring.

PAULA: You know, that’s right.

BRIDGET: And learning, you know, keep keep learning.

PAULA: Totally.

PAULA: Yeah.

PAULA: So next time we talk, I’m going to have a nonfiction one for you as well, Bridget.

PAULA: I’m going to reflect on that.

PAULA: I’ve been thinking about that quite a lot.

PAULA: I do have a few that I’m passionate about.

PAULA: But anyway, I’ll hold that thought because the audience has heard a lot from me recently.

PAULA: But let’s get into today’s conversation then.

PAULA: And I want to maybe just go back a little bit before we get into, I suppose, the big announcement.

PAULA: And, you know, from a, you know, from our relationship point of view, when we first met, it was back, would you believe, episode 32 of Let’s Talk Loyalty, way back.

PAULA: I will never forget it.

BRIDGET: I still exactly see when we talked on the very, very front side of COVID.

PAULA: It totally was.

PAULA: And I’ll tell you, one of the reasons, well, actually, there’s two reasons why I remembered so strongly.

PAULA: First of all, of course, the sheer enormity of the program that you were leading.

PAULA: I’m going to ask you to explain that in a minute.

PAULA: But that to me was just breathtaking in terms of, like, the fact that you agreed to come on the show and talk for us was just super exciting.

PAULA: But because it was the start of COVID, I couldn’t go to the studio that I was so comfortable in, that had all the professional equipment.

PAULA: And I was on Google and Facebook and looking for alternatives.

PAULA: And basically, I was taught to record in my wardrobe.

PAULA: So thank God it was a Loyalty TV back then, Bridget, because I was just mortified.

PAULA: I was like, if this wonderful loyalty professional could see me with all of my clothes here recording in a COVID-restricted environment, it was just so ridiculous.

PAULA: But anyway, you were probably stuck at home as well, given that it was COVID, were you?

BRIDGET: Well, I was actually at American Airlines Skyview headquarters.

BRIDGET: And because I’m my husband, my daughter and my son, everybody was home.

BRIDGET: It was very loud at the house.

BRIDGET: And we have very, very reduced attendance in the building.

BRIDGET: There was a lot of work from home at the time for American.

BRIDGET: So there was a lot of space.

BRIDGET: And so that’s where I was at the time.

PAULA: Amazing.

PAULA: So talk us through that then as your career background, Bridget, as I said, truly extraordinary to me, exactly the depth and breadth of your career there.

PAULA: But just for people who haven’t listened to that episode as yet, give us a flavor of the work you were doing with American.

BRIDGET: So I spent about 25 years with American Airlines, enjoying a whole host of positions and experiences, which is pretty common in a complex business like commercial aviation, from finance to sales, to operations, to marketing, etc.

BRIDGET: And within that, I really had a love affair with one element in particular in the commercial organization, and that was the customer loyalty program, American Airlines Advantage.

BRIDGET: And so, I had a number of positions within the Advantage Program business unit.

BRIDGET: And the last one where I wrapped up my career, and which is when I was blessed to meet you, I was president of the Advantage Program, which had about 700 people, 700 wonderful people who came to work every day, wanting to do as much as they could for a customer, engage with customers, really be representatives of the brand.

BRIDGET: In terms of wanting to engender loyalty and preference to American Airlines.

BRIDGET: And a complete span of control, like end-to-end, like general manager of the business, you know, from how we care for our most frequent travelers.

BRIDGET: What does that mean?

BRIDGET: What is, what are those benefits, those assets we use to draw them in to American versus a competitor?

BRIDGET: And then of course, you know, the airline industry decades ago figured out how to quickly extend brand affinity when you’re not flying through partnerships, notably around a co-brand card.

BRIDGET: So American issues co-brand cards in several countries.

BRIDGET: Of course, the marquee flagship co-brands are issued in the United States.

BRIDGET: And then other partnerships with hotels and cars and retail.

BRIDGET: And then on-site of that as well was all matter of data and analytics and research.

