McDonald’s, Lush, Coca-Cola: 5 things that mattered this week and why

Lush reveals its approach to loyalty

Most brands seem to think the way to engender loyalty is to offer money off random products next time you buy. But Lush is taking a different approach. Its chief digital officer Jack Constantine believes loyalty isn’t about “offering discounts” and so it will be looking at how it can offer customers “instant benefits” that add to the experience.

One way is through subscription services. It has already launched one for its bath bombs and Constantine hints that more are to come. It is also looking at a “fan club”, and while light on detail, that suggests it is looking to improve the experience for loyal shoppers rather than offer points or money off.

Lush is one of a growing slew of retailers realising that the nature of loyalty is changing as digital impacts all areas of a business. Lush hopes one day to be able to recognise its best customers as they come in-store and offer them something unique. It’s a bold aim and one that no brand has really managed to make work yet. If Lush can make the digital and physical “seamlessly overlap” its biggest fans might just become even bigger.

READ MORE: Lush to prioritise subscription services and fan clubs as part of loyalty drive

McDonald’s gets ready to start marketing its digital services

McDonald’s has been spending a lot of its time improving the customer experience through digital. It has launched mobile order and pay, introduced digital kiosks and been rolling out delivery through a partnership with UberEATS.

The company says it is pleased with progress so far. Delivery revenue is proving to be incremental, rather than cannibalising in-store sales, while mobile ordering is boosting customer satisfaction.

What McDonald’s hasn’t done yet is “flip the marketing switch”. And that means most people don’t actually know it is offering these services. Once it does it expects demand to ramp up. But if it wants to maintain those customer satisfaction scores, it will need to make sure it is operationally ready before it attracts the masses.

READ MORE: McDonald’s prepares to ‘flip the marketing switch’ to drive up mobile ordering

Coca-Cola looks to craft for growth

There’s a battle waging in the world of craft. As the popularity of smaller, independent brands has grown, unsurprisingly big names are trying to work out how to jump on the trend.

Coca-Cola is the latest. Having revamped Schweppes in the UK and introduced a new range with a more craft feel, it is looking for other opportunities. Schweppes has been impacted by the rising popularity of premium mixers such as Fever-Tree and consumers’ increasing focus on quality and ingredients.

The move makes sense, but Coca-Cola will need to watch how it goes about its positioning. There has already been a backlash against big brewers trying to claim craft, with criticism that they are using it as a marketing tool without backing it up with how they produce their products. Coca-Cola is likely to face a similar chorus.

READ MORE: Coca-Cola looks for opportunities in craft to drive growth

Just Eat looks to make the most of its X Factor tie-up

Just Eat has invested a lot in its sponsorship of The X Factor- some £30m if estimates are to be believed. The only problem is The X Factor only airs for about a quarter of the year – so how can it keep that momentum and awareness going?

And so the brand is using its association to launch its biggest ever marketing assault. The new creative platform, The Magical World of Just Eat, created by its agency Karmarama, will run across almost every channel you can think of – TV, digital, PR, print and internally – as it looks to get more of us to ditch the phone calls and start ordering online.

Just Eat is one of the brands to have shaken up a delivery market that was fragmented and ripe for innovation. But having paved the way it faces new challengers. Deliveroo and UberEATS are rapidly expanding and have managed to do deals with major brands from McDonald’s to Heineken. In this market being front-of-mind is everything. And Just Eat needs to invest to make sure it is.

READ MORE: Just Eat builds on The X Factor sponsorship with biggest ever brand campaign

Seeing the positives in new data laws

All too often the incoming General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) are talked about as something to be tackled rather than embraced. But ITV is trying to see things differently and put a positive spin on the opportunity instead of seeing it as a challenge.

“There is an awful lot of work to be done so it’s a matter of making sure you continually talk to people about it in a very positive way,” says Steve Forde, director of online product & marketing at ITV.

“If it feels like it’s just being done to satisfy a legal requirement then it can be daunting and people won’t want to engage with it, but if you turn it into something that is actually a brand positive, viewer-centric mission then people will be more engaged.”

It’s a refreshing approach and one that other brands would do well to heed as the May deadline for compliance comes ever closer.

READ MORE: Why ITV is treating GDPR as an opportunity rather than a challenge