Loyalty Podcast

Our prestigious Loyalty Roundtable enshrines loyalty program exit strategy best practices. Plus, a Porter Airlnes interview and the next segment in our Loyalty Works series.

In this podcast we explore whether fintech loyalty is the next major frontier — and how it could reshape the future of loyalty programs worldwide. With special guests Vegar Wikhammer Heir, of Vipps Mobile Pay in Norway, Duncan Smith, of Zeal in London and Terry McMullen, of New World Loyalty in Australia.

In this special report, Rick Ferguson searches for the intersection of retail technology and customer loyalty. With reports from London, Montreal, New York, and Toronto.

The impact of Southwest's recent changes to customer loyalty, the demise of Canada's Hudson's Bay Co, and the future of Ulta Beauty Rewards.

Measuring loyalty is tough—especially across global markets. So how do the best brands do it? In this podcast, Pavel Los and Radek Hrachovec break down the strategies used by leading brands like Shell to measure success and compare loyalty program performance across regions.

Has British Airways opened a Pandora's box, or will the airline emerge largely unscathed from the status war they started?

Loyalty currency has become a massive parallel economy and big business for global brands. How can your company get in on the action? By exploiting the Currency Effect.

In our latest podcast, David Canty, Pavel Loss, and Iain Pringle dive into the strategies, challenges, and best practices for managing major program transformations. With expertise from JetBlue, IAG Airlines, Shell, IHG, and Starwood Hotels, this conversation is a must-listen for anyone navigating loyalty program evolution this year.

Is Costco the platonic ideal of a customer-centric business model? Join us as we explore the joys of the world's third-largest retailer.

In which we look at airline loyalty program devaluations from the airline's perspective and ask why airlines are historically such poor communicators.

2025 kicked off with a loyalty shake-up as British Airways made waves with a major move. In this episode our expert panel dive into the changes, dissecting their impact on the wider market. Joining the discussion are special guests Rob Burgess (Head for Points) and Ben Lipsey (Air France-KLM), bringing insider insights on the expected customer and market response.

The behind-the-scenes story of the recently shuttered Disney Movie Insiders program, told by the former Disney executives who launched it.

In which Iain and Rick unpack the British Airways brouhaha, the exodus of Gen Z shoppers from luxury brands, and the Clash of the Retail Titans.

Is getting healthy one of your New Year's resolutions? In this episode, our expert panel explores how incorporating health and wellbeing features can help brands build deeper emotional connections with their customers. We're joined by an incredible line up of guests - Ros Netto of Virgin Active, Kylie Howe of WithU and Anya Jones, formerly of AXA Health and now Head of CRM and Loyalty at Eurostar. Tune in today to get your new year off to a healthy start.

Seven global loyalty experts make their predictions for 2025. Featuring Stuart Melim, Joanne Ward, Pavel Los, Caroline Papadatos, Adam Posner, Rick Ferguson and Iain Pringle.

In this episode, we dive into the data on Black Friday sales and parse the implications. Plus, we unpack the Spirit Airlines bankruptcy and partner with the International Loyalty Awards.

Our panel of experts review their predictions for the loyalty industry in 2024 and we crown the Loyalty Podcast Prediction Person of the Year.

Is loyalty marketing now a legitimate career path? And if so, what are the skills required to succeed? Join our latest Loyalty Round Table. Plus: The Loyalty Launchpad.

In this episode, we look at the eventual demise of the physical payment cards and the implications for issuer loyalty. Plus, Email personalization and Loyalty Gripes.

In this podcast we explore how loyalty professionals can get started using AI at work. To helps us with this I am joined by David Rose of Papa Johns and Ed Child of Costa Coffee who have studied the subject and offer real practical advice for how we can all start using AI to make our lives easier and more productive.

A veritable grab bag of loyalty goodness with a look at fashion loyalty, TikTok Shop, and Virgin Atlantic's move to dynamic reward pricing.

Airlines facing unprecedented pressure from shareholders, finance teams, disgruntled members, and the government have devalued their loyalty programs. If this trend happens, will the entire airline loyalty ecosystem collapse?

In response to the closure of several high profile loyalty programs and criticism from authors like Byron Sharp, we explore the case for loyalty backed with evidence. With special guests, Tom Hill, Jessie Stuart, Dicken Doe and Phil Gunter.

This week we devote our entire episode to one of the hottest topics in customer loyalty. In this featured segment, Rick Ferguson speaks to an all-star roster of experts to answer an existential question: If marketing personalization is so important, then why aren't more companies better at it?

In this special segment, Rick Ferguson stands inside of Starbucks' original Pike Place Market store in Seattle and asks: Can Starbucks leverage its loyalty program and its vaunted digital wizardry to recapture its corporate soul? Plus, we dive into research on Australian customer loyalty and chat with the VP of Marketing for Canada's Air Miles Reward Program.

In this podcast we examine the growth of TikTok Shop, with Mark Ross of Konsort Social, and ask if social enterprise platforms could allow loyalty programs to turn top customers into a meaningful sales channel.

A decade ago, the global loyalty landscape was ruled by big multi-merchant coalition program operators. Today, most of those operators are gone. Rick Ferguson convenes our Loyalty Roundtable to discuss the past, present, and future of coalition loyalty. Plus, we talk to a loyalty player in the legal cannabis market and explore the changes to the Qantas frequent-flyer program.

