#LEAwards 2021 spills: Collinson's secret sauce to driving customer loyalty

Collinson was shortlisted as a finalist for Best COVID-19 Response - Engagement and CX, and won Gold for Best COVID-19 Response - Relationship Marketing at MARKETING-INTERACTIVE's Loyalty & Engagement Awards 2021 in partnership with client Singapore Airlines and Scoot. 

Daniel Cantorna (pictured), vice president, data, insight and technology, APAC at Collinson, told MARKETING-INTERACTIVE that the company quickly recognised the impact of the pandemic on brands in the travel ecosystem. By leveraging over 30 years of expertise in loyalty strategy and data services, Collinson helped organisations remain front of mind, and even deepened their customer’s loyalty, while travellers were grounded.

This interview is done as part of MARKETING-INTERACTIVE’s winners' and finalists’ interview series for Loyalty & Engagement Awards 2021. To find out more about the awards, click here.

How has your marketing shifted over the past few months, as we come to terms with the pandemic?

Cantorna: In today’s world, consumers expect personalised, relevant and timely experiences – but ultimately, these experiences must add value to their lives. As a company that’s rooted in the travel industry, we recognise the impact closed borders and the difficulty associated with travelling during the COVID-19 pandemic has had on everyone’s life. At the beginning of the pandemic, we quickly recognised the impact on brands in the travel ecosystem. With more than 30 years of expertise in loyalty strategy and data services, we used this knowledge to ensure the organisations we work with remained front of mind, and even deepened their customer’s loyalty, while travellers were grounded.

We leveraged our global travel medical resources and became one of the first in-airport COVID-19 testing travelling company, as well as working to secure partnerships with more than 30 airlines, airports, and health service providers. We have also partnered with the WHO Foundation to help set up the Global Travel Sector Vaccine Coalition (as a part of WHO Foundation’s Go Get One Initiative).

This coalition was created to bring the travel industry together, using our collective reach to ensure everyone, no matter where they are in the world, has access to the COVID-19 vaccine. We believe in the power of numbers and so we’ve been urging everyone – customers and travel companies alike - to join forces with us for this initiative. As the pandemic moves into its third year, we will continue to shift and adapt our marketing approach to meet the ever changing needs of consumers and help them travel safely again.

What was one shift in consumer behaviour in the loyalty and engagement space that surprised you?

Cantorna: With the ability to travel internationally greatly reduced during the pandemic, particularly in Asia Pacific countries, more people are trying new experiences – particularly ones that are locally based. A higher number of redemptions for experiential rewards, such as well-being experiences and the development of new skills has been seen across our loyalty platforms – demonstrating the value brands can bring their customers through offering relevant, personalised experiences that cater to their individual needs at this challenging time.

Another noticeable change is the demand for eCommerce platforms, beyond just those for grocery, shopping, and food delivery services. Every consumer – young or old is digitally savvy -the challenge for brands will be ensuring their different needs are met. This shows the importance of having a grasp on first party data to deliver an experience consumers have come to expect.

With so many options, how can brands build up loyalty with their consumers and stand out? 

Cantorna: Customer loyalty is driven by relevance, customer satisfaction and the ability to create enduring relationships. In the current pandemic landscape, businesses have a unique opportunity to capture the hearts and minds of customers, driving brand loyalty. A common pitfall for marketers is using data to bombard customers with generic messaging, such as, “You bought this pair of trousers, now you need to buy this shirt”. This mechanical approach is unlikely to succeed. These days, a customer expects the brands to know what they want before they even know what they want themselves. Attracting long-term customer loyalty is a carefully balanced process.

At Collinson, we believe the best approach involves streamlining your data to achieve a single customer view to better understand customer behaviours and preferences, before leveraging segmentation tactics to more easily identify and retain your most valuable customers; in turn enabling you to devote more attention to this group, encouraging feedback and discourse, and ultimately building a network effect. This is key to building emotional loyalty.

Enduring customer loyalty can be achieved with two-way interaction, personalisation, and by combining a human touch with data and analytical rigour. Only with these in place will it be possible to create stand out experiences for customers, who will in turn reward brands with their loyalty.

What can we expect from your brand in 2022?

Cantorna: Brands will continue to face uncertainty and challenges due to the pandemic. It’s going to be essential to keep consumers wants and pain points at the heart of everything brands do. At Collinson, we will continue to help brands gain a grasp of first-party data which will help them understand the ever-evolving needs of their customers and in turn help them to deliver against these needs. We will continue to help our clients in understanding their consumer requirements, build dialogue with them, and create loyalty through relevancy, rewards and recognition.

About Collinson

By combining AI-powered technology, a global network of data scientists, and more than 30 years’ loyalty expertise, Collinson empowers brands to thrive through disruption by delivering insights-powered customer experiences that in turn yield year-on-year growth.

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