Loyalty 3.0: How to Revolutionize Customer and Employee Engagement with Big Data and Gamification

CHAPTER 1May You Live in Interesting Times

The Three Faces of Loyalty

When you think of the word loyalty in the context of business, what comes to mind? If you’re like most people, the first thing that will pop into your head is a typical loyalty program, where you earn points for your purchases and can redeem them for rewards. These programs are meant to drive customer loyalty, and according to studies,¹ you’re probably a member of 18 of them. And yet I’m willing to bet that you’re deeply ambivalent about all of them and, if given a better offer by another business, would gladly defect. These programs, on which billions of dollars are spent annually, aren’t generating loyalty to a business; they’re generating loyalty to the best deal and so ...