Richard J. George, Ph.D.

BrainTrust Query: Loyalty 360 Weighs in on 12 Key Loyalty Marketing Trends for 2010

January 29, 2010

FROM RETAILWIRE:
Engagement. Collaboration. Sustainability. ROI. Some may call these buzzwords, but BrainTrust panelist Mark Johnson predicts these are bottom-line concepts that will drive loyalty marketing in 2010. What overall trends do you see driving loyalty marketing in 2010?      [more...]

While I tend to agree with most of the noted trends, I still struggle with the notion of customer loyalty. Customers can be loyal to their families, church, alma mater, etc. But using the term customer loyalty when interacting with marketers makes little sense to me. For marketers looking for loyalty in life, I suggest that they get a dog.

However, I think the concept of developing an enhanced relationship with customers is sound. Discount cards and unwanted rewards do little to enhance this relationship and even less to encourage continuity of purchase.

The key going forward is to identify the needs of customers who spend considerable sums of money in their stores or on their products, that the marketer can uniquely satisfy. Achieving this, we allow the relationship, whatever it is called, to flourish.