CMO Council to Launch Research About Loyalty Programs

Chief Marketing Officer Council and InfoPrint Solutions Co., the joint venture between IBM and Ricoh, plan to launch a research initiative this summer to develop best practices for loyalty programs.

The research will be groundbreaking in that it will offer new and creative ways in which marketers can use rewards, loyalty, perk and points programs to not only retain customers, but to acquire new ones, the companies said.

“A critical mandate for survival in today’s tough economy,” they said.

The groups will audit and assess the operations and innovation in loyalty club programs as well as gain a deep understanding of the value and utilization of customer data to drive response rates and top line growth, the firms said.

Part of the initiative, called Getting a Lift from Loyalty, will be to develop multiple pilots to test a variety of optimized communications within loyalty programs.

More than 75% of consumers are members of loyalty or rewards programs and 25% belong to two or more, according to the CMO Council. Marketers spend more than $1 billion on these campaigns, but many do not have clear strategies for optimizing the return on investment, the companies said.

A report on the results is expected by the end of the year, said InfoPrint spokesperson Tracey Sheehy.