Issue 5

2015

Loyalty - alive & kicking?

The experts in insight, CRM & loyalty marketing. Delivering omni-channel, measurable and profitable ROI to your business...

In focus:Revitalising an existingfashion loyalty programme

ContentsIntroduction from Lindsey 1

Revitalising an existing fashion loyalty programme 2

Don’t go it alone – the benefits of support when tracking your brand 2

Loyalty - alive & kicking? 3-4

Alternative Superbrands 3-4

Customer engagement advice from the experts 5

I’m thinking...we can help 5-6

Personalisation done properly 6

Hi,

We often hear the phrase ‘loyalty is dead,’ but I have to disagree. Those who utter these words often forget what the true meaning of loyalty is: “a feeling of devotion, duty, or attachment to somebody or something.” Loyalty is not just about points and plastic cards; it is built on a far more complex set of factors including product quality, customer satisfaction, service and value for money- all of which were taken into account when we developed our Alternative Superbrands on page 4.

Loyalty is also the result of being able to communicate brand values that people want to be affiliated with. Consumers today have many options, and more than ever they choose particular brands to communicate something personal about their own beliefs and priorities. The best way to establish and reinforce common values is to create content that’s so highly specific it defines not only the brand, but the customer.

The tools and techniques of loyalty are constantly evolving to suit the needs of the ‘always-on’ consumer, and customer engagement can no longer take a ‘one size fits all’ approach. A loyalty programme is a mechanic that gives customers a reason to provide their data, and use of that data should be timely,

appropriate and relevant to every individual. Communications need to be tailored to motivate and engage. Let’s not forget that certain customers still love to collect and earn rewards for a sense of achievement and this encourages them to spend more and more often.

So, I ask, if loyalty is dead then why are major retailers launching new programmes? Marks and Spencer is rumoured in the press to be considering a new loyalty programme tailoring benefits rather than pure transactional points, Netto (Germany) have announced plans to be the first discount supermarket to offer a loyalty programme, as well as Waitrose’s new ‘Pick Your Own Offers,’ a revolutionary new programme which puts the customer in control of their rewards.

So in my eyes, loyalty is not dead- it just has to move with the times in order to have a place in consumers lives. Loyalty is ‘reincarnating’ but with one thing consistent: data at the heart of the programme.

Thanks for reading!General Manager

Lindsey Ulanowsky

1.

www.ikanoinsight.com @ikanoinsight

Don’t go it alone – the benefits of support when tracking your brand

IN FOCUS

Revitalising an existing fashion loyalty programmeIkano Insight works in partnership with a global fashion brand to deliver a full loyalty management programme that delivers real value for both the retailer and their loyalty customers.

Customer research four years post-launch showed that awareness of the programme benefits were low, and 60% of high value customers would prefer more frequent rewards.

Here’s how we partnered with the retailer to act on this feedback:

The Objective

The loyalty scheme needed to be repositioned to increase awareness of the programme benefits, strengthen the relationship with the retailer’s best customers, and increase the overall

value of the programme by influencing customer behaviour through targeted campaigns.

The Approach

Using a customer centric approach, Ikano Insight and the retailer worked together to revitalise the scheme: changing spend thresholds, introducing three tiered membership levels and adding new benefits.

Online and offline marketing collateral was created to clearly reflect the tiers and the benefits associated with each tier, as well as clearly communicating the changes to existing customers through the issuance of new card designs. In addition to reward vouchers, further tier-led benefits were also introduced including flexible discounts, free delivery online and birthday offers.

The Result

The refreshed structure positioned the retailer’s loyalty programme as the most generous - and one of the most prestigious - fashion loyalty schemes on the high street.

Recruitment has increased by 19% since the initial tier changes, with 44% of active reward card customers now receiving a voucher. Multichannel spend has increased across the highest tier, representing a 50% uplift in spend per multichannel customer.

By continually reviewing and refining the loyalty programme, the retailer is able to respond to changing customer needs and demands, keeping the programme fresh and engaging while ensuring that it remains relevant and profitable.

Ikano Insight is pleased to announce that we now have access to YouGov’s specialist brand tracking tool, BrandIndex.

Any major business needs to be tracking the public perception of their brand. Not (just) to justify their media budgets, but to give critical context to any bottom-line trends. At a minimum you can understand brand perception by commissioning your own research to ask people what they think on a regular basis. However, there are significant benefits to using a tool such as BrandIndex:

Full sector coverage: How do you know how your brand’s faring versus

competitors in your sector? BrandIndex helps you to identify whether the trends you see are specific to your company, or affecting everyone in the industry.

Depth of data: This tells you all about the WHY – was it advertising or word of mouth that’s made an impact? Have customers’ perceptions of your quality or value changed?

Coverage & Responsiveness: You gain a robust brand analysis as thousands of interviews are conducted and uploaded daily. It’s unlikely you’ll get this scale on your own asking about just one brand; in fact it would be costly and inefficient.

