Call me Loyal – loyalty experts gather for Loyal 2012

20 September 2012

Call me Loyal – loyalty experts gather for Loyal 2012

Loyal is not just arguably New Zealand’s favourite Dave Dobbyn song and a trait Kiwis pride themselves in, it’s a hot topic for Kiwi retailers when it comes to talking about customer behaviour. This month, Auckland was abuzz with the word as Loyal 2012, New Zealand’s premier loyalty marketing knowledge exchange, got underway.

The two day event held on 12 and 13 September at The Langham Hotel provided a mix of speaker presentations, practical workshops and case study sessions for over 120 attendees. Attendees were largely made up of representatives from the 53 leading New Zealand retail and service providers who partner with the successful Fly Buys loyalty programme.

Fifteen presentations and speeches were on offer and attendees could also take part in six workshops on topics including how to reach business customers and how to use data analytics and location intelligence to increase customer loyalty.

Not surprising given its theme, social media was a hot topic at Loyal 2012. Vanessa Clarke presented up-to-the-minute Colmar Brunton research on New Zealander’s social media habits, Jenene Crossan of NZ Girl and Flossie.com fame shared hard-won lessons about social media and digital marketing strategy, and an interactive panel workshop dedicated to social media was on offer.

Much of the event was future-facing with presentations about the future of topics close to Kiwi retailers’ hearts, such as near field communications and contactless payments, the New Zealand economy, New Zealand Post and the postal services industry in general.

While the New Zealand market was naturally a key focus for attendees, an international perspective permeated much of the presentations. Additionally speakers included experts from Australia and America and an Asia-Pacific consulting firm, which gave the audience tips on how other loyalty programmes worldwide were employing various coalition loyalty strategies. Another presentation reviewed some of the best advertising in the world as showcased at the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity in France earlier this year.

Attendees were also treated to a hilarious examination of personality traits to better understand customers from acclaimed speaker Allison Mooney and an exclusive unveiling of the new Fly Buys television commercial and brand campaign before it was shown to the public.

The event was live tweeted from Loyalty New Zealand’s twitter account @Loyalty_NZ. Attendees and Twitter followers were encouraged to join in the conversation and over 200 tweets using the twitter hashtag #Loyal2012 were sent during the event.

Loyal 2012 was run by Loyalty New Zealand, New Zealand’s loyalty experts who, in case you’re wondering, wisely decided to save that song for another occasion.

About Loyalty New Zealand

Loyalty New Zealand is New Zealand’s expert in customer loyalty. This expertise has been developed over 16 years managing one of the world’s most successful loyalty marketing programmes, Fly Buys. Loyalty New Zealand offers its clients a range of loyalty and CRM services - from customer insights and analytics, to data and customer management, and marketing and creative services. For more information about Loyalty New Zealand see www.loyalty.co.nz.

For more information about Fly Buys and a full list of Fly Buys partners, visit www.flybuys.co.nz.

ENDS

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