BRIDGET: And the last wonderful piece was inbound and outbound contact center.

BRIDGET: So a wonderful, wonderful span of control with just the best in class professionals who were so honored to come in every day and do something great and awesome in the care of customers for American Airlines.

PAULA: You know, there is something about the airline industry, Bridget.

PAULA: I think, you know, I was six years with British Airways and nearly a year with Emirates.

PAULA: It gets into your blood.

PAULA: But it’s something that honestly I still miss.

PAULA: Even many, many years after I’ve left and even as much as I love what I do now, every so often I’ll go on to an airline website and just see if there’s any jobs that I should apply for.

PAULA: I totally, it really is.

PAULA: It’s beautiful.

PAULA: And as you said, there is that, that real dedication to knowing that the passengers are inspired, they’re excited.

PAULA: They’re probably or possibly, let’s say, also quite stressed and it can be quite an anxious time.

PAULA: So to work in something like loyalty for an airline where you can really have a transformative difference and to have 700 professionals, like literally under you, managing all of that.

PAULA: Like, I mean, that’s something you must be extremely proud of, like literally from day one till the day you left.

BRIDGET: Agreed.

BRIDGET: And, you know, it all comes down to having the right leaders in place, really leading, progressing the business.

BRIDGET: And I was very fortunate to have just excellent, excellent people working alongside me to advance the business, you know, continue to think about what more can we do for our customers, you know, what more can we do for, for American in terms of, you know, financial contribution centered around our customers.

BRIDGET: And so it all comes down to the team, right?

BRIDGET: Always about the team.

PAULA: Totally, totally.

PAULA: It comes down to the team, but it also comes down to, I’ll tell you the other thing I remember, Bridget, that you, that you taught me on that day.

PAULA: And it definitely was something I learned from you.

PAULA: And actually I was talking about you recently on stage because I was talking about, you know, insights over the five years and something that you said at the time.

PAULA: If you remember, our opening question, always Bridget, back then was asking people, what was their favorite loyalty statistic?

PAULA: And you shared that you had a goal and a KPI, excuse me, around the speed to first redemption.

PAULA: And I’d never heard that before.

PAULA: I thought it was absolutely genius.

PAULA: And I still use it to this day.

PAULA: There’s so few loyalty professionals that I think really understand the importance of the burn part of the loyalty proposition.

PAULA: And how it then, of course, drives the earn.

PAULA: But you had it nailed that it was a key KPI.

PAULA: So that was extraordinary to me.

BRIDGET: Well, thank you.

BRIDGET: And really, what’s paramount to all those who are sincerely pursuing a customer, to prefer them over alternative, is that they’re creating something of relevance for that customer and that they are providing a return of value to the customer that matters to the customer.

BRIDGET: And if you do that, you’re on your way to success.

BRIDGET: And if you don’t do that, I don’t think you’re going to be in your loyalty business for very long.

PAULA: Totally, totally.

PAULA: I was reading actually about Qantas Rewards recently, Bridget.

PAULA: And again, I mean, supply and demand is clearly kind of an issue for every airline.

PAULA: I know you did some work with them, capacity management, for example, with American.

PAULA: But they’ve had to double the cost of getting a redemption seat, certainly long haul, to London.

PAULA: And somebody was doing research for a whole year and they could not find one seat in business class that they could redeem at the original reward rate, which still exists on paper.

PAULA: But the disappointment that came through and the way it was just managed for them, that was a very unhappy member.

PAULA: So that’s the opposite extreme.

PAULA: And I guess sometimes we’re a victim of our own success when we have programs with that much demand both commercially and from the loyalty members as well.

BRIDGET: Yeah, really it’s incumbent on all participants, both the members and the, in this case, travel provider to ensure that everybody’s expectations, hopes and dreams, etc.

BRIDGET: are best realized.

BRIDGET: And sometimes it means it still may require a little bit of flexibility on the part of the customer in pursuit of what they exactly want.

BRIDGET: But I find that the Travel Rewards Program continue to add meaningful value or return meaningful value back to their customers in a pretty consistent way.

