Got a problem you cant fix - invent a program

Spent two days in a workshop on loyalty for a client, there was lots of clever thinking, but one conclusion was there is no such thing as loyalty marketing. You either have a specific loyalty program or you just do your job properly - which means getting brand .... service ... in store experience ... smart cross selling ... CRM processes right. And in many cases if you desperately need a loyalty program it probably means you have got something wrong somewhere in your core offering. Another case of marketing covering up organisational dis-function. Remarkably common.

My other conclusion is there is an obsession with measurement and data to the point that businesses wont implement an initiative if they cant measure impact - even if they think it is right thing to do. It was an example someone cited from IKEA that got us thinking. One store manager decided not to keep a list of FAQs from customers for review. They just act immediately. So if a customer asks whether a table comes in oak as well pine, they immediately change the labelling to indicate the information. A culture of immediate response, it just isn't automated, and impossible to measure impact.