​Australian marketers recognise the need to drive customer loyalty, but a disconnect between the goal of customer loyalty and the measuring of this loyalty is causing programmes to be ineffective.

Telstra is planning to introduce a new customer loyalty program in March 2019 as part of its wide-reaching T22 strategy.

​Every CMO should aim to be as commercial as the CFO and as technical as the CIO, Virgin Velocity’s Dean Chadwick believes.

​BIG W is in its second year of a turnaround strategy, which aims to make the retailer more relatable to Australian families. And while it's early days, its general manager of marketing, Kristen Linders, says the retailer is starting to see some green shoots.

Weight Watchers has rebranded to WW, introduced new communities and is transforming its apps platforms, partnerships and rewards programs in a bid to cement a global position in the health and wellbeing space.

​Consumers are looking for in store experience and convenience, rather than loyalty programs. This is the word from tcc global, which recently ran a global research study of 15,000 shoppers in 15 countries to map the behavioural triggers, identify preferences, and define what loyalty means in today’s retail world.

The Reject Shop is launching a new loyalty program and is actively looking to capture data on the shopping habits and category interests of customers as part of ongoing growth strategy efforts.

The launch of Panthers Group's new-look customer loyalty program isn’t just a reflection of the clubs owner's enhanced investment into communications and engagement; it’s also proven a catalyst in aligning internal teams.

Leading Australian loyalty membership program, flybuys, has no shortage of data on its millions of members. So when the team started looking for ways to create customer surprise and delight to kick off the 2018 year, it latched onto the idea of turning these vast stores into hyper-personalised content customers could not only engage in, but also learn something about themselves.

Applying machine learning to the Virgin Velocity Frequent Flyers program has already seen communication effectiveness increase by 10 per cent and given teams the ability to apply advanced analytics at 10 times the pace, its data analytics chief says.

Flybuy’s decision to reward loyalty program members with points for viewing advertising, surveys and videos on their phones is about getting better engagement with customers via a device sitting at the heart of their everyday lives.

Medibank will give $20 million back to customers as part of a one-off loyalty bonus coinciding with the launch of its new Priority program for long-standing members.

Unused loyalty points and air miles can now be converted into a cash donation for charity at a time when ​cryptocurrency ​and credit card regulations are shaking up traditional customer loyalty programs.

Cryptocurrency is the biggest game-changer to hit customer loyalty programs since the introduction of frequent flyer points more than 30 years ago.

The top four actions for marketers to generate loyalty are ensuring quality of product or service; making customers feel important when purchasing; fostering consumer belief in brand; and offering value for money.

The age of customer centricity is here, and as experience increasingly becomes the biggest driver of digital transformation and marketing strategy, 2018 will be about moving the customer relationship to an even deeper and more dynamic level of personalised engagement.

Red Rooster and Oporto owner, Craveable Brands, has driven more than $9 million in sales and lifted its customer loyalty proposition and satisfaction ratings over the past 12 months after deploying a marketing cloud solution.

The rise of global fashion retailers in the Australian marketplace is placing increasing pressure on local brands to find more innovative ways to boost loyalty and drive engagement, which is what Country Road achieved recently by leveraging Stocard’s mobile loyalty technology.

Paul Stern’s proudest moment in the last 12 months was representing Kathmandu at the European Outdoor trade show. The reason? He’s spearheading a transformation of the outdoor clothing and accessories manufacturer and retailer’s international go-to-market strategy.

Village Cinemas says its new-look loyalty program is the direct result of customer data insights and a desire to give consumer flexibility in the types of rewards they can earn across their cinema experience.

The Velocity frequent flyers program was the financial jewel in an otherwise mixed half-year for Virgin Australia, which reported its results today.