Leaders in Customer Loyalty, Powered by Loyalty360

Send us Fan MailFor Red Roof, loyalty does not begin and end with points earned on a hotel stay. Instead, building loyalty depends on delivering the experience travelers expect, then finding meaningful ways to remain part of their journey after checkout. That approach guides Julie Sukosd, Senior Director of Marketing at Red Roof, whose responsibilities span the RediRewards loyalty program, media, creative, and public relations. She views those functions as connected parts of a guest relationship, from the first consideration of where to stay to the decision to book again. “For me, loyalty is much bigger than points or any one program,” Sukosd said. “When I think about RediRewards, it's very important how we recognize and engage with our members.”  With more than 50 years in the lodging market, Red Roof operates a family of brands that includes Red Roof Inn, Red Roof PLUS+, extended-stay HomeTowne Studios, and The Red Collection. The company welcomes millions of guests across the United States, Canada, and Japan. Sukosd said the challenge in a crowded travel market is to give guests a reason to choose Red Roof each time. Stay connected with Loyalty360! Follow us on LinkedIn and X for the latest loyalty insights, industry news, and upcoming events.https://www.linkedin.com/company/loyalty-360https://x.com/Loyalty360https://www.youtube.com/@Loyalty360_

Send us Fan MailWhen Sydney Shapiro looks at the state of customer loyalty, one of the biggest challenges she sees is that too many programs look alike.  With brands offering similar discounts, rewards, and benefits, customers have become accustomed to waiting for the next deal. For Shapiro, Strategic Account Executive at Baesman, the opportunity lies in creating something more personal.  “Loyalty is a relationship, not a transaction,” Shapiro said.  It’s an approach that has been part of Baesman’s business for more than 70 years. What began as a print shop has grown into a marketing strategy and execution partner that helps brands use data-driven insights, personalization, and multichannel delivery to improve customer engagement and drive ROI.  Shapiro, who oversees new business and partnerships while remaining involved in client strategy, believes it’s critical for brands to bring relationship-driven thinking to their loyalty programs.  Stay connected with Loyalty360! Follow us on LinkedIn and X for the latest loyalty insights, industry news, and upcoming events.https://www.linkedin.com/company/loyalty-360https://x.com/Loyalty360https://www.youtube.com/@Loyalty360_

Send us Fan MailFor Hot Head Burritos, customer loyalty is more than an app, a promotion, or a rewards message. It starts with the experience guests have when they encounter the brand—from the sign outside a restaurant to the team members welcoming them in. That perspective guides Peter Wiley, Corporate Vice President, Chief Technology Officer, and Chief Marketing Officer, who also brings hands-on restaurant operating experience. Rather than treating marketing, technology and operations as separate functions, Wiley considers how each decision will work across all three. “I can send you a message on a loyalty platform, but if you’re not connected with me emotionally, you’re probably not going to walk into my restaurant,” Wiley said. Founded in 2007 by Wiley’s brother, Hot Head Burritos is a fast-casual Mexican concept known for customizable flavor combinations. Wiley said its dozen signature sauces—including Hot Head sauce and sweet habanero—give customers room to make an order their own. Stay connected with Loyalty360! Follow us on LinkedIn and X for the latest loyalty insights, industry news, and upcoming events.https://www.linkedin.com/company/loyalty-360https://x.com/Loyalty360https://www.youtube.com/@Loyalty360_

Send us Fan MailWhen Peter Menges, Senior Vice President of Customer Engagement and Insight Loyalty at Unique Vacations, Inc., an affiliate of the worldwide representative of Sandals and Beaches Resorts, looks at the loyalty space today, he no longer sees any excuse for brands to fail to deliver highly personalized experiences for their customers. He notes that with the advent of artificial intelligence, loyalty marketers now have the tools available to ask relevant questions, tailor communications, and deliver the experiences that their customers are seeking. “You have every tool that you can possibly imagine to get at the heart of what your customer thinks, feels, how they behave, their historical behavior,” Menges said. “There is zero excuse.” Sandals is one of the most well-known luxury resort brands, founded 45 years ago, with 19 locations in the Caribbean—17 adults-only resorts under the Sandals name, and two family friendly locations under the Beaches brand name. According to Menges, the company utilizes AI—including an AI agent called Sandy—as a support mechanism that helps it curate a better, more personalized vacation for its guests. Stay connected with Loyalty360! Follow us on LinkedIn and X for the latest loyalty insights, industry news, and upcoming events.https://www.linkedin.com/company/loyalty-360https://x.com/Loyalty360https://www.youtube.com/@Loyalty360_