BRIDGET: No doubt, we’d always like more for less.

BRIDGET: And that’s just the way we are wired as human beings.

BRIDGET: But I think the travel schemes I’m most familiar with are continuing to do a good job, solid job of returning that value to customers.

BRIDGET: As close to the demand curve of the customer as possible.

PAULA: Perfect.

PAULA: Absolutely.

PAULA: So listen, the main reason we’re here today, Bridget, is to, I suppose, let our very loyal audience around the world know that you are going to be joining us now as a guest host starting next month, which is obviously June of 2025.

PAULA: You’re going to be on the other side of the table and interviewing some of certainly the US’s leading brands and please God over time, some big brands globally as well.

PAULA: So first of all, welcome to the family and thanks for joining the hosting side.

BRIDGET: Paula, I’m honored to be joining the Lets Talk Loyalty family.

BRIDGET: Much like I told you that Ken Follett novel made an impact on me that 35 years later, I’m still talking about it.

BRIDGET: So did our meeting five years ago where at Hello, I felt like fast friends, you know, kindred spirits.

BRIDGET: And so I think what you have developed in a very short period of time about really bringing home to people about the importance of, you know, not taking customers for granted, really engaging your customers, really working to win their trust and loyalty has resonated globally.

BRIDGET: And the fact that your platform has so many diverse sectors represented.

BRIDGET: I even told my daughter last night, I said, the thing I really like about this is that it’s global.

BRIDGET: And candidly, as an American, I think sometimes we aren’t as focused as we need to be on global.

BRIDGET: And here you are, I think, doing an absolute best in class end-to-end global offering, and across many, many sectors, you know, travel, retail, financial services, etc.

BRIDGET: And I think it’s there for the taking in every instance.

BRIDGET: So I’m really honored to be joining the family.

BRIDGET: Thank you.

PAULA: Amazing.

PAULA: Yeah, it is thrilling.

PAULA: And I will say it is very intentional, Bridget, and thank you for picking up on that.

PAULA: Like the opposite to you, obviously, I come from a very small country where we have to look beyond our borders.

PAULA: And I’ve always had that sense of there are so many things happening in America, but so little awareness of what’s happening.

PAULA: So, for example, like Dublin, you know, we would call ourselves the Silicon Village of Europe because we have so many American tech companies.

PAULA: Like, we’re so proud of what we do.

PAULA: And yet everybody loves Ireland.

PAULA: Absolutely.

PAULA: But I suppose the appreciation of our business contribution was always something I felt I wanted to, you know, just rally the troops around and shout from the rooftops.

PAULA: So equally, I was just like, well, if there’s such good work happening in Ireland, it’s obviously happening in Dubai.

PAULA: It’s happening in France.

PAULA: It’s happening in China and whatever else.

PAULA: So thank you for that recognition.

PAULA: I really felt like that there are such different cultures, such different insights.

PAULA: And why would we focus just on one market?

PAULA: And the US., I think, you know, has obviously so much success.

PAULA: But I also feel like sometimes almost can be hampered by the length of the legacy.

PAULA: Like if you wanted to do something new, for example, whether it’s American or any other massive enterprise in the US market, you probably have to undo like 20 years of marketing technology just to get something new in place.

PAULA: Whereas if you go to Africa, you know, and South Africa is a market I really particularly admire.

PAULA: But if they want to launch a payments platform, you know, it could just be built overnight and they leapfrog ahead.

PAULA: So I guess it’s a long answer to your to your point.

PAULA: But I guess for the audience, just to understand why we do, you know, go to the extremes we do to get that global perspective.

PAULA: And you as an American, like I’m super happy that you also share that love of taking a global perspective for our audience.

BRIDGET: Yeah, you know, since American, I worked for a global shipping services company.

BRIDGET: And I really admire that industry greatly.

BRIDGET: And for me, it was just a really terrific opportunity to see global commerce in action.

BRIDGET: And it’s really positively affected me kind of late in my career, but really to understand how the world goes around.

