Here’s a Roundup of this week’s Loyalty and Digital Marketing News
Highlighting: Apple launches AI, The future without Cookies, Retail Media Networks, Grocery News, Gen Z trends, and Major trends in Hotel Loyalty Programs
Quick Global News Roundup
- Apple’s latest product is Apple Intelligence – the beginning of “Consumer AI”
- Retail Media and The CPG Consumer
- Behind the Scenes of 7-Eleven’s Retail Media Network
- What’s ahead for Digital Payments – Forrester says it’s the experience, not the method
- Get to know the Top Women in Grocery, Senior Leaders and Rising Stars
- Festival of Marketing UK set for 3 October
- Blockchain Firm Squad Labs Raises $10 Million for Smart Wallet
- vLoyalty Lab interviews David Slavick
- 11 Cognitive Biases in Marketing to Boost Customer Retention
- Progressive Grocer’s 91st Annual Report
- Webinar 18 June : Are you a good communicator
- Building your brand through storytelling
- Accor launches regional Boost Offer for ALL points for stays through August 31, 2024
- Convenience retailer Buc-ee’s open its largest store yet [75K sf]
- The Five Main KPIs in Social Media
- Role of Relationship Marketing and Human Interaction in Sri Lanka’s Banking Sector
- BNP Paribas and BPCE Partner to Create Payment Processor
- What Are Major Trends in Hotel Loyalty Programs?
- Wawa earns recognition for Customer Loyalty at Loyalty 360 Rewards
- Visa supports Cashless Day 2024 in Vietnam
Castlebridge Hospitality launches loyalty app
Hotel management firm Castlebridge Hospitality has launched its first loyalty app covering the six properties the group manages in the UK. The Lifestyle Concierge app can be downloaded via the App Store or Google Play, and will feature offers related to Hotel Indigo Coventry, Hotel Indigo Chester, Hotel Indigo Stratford upon Avon, Holiday Inn Winchester, Hilton Garden Inn Birmingham Airport, and Hotel Indigo Bath – the last of which opened in 2020 on the city’s South Parade.
Blockchain Customer Loyalty Platform Unveiled by Solana Labs
Solana Labs has unveiled a blockchain-powered verification platform for brands that offer loyalty programmes. The company behind the popular Solana blockchain has launched ‘Bond,’ a customer engagement platform that is claimed to be helpful to companies that wish to improve the longevity and security of their customer loyalty initiatives. Bond uses blockchain to create personalised, transparent, and engaging digital experiences, according to Solana Labs.
Shell and PRMMS win big at the Loyalty & Engagement Awards 2024
With three gold, seven silver, and four bronze trophies from their campaign ‘Shell Advantage Rewards (SHARE),’ Shell International Petroleum took home the L&E Brand of the Year title at MARKETING-INTERACTIVE’s 12th edition of the Loyalty & Engagement Awards. The categories that they made waves in included ‘Best Use of Gamification,’ ‘Best Use of Mobile,’ and ‘Best Use of Relationship Marketing – B2C’. Read about all the winners.
Marketing Is NOT A Foreign Language
Management guru Peter Drucker once said, “Because its purpose is to create a customer, the business enterprise has two — and only these two — basic functions: marketing and innovation.” This article reminds that more work must be done to educate stakeholders — particularly within your own organization — on how to understand, evaluate, and engage with the work of marketers. This is a topic we are treating heavily, how to raise the work of Loyalty Marketers to a higher visibility in the C-Suite. Here is more reinforcement for why this is a critical theme in 2024.
Best Loyalty and reward apps – according to Shopify
Shopify has released its list of the best loyalty and rewards apps. Many of these we have not heard of before and the list is composed of apps that are integrated into the Shopify platform or built for purpose to work in conjunction with their ecommerce product suite. Have a look at this list and be the judge of whether these apps will “keep members coming back for more”.
Tips on how banks can capture loyalty with Gen Z
38% of Gen Zers say they feel minimal loyalty to banks, and 25% say they are impressed by banks that can provide superior technology, according to the 2024 Vericast Financial Services Trend Watch Report. What’s more, Gen Zers are more desensitized to digital advertising. That’s why it is critical for community banks and credit unions to get their advertising right, otherwise they will lose Gen Z customers to competitors like fintechs and neobanks.
What comes next after cookies
Today, 75% of marketers across all major industries still rely on cookies to run their campaigns, and 45% spend at least half of their marketing budgets on cookie-based activations. Even though Google has pushed out its cookie depreciation plans into 2025, their end will inevitably come. But what comes after cookies doesn’t need to be bleak. In fact, moving past cookies might usher in not just a more privacy-compliant digital future but a more effective advertising ecosystem, too. Enjoy a good overview here.