MediaLift

  By: Ray Chelstowski When you participate in college tours like I did for the better part of this weekend, there’s a lot to take in and even more to remember. Without notes and the collateral they give you some important details can become blurry by the time you get home. However, what I heard often on tour (and didn’t forget) was how many colleges have embraced loyalty programs as a platform to drive engagement with their student body and ignite commercial activity within the community that surrounds their campus. More and more universities are launching loyalty programs that encourage students to use their ID cards beyond the dorm and dining hall. Campus ID cards are already the key to so many functions on campuses. Adding it to a digital wallet opens the door to tap-to-pay for things like printing, parking, laundry and more. The benefits of a college loyalty programs are not that different from most consumer platforms. Schools are looking to expand card usage/application and ...

  By: Ray Chelstowski / Hilton Barbour Sunday’s Super Bowl delivered on all fronts. Big rivalries. Big plays. Big finishes. Exactly the type of classic showdown that will go down in NFL mythology. Sunday had them all. And what about that spectacular Halftime Show? A perfect blend of old school rap and some unforgettable performers bringing that unique California attitude. Snoop, Dre, Mary, 50 and Eminem had me smiling ear to ear through it all. One win that possibly snuck by all the obvious advertising and marketing fanfare, was delivered by a cadre of forward-thinking loyalty marketers. Recognizing a unique opportunity to take the Super Bowl to an entirely different level of experience, national and regional brands leveraged consumer loyalty in meaningful and wonderfully creative ways. These are just a few that caught our eye… Caesars Caesars Entertainment had already developed an expansive endorsement of Peyton and Eli Manning’s   weekly “Monday Night Football” c...

  By: Ray Chelstowski The cannabis industry is one of the fastest growing businesses in America and is now legal in 18 states. As a result, dispensaries are flooding the market and trying to capture share by launching loyalty programs. Through these membership rewards initiatives dispensaries are looking to build average ticket size, improve customer retention, and of course attract new customers. Guess what? It’s working. Like most conventional loyalty programs those in the cannabis space have already proven to be effective in delivering consumers that spend more, buy more frequently, and opt for more expensive products. What’s different however is the noticeable discrepancy between individuals who initially sign up for a dispensary loyalty program and those who continue to participate in them. Many customers will often join for the initial “sign-up” discount - without ever intending to return for another transaction. In fact, 40% of customers who sign-up for a cannabis loy...