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The Loyalty Newswire July 28, 2025

The Loyalty Newswire from The Wise Marketer

From the Editor

Happy Monday!

This week’s Newswire is brimming over with announcements as Citi launched its newest premium credit card, the Citi Stata Elite, Tesco is offering incentives to Clubcard members to pursue a healthier lifestyle, and JetBlue’s short-lived romance with TAP Air Portugal has ended.

We also explore the ingredients needed to effectively deliver Agentic AI and, as CMO’s agree, trust and human participation are keys to success.

Finally, we pause to tip our hat to former GraceKennedy CEO Don Wehby, who passed on July 26. Mr. Wehby was an accomplished business executive, rising to lead Jamaica’s oldest and most well-recognized brand, GraceKennedy.  Among many accomplishments, Mr. Wehby was a member of the Senate of Jamaica. Having worked with him over the years, we extend our condolences to his friends and family.

We are here to help you succeed. Let us know how we can help.

Bill Hanifin, Managing Editor, The Wise Marketer

Short Takes

JetBlue Ends TAP Loyalty Partnership

In February 2025, JetBlue and TAP Air Portugal announced they were extending their existing partnership with the addition of reciprocal point earning and redemption for award travel. Members of JetBlue’s TrueBlue loyalty program and of TAP’s Miles&Go program were able to earn and redeem points using the program of their choice when flying across either network.

Now, in one of the shortest airline romances ever, JetBlue announced the partnership is coming to an end. The last day you can book TAP Air Portugal flights to earn or redeem TrueBlue points will be 9/30/25, though all existing bookings made prior to September 30 will be honored.

Citi Launches the Citi Strata Elite Credit Card

Citi announced the Citi Strata Elite℠ Card—a new premium credit card offering 12x points on Hotels, Car Rentals, and Attractions booked on the Citi Travel® platform; 6x points on Air Travel booked on Citi Travel; 6x points at Restaurants, and more travel, dining and entertainment benefits.

In the press release, Pam Habner, Head of U.S. Branded Cards & Lending, Citi stated “You shouldn’t need a math degree and a spreadsheet to track your credit card benefits! We have curated flexible lifestyle benefits that we know our customers will want to use—because we asked them what they value. And this is the only branded credit card that has American Airlines benefits built right into the card.”

Tesco launches campaign to help millions of families eat more veggies

Tesco is launching a campaign to help families to eat more fruits and veggies, as Government figures show fewer than 1 in 10 children and 1 in 5 adults eat the recommended five-a-day portion. This follows a year-long consultation carried out in communities across the UK and marks the start of a long-term mission to make healthy eating easier for every household.

From 24th July, around 2.5 million customers will be invited to earn personalised Clubcard stamps on fresh fruit and veg, which can be converted into bonus Clubcard points and vouchers to spend in store. Customers will also be able to earn extra points through new Clubcard Challenges on frozen fruit and veg, beans and pulses. A revamped 5-a-day hub on the Tesco Real Food website will provide recipe ideas.

Lucky Strike enhances customer experience with launch of new loyalty program

Lucky Strike Entertainment has introduced its new customer loyalty initiative Summer Season Pass, offering guests daily bowling access, 15% off concessions, and consistent in-person fun at locations nationwide. In only a few weeks post-launch, over 200,000 passes have been sold, generating more than $10.3 million in revenue.

Lucky Strike is modernizing its brand to meet today’s demand for immersive, multi-sensory social entertainment. The company recently completed a nationwide rebrand, an initiative that’s transformed former Bowlero locations in high-traffic hubs. Each updated venue features elevated hospitality, redesigned atmospheres, and a craft-driven culinary menu that’s shifted the company’s revenue model. 

How Hilton uses AI to move zillennials from discovery to decision

Hilton recognized that connecting with zillennials required a new approach, one rooted in authentic storytelling and open discussion rather than more traditional, polished advertising. It brought this refreshed strategy to life by leveraging the inspirational power of YouTube and AI-powered Search to meet zillennials where they were online and convert their wanderlust into actual stays.

Read how Hilton leveraged YouTube’s power to embed its content within moments zillennials are most passionate about and AI-powered Search ads to help this audience discover Hilton’s brand and convert wanderlust into actual bookings.

Trust and human-AI collaboration set to define the next era of agentic AI

Agentic AI is poised to deliver up to $450 billion in economic value by 2028, yet only 2% of organizations have fully scaled deployment, and trust in AI agents is declining. Organizations are discovering that AI agents deliver the greatest impact when humans remain actively involved.

Read the Capgemini Research Institute’s latest report Rise of agentic AI: How trust is the key to human-AI collaboration, that finds trust and human oversight are critical factors in realizing the $450 billion potential of agentic AI.

Why CMOs must put people at the center of AI adoption

The Institute for Real Growth (IRG) helps CMOs and other growth leaders drive more humanized growth for their organizations. The not-for-profit group says Humanized Growth addresses the needs of colleagues, customers, communities and capital markets.

In this interview with IRG founder Marc de Swaan Arons you will hear results of their study based on interviews of more than 150 CMOs finding that while AI’s efficiency wins are well-documented, they’ve also become table stakes for doing business. The real opportunity lies in finding ways to drive new growth, and that means equipping leaders with best practices for managing this unique era of change.

Could Excessive pre-roll adverts and trailers dilute customer loyalty for movie goers?

The three largest movie theater chains in the U.S. are AMC Theatres, Regal Cinemas, and Cinemark Theatres. Each chain has a vibrant customer loyalty program, with AMC’s Stubs Rewards and Regal’s Crown Club leading the way. Cinemark operates its Cinemark Movie Rewards.

Each of these programs is well-conceived and executed, but their impact could be limited by the actual movie-going experience. Recently, a Wise Marketer staffer clocked 39 minutes of waiting time watching advertisements and trailers before their movie even started. Who is responsible for this experience-numbing pre-roll? It’s National Cinema Media (NCM), which proudly made that announcement during the pre-roll mix. We understand the economics of the movie business, but this is a good example of the disconnect that can occur between a loyalty program and the customer experience.

Understanding Guest Frequency using a new metric from Paytronix

Paytronix Strategy & Analytics set out to provide its QSR and Casual Dining customers with an understanding of how guests really behave, and how that should impact marketing to drive frequency. They discovered that the classic idea of guests each having their own underlying frequency and then visiting consistently at that rate is not the way (most) guests behave.

A better mental model of how guests behave is that each guest has an n-sided die. Each morning, they get up and roll it, and if it shows n, they visit a specific location. Read this article to evaluate this new model, that marketers are not really trying to drive frequency. Instead, they are trying to increase the probability that their guests choose to visit on any given day.

Kobie Research Shows Consumers Demanding More Than Ever from Brand Relationships

New Kobie research of 5,000 consumers reveals loyalty programs must evolve. Economic uncertainty has created sophisticated value evaluators who demand transparency and meaningful returns.

  • Key findings: 67% recognize loyalty program value when they see exact savings, 85% want better discounts beyond token rewards, and data sharing jumps from 82% to 94% when brands offer reasonable value in return.
  • The reality: traditional points-and-perks programs are failing. Today’s shoppers want transparency, substantial discounts, and surprise value during uncertain times.
  • For marketers: brands delivering real financial benefits will thrive; those clinging to outdated rewards risk losing increasingly discerning consumers.

Read the press release and learn more here.

Jobs in Loyalty

There are many talented people looking for full time and contract positions in loyalty marketing. Fortunately, there are opportunities available from both brands and providers. We list a sampling of what we are aware of here.

Please click through the links if provided or contact us here to learn more and apply for these positions.

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Stay. Loyal. Always.