BRIDGET: And if we could all just have that broader perspective, how much better all of this would be.

BRIDGET: And there you are every day bringing this to your, to your screen on what a brand is doing, anywhere on the map that you can learn from.

BRIDGET: And I think your point of, there’s some instances where you can learn about a capability, not just content, but a capability that can help you, you know, supercharge what you’re doing or leapfrog or whatever, at least inform your thinking that you may not have thought about in the absence of it, if it hadn’t been a global platform that you have created.

PAULA: Amazing, amazing.

PAULA: Well, to reflect back what you said, I also recognized a kindred spirit.

PAULA: We did hit it off immediately, as you said, even though I was in my wardrobe and feeling, you know, all that weirdness about the COVID situation.

PAULA: But here we are five years on.

PAULA: I could never have imagined that you’d be happy to be a guest host.

PAULA: So once again, just want to say that we’re thrilled.

PAULA: And maybe we should give our audience, Bridget, a sense of what you’re hoping in terms of the content, the style of brands you want to interview.

PAULA: I know we’re not going to name them today because obviously we need to get all of their permissions.

PAULA: But you’re working hard in the background, as I said, to launch next month.

PAULA: So what can we look forward to from your interviews?

BRIDGET: So I think you should expect a bias towards travel.

BRIDGET: But you’re also going to see me want to take the broadest perspective.

BRIDGET: But you can largely hear everything I’ve just talked about being global.

BRIDGET: I’ll probably focus a lot on North America.

BRIDGET: And there’s lots of loyalty programs today.

BRIDGET: But I also want to take a perspective of talking to brands beyond just their loyalty schemes.

BRIDGET: What are you doing as a company where you’re bringing all of your attributes, your features, your assets to bear to win that customer over?

BRIDGET: So think about how I may be wanting to talk to Chief Customer Officers, where they walk you through what they’re doing for any part of the customer experience that their brand offers.

BRIDGET: Obviously, with an airline, I’ll default to that because it’s easy to make the point.

BRIDGET: There’s so many touch points on the whole journey experience, from planning it to purchasing it, then living it, right?

BRIDGET: The day of travel itself provides airlines an enviable set of touch points to be engaging with their customers and promoting their benefits, promoting their brand.

BRIDGET: And I look forward to talking with such executives on how you’re thinking about that, that sits alongside perhaps your loyalty scheme.

BRIDGET: So how are you thinking about that end to end?

BRIDGET: I look forward to that, but travel, retail, financial services are some of my top ones.

BRIDGET: But I think there’s some interesting things going on in car rental.

BRIDGET: That would be fun to talk about as well.

BRIDGET: So that’s part of what I want to talk about.

BRIDGET: And then the other thing is I want to zero in also on capabilities.

BRIDGET: What are we seeing in capabilities that are really helping brands change the game?

BRIDGET: And one of my quick observations is a lot of these capabilities aren’t necessarily being developed by the brand themselves or by some of their historical partners, but rather a FinTech, a Martech, those types of more new entrants who aren’t quite as burdened as you’ve already mentioned on some historical technology, therefore more nimble and are using more contemporary tech like blockchain.

BRIDGET: And so that to me is as important as what’s going on in the content.

BRIDGET: And then on the content, what I look forward to talking about is something, this is a bit of a tactical example, but it makes my point.

BRIDGET: Brands are needing to provide what’s relevant to their customers to keep in the fold.

BRIDGET: And increasingly, it isn’t something that is their core proposition.

BRIDGET: And what I saw very recently by a number of brands releasing early access to the very, very popular White Lotus series.

BRIDGET: Think Banana Republic, for example, was providing their members early access before, you know, the general public was able to do that.

BRIDGET: So, a great example of that’s not their core competency, it’s not their core proposition, but it matters to their customer base.

BRIDGET: And they went out and did it.

BRIDGET: So, I look forward to more of those kind of, wow, I hadn’t thought about that, but that’s super cool.

BRIDGET: And now I get it, type developments.

