You and Yours (3 key loyalty trends for 2012)

At this time of year, thoughts tend to be about you and yours. This however may be a continuing theme going into 2012 as I think loyalty marketing is going to become a lot more interested in "you".

This is more than just mass personalisation or segmented communications. I believe 2012 will be about individual engagement and empowerment as consumers provide more and more data, expecting increased control over it and better experiences being delivered because it.

You (and your data)

Back in 2006, Time Magazine named the Person of the Year as "You". Pointing out the cultural shift that social media had begun to bring, they recognised that it was democratising communications, with people sharing with each other and big institutions and governments beginning to lose control. They described it as:-

"[The] founding and framing [of] the new digital democracy. It's [..] about community and collaboration on a scale never seen before [..] about the many wresting power from the few."

It's unbelievable to think that this was 5 years ago now and Facebook was just starting out and MySpace was king. Whilst the tools we use may have changed, the pace itself hasn't. Social media has indeed wrestled power from the few leading to Time Magazine nominating the Person of the Year in 2011 as "The Protester". Highlighting the role of social media in showing injustice and gathering support they said:-

"One of the unequivocal generational virtues of these movements has been their use of the Internet and social media."

It's not just in politics that we're seeing this democratisation however. Consumers are also gaining more and more power with the UK government for example recently announcing that they plan to give consumers more control over their data by releasing it back to them. In describing this they say:-

"[It] will give consumers increasing access to their personal data in a portable, electronic format. [..] Individuals will then be able to use this data to gain insights into their own behaviour, make more informed choices about products and services, and manage their lives more efficiently."

Outside of government, some of the biggest collectors of personal data are loyalty programmes and so I'd fully expect them to begin taking part in these kinds of initiatives, allowing members to use their data to better understand their buying habits, but also to unlock more relevant offers and promotions on their terms. Indeed, many of the companies signing up to the UK midata initiative are companies with their own loyalty programmes. Generically termed VRM (Vendor Relationship Management) or PIDM (Personal Identity Management), I think 2012 will be the year when we start to see this trend gaining ground.

Your Behaviours

Increasingly, as you carry out an activity you leave a trail of bread-crumbs which others can use to follow you. Whether its location information that your smart-phone tracks, items you view but don't purchase or the TV programmes you watch (and then discuss on Twitter), all of this information is out there waiting to be collected and used.

This data is providing insight into previously hidden behaviours. Bricks and mortar retailers will start to get the same visibility as that enjoyed by online retailers, seeing those customers who have visited, but not bought or which items they viewed before purchasing. TV advertisers will have more visibility of which adverts were seen by which individual customers, allowing them to create a true ROI from awareness to purchase.

This is all being made possible by a combination of smart-phone/tablet penetration, innovative new apps and an established social graph. Using tools like twitter and Facebook as identity management, companies can collect together and refine this raw information from apparently disparate sources.

People are already using twitter for example to comment in real-time on TV programmes and this experience is being enhanced through new applications like Zeebox in the UK and IntoNow from Yahoo in the US. Zeebox co-founder Ernesto Schmitt says:-

The emergence of net-connected TVs; the mass proliferation of companion devices like smartphones, laptops and tablets; and people's expectations that entertainment will be socially connected felt like a perfect storm. The time was right to revolutionise TV

Increasingly using "fingerprinting" technology, these applications can automatically detect what TV programmes you're watching and any associated advertising. Linking this to your loyalty purchase transactions is simply the obvious next step and something i'd expect to see appearing in loyalty programmes in 2012.

Your Experiences

Apple changed the face of electronics retail. By combining great looking products with a great in-store experience they managed to make the electrical stores more of a destination than a retail outlet. Others have quickly followed, most notably Dixons in the UK with their pilot store Dixons Black in Birmingham. As offline retail increasingly struggles against online, especially where the products are more commodatised like in electrical, then the focus is shifting to the in-store experience. Using a combination of knowledgeable staff and well presented products, retailers are fighting back.