In the saturated world of hotel loyalty, how can you make an impact in best-customer relationships? Rick Ferguson chats with Sonesta Hotels' Kevin McCarthy about the opportunities and challenges of relaunching a loyalty program in a crowded marketplace. Also, Rick debuts the launch of the Empire State Building Ambassador program and Iain Pringle explores the explosive growth of retail media with SG-Retail's Steve Gray.

In this podcast we explore the explosive growth of the retail media industry which was worth over $128 billion in 2023. With special guests Steve Gray and Katie Streeter-Hurle of SMG we explore the conditions that led to this growth, what benefits it brings customers and brands and provide advice for those considering a retail media strategy.

With recent changes to Air Miles in Canada and Nectar in the UK, the coalition model continues to evolve. But will it go extinct? Iain Pringle explores the seismic shift in the New Zealand loyalty landscape that led to the demise of the FlyBuys coalition while Rick explores the rise of the “Zero Consumer” and Airbnb's customer loyalty strategy.

This week Rick Ferguson revisits US credit card regulations and asks what a settlement could mean for issuers and merchants and explores whether loyalty to apple is a pleasure or a pain.

As loyalty is now truly a global market in this podcast we compare research studies from two sides of the globe with Adam Posner in Australia and James Davies of Mando Connect in London.

This week Rick Ferguson travels to the European Union for a look into the current state of General Data Protection Regulation compliance, Charlie Hills, of WPP, gives a summary of the UK loyalty market and Amanda Cromhout shares her inspiration for setting up the Blind Loyalty Trust.

Newscast 1 - In our inaugural episode of the Loyalty Newscast we bring you the latest industry news, discuss proposed changes to the US credit card market, explore sports loyalty and ask what loyalty lessons we can all learn from Taylor Swift. With special guests Jill Goldword, Tom Cowgill, Marc Berman, and Guy Rosenhoiz. This newscast is brought to you by CoinBridge by Nayax.

Quick summary of our new Loyalty Podcast which will be launched later today.

In this podcast we explore making the case for loyalty in the boardroom. How do you prove value and make a case for long-term investment. With special guests Amy Barnett of VP of Loyalty at Cracker Barrel and Jay Weinberg.

In this podcast we interview a global panel of GenZ consumers to find out what they want from loyalty. Who gets it right? Who gets it wrong? How can we engage this critical group of customers?

After years of slow decline in UK loyalty market has turned around over the last 2 years. In this podcast we review the latest research from Mando-Connect and YouGov and explore the reasons behind these changes with special guests Charlie Hills, Nick Fishbourne and James Davies.

In this podcast we explore the rise of Direct to Consumer business models and how loyalty can help brands build a direct relationship with consumers. With Jason Whiting of Lego and loyalty expert David Andreadakis we use brands like Nike, Adidas, Harley Davidson and Blackstone to illustrate points.

In tough times what do you do when the marketing budget is cut? What is your response? How do you make the case for investing in customers? In this episode we are joined by Melanie Van Rooy, of Clicks in South Africa, Phil Hawkins in Australia and Phil Rubin in Australia. A must listen in difficult times!

In this podcast the panel give their predictions for the loyalty industry in 2024 with special guests Adam Posner, Phil Gunter, Stuart Melim and Simon Morgen.

In this podcast we take a light hearted review of 2023 by reminding the panel of their predictions for the year to see which came true. With special guests Stuart Melim, Adam Posner, Phil Ginter and Simon Morgan.

In this podcast we will explore how “Joyalty”, or surprising customers with moments of magic, can improve customer engagement. With special guests Adam Posner and Simon Tavernier.

In this podcast we will explore how loyalty programs can work for brands that appear to have no loyalty problem at all. So how do sports clubs use loyalty programmes to drive various business benefits? With special guests James Gibbins of Premier League football club Wolves and Tom Cowgill of R4G.

As our most listened to podcast to date have been “why loyalty?” it seems only fitting to cover off the alternative by asking “why NOT loyalty”? With special special guests Phil Rubin, Phil Hawkins and Mark Ross-Smith.

In depth look at the mysteries of GenZ marketing by looking at university loyalty programs. With special guests Mark Rooker of Sheffield Hallam University and Phill Lee-Warren of Uniware Systems.

In this podcast we discuss the growth of the loyalty market in South Africa and explore how it has become one of the leading loyalty markets in the World. With special guests Melanie Van Rooy, Johan Moolman and Amanda Cromhout.

In this podcast we explore changing customers needs across Europe and Australia with special guests Charlie Hills and Adam Posner.

In this episode we explore winners, losers and drivers of success in retail loyalty in the less well documented categories away from grocery, fuel and travel. With special guests Penny Shaw and Phil Rubin who use examples from Ikea, Nordstrom, Macy's and Costco to illustrate points.

In this episode we get to celebrate two things, firstly 50th podcast and secondly a success story from one of our very own by discussing the growth of Bilt with David Canty.

Podcast 49 is out now. In this episode we review Loyalty CXM which was held in Zurich in March 2023. With Cristina Ziliani and Pavel Los.