PAULA: Oh, we love it.

PAULA: When a light bulb goes off in the brain and you go, oh, that is genius.

PAULA: And now I can take that into my country, my company, my reservoir of inspiration.

PAULA: So I think you’re you’re touching on quite a few things as well, Bridget, in terms of where I want the show to go.

PAULA: So I think, first of all, and again, you know, this being involved way back, like I called it Let’s Talk Loyalty, but I didn’t call it Let’s Talk Loyalty programs, but I ended up focusing on the loyalty programs because there was so much to talk about.

PAULA: But I did choose a name that allowed us that freedom to say, for example, this is my my favorite example.

PAULA: Like if some brand writes to me with a beautiful style of copy that is intelligent and relevant, that makes me feel loyal.

PAULA: And that’s nothing got to do with points or prizes.

PAULA: So to your point as well, there are all of these touch points, whether it’s written, whether it’s in person.

PAULA: So I love that you’re taking that more strategic perspective, talking to a chief customer officer, for example.

PAULA: And the other reason I love that as well, I said to you off air, is I do feel that we’ve talked, as you know, to so many now loyalty professionals.

PAULA: But I feel like I want to take some of the conversations up a level, because otherwise we’ll just be an echo chamber.

PAULA: We’ll just be telling each other what we know.

PAULA: We’ll hear about different propositions, concepts or capabilities multiple times, but not really think about what the C-suite is looking for.

PAULA: And ultimately, if we don’t get the C-suite on board, and you’re obviously a C-suite executive, then ultimately we just won’t get the ultimate impact.

PAULA: And so yeah, I think you’re just going to be bringing amazing stories to us that I’m super excited about.

BRIDGET: Thanks, Paula.

BRIDGET: I mean, what you should expect to see me striving for is which of the brands are doing everything possible to respect the time of their customers.

PAULA: Beautiful.

BRIDGET: I mean, the ultimate currency of all of us is our time.

BRIDGET: And how is it that you make it easy to participate or easy to be a customer with your brand or whatever the proposition may be, but easy, thoughtful, relevant.

BRIDGET: And those are the brands that win the game, have the best returns, share price, loyal customers, loyal employees, etc.

BRIDGET: Respecting time.

PAULA: Amazing.

PAULA: Okay.

PAULA: So listen, my final question then, Bridget, is just to pick your brains a little bit in terms of what you’re, I suppose, either seeing from maybe a macro trends perspective or even from loyalty trends specifically, like wherever you want to take it.

PAULA: I just want to hear again from your now global perspective.

PAULA: As you said, you’ve been working in a shipping business.

PAULA: You’ve been looking outside your own borders and looking to do new things like our podcast.

PAULA: What kind of trends do you think are the most important for our audience to be paying attention to as we go through 2025?

BRIDGET: Thanks, Paula.

BRIDGET: Great question.

BRIDGET: I think one thing that I’ve observed the last couple of years, and it continues to build momentum, is how brands with really thoughtful, well-constructed loyalty programs are leaning in even further and leveraging them.

BRIDGET: They’ve really zeroed in on how much timelessness there is associated with what they are offering and that they are continuing to ensure that it remains timeless and relevant by adding features, sometimes expiring some features because they’re not really doing much for anybody and that they understand that these programs are creative, they’re not dilutive and I really applaud that and look forward to so much more for the customers and for the brands because there’s just an almost incomparable effect of the travel programs I’m most familiar with of its impact on engagement.

BRIDGET: When you are full on in that and you’re leveraging it further, there’s just endless, endless applications and value you can create for the customer and for your brand with that perspective and that priority.

BRIDGET: So ensuring it’s a frequent, constant C-suite and Board of Directors part of an agenda that the budget is prioritized around these because when you are centering truly, really not just saying it, but truly around your customer and you’ve got these enviable engagement platforms called Your Loyalty Scheme, you’re just off, able to do so much more that others can’t touch.

BRIDGET: So I’m really delighted to see that trend.

BRIDGET: Yeah.

