The world of loyalty is strange, wonderful and often delightful. Whether it is learning to be charitable via an app or being rewarded in reality for displaying loyalty in the virtual world, here are some eye-catching programmes that have made an appearance this year.
Smile (for rewards)
Smile, say the young people who are part of the Youth for Public Transport or Y4PT programme, which is promoted by the International Association of Public Transport (UITP) and the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA). At the Fourth UITP Mena Congress and Exhibition held earlier this year in Dubai, Y4PT proposed a commuter loyalty programme called Smile, which aims to reward frequent commuters with discount coupons, free Nol top-ups and the collection of miles or points that can be redeemed in different ways. To encourage students who adopt public transport as a way of life, the programme also proposes scholarships. RTA officials say they are studying the feasibility of these projects before implementing them.
And wave
This is the future of loyalty. FutureCard, a UAE-based card design and manufacturing company, and ViaFone, the platform provider, have supplied Dubai’s Wafi Mall with Near Field Communication (NFC) loyalty cards.
The new technology works with smartphones and similar devices to establish two-way communication between NFC cards and devices. The cards can be used to collect information on promotions or as coupons to avail of privileges.
Each cardholder will be supplied with a personal loyalty ID that will connect to the application database, which is managed through Wafi Mall employees’ mobile phones, tablets or other devices. Ayhan Yalcintas, Chief Executive Officer, FutureCard, says, “NFC technology has the power to change pretty much everything, from the way you shop to the way you exchange information.”
Meet a footballer
Football is an obvious theme for rewards this year, at least during the first half, before football fans travel back from Brazil after the Fifa World Cup in June.
United Arab Bank (UAB), which has become the exclusive retail banking partner of The Club, a private members-only club in Abu Dhabi, held a beachside football-themed event — a fab afternoon with Fabio Cannavaro and UAB. Cannavaro, a former world cup-winning captain of the Italian national football team and Fifa World Player of the Year in 2006, is the bank’s brand ambassador and was present on the occasion. Several prizes were handed out to lucky applicants for UAB products, including a pair of all-expenses-paid trips to watch FC Barcelona play at Camp Nou.
Just like me
In a first on many accounts, French luxury cosmetics company Lancôme plans to give more points for virtual interactions than for real purchases through its new loyalty programme, Elite Rewards.
Consumers can join for free and begin to accrue points not only to buy products but also to interact with Lancôme USA through social media. For example, members earn ten points per dollar spent and up to 25 points for sharing products on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. They can earn up to 50 points when they connect with the brand on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Foursquare. And they win extra points when they watch make-up tutorials on Lancome.com or check in at events via Foursquare.
The luxury category is traditionally considered discount-averse, and this is the first time that a brand is set to reward its consumers for their social media connections in a strategy that is focused on customer acquisition and retention, based on consumer engagement. Armed with this data, Lancôme can analyse which content is the most engaging.
The rewards, however, are real. Each member gets an online dashboard on Lancôme’s US website to track and manage their points. They can redeem points by choosing full or trial sizes of 100 selected Lancôme products, for beauty consultations and treatments, or access to events such as New York Fashion Week.
Outbreak detective
In a unique instance reported in medical journal Eurosurveillance, grocery store loyalty cards in Canada helped health authorities trace an outbreak of hepatitis A, which usually spreads through faecal-oral routes through the ingestion of contaminated food or water. The journal reports: “In 2012, an investigation was launched following the identification of three non-travel-related Hepatitis A cases within one week in one of British Columbia’s five geographically based health authorities.”
The public health investigators could spot and deal with the outbreak by comparing the foods the infected people had bought in previous months, by using their food purchase histories from their grocery store loyalty cards. It turned out that pomegranate seeds in a frozen fruit mix were the source of the infection. In most cases, food-borne disease outbreaks are difficult to pinpoint because cases can be dispersed geographically. And with hepatitis A, symptoms only start to appear between 15 and 50 days after being infected, by which time patients are not likely to recall precisely what they ate weeks earlier.
In this case, investigators could detect that the infected people had purchased the same brand of frozen fruit mix containing blueberries, strawberries, cherries and pomegranate seeds. In final testing, one lot of pomegranate seeds from the supplier was found to be contaminated with hepatitis A virus.
Corporate loyalty
This month, supermarket chain Spinneys launched a co-branded corporate loyalty card in Lebanon to expand the current loyalty programme. Employees of companies that participate in this partnership will benefit from various offerings.
The co-branded loyalty card will allow these employees to collect points. As such, cardholders will earn 15 points for every 15,000 Lebanese pounds spent, rather than ten points. The points can then be redeemed for rewards in the form of goods and services at any Spinneys branch.
Delivering a Phfeast
US-based web and mobile app start-up Phfeast Inc. allows users to earn points at participating restaurants towards free meals for underprivileged children and families.
Founder Dan Napierski, a software developer who has worked for several start-ups, has initially launched this at nine Boston area locations.
Under the programme, customers earn points through Phfeast at these locations. Once they reach a certain target, the restaurants will make donations or give meal vouchers to local food pantries.
Instant loyalty
Plug-and-play loyalty solutions are on the rise. In the UAE, companies such as Bebuzzd offer solutions to multiple businesses by providing consumers with one card that serves all. In the US, PunchTab, a start-up led by YouSendIt founder Ranjith Kumaran, has raised $6.25 million (about Dh22.9 million) in additional funding. The company helps businesses run promotions and loyalty programmes. More recent products include second-screen tools for brands that want to reward TV viewers for checking into a programme or tweeting with a brand hashtag.
These sites allow businesses to start building instant loyalty for a blog, site or application by signing up for giveaways. Set-up is simple — all the users need to do is plug in all information, drop a snippet of code in their site and the giveaway is ready to go. Businesses can choose up to nine actions that users can take on different channels to enter the giveaway and boost social sharing.
Now it is possible for customers using mobile apps to record their visits by scanning a QR code on a merchant’s check-in tablet with their smartphones.
Movietime rewards
Why has no one thought of this before? US-based Marcus Theatres has launched a movie rewards loyalty programme, registering more than 215,000 members in a month.
The programme works across the company’s 55-theatre network. Guests can register via a Marcus Theatres mobile app downloadable from the App Store for iPhone and Google Play for Android phones, or by getting a card at the box office and registering online.
One point is earned for every dollar spent and for every 100 points, members receive $5 (about Dh18) in rewards. The rewards are then redeemable at the box office, concessions or at food and beverage venues at the theatre.
