This happened around the time we at Texaco began reviewing our loyalty scheme programme and it struck me as particularly timely, because you can't be loyal to everyone.
When Texaco launched its Global Club card programme in the early 1990s, it was one of the first reward schemes offered by a fuel retailer. Since then, there has been a proliferation of loyalty cards in all industry sectors, not just in fuel retailing.
So when it came to reviewing our own scheme we had to ask ourselves two questions. First, do customers still feel rewarded and valued by the loyalty schemes they sign up to? Second, are these reward programmes producing more loyal customers? The answer from our research was no to both. Consumers feel they have wallets full of cards, all with confusing points systems that are unlikely to be redeemed in their lifetimes.
So, though customer expectations have evolved, loyalty schemes have not.
Our own strategy for tackling this was to develop a scheme called WE.O.U., which is transparent and simple to follow, but which also offers tangible rewards - a practical and honest thank you for customer loyalty.
The WE.O.U scheme is an attempt to offer a differentiated loyalty programme that really tries to get to know its customer, because, whatever the supermarkets and the loyalty suppliers think, it's clear that reward cards alone just don't cut it any more when it comes to building closer consumer relationships.
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