Celebrating Loyalty Excellence

Jul 17, 2023

Kobie has been awarded Best in Class in Agency & Strategy and in Technology at Loyalty360’s Loyalty Expo in Orlando, FL last month.   

“The Loyalty360 Best in Class Awards recognize Loyalty360 members for their continued commitment to the customer loyalty industry and for program, process, and platform excellence,” says Mark Johnson, CEO of Loyalty360. 

Best in Class winners are selected from various factors “including Loyalty360 Awards entries, nominations from other Loyalty360 members…in-depth feature interviews for Loyalty Management magazine, overall program impact, approach, and performance, as well as active industry and association involvement over the past 18 months.”  

Being chosen in these categories shows Kobie’s commitment to excellence in the delivery of loyalty services and shows an intentional dedication to innovation and client strategy. “The Loyalty360 Best in Class Awards recognize those members that have shown a unique drive, passion, focus, and commitment to their customers,” says Johnson.  

Kobie is honored to be recognized by Loyalty360 among some of the industry’s best, but what makes us the proudest is seeing our clients win for their accomplishments as well.  

Loyalty 360 Award Winners 

Kobie clients also won big at the Loyalty 360 Awards during the Loyalty Expo, walking away with prestigious distinctions in their specific categories: Customer Experience Strategy, Creative Campaign and Communications, and Customer Analytics, Insights, and Metrics. The wins in these categories speak to the work and commitment the brands put into the service of their clients, and the trust they have in Kobie to support that work.   

“The [Loyalty360 Awards] recognize brands that are building stronger and deeper loyalty with their customers in a proactive, meaningful, and—most importantly—measurable ways,” says Johnson. “The 2023 Loyalty360 Award finalists have demonstrated their unwavering commitment to loyalty by excelling in one or more of the crucial aspects highlighted in this year’s categories…These award winners are at the forefront of advancing customer loyalty and elevating the overall customer experience.” 

Carly Stemmer Ivory, Vice President at Loyalty360, added, “This year’s finalists encompass various industries and have presented a diverse array of loyalty and customer experience strategies, programs, and initiatives in their submissions and presentations. The immense interest and diversity showcased in the awards highlight brands’ growing dedication and focus on customer loyalty.” 

Customer Experience Strategy 

Victoria’s Secret

What made this program design award-winning was the comprehensive approach to achieving the brand’s core goal of helping consumers understand that they are valued. The intention went beyond programmatic loyalty; the brand wanted to truly partner with their consumers to lead the way and help create positive change in the market, and loyalty became the mechanism to help bring that vision to life. The overarching efforts included a major repositioning of the brand itself and new campaigns that resonated with the modern audience to build brand advocacy. 

Creative Campaign and Communications 

Amtrak 

Amtrak launched a creative campaign centered around making travel accessible and enjoyable again after many had felt the personal and business impacts of highly limited travel during the pandemic. Consumers were anxious to exact revenge travel on years-long confinement, yet they were still grounded in their financial realities.  

Kobie’s “Say Hello” concept hinged on an exploratory theme that reignited a spirit of adventure and attainable personal connections. Whether Saying Hello to a new destination, a familiar business commute, or fellow travelers, the Travel brand connects consumers to the best of everything they had been missing in recent years.  

Customer Analytics, Insights, and Metrics 

AMC Theatres  

While the global pandemic put a pause on in-person experiences and transactions, this brand leaned into their existing data-driven approach. They leverage “triple-play data”, meaning transactional, behavioral, and emotional data, as inputs into its member benefits, it’s CRM, and it’s offer strategy.  

With member sentiment tracking and the nostalgia of the movie-going experience, the brand drove multiple campaigns and initiatives that set them up for successful member reactivation. Specifically, the way in which they leveraged triple-play data, using strategies such as Emotional Loyalty Scoring®, member benefit research, loyalty experience research and more, provided key insights to help inform and execute.   

From pausing membership fees, to enabling members to continue earning points, to offering personalized promotions that encouraged return to theater, and investing in an advertising campaign that reminded patrons how the brand “makes movies better”, they went above and beyond to anticipate member needs and stay connected with them in ways that resonated.   

These data-driven efforts and more led to a 34% increase in patron spend in 2022 across all three program tiers, proving the award-worthy impact of the loyalty program strategy.