Discounts May Drive Sales. Experiences Drive That and More

 

Discounts and points may drive transactions, but they rarely build lasting loyalty. New data shows consumers want more, and brands that add experiences to their incentive are seeing deeper engagement and repeat behavior. Here’s how adding experiential rewards turned everyday purchases into something customers actually remember for McDonald's.

1         Beyond Points and Discounts: Why the Future of Loyalty Is Experiential

For all the innovation in loyalty over the past decade, the fundamentals haven’t changed as much as brands might like to think. According to Forrester’s Retail Topic Insights 2 Survey, 2025, financial incentives still dominate the loyalty equation. Seventy-five percent of U.S. online adults say instant discounts are important in a loyalty program, while 70% value points, miles, or similar currencies.

That’s not surprising. Discounts and points are easy to understand, easy to deliver, and reliably effective at driving short-term behavior.

But they’re also easy to replicate.

And that’s where the opportunity, and the risk, emerges.

Because while consumers expect financial rewards, they don’t build emotional connections with them. The same Forrester data reveals something more nuanced: over half of consumers also place high value on benefits that feel more personal and differentiated—enhanced service, tailored offers, status, and importantly, experiences.

This is where loyalty programs begin to separate.

2         The Missing Layer in Loyalty

Brands don’t have the luxury of walking away from discounts or points. They are table stakes. But relying on them alone creates a ceiling—one where engagement becomes purely transactional and loyalty is reduced to a math problem.

The brands that break through are the ones that add another layer. Not instead of financial rewards, but alongside them.

Experiential rewards don’t replace value - they amplify it.

They give customers something to anticipate, something to remember, and something to associate with the brand beyond the moment of purchase. They shift the relationship from “what did I save?” to “what did I gain?”

And that shift matters.

Because while discounts can drive the next purchase, experiences can drive the next relationship.

3         Turning a Transaction Into Time Well Spent

This dynamic came to life in TLC’s work with McDonald’s and the “Happy Meal Adventure Pass.”

McDonald’s wasn’t facing a product problem. The Happy Meal is one of the most iconic offerings in quick-service dining. But in a crowded and competitive QSR landscape, the challenge was to reinvigorate the experience, driving repeat visits, increasing engagement, and giving families a reason to choose McDonald’s beyond convenience.

The solution wasn’t to remove what already worked. Kids still received the toy. The core value remained intact.

But layered on top of that was something new: an Adventure Pass that unlocked a world of family experiences.

Suddenly, a Happy Meal wasn’t just a meal. It became a gateway.

With each purchase, families gained access to a range of activities: theme parks, sports, music, educational workshops, and playgroups; designed to encourage time spent together. The value extended far beyond the transaction, turning a simple in-store moment into an ongoing, shared experience.

It wasn’t about replacing the toy. It was about reframing what the purchase could mean.

4         The Business Impact of Emotional Value

When brands create these kinds of extensions, the results tend to follow.

The Happy Meal Adventure Pass campaign drove over 200,000 visits, with 77% coming from returning users—an indication that engagement wasn’t fleeting but sustained. Overall campaign performance exceeded expectations by 274%, reinforcing the idea that when value is both tangible and emotional, it resonates more deeply.

What’s important here isn’t just the scale of the numbers. It’s what they represent.

Repeat engagement.
Deeper connection.
A reason to come back that isn’t purely price driven.

5         The New Loyalty Equation

The takeaway isn’t that discounts and points are going away. They aren’t.

But they are no longer enough on their own.

The most effective loyalty strategies today recognize a simple truth: consumers want value, but they also want meaning. They expect savings, but they remember experiences. 

Brands that balance both—grounding their programs in financial incentives while elevating them with experiential rewards—create a more powerful exchange. One that drives not just transactions, but affinity.

And in a market where every brand can offer 10% off, affinity is where the real advantage lives.

6         Where Brands Go From Here

The next evolution of loyalty isn’t about choosing between financial and experiential rewards. It’s about integrating them in a way that feels seamless, intuitive, and additive.

Because when done right, experiences don’t compete with discounts.

They make them matter more.

And as brands like McDonald’s have shown, when you turn everyday purchases into opportunities for something bigger—something shared, something memorable you don’t just drive engagement.

You build loyalty that lasts. – Ray Chelstowski