As retail expert Clare Rayner of Retail Acumen says:-

When you don’t offer anything special then the only thing you can do is compete on price… and that’s a downward spiral where the retailer with the deepest pockets to “buy their customers” is going to be the winner.

Retailers like Apple, Dixons, Game and Disney are starting to offer something special to turn the shopping experience from a physical one to an experiential one.

Apple do more however. They have turned the purchase process into a relationship. Making the stores also a centre for servicing and support through the "Genius Bar" as well as running seminars and training, they actually want customers to return. Whilst this isn't a loyalty programme in the traditional sense, i think it indicates how retail loyalty is changing. It can't simply be something stuck onto the side of the retail process and instead needs to be deeply embedded into the experience.

Expect to see more retailers upping the experience in-store and needing their loyalty programmes to help both support and drive this.

Conclusion

As these 3 key trends converge we're going to see a blurring of the lines between online and offline retail, with consumers having a more tailored and personalised in-store experience and with retailers gaining a better understanding of (and ability to influence) the end to end purchase process for each individual customer. Loyalty programmes play a key and central role in all of this as a means of proactively gathering consumer data in an opted-in manner and allowing appropriate reward and recognition to be given back.

This will result in "you and yours" - your data, your behaviours, your friends, your experiences - being a central theme for 2012.

I probably say this every year, but 2012 is going to be an exciting time in loyalty marketing!

Image credit:♫muxu's photostream

Millennials - More open, but no less private

Well if you have any association with loyalty marketing, you can't fail to have noticed the new brand on the block, Aimia.

Whilst exciting news (full disclosure - I work for Aimia), it was also great to see some new research released at the same time which we've just carried out on the loyalty market. Part of an ongoing strategy for loyalty thought-leadership, the new research entitled "Born this way - the US Millennial Loyalty Survey" focused on the growing importance of the Millennial generation. Numbering over 1.7bn globally, this generation is bigger than the Baby Boomers and three times the size of Generation X - they are also coming of age and so will be increasingly important to brands who want to connect with them.

Whilst the research focussed on many different areas, a really interesting aspect was the Millennials opinion of data privacy.

Interesting because for many, including Facebook chief, Mark Zuckerberg there is a feeling that younger people don't care about privacy and will share anything and everything. Zuckerberg was quoted as saying:-

People have really gotten comfortable not only sharing more information and different kinds, but more openly and with more people

For a generation growing up in a connected world with internet access, mobile phones and social networks it's probably no surprise that they have a different take on privacy, openness and the sharing of data - but does this mean they are any less concerned about their privacy?

The Aimia research does indicate that they have higher levels of openness than non-Millennials being more likely to share personal information with websites (36% vs 22%) and more likely to share information with a reward programme (50% vs 37%).

However what doesn't seem to change with age and is consistent across the generations is the desire around data to be both informed and to inform. Consumers overwhelmingly want to know why data is being collected (84% Milllennials / 86% None) and want to be able to opt in to sharing it with with over 77% preferring to opt-in when sharing location information or online behaviour.

There is however a higher level of trust with reward programmes, with Millennials trusting these even more. It seems when the value exchange is explicit and the consumer knows why their data is being collected they are much more comfortable with sharing it. Highlighting this within the report, it says:-

Millennials expect the Value Exchange to be transparent and permission-based. [they] are willing to grant you a measure of trust—but will quickly end the relationship if you violate that trust.

Social network privacy is also important to all consumers with Millennials valuing this even more (40% vs 38%), indicating both the value they put on social networks and the value they put on their data. This is backed up by new research from Forrester in a report entitled "Personal Identity Management". The report discussed findings from Gigya which highlighted how consumers tend to use different social network identities to log into different types of web content, stating:-

Users are most likely to log on to entertainment sites via Facebook Connect, for example, but prefer to log in to news sites via their Twitter handles. Each option shares a different set of data with the authorized site, so the fact that consumers are making an active choice highlights how they differentiate among the various sites with which they engage.

