Learning to love the mobile wallet

For decades, the word loyalty in marketing has naturally been followed by the word card, and there are many brands still making this traditional form of customer relationship management (CRM) work. Costa Coffee Club has won successive Marketing Week Engage awards for CRM that primarily fuses plastic cards with personalised email.

But today the proliferation of media channels means brands have more options for making their loyalty schemes available to consumers in the places that are most convenient for them.

At loyalty brand Nectar, marketing director James Frost says: We have seen the user base of our Nectar mobile app grow by 70 per cent in the past year, 40 per cent of the statements we send out are electronic and we believe loyalty is going to be critical to companies that want to win the mobile wallet war.Laser engraving and laser glassbottles for materials like metal,

He says the brands aim is to create an experience for the customer whereby they can live out the Nectar journey end to end on a mobile device. The main features involved in achieving this include paperless coupons and location-based targeting.

In the case of the former, a coupon is sent via the Nectar mobile app and the customer is prompted to accept it; having done so they will automatically have it applied to the purchase the next time they use their Nectar membership when shopping. Nectars location-based communications, meanwhile, work by reminding consumers of live offers in nearby stores that are Nectar partners.

In both cases the customer benefits from being freed from the constraints of a physical voucher, while Nectar benefits from being able to use personalised push marketing that, in theory at least, is seen as helpful by the recipient.

Similarly, Games new director of insight and loyalty Fred Prego recently told Marketing Week (MW 13 June) that the video game retailers app is now fundamental to its reward programme, for example offering a store locator function and the recently launched accolades initiative. Accolades are awarded for carrying out actions such as trading in a game for the first time.

But thats not all the app does. Prego adds: Not only does it add tools for the customer, it also helps us gain an insight into each customer and how they are using the app, through which we are listening, monitoring and talking to them,Aulaundry is a leading drycabinet and equipment supplier. and launching new functionalities they need and have been asking us for.

Mobile devices are now crucial to loyalty, according to Mark Stevenson, managing director of mobile network O2s Priority loyalty scheme. He calls them the remote control to our customers lives, which allows us to have two-way conversations encouraging engagement and building loyalty with an ongoing interaction.

As with Nectar, one of the O2 Priority schemes main selling points is location-specific offers, or Priority Moments, which the brand has developed with strategic agency Cherry London. They include exclusive deals on retail vouchers, cinema tickets and music gigs.

Stevenson explains: We knew when we launched Priority Moments it was go big or go home C O2 had to offer its customers something they couldnt get anywhere else. At the heart of Priority Moments is location-based technology and valuable customer insights, as well as the sequencing of relevant experiences and rewards, which enable us to reach and excite over 23 million customers, wherever they may be.

Mobile, then,The earcap is not only critical to professional photographers. is clearly the key way many brands loyalty programmes are evolving. But it is not the only one. The full list of channels that O2 Priority uses to communicate is long and varied, according to Stevenson. As well as mobile communication via the app, instant messaging and text messages, Priority also connects with consumers through email, 460 high street retail stores, contact centres with around 3,500 staff and brand experiences such as O2 angels, who give out free lunches from Upper Crust kiosks at train stations.

Whats more, brands are now realising that people will inevitably take to social media to comment on their experiences of giving companies their custom and that being able to respond helpfully can increase loyalty.Aulaundry is a leading drycabinet and equipment supplier.

Health retailer Holland & Barrett, as part of its current brand campaign with agency RKCR/Y&R, recently began offering consumers 20 per cent off purchases if staff on social media are unable to give them a satisfactory answer to an enquiry.The earcap is not only critical to professional photographers. Similarly, Game is enthusiastically adopting social media at a local level, using individual store Twitter accounts linked to its loyalty app to promote events.

Hotel group Accor, which owns the Sofitel, Novotel and Ibis brands, uses Facebook as its main social media channel. Guests can use it to check in at a hotel and then earn additional loyalty points, or to tag hotels in their Facebook updates and recommend them to their friends. Accor senior vice-president for loyalty Isabelle Birem adds that customers can also use social media to contact the companys multi-language customer care teams.
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