March 2009

Reward program members more likely to be WOM champions
CINCINNATI, OH– Consumers who are loyalty reward program members are far more likely to be Word-of-Mouth (WOM) champions for their favorite brands than non-members, and the more active their program participation, the more likely they are to exhibit WOM behavior, according to a study released today by COLLOQUY.

The study is titled “The New Champion Customers: Measuring Word-of-Mouth Activity Among Reward Program Members.” It is available as a free download at www.colloquy.com/whitepaper. The analysis offers significant evidence of a direct and important correlation between reward program activity and consumers’ positive WOM endorsement activity.

Key findings:

• Reward program members are 70% more likely to be WOM champions (defined as customers who are “actively recommending” a product, service or brand) than the general population;
  55% of reward program members are self-described WOM champions;
• Only 32% of non-reward program members are self-described WOM champions;
• 68% of WOM champions in reward programs will recommend a program sponsor’s brand within a year;
• Actively participating reward program members are over three times more likely to be WOM champions;
• Reward program members who have redeemed for experiential rewards are 30% more likely to be WOM champions than those who have redeemed for discounts.

This research shows that a company’s loyalty marketing database is an under-utilized social network that marketers would do well to exploit in the pursuit of positive, profitable WOM activity.
“If your goal is to cultivate and encourage ongoing, profitable customer WOM activity, all of the tools exist within the loyalty marketing database. Loyalty marketers should find the champions buried within their program memberships, and build relationships that reward them for positive WOM activity,” said COLLOQUY editorial director Rick Ferguson, who co-authored the study with COLLOQUY partner Kelly Hlavinka.

COLLOQUY is a provider of loyalty marketing publishing, education and research. In October 2008, COLLOQUY conducted a consumer research survey designed to explore the intersection of consumers who participate in reward programs and their WOM activity regarding brands, reward programs and specific product categories. This survey of 3,610 U.S. and 3,583 Canadian consumers was subdivided into specific demographic segments and by specific WOM behaviors.

Motivations
The COLLOQUY research also examined the motivations of WOM champions—asking why they engaged in WOM activity regarding their favourite products and brands and what categories of offers and information they were most likely to pass along to others within their networks
The top five motivations of WOM champions were:

• To tell manufacturers what I think: 73%
• To get smart about products/services: 68%
• To be the first to discover new items: 68%
• To get free product samples: 63%
• To share my opinion with others: 61%

“These statistics reinforce the importance of social capital to WOM champions,” Hlavinka said. “Indeed, the self-reported motivations of these consumers reflect its importance—‘to be first’ and ‘to share my opinion’ were both top five motivations. What surprised us were the top two motivations for WOM Champions— ‘to tell manufacturers what I think,’ and ‘to get smart about products and services.’”

Crave deeper relationship
Hlavinka added that these findings suggest “WOM champions crave a deeper relationship with their favorite brands and are searching for ways to provide feedback. Four of these top five responses also reflect the importance of confirming self-worth—that is, a champion feels important when she tells a company what they could do better, when she can share information with her peer group, be ‘in the know’ and share her opinions. And, of course, 63 percent of champions admit that they engage in WOM activities to earn free stuff.”

COLLOQUY comprises a collection of publishing, education and research resources devoted to the global loyalty-marketing industry. COLLOQUY® has served the loyalty-marketing industry since 1990 with over 30,000 global subscribers to its magazine and www.colloquy.com is the most comprehensive loyalty web site in the world. COLLOQUY’s research division develops consumer and B-to-B research studies and white papers including industry-specific reports, sizing studies and insights into the drivers of consumer behavior. COLLOQUY also provides educational services through workshops, webinars and speeches at events throughout the world and is the official loyalty-marketing partner of both the Direct Marketing Association and the Canadian Marketing Association. COLLOQUY also operates The COLLOQUY Network, a global consortium of practitioners certified in COLLOQUY’s proprietary methodology. COLLOQUY magazine subscriptions are available at no cost to qualified persons at www.colloquy.com.

Aeroplan expands with Futura Loyalty Group
MONTREAL—Aeroplan announced it has entered into a multi-year agreement with The Futura Loyalty Group Inc. (“Futura”) that will enable Futura to offer Aeroplan Miles to small and mid-size retailers and service providers across Canada. Since signing the agreement, Futura has contracted more than 25 new businesses who will offer Aeroplan Miles to customers and many more have shown interest.
This partnership builds on Aeroplan’s strategy to expand its already strong roster of national partners with select businesses in local communities. Today, Aeroplan’s millions of members can earn Aeroplan Miles with over 70 partners, representing more than 150 brands in the financial, retail, and travel sectors.