The Forrester report goes on to highlight a growing trend for consumers taking more control of their personal information, something they term PIDM (Personal Identity Management) but which is also similar to the growing movement around VRM (Vendor Relationship Management). This is something which is backed up in the Aimia research where the consumers desire for more control of their data is expressed with a strong preference (76%+) for being able to create a portable "privacy profile".

Forrester go on to discuss the implications of this for marketers, highlighting five main areas that need to be addressed in order to "unlock" consumer information and which echo the Aimia research around the consumers desire for privacy, security, value exchange, transparency and portability.

In conclusion, Forrester articulates what they feel a value exchange looks like for consumer personal information saying:-

[..] Two factors will come into play when it comes to the notion of value. First, consumers will need to receive highly targeted and relevant content, offers, discounts, and rewards for sharing their data. Second, we envision a rewards-based system wherein individuals will accumulate points across a closed ecosystem of marketers, services, and vendors that wish to retain maximum access to consumer data

This sounds a lot like a loyalty programme to me and given the increased likilihood for consumers to provide this information to reward programmes as highlighted within the Aimia research, it would suggest that the future of loyalty is very bright indeed. Wrapping this up the Aimia research concludes by saying:-

[..] The tools of loyalty management can make the difference. By facilitating the value exchange through targeted applications of reward and recognition, you’ll gain customer data that provides insight into Millennials as individuals. You’ll learn to deliver offers that focus their attention. They’ll respond to your efforts with increased loyalty, profitable behavior and word-of-mouth advocacy.



Pizza Express app - a glimpse into the future of VRM?

Pizza Express have launched a new iPhone app which redefines the space for retailers and at the same time provides a possible glimpse into both the future of payments and CRM (but more on that later).

The application includes a number of clever features such as allowing customers to view their past receipts (great if you need to expense something), create "favourite" restaurant locations and pre-book a table. The really interesting part however is a deal with PayPal that also allows a customer to pay their bill directly via their mobile by entering a unique 12 digit code printed on their receipt - letting the customer then simply get up and walk out as it's seamlessly integrated into the restaurants POS.

This in itself is an interesting loyalty play as Pizza Express get to know who the customer is, what they purchased and how often they come and there is not a loyalty point in sight. It's a compelling application that smooths the purchase process, making the next purchase more likely.

Whilst this is a really innovative app for Pizza Express it's actually part of a wider trend to disintermediate the payment eco-system and the functionality is quite similar to that offered by payment start-up Square.

Jack Dorsey, Square's founder is quoted as saying that they want to replace cash registers, wallets and loyalty cards. Rather than simply trying to replace a specific part of the existing process - exchanging the plastic card for the mobile phone - Square are actively trying to join the whole process up with Mr Dorsey saying:-

"We think it should be one system"

One really interesting innovation within Square is their application Card Case. This allows a customer to create a list of their favourite places and to setup a tab with them, simply paying by giving their name - no swipe of the card necessary. Like the Pizza Express app it also provides access to your receipts; in essence centralising your payment and purchase history and making it accessible.

This is a really interesting feature that both Pizza Express and Square have in common - the provision of customer data back to the customer - and it is becoming increasingly common as customers begin to expect their data to be collected, but increasingly consider it "their" data. When I shop at Tesco I know they are tracking my purchases, however when I go online and see new products added to my favourites list it begins to actually feel like my data.

This trend of providing information back to customers and giving them access to and ownership of it is also gathering pace.

Within websites and applications for example you are increasingly given the option to login via social networks such as Facebook or Twitter. While you still login, connecting via a social network provides a subtle change. You are actually granting permission to that application to connect to you rather than the other way round. At any time, I can review my relationships with different applications and simply close them down by removing the authorisation. I can also look at the permissions I've granted to those applications and change what information they can see.

There has been a transfer of power within identity management. It's now my identity and I can choose who has access to it, how much access they have and when I want to end it.

Imagine this trend being extended to all your interactions.

