Data the key to building loyalty
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A breath of fresh air and realism about loyalty from David Benady and Sean Brierley in your Cover Story “Few benefits on the cards” (MW July 5), but I disagree with their conclusion that loyalty is short term and “deflating”.
Loyalty programmes are not the panacea for all marketing ills, but they are effective. They do only have three objectives.
More people, more often and more spend, equals more profit.
I am constantly amazed at the people who come to NCH and say: “We want a loyalty scheme to re-ward new customers, not people who would have shopped with us anyway.”
A loyalty scheme yields data – just a commodity if it’s not used properly.
The key is analysis, interpretation and application of that information, allowing subsequent customer communications to be more intelligently targeted.
Then marketers must use analytical techniques to identify which customers represent perhaps ten per cent of the database but 50 per cent of the spend. It is the “database” not the “card” which is the heart of a loyalty scheme.
Andy Wood
NCH Promotional Services
Northants