“Our partnership with Futura will enable Aeroplan to broaden the reach of our program in local neighbourhoods from coast to coast, offering members more options to earn miles close to home with a number of new categories, such as home furnishings, health and fitness, landscaping, catering and business services,” said Vince Timpano, president, Aeroplan in a statement. “This also provides local merchants with a compelling opportunity during these challenging economic times to incentivize new and existing customers to do business with them.”

Working closely with Aeroplan, Futura will acquire and manage the new local business relationships. Futura will use its card “swipe” point-of-sale terminal solution or the new web-based Mile issuance solution jointly created with Aeroplan to execute these relationships.

Through the joint development of the web-based Mile issuance solution with Futura, Aeroplan expands its robust suite of Aeronote Program solutions that companies can use to offer Aeroplan Miles to their customers. The Aeronote Program allows businesses to offer Aeroplan Miles for consumer incentive programs, B2B programs and general promotions in categories such as packaged goods, media and entertainment, telecommunications and automotive.

In addition, Aeroplan offers businesses the opportunity to use Aeroplan Miles for manufacturer, distributor and employee incentive programs through its partnership with Pareto Corporation and the Elevate Incentives business.

For more information on Futura’s merchant offering as well as a listing of recently launched partners, please visit: www.TFLG.ca.

Petro-Points teams with CAA
The PETRO-POINTS rewards program and CAA (a not-for-profit organization that delivers automotive, travel, insurance, advocacy and associated products and services) have teamed to offer joint member benefits including the ability to earn 1,000 bonus points upon registration as a joint CAA and PETRO-POINTS member, exchange PETRO-POINTS for CAA dollars or redeem PETRO-POINTS for a CAA Membership, and earn 20 percent more PETRO-POINTS on all fuel and convenience purchases at Petro-Canada retail stations.

“This is a great opportunity to help people to get more out of their memberships,” says Phil Churton, vice-president, Marketing, Petro-Canada in a statement. “By signing up as a joint PETRO-POINTS and CAA member, you get the benefits of both programs, plus the opportunity to earn PETRO-POINTS faster than before.”

“We are very excited to launch this new member benefit program with PETRO-POINTS,” said Nick Parks CEO of CAA South Central Ontario in a statement. “Along with the other two Ontario CAA Clubs, CAA North & East and CAA Niagara, we have been actively seeking a retail petroleum partner, and in developing this new program with PETRO-POINTS, we feel that we will deliver tremendous new value to our members.”

The CAA began as a motoring league in 1903, with some 2.2 million CAA members in Ontario and 4.8 million members in Canada. PETRO-POINTS was launched in 1995.

Launches new social CRM solution for marketers
Providence, RI – BatchBlue Software (www.BatchBlue.com), provider of BatchBook social customer relationship management (CRM) solutions for small business, has announced the launch of BatchBook for Marketing, a new, customized Web-based CRM solution created specifically for marketers, such as public relations and marketing communications professionals. Working closely with its BatchBook for Marketing Advisory Panel, BatchBlue developed a set of marketing-specific features, functions and SuperTags that efficiently manage and maximize a marketers’ network of social media contacts, communications and to-do lists.

“Marketing professionals are leading the way in making social media a part of a business’ relationship with its customers”, said BatchBlue President Pamela O’Hara in a statement. “They’re finding the best way to engage, entertain and even serve their customers on blogs, in Twitter or various other places online. Developing a version of BatchBook that specifically helps to better navigate and manage this new terrain seemed like a natural choice.”

• BatchBook for Marketing enables marketers to:
  Monitor prospect, customer and other blog posts, tweets and bookmarks with Social Media “SuperTags” (tags in which users can group contacts together and create custom fields) to gain unique insights into what they are thinking and doing;
• Track e-mail, phone and in-person communications with contacts, keeping business-critical information easily at-hand;
• Send e-mails directly into BatchBook with the BatchBox mail-forwarding feature, which stores communications, attaches them to relevant contacts (and creates new contacts, if needed) and retains any attachments;
• Create connections with contacts by relationship to identify how people know each other and why they were added to their contacts network;
• and, Organize and tag contacts by event, industry or association.

For a free 30-day trial of BatchBook for Marketing please visit www.BatchBlue.com.

Air Miles renews with Hudson’s Bay Company
Alliance Data has announced that Canada’s largest diversified general merchandise retailer, Hudson’s Bay Company, has signed a multi-year renewal agreement as a national sponsor and rewards supplier with the AIR MILES Reward Program. A top-15 AIR MILES sponsor, Hudson’s Bay Company is a division of Hudson’s Bay Trading Company. Hudson’s Bay Company operates more than 600 retail outlets including The Bay, a major department store; Zellers, a mass-merchandise format; Home Outfitters, a kitchen, bed and bath specialty store; and value-priced Fields stores. With more than 60,000 associates in Canada, Hudson’s Bay Company provides Canadians with stylish, quality merchandise at great value, through retail brands focused on customer service. The company has been an AIR MILES Reward Program sponsor since 1998.