Global comparability: Standardisation means global companies can easily compare their standing and assess marketing effectiveness, across territories.

Historical data: How about if we could provide you with how your brand is tracking right now, yesterday and possibly for the last 10 years, versus all your competitors?

So, if you want robust metrics and an enhanced depth of data, then contact us to learn how a recognised specialist tool can work much harder for you than independent brand research.

2.

towards being ‘always-on’ seems to be causing the ‘loyalty is dead’ remarks.

But…

Experience still counts

Loyalty is far more complex than just price and convenience; it’s about overall customer experience – the quality of the product and the service they received, satisfaction with the whole buying experience and so on.

The last experience your customer had, good or bad, will affect whether they choose to remain loyal. For example, if a customer orders online with the guarantee of receiving something by 12pm the next day and then it doesn’t arrive, are they likely to order from you again?

The goal is to provide a consistent in-store, online and mobile experience across all platforms, to both minimise confusion and retain trust in your brand.

This is what retains long term engagement and improves the quality of the data that underpins a successful loyalty scheme. Get the technology and communication balance right, and the complete process will work hard to increase profit.

Connected consumers no longer have any reason to be loyal, right? Wrong.

There’s been a lot of talk recently about the death of loyalty. Plastic cards and paper vouchers may seem ‘old hat’ to some, but loyalty is about far more than just a means of rewarding customers.

Customers still want brands they can trust, brands they know will deliver the good service they expect. If this is the case, how can loyalty be dead?

The customer is now in control

We all know that technology has radically changed customer behaviour. No longer do they have the restrictions of store opening times; they can buy what they want whenever they want it (assuming suitably convenient delivery schedules can be arranged).

Web-based services also put unprecedented amounts of comparative data into consumers hands – at the touch of a screen we can now read reviews, compare prices, and find the closest supplier of a product or service. This instant access to data and a shift

The recent launch of Ikano Insight’s Alternative Superbrands demonstrates that actually, loyalty values, such as customer satisfaction, value for money and quality are all still important to the customer.

We used data from YouGov’s internationally recognised Brand Index tool to devise our own top ten Alternative Superbrands after continued frustration at the same old, well-known brands topping the actual Superbrands list year after year. What this shows, is that when it comes to customer loyalty values; they do matter and they do make a difference.

Loyalty is now one-to-one, not one-to many

Just as your friends and family members are unique and subtly different, so too are your customers. Building loyalty is hard work; it requires you to get to know your customers and to engage with them in a conversation.

If, as a brand or retailer you can’t recognise this and use it to your advantage to build strong, lasting relationships with your customers then for you, yes, loyalty is probably dead.

But for those doing it properly and taking advantage of the new opportunities provided by ever more sophisticated channels, the concept of loyalty lives on as strong as it always has.

Loyalty - alive & kicking?

3.

Using direct consumer feedback we have hand-picked our Ikano

Insight Alternative Superbrands based on the matters close to our

heart. These are the brands who truly understand their customers

and put them first; demonstrating long-term customer loyalty and

engagement levels.

Ikano Insight’s Alternative Superbrands

4.

currently stands at a strong 67.6, ahead of technology giant Apple at 63.2!

Pret-A-Manger (1984, London)

Data clearly shows Costa and Pret-A-Manger in a rolling battle for the top-spot with similar Quality and Satisfaction scores, however Pret-A-Manager is the winner due to consistently higher Value ratings (a measure that looks at how many people think the brand represents good vs. poor value for money).

Dunelm (1979, Leicester)

Significant growth in their Quality score is particularly impressive when compared to major furniture retailers who can now be considered Dunelm’s core competitors. Dunelm’s Quality score is currently a strong 27.4 where Furniture Village struggles at just 9.9.

Greggs (1939, Tyneside)

With a Value score of 23.8 this bakery chain comes out slightly ahead of the Superbrand Boots for value for money, which sits at a score of 23.4.

Green & Blacks (1991, London)

Satisfaction score (how many people are satisfied vs. dissatisfied) is a strong 62.8, ahead of other chocolate brands like Cadburys at 56.0 and in a different league to Superbrand Coca-Cola at 36.4.

Robinsons (1823, London)

This brand’s Quality perception (how many people think the brand represents good vs. poor quality) has moved from 33.8 to 42.0, overtaking Superbrand Gillette at 36.4.

Pimm’s (1823, London)

Every year the Purchase Intent (a measure of which brands are most likely to be purchased), bounces back as strongly as the previous year for Pimm’s, peaking at a score of 9.1 last year on July 18th while Superbrand Coca-Cola stood at 9.0.

Marmite (1902, Burton-upon-Trent)

Branding so powerful it’s had a recent revival in home interiors, figures show the love for this product clearly outweighs the hate. Satisfaction score

Yorkshire Tea (1886, Harrogate)

Strong statistics across the board, with standout Reputation scores (a measure of how many people would be proud vs. embarrassed to work for a company). With a score of 26.3 this brand is also on par with Superbrand Boots at 26.5.