Within a supermarket loyalty programme for example you could link your purchase history to an app from a CPG manufacture like Unilever. You'd be doing this in the full knowledge that Unilever could then access your purchases and provide you with relevant offers (or reward points). You'd be choosing how to use your information for your benefit.

This is a really amazing thought and something that has been termed VRM or Vendor Relationship Management by Doc Searls, a veteran technology journalist and key founder of ProjectVRM which he describes, saying:-

Since the dawn of the Industrial Age, large companies have been working to "capture" and "lock" customers inside what we today call "silos" and "walled gardens."... ProjectVRM is a new Berkman Center research and development effort that is working to provide customers with tools that provide both independence from vendor lock-in and better ways of engaging with vendors -- on terms and by means that work better for both sides.

I love the idea of this - letting customers engage with brands on their terms with their data - and can see many applications across different industries.

How far this can go will be interesting to see (and to define), but the principle of making customer's data accessible to customers is a key trend. Facebook, Twitter et al. have already proved that making their systems open and giving customers control has only made their service more compelling.

Brands and loyalty programmes collecting customer data and interactions may have to take a leap of faith and empower the customer for the greater benefit of both the customer and the brand.

As Doc Searls said in his earlier thinking within the Cluetrain Manifesto:-

We are not seats or eyeballs or end users or consumers. We are human beings—and our reach exceeds your grasp. Deal with it."

Apple tracks your location - who cares?

Last week the world was rocked by the discovery that Apple iPhone users were being tracked. Apparently a users co-ordinates were being stored along with a date/time stamp on both the users phone and their desktop when synced. Even worse, it was then reported that this information was being sent back to Apple. Like something from a Bond novel, Apple was tracking the activities of millions of people, just waiting for when it could... well therein lies the question.

What exactly was Apple doing with this data and why were they collecting it? In fact, why do we care so much when we're all giving away our data every day. Was this just a slow news day or is there really an issue here?

Data privacy is a strange beast. On the one hand people are getting all worked up about Apple collecting location data (despite indicating this within it's terms and conditions) and on the other people are using the very same devices to check into Facebook Places, Foursquare or Color providing a wealth of location information (and photos) for all the world to see.

It seems that people don't have a problem with the data itself being collected or shared, its the fact that they didn't seem to know about it that is at issue and that they don't know why.

Google had the same issue when it was mapping it's Street View product. As well as collecting images of the streets it was mapping, it was also collecting WiFi information on the networks it came across. This has caused outrage at a national level with governments (and the EU) clamouring for an explanation, yet as F-Securereported, Skyhook has been doing this for years and nobody bats an eyelid. Indeed, it was recently reported that Google has stopped collecting WiFi data from Street View as it can now do this via the handsets (just like Apple)

BT also fell foul of this public feeling when its "service" Phorm started tracking users web visits (initially secretly) to provide better targeted advertising. There was an online privacy backlash which resulted in a European commission investigation and the service being pulled. At almost the same time however, Nectar was announcing a new service which seemed to do a similar thing, targeting advertising to people based on their behaviour. Called Consumer Connect, it serves up online adverts through Yahoo to opted in customers based on their offline shopping habits with Nectar. There was however no consumer backlash and it was reported positively in the media.

It seems then that our reaction to data privacy is based on the context of how the data is obtained and used, not just the data itself:-

• Value Exchange - Do we understand why the data is being collected and what we get from it. Skyhook collect data to provide location based services which work in tandem with other technologies to map your location - thats useful. Both Google and Apple may have had the same intention but this isn't obvious. Increasingly consumers understand the value of their information and are willing to "trade" it in order to receive other benefits.
• Clear Boundaries - With BT Phorm all web usage would be tracked to serve up better ads. This feels a little too broad and unecessarily intrusive. With Nectar Consumer Connect, users are clear about what data is being utilised, it's their shopping details, something most people realise is already being used for offline targeting of offers already.
• Permission - Consumers like to do things on their terms. I can choose to share that dodgy photo on Facebook (although I may regret it later), I can choose to share my location when I check-in and increasingly I can choose to share this through services like Facebook Connect. However, when this information is simply taken without permission we feel aggrieved.

