Transcript of the episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VakSRW4vTI
On loyalty programmes at night – Dr Tomasz Makaruk, i360 Sp. z o.o.
KN: Good evening, my name is Katarzyna Nawrocka and I’d like to welcome you to my new YouTube channel, “Loyalty Schemes at Night”, and I have a very special guest with me today.
TM: Good evening, my name is Tomasz Makaruk.
KN: Tomasz, there’s a reason you’re here with me today, and that is because:
TM: I’m in charge of the i360.
KN: So you’re in charge, then?
TM: I am the chairman of the board and a co-owner. I have held both these roles simultaneously for the past 11 years without interruption.
KN: Right, so we’ve cleared that up; now let’s explain to you what i360 is, as I suspect not everyone knows.
TM: i360 is a company that professionally manages loyalty and incentive schemes. Loyalty programmes are those aimed at end consumers, whilst incentive programmes are those aimed at representatives of the various links in the distribution chain. Our core competence lies in our proprietary IT system and its integration with external data warehouses, whether those of external distributors or our clients’ own data warehouses. We provide a whole range of additional services alongside the system, covering strategy development, data management, procurement, rewards logistics, creative work and all the other aspects that together make up a loyalty programme.
KN: Let’s take it a step further and break down the concept of a loyalty scheme. What does it mean?
TM: A loyalty programme is a long-term initiative – typically run on an annual basis over several years – designed to build the end consumer’s loyalty to either the brand or the retail chain, whereas in the case of B2B programmes – that is, incentive schemes – the aim is to encourage commercial intermediaries to achieve the targets set for them by the organisers. These commercial intermediaries include distributors, their sales representatives, retailers, shop assistants in traditional retail outlets, and salespeople in the professional retail sector.
KN: Can we put it simply like this: a loyalty scheme is about collecting points to earn rewards?
TM: Points were the very element with which loyalty schemes began, and that was back in the 20th century. Later, however, the market evolved towards discount schemes – that is, schemes which, instead of points, offered all manner of discounts and reductions, resulting in a lower price paid by the customer at the point of sale. further on, hybrid programmes emerged – that is, those where discounts and points operated in parallel, whether in a form where points were exchanged for discounts or where they were simply one of many rewards, right up to ‘money back’ or ‘cash back’ programmes – the newest but most dynamically developing category, where, ultimately, we receive a refund of part of the price we paid for a product or service.
KN: Yes, everyone will be interested in the rewards, but what caught my attention was the fact that loyalty schemes have been around in Poland for over 20 years.
TM: Yes, the first programmes were created back in the 20th century.
KN: So there’s a bit of a story here, and we’ll certainly be talking about it again, but let’s get back to the fact that we’re hosting the first episode. Let’s tell you what’s going to happen here and what we’ll be discussing.
TM: We are creating an expert YouTube channel aimed at professionals working in trade marketing, sales and marketing on a day-to-day basis. We will be sharing expert knowledge, commenting on key market developments and tracking trends, both in Poland and abroad, and benchmark the US market in particular, as it is the most mature in terms of customer loyalty; and, finally, we’ll be inviting guests to share their knowledge and experience with us.
KN: And to be perfectly honest, because we’re so busy during the day, this is a chance for us to get together, have a relaxed chat about important topics and share our experiences.
TM: People always speak frankly in the evening.
KN: That wasn’t the direction I was heading in; I was thinking more along the lines that we work during the day so that we can talk about it in the evening.
Yes, here at i360 we work from dawn till dusk to share our knowledge and experience; we have time at night to discuss the most important market developments, which is why the channel is called “Loyalty Schemes at Night”.
KN: But we can promise you that there’ll definitely be a very relaxed atmosphere here and you’ll learn lots of interesting things. Tomasz, before I ask you what we’ll be discussing in the next episodes, I’d like to point out that the theme of data keeps cropping up in our conversation.
TM: Yes, data is the most important aspect of any loyalty or incentive programme. It is thanks to the data we collect through the loyalty programme that we can understand, but also shape, the attitudes and behaviours of loyalty programme participants. By organising loyalty programmes, we gain significantly more insight than can be derived from analysing shop receipts alone. This is a very important aspect, and skilfully understanding, analysing and creating predictive models is the key to the success of a well-organised loyalty programme.
KN: In which sectors can we find loyalty schemes? As a private individual, I can only think of the food sector.
TM: Loyalty schemes are common in most market sectors, perhaps with the exception of those where they are prohibited by law. There are sectors where all the major players run their own loyalty schemes, such as the food retail sector or petrol stations. It is indeed the case that the category with the highest number of programmes is the one you mentioned, namely the food retail sector.
KN: So we can safely say that, thanks to loyalty schemes, we are getting our client’s customers used to the brand.
TM: We encourage repeat business through consistent purchasing, and through our incentive schemes we encourage them to meet the targets set for them. These are usually measured in terms of sales growth, and ultimately performance is assessed based on changes in volume and value.
KN: That’s how we build a relationship with the customer, and – something I really like – the customer becomes loyal.
TM: That’s exactly the point.
KN: That’s why we have the loyalty scheme.
TM: On the ‘Loyalty Schemes at Night’ channel, we’ll be sharing the most interesting case studies from the loyalty and incentive schemes we’re currently implementing. But that’s not all. We’ll also be commenting on market developments and analysing trends, both on the Polish market and on international markets – particularly the US market, which is the most mature market in terms of loyalty programmes. We are committed to ensuring this is a highly expert and professional channel where we share, in an accessible way, the highly specialised knowledge essential for the day-to-day work of professionals in trade marketing, marketing and sales departments.
KN: So we work and do our research during the day, just so we can talk about it on YouTube at night?
TM: That’s exactly how it’ll be.
KN: Tomasz, where did the idea for the YouTube channel come from?
TM: I’ve been writing my own blog about loyalty schemes for 11 years; it can be found at www.tomszmakaruk.pl
KN: We’ll also include this link in the description of our episode.
TM: The audience for this episode consists of people aged 20–45. The younger segment of our readership, in particular, consists of people who prefer and are used to acquiring knowledge through video; we are listening to these needs and, alongside the blog, we will continue to develop and launch our YouTube channel.
KN: We’ve got the written word over there; here, we’ll be telling you the story. My guest – and yours – was Tomasz Makaruk, CEO of i360, and together we invite you to tune in to the next episode
TM: Thank you very much, and please do come along.
