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Nectar still tastes sweet

Posted in Direct Marketing, Branwell Johnson, Latest reporters' blogs December 3rd, 2007 by Branwell Johnson

Loyalty card marketing is not dead if the £326 million pounds paid for Nectar by Canadian loyalty scheme operator Aeroplan is anything to go by.

The last rites have been read over loyalty marketing a number of times in recent years with the argument put forward that consumers are looking for more instant and higher value rewards. After Nectar launched there was a flurry of loyalty card activity from several quarters, from airlines to book and coffee shops.

Then the naysayers appeared and suggested that shoppers just were not fired up about two free tickets to the Odeon cinema and were also a little tired with till operators muttering quickly “Got a Nectar/Clubcard?” as they were trying to stuff their shopping into hard-to-open plastic bags. Churn amongst those using their card was high and partner brands defected after a short while.

But no, it looks like Nectar founder and Olympic 2012 guru Keith Mills, who launched AirMiles, had his finger on the pulse all along. It’s the data that matters – the huge amounts of information that can be gleaned about consumer buying habits. My own personal experience shows how swiftly the stakeholders can react. I bought one pack of nappies from Tesco’s for the first time and within days was being targeted with family baby offers and promotions.

Aeroplan will be investing heavily in Nectar and it will be interesting to see which brands will see a potential partnership as “cool” again and will jump on board.

To read the news story related to this blog, go to mad.co.uk