Have you swiped your Clubcard?

Lou and Dom recently went to hear one of the inventors of the Tesco Clubcard, Creative Director Terry Hunt, give a presentation on customer loyalty. 

Here are 15 things he learnt from 15 years at Tesco:

1. Loyalty is about a reason to prefer - Loyalty is about winning a margin of preference in an undifferentiated market, not necessarily about completely changing opinions.

2. A loyalty programme is not an end, it's a means to an end - You need to fully understand what it is that you're trying to do. Because everyone else is, is not a reason.

3. What do you want your customer to be loyal to? - The brand? The product? The branch? The programme itself? Work it out and don't measure the wrong thing.

4. Make it make sense to the brand - You have to make sure that the programme is the natural child of the brand - even if it starts to define it.

5. Be honest - Be open and straightforward about what you're trying to get your customer to do. It's as much about you showing loyalty to your customers as it is them showing loyalty to you.

6. Reward good behaviour - Encourage the behaviour you want to see. Yes, I know, very Pavlovian!

7. Turn customers into members - Make your customers feel as though they are getting something that non-members aren't, otherwise what's the point?

8. Better to be a chosen than a given - You need to keep innovating and changing to keep fresh. Look at double points - it became the norm. Also, giving your customers active choice is incredibly important.

9. Simple works, complicated doesn't - Some of the best loyalty schemes are the most simple.

10. Loyalty, not monogamy - It's not about customers never going elsewhere, it's about them being rewarded for choosing you.

11. Easy to earn, quick to burn - Make it easy to both get the points and to use them.

12. Conditional vs Unconditional - There's a reason banks can't do loyalty programmes. They can't get their heads around unconditional giving. Invest in the base, be generous and it will come back around.

13. Keep it fresh - Programmes can get stale. Keep them moving!

14. Knowledge rich or knowledge light? - How much knowledge do you really need on your customers? Don't just collect it for the sake of it.

15. De-average your marketing - You've been given the green light to talk to your customers - but don't abuse it. You can convey to them all your DM/offers/promos/price-led stuff and free up ATL channels for brand focused stuff.