Jaguar (1922, Blackpool)

Jaguar’s Impression score, a measure of how people have positive vs. negative feelings about a brand, stands at 38.7, well ahead of Superbrand BMW at 35.6.

Ovo Energy (2009, Bristol)

The youngest brand in Ikano Insight’s top 10, but quick to steal the top spot on Satisfaction scores from all the other well established energy suppliers. Satisfaction stands at a whopping 79.1, a significant stride ahead of Superbrand John Lewis at 71.1!

For the full methodology of how the Alternative Superbrands were rated, please visit ikanoinsight.com/media-room/alternative-superbrands

AlternativeSuperbrands

TOP 10

www.ikanoinsight.com @ikanoinsight

Ikano Insight’s Alternative Superbrands

Customer engagement advice from the experts

You need to start by using your

data to create a Single Customer

View, bringing together disparate

data sources. From here, you

will begin to understand the true

value of your customers and their

interactions across your

touch-points.

Your most truly valuable data

will allow you to identify needs,

preferences, trends, and even

sentiment towards your brand, and

you can then think about what you

want your customers to do next.

Q. We hold a lot of data about our customers, but how do we use this to keep them coming back? With so many product choices and prices available from our competitors, it seems that they have no reason to be loyal anymore.

’m thinking… we can help

In each edition of Engage we invite readers to ask us a question about customer engagement, loyalty, CRM, data marketing etc.

Barry - Senior Consultant

On the agenda: • Loyalty - a business wide strategy• Making the complex simple: data

driven actionable insight & CRM

25th September 2015 10:00am-2:00pmDMA House, London W1W 8SS

FREE SEMINAR: Driving profit and ROIthrough customer loyalty and engagement

Join us to hear practical examples of how best to use insight, CRM and loyalty to really engage your existing customers and deliver omni-channel, measurable & profitable ROI.

• Predictive modelling interactive demo• The future of customer engagement

and loyalty marketing

Book your FREE place now at ikanoinsight.com/seminars

www.ikanoinsight.com @ikanoinsight

Personalisation done properly

Customers now want to be treated

as individuals, and a one size

fits all engagement strategy just

doesn’t work anymore. Segmenting

customer data into groups lets you

understand which segments are

worth marketing investment, what

offers will be able to drive customer

behaviour and how to personalise

their communications accordingly.

If you realise that you need more

data before you can build this

bigger picture, remember to

offer a value exchange and give

customers something in return for

sharing their information with you.

In summary, your communications

should be relevant, specific and

targeted. As discussed on page

3, loyalty is about the overall

customer experience, from product

quality and value for money

through to customer service. Offer

a true omni-channel experience

across all touch points, and you’re

on your way to building loyalty

and an army of truly engaged

customers. Do you want to ask a question? Tweet us or email your question to barry.smith@ikano.net @ikanoinsight

From adding customers’ names to products, providing them with highly targeted recommendations or offers and even involving them in the design of their own product or service, personalisation can take many forms. However used, personalisation benefits both the brand and the consumer in supporting value exchanges, delivering targeted and relevant content, and creating brand loyalty. So how do we personalise properly?

Well, it all starts with data. More and more aspects of our lives leave a digital data trail behind them – revealing a wealth of information, not only about our shopping preferences and habits, but about our financial circumstances, health, and our friends and family networks.

This level of data can be overwhelming; so it needs to be collated, stored and processed in a way that is easy to digest and provides relevant insight to guide customer-centric marketing strategies.

Personalisation - done right - is one of the most powerful marketing strategies, and should do one or more of the following for your customers:

• Give a sense of control in leveraging prices for products and services in exchange for their data.

• Engage and create an interactive dialogue with them; for example apps which provide added value to a brand’s products or services.

• Provide something useful or beneficial in return for data exchange.

• Provide ways to pay that are convenient; such as contactless cards, digital wallets and alternative currencies.

• Respect privacy and be transparent in how their data will be used.

For in-depth insights on how to personalise your brand, read our white paper ‘Personalisation: The Do’s and Don’t of Me-Me Marketing’ at ikanoinsight.com/media-room/white-papers

6.

Ikano Insight is awesome with data, but even better at relationships.

www.ikanoinsight.com @ikanoinsight

And that, ultimately, is what turns customer loyalty into a business’s success

No matter what stage you are at with your customer engagement we have the intelligent, intuitive insight to help you achieve ROI and drive incremental revenue:

Do you want to build a new loyalty or customer engagement programme?

Do you want to improve an existing one?

Or do you simply want to turn customer data into actionable insight?

For more information please contact; Barry Smith - Senior Consultant barry.smith@ikano.net

07551 671 825 0115 850 3644