Send us Fan MailOne of the primary goals for a loyalty program is to not only build engagement with a brand’s customers, but to develop an emotional connection between their members and their brand. For Audience Rewards, this latter aim is perhaps a lot less daunting a task to pull off than it is for many others in the loyalty space. As the official rewards program for Broadway, Audience Rewards is not connecting customers to a single brand, but rather an ecosystem of individual Broadway shows that are each its own business with its own producer. There are also multiple companies that own the physical theater buildings—and those theater owners were the ones responsible for creating Audience Rewards back in 2008.  Although serving an ecosystem of different stakeholders and businesses is arguably more complex than connecting consumers to one brand, Katie Dalton, President of Audience Rewards, notes that when it comes to building emotional loyalty, it is in a more favorable position than many other rewards programs. Stay connected with Loyalty360! Follow us on LinkedIn and X for the latest loyalty insights, industry news, and upcoming events.https://www.linkedin.com/company/loyalty-360https://x.com/Loyalty360https://www.youtube.com/@Loyalty360_

Send us Fan MailThere’s no question that the digital experience has become vital to the overall performance of loyalty programs today, with customers expecting to shop, pay, and redeem points all through an app. For Weigel's, a regional c-store chain with about 90 locations centrally located in East Tennessee, this summer provided an ideal time to get creative with its digital experience. Celebrating its 95th anniversary with what it dubbed the Summer 95 campaign, the company used the Weigel’s app and its MyWeigel’s Rewards program to ramp up engagement with customers through a combination of gamification, loyalty offers, personalized communications, and fuel rewards. The effort paid off: Weigel’s announced last month that its app generated more than 16 million engagements in July alone, representing a 194% increase in engagement from the previous year. Its app users grew by 29%, total app sessions grew by 83%, while its active loyalty membership increased by 12%, and its member spend jumped by 15%. For Jessica Starnes, Director of Loyalty at Weigel’s, this type of customer engagement is not limited to just an anniversary celebration, but instead a part of the company’s DNA as East Tennessee’s hometown convenience store. Stay connected with Loyalty360! Follow us on LinkedIn and X for the latest loyalty insights, industry news, and upcoming events.https://www.linkedin.com/company/loyalty-360https://x.com/Loyalty360https://www.youtube.com/@Loyalty360_

Send us Fan MailWhen many brands talk about the customer journey, they are often talking about how their customers interact with their products and services up to the point of purchase. But for DICK'S Sporting Goods, the customer journey is actually an athlete’s journey—and that journey doesn’t end at the point of purchase. Kate Fedishen, Vice President of Marketing Transformation at DICK'S, notes that as athletes have become more informed about their sports, their expectations have risen. DICK'S in turn continually increases its own expectations about the products and services it delivers to meet its customers’—or athletes’, as the company refers to its customers—needs. Stay connected with Loyalty360! Follow us on LinkedIn and X for the latest loyalty insights, industry news, and upcoming events.https://www.linkedin.com/company/loyalty-360https://x.com/Loyalty360https://www.youtube.com/@Loyalty360_

Send us Fan MailAlthough online sports betting has surged in popularity since the U.S. Supreme Court legalized state-authorized sports betting nationwide in a landmark 2018 ruling, the industry remains dominated by just a small number of key players.  But the way Shawn Henley approaches his job as Chief Customer Officer for DraftKings—one of the two biggest sports betting apps in the world—is to cast a much wider net beyond his industry. Stay connected with Loyalty360! Follow us on LinkedIn and X for the latest loyalty insights, industry news, and upcoming events.https://www.linkedin.com/company/loyalty-360https://x.com/Loyalty360https://www.youtube.com/@Loyalty360_

Send us Fan MailAs Head of Loyalty at Circle K, one of the primary ways that Carly Lee ensures that she and other executives at the convenience store chain are meeting their customers' needs is by actually listening to what their customers are telling them. Lee spends a considerable amount of time going through customer feedback, while also monitoring how they’re engaging with the brand. One of her most important takeaways from listening to this feedback is that Circle K’s customers are looking for a seamless experience, whether that’s filling up their vehicle with gas or shopping in the convenience store. And this need for simplicity extends to what members want out of the brand's loyalty program, Inner Circle. According to Lee, customers want the loyalty program to fit into the experience they already have when they are shopping and engaging with Circle K.  Stay connected with Loyalty360! Follow us on LinkedIn and X for the latest loyalty insights, industry news, and upcoming events.https://www.linkedin.com/company/loyalty-360https://x.com/Loyalty360https://www.youtube.com/@Loyalty360_

Send us Fan MailThe way Chris Riedy sees it, this is either a very exciting time to be in the consumer packaged goods (CPG) industry, or a really scary time. What’s creating these two views of the industry is the fact that it is undergoing a tremendous amount of evolution that creates new opportunities, but the playbooks that used to work are much less effective today.  Riedy, who is Chief Revenue Officer at Ibotta, points to one significant development that is spurring this evolution: the consumer today has much more choice. As consumers take an omnichannel approach to shopping, it’s no longer enough for CPG brands to get distribution at the right grocery store, on a good aisle, and with good shelf placement. Stay connected with Loyalty360! Follow us on LinkedIn and X for the latest loyalty insights, industry news, and upcoming events.https://www.linkedin.com/company/loyalty-360https://x.com/Loyalty360https://www.youtube.com/@Loyalty360_