BRIDGET: And as we go through this current macroeconomic environment, Paula, where I think for a few years now, in my mind at least, we’ve been wanting, is there a shoot to fall here or not?

BRIDGET: And one really hasn’t.

BRIDGET: But now we’re not real sure.

BRIDGET: It is my expectation is that consumers are going to be leaning in even more to their loyalty schemes on how parts of their life can continue as they’d like it to, despite us having some unknowns out there at a macroeconomic level.

BRIDGET: So I’m bullish.

BRIDGET: I am bullish going forward on travel programs, and about brands really getting their arms fooling around.

BRIDGET: What does it mean to win the customer?

PAULA: Amazing.

PAULA: Yeah.

PAULA: I couldn’t have said it better myself, Bridget.

PAULA: I think I was blessed as well when I got into loyalty.

PAULA: It was 2010 coming out of that very deep economic cycle, that recession exactly.

PAULA: And one of the things that I did learn is that loyalty is counter-cyclical.

PAULA: So you’re absolutely right.

PAULA: And for me, as I talk and listen and research and read all of the reports that are coming out of all of our partners, I really do agree with you.

PAULA: There has never been a better time to be in loyalty.

PAULA: And the amount of value that we are creating.

PAULA: And even when I think about consumers all over the world, whether it’s UK, South Africa, US, I’ve heard the same thing now coming through more and more strongly that loyalty now is even being seen as a way to balance the household budget.

PAULA: So when times are tough, you’re absolutely right.

PAULA: Members lean in and businesses lean in as well.

PAULA: So even though it’s sometimes hard to predict, we don’t really know how to foresee or what’s going to come.

PAULA: But I think as long as we do keep that integrity, which is my favorite word, around our members, our customers.

PAULA: And that’s exactly the reason that I fell in love with loyalty actually way back, even though it was telecoms, again, not quite as sexy as yours in the airline and travel sector.

PAULA: But I think we do share that love of taking care of customers, being loyal to them, and then for sure they’re going to be loyal back to us for the future.

BRIDGET: Absolutely.

BRIDGET: And integrity is the exact right word.

PAULA: Totally.

PAULA: Well, listen, I think that’s the perfect place to finish up today, Bridget.

PAULA: We’ll of course make sure to link to your guest hosting profile on our own website, and of course your own LinkedIn profile.

PAULA: If people want to check out all of your amazing achievements over the years.

PAULA: Is there anything else you want to say before we wrap up?

BRIDGET: Now, I’m going to provide you with a link in the back part of Give and Take.

BRIDGET: He provides you a website to go and do your own assessment of your giver, a taker or a matcher.

BRIDGET: And I think you and your audience would love to do it.

PAULA: Oh, I totally will.

PAULA: I’m excited about that now, Bridget.

PAULA: A bit scared, but I will go and it’ll be very, very important for self-reflection.

PAULA: So listen, I’m going to let you go.

PAULA: I’m very grateful.

PAULA: I know it’s a bright and early on Monday morning that you’ve joined me for this recording.

PAULA: So I am thrilled to be working with you finally, properly and formally.

PAULA: So from all of our audience, from all of us here, I want to say Bridget Blaise-Shamai, thank you so much from Let’s Talk Loyalty and Loyalty TV.

BRIDGET: Thank you, Paul.

BRIDGET: Look forward to this.

PAULA: This show is sponsored by Wise Marketeer Group, publisher of The Wise Marketeer, the premier digital customer loyalty marketing resource for industry relevant news, insights and research.

PAULA: Wise Marketeer Group also offers loyalty education and training globally through its Loyalty Academy, which has certified nearly 900 marketeers and executives in 49 countries as certified loyalty marketing professionals.

PAULA: For global coverage of customer engagement and loyalty, check out thewisemarketeer.com and become a wiser marketeer or subscriber.

PAULA: Learn more about global loyalty education for individuals or corporate training programs at loyaltyacademy.org.

PAULA: Thank you so much for listening to this episode of Let’s Talk Loyalty.

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