“With almost four centuries of retail experience under its belt, Hudson’s Bay Company is one of Canada’s flagship brands and a significant participant in the AIR MILES Reward Program,” says Bryan Pearson, president, Alliance Data’s LoyaltyOne business. “This long-term relationship, and in particular this multi-year renewal in the retail category, demonstrates the value of our loyalty program to major brands and cornerstone businesses in the Canadian marketplace.”

"CRM & the Economy" white paper now available
BOSTON, MA - Innoveer Solutions, an award-winning customer strategy and solutions consultancy, has announced the availability of its latest white paper, “CRM & the Economy,” which discusses ways that organizations can streamline sales, marketing and service operations to decrease costs and increase efficiency during the economic downturn. The paper is now available in the white paper library on Innoveer’s Web site at http://innoveer.com/economy_wp.pdf.

This white paper offers strategies for making small process and technology enhancements that can lead to large efficiency and cost-savings gains in the areas of sales, marketing and service, and cites numerous customer examples. It explores how refining existing CRM processes, tools and capabilities or linking different customer-facing activities and operations can provide companies with essential insight and business intelligence to support shifting business objectives during difficult economic times.

“During the economic downturn, organizations will benefit from streamlining their sales, marketing and service programs, as this can have a multiplying effect, leading to significant cost savings, improved efficiency and numerous business outcomes over time,” said Adam Honig, president and CEO of Innoveer Solutions in a statement. “Now is a great time for companies to invest in revitalizing existing CRM processes as they will realize more out of their previous investments-and be well-positioned from a competitive standpoint when the economy rebounds.”

The white paper also includes details on how to improve customer targeting, lead management and partner relationship management (PRM) programs to boost revenue without increasing operating costs.

WeightWatchers.ca joins airmilesshops.ca
Aimilesshops.ca, the one-stop online shopping mall for AIR MILES Collectors, has added WeightWatchers.ca to its growing list of 100+ brand name stores and services where cardholders can shop online to earn even more reward miles.

Expanding its category of Fitness & Nutrition stores, airmilesshops.ca offers Collectors ten bonus AIR MILES reward miles when they sign up online for a membership at WeightWatchers.ca.

“The addition of WeightWatchers.ca to our list of retail partners adds a whole new dimension to the lifestyle aspect of online shopping for Canadians,” said Emmie Fukuchi, director of airmilesshops.ca in a statement. “Helping people achieve their fitness goals for over 40 years, Weight Watchers complements our offerings that meet the diverse needs of today’s health-conscious consumers.”

Recently airmilesshops.ca added nine other new stores to its list of online retail partners, including Blue Nile, Footlocker, Lancome, Biotherm, Biography, History Channel, Maclean’s, Today’s Parent and Eastbay.

A rapidly growing trend, the number of Canadians turning to online shopping is increasing year over year according to Statistics Canada. Based on these figures, eMarketer summarizes that Canadian households spent approximately $15 billion (CDN) online in 2007, which translates into a 42 percent increase over 2006 spending. If the trend continues, Canadians’ online spending is expected to double, reaching $37 billion (CDN) by 2011.

Analytics address challenges
Toronto – Angoss Software Corporation (TSX-V: ANC), a leading provider of data mining and predictive analytics solutions for the financial services and information and communications technology industries, has announced that Angoss KnowledgeSEEKER for Salesforce CRM is now available on the Force.comAppExchange. The Force.com AppExchange from salesforce.com is a marketplace of business applications that customers can use to extend the benefits of cloud computing throughout the enterprise. Angoss analytics allow businesses to improve sales effectiveness by focusing on leads and opportunities with the greatest likelihood of success, while its predictive forecasting provides leaders with the certainty they require for consistently accurate sales planning.

“Organizations are constantly seeking new ways to maximize sales growth while maintaining expenses,” announced Eric Apps, Angoss president and CEO in a statement. “Angoss is pleased to be certified on the Force.com AppExchange and expects this to be an important channel to introduce the business benefits of data mining to mainstream business users and help solve these perennial challenges.”

The Force.com platform powers the Salesforce CRM applications, more than 800 ISV partner applications such as those from CODA and Fujitsu, and more than 85,000 custom applications used by salesforce.com’s 51,800 customers such as Japan Post, Kaiser Permanente, KONE and Sprint Nextel. Customers and partners are using Force.com to build all kinds of business applications from supply chain management to compliance tracking, brand management, accounts receivable, claims processing applications and much more.

Applications built on the Force.com platform can be easily distributed to the entire cloud computing community through the Force.com AppExchange marketplace at http://www.salesforce.com/appexchange/.