In chapter 1: “May You Live in Interesting Times” of the textbook Loyalty 3.0: How to Revolutionize Customer and Employee Engagement with Big Data and Gamification focused on introducing the audience to the concept of the three levels of customer and employee loyalty. These levels go from Loyalty 1.0 to Loyalty 3.0. Loyalty 1.0 discusses the transactional and shallow rewards systems, which moves up to Loyalty 2.0 more personalized targeting strategies and then to Loyalty 3.0, the most personal and consumer focused methods yet. Within Loyalty 3.0 has three components that make it strong, being gamification, motivation and big data. Paharia (2013) states that “by leveraging these three components together, we can make our customers, partners, and employees more engaged, more active, and truly loyal” (p. 13).
Over the years, customer and employee loyalty have shifted immensely. Going from simple and ineffective methods such as punch cards to truly personalized deals and rewards has changed the game. I learned that loyalty does not come from transactional efforts. Loyalty to a brand or company comes from personalized efforts that makes me feel like a company truly cares about me and my wellbeing more than making money. Ultimately, I know the goal of a company is to make money, but that comes after care for customers.
When I am seeking a company that I want to be loyal to, I look for certain traits. For example, Aerie (American Eagle’s loungewear subcompany) does a great job at Loyalty 3.0. When you download their app and create a free rewards account, you can start racking up points whenever you make a purchase from their store. Not only do they give you points, but those points turn into personalized deals, money off items and curated new items they push that “you would like”. This is a great example of high level data and personalization from the company. They also give me free birthday “gifts” when it comes around every year. Companies such as this one encourage me as a shopper to continue to shop with them for rewards.
There are also four types of loyalty. The first is inertia loyalty which means it is hard to get out of the system. Planet Fitness is a good example of this, where it is more worth it to stay in the rewards system than to go through the trouble of leaving it. The second type is mercenary loyalty. This type means customers are bribed by marketers (p. 14) to get into the program. The third is true loyalty, where a customer is truly interested in being loyal to the company because of who the company is and/or what they sell. The fourth is cult loyalty, which takes on a whole new level of loyalty. This level is where a customer feels personally connected to a company, and rejecting the company would feel like rejecting the personal as a whole.
There are many different aspects and tiers to customer loyalty. Personally, I seek out companies that I can trust and value the same things as I, such as Chick-fil-a. In 1 Timothy 6:10 (New International Version), it states, “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil…”. I would rather support a company that does not seek money as it’s only goal and purpose. Loyalty, to me, goes deeper than the desire for profit.
References:
The Holy Bible, New International Version. (2011). Zondervan. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Timothy+6%3A10&version=NIV
Paharia, R. (2013). Loyalty 3.0: How to revolutionize customer and employee engagement with big data and gamification(p. 13). McGraw-Hill. [Kindle edition].