With data increasingly being monetised across many organisations, whether it is credit card transactions, loyalty programme transactions, web visits or phone calls, all of this information says something about us and has real-world value to many others.

This also means that increasingly companies may be collecting or using information in a way which consumers didn't expect. It doesn't matter if this usage is buried in your terms and conditions (Apple clearly stated they were collecting GPS information) - if it's not obvious to your customers then you risk a backlash from them when they find out.

This isn't hard though; just take a look at the Tesco Clubcard Customer Charter and Privacy Policy. This isn't pages of small print. Instead it's a plain English explanation of what Tesco will do with your data, how this benefits you and what to do if you don't want it.

If we want the benefits that come from increased usage of customer data we need to remember that ultimately it's the customer's data. Always ask permission as begging forgiveness rarely works.

Mazda get some Zoom Zoom from data

Mazda’s customer dialogue service is reaping real results with a reported increase of 10% for first services – this at a time when having your car serviced is viewed by some as an unnecessary luxury with 15% of people indicating they had deferred their last service.

So what has Mazda done to buck this trend and actually increase the number of people coming back to them.  Well in part it’s through the use of a retention programme with a combination of tried and tested timely communications coupled with some interesting “sticky” features.

However the first real innovation in the Mazda programme was not communications or features – instead it was the more mundane requirement of data collection.

If there is one thing many car manufactures don’t have it’s up to date, clean customer data.  An outcome that arises from historically very manual processes – like paper log books – and a channel based sales network meaning that the manufacturer has little or no customer details.  Compounding this is that due to second hand car sales and customer movements, even the best dealer database struggles to stay up to date between the long buying cycles.

The solution then for Mazda was DSR or its Digital Service Record, described as “an innovative electronic service booklet, which replaces the traditional booklet that you used to get stamped following a vehicle service”.  More importantly though is that the “vehicle's service history is stored digitally on a central Mazda database”

It’s this centralised storage of vehicle (and customer) details which has allowed Mazda to build it’s retention programme

When DSR was first launched to dealers back in 2005 it was well received with dealers recognising the potential benefits for customers over and above the operational aspects of servicing a car.  One dealer in the UK was quoted at the time as saying

"It is an ideal asset for nurturing customer retention with its tracking capability. The critical time comes after a car is three years old. It will highlight for dealers how much business they retain or lose from the network and should help keep more customers within Mazda’s orbit."

Mazda are making good use of this database, using it to target customers due for a service with both service notification mailings as well as “missed service” reminders – all of which generate extra business for dealers.  They are also targeting customers of older cars to come back in to Mazda – generating additional footfall and opportunities.

All of this is only possible with good, up to date data and there is always a price for getting customers to provide it – the trick is doing this at the least cost and then extracting the most long term return.

A retail loyalty programme giving points for spend is essentially paying customers to swipe their card – to identify themselves on their transaction.  This data has then been paid for through the issuance of points – how you use this data to extract additional value is your return. 

What Mazda did was indentify an opportunity to collect data whilst providing a win-win for all stakeholders.  For the customer they have a secure, maintained service record, ensuring maximum future sales value – this in turn creates value for the dealer as customers will want to ensure this is maintained and so will return.

Whether you’re an automotive company, a restaurant or retailer, knowing who your customers are and what they do is an important first step in building a relationship with them – essentially creating a retention programme. 

Only when you have sight of this information can you create timely and relevant communications which maintain or change behaviour as Mazda have done.

The trick is to find the opportunities to collect this information at the lowest possible cost whilst gaining the greatest overall return.  Collecting data and not getting a return from it is just as bad as not making the investment to collect it in the first place.

Want to add a little Zoom Zoom into your customer relationships?  It might be worth thinking about what data you could collect and/or make work harder which is currently ignored, lost or only held locally?