Loyalty Programs| Good or Bad?

Loyalty Programs have been around for a while and have caused a large debate on if they are ethical or not. There are many pros and cons to both the consumer and the retailer with the programs, so are they ethical? And trust me, it won’t come down to a black and white answer.

So first questions- where do you stand?

Do you think they are ethical? Or do you believe they breach consumer’s privacy rights? Do you think that the retailer opts in for the program maliciously? Or do they create a program while thinking of the customer first?

Basic Background Information:

Consumer Pros

                Get items at discounted prices, coupons, better targeted marketing, purchase history

Consumer Cons

                Junk mail, spending more money, not being considered a “better” customer, privacy issues

Retailer Pros

                Better marketing strategy, better sales campaigns, maintain customers

Retailer Cons

                Rewarding those who don’t purchase, costly, competition, no incentives

               

But the Holy Grail of this issue stems from the idea of Data Mining. Data Mining is “the practice of examining large databases in order to generate new information.” It seems reasonable: you had over your purchase behaviors and they generate new information for you. But when does it become unethical?  

So what is the answer?

As I said earlier, it is not black and white. The only way to discuss the matter is by looking at both groups and both sides of the topic.

Rule 40

Guidelines for NOCs regarding Rule 40 of the Olympic Charter

Paragraph 3 of the Bye-Law to Rule 40 (hereinafter Rule 40) of the Olympic Charter states:

"Except as permitted by the IOC Executive Board, no competitor, coach, trainer or official who participates in the Olympic Games may allow his person, name, picture or sports performances to be used for advertising purposes during the Olympic Games”.

The financial model for the Olympic Movement, including NOCs, IFs, OCOGs and, indirectly, athletes, is based on the exclusivity of rights granted for Olympic marks. Rule 40 provides a framework and guidelines for all participants, to ensure that the partners which have acquired the rights to the Olympic properties are respected. With Rule 40, the IOC also prevents over-commercialisation of the Games; it reinforces the uniqueness of the event, removing undue commercial presence on the field of play, which ensures that the performance of the athletes is the focus.

The Olympics are an iconic sporting event that takes place every two years. The branding committee will spend millions upon millions of dollars to become an Official Sponsor- but what does that really mean? Well, with regards to Rule 40, you are one of the few brands whose able to mention the Olympic Games.

So what better way to advertise your brand then at the Olympics? Millions of people tune into the ceremonies and games for weeks at a time, causing the Olympics to become a conversation piece for the weeks surrounding. But the pricier it becomes to be an Official Sponsor, the more ways brands will try to use ambush marketing as a tactic to be seen.

Ambush marketing is the “idea of healthy competition in a climate of expensive and often ill-

conceived sponsorship's.”

SuperBrand

Once a year one of the greatest events of the year happens: Christmas, Halloween, my birthday, Nordstrom Half Yearly Sale, no, no, no… the SUPERBOWL. With brands paying approximately 4 million dollars for a thirty-second ad, they are doing everything they can to be the most memorable. But what makes a memorable ad? Which appeal works best?  Are you going to focus on your target market, the Superbowl watchers, or more broad because it is such a hyped event? Will you release the ad early, if so how early?

These are just a few of the things I thought would be going through marketers minds for the past few months. 

| Fear | Humor | Musical |

This summer when I lived in New York, I started a blog called Deebs In The City, which detailed my adventures of a solo Oregon raised girl living in the big apple with no idea on why I was there. Half way through my trip and 22 blog posts down I hit this wall. Not a writer’s block because I knew what I was going to write about, but a block because there was too much to write about. The feeling I got was the same feeling I had when I went to write this blog post. How was I to pick three ads? We have grown up in a world where we are constantly bombarded by ads- about 5,000 per day. I had so many thoughts going through my mind and I couldn't pick just three ads (don’t worry, after countless hours I picked three).

Luckily, my search became more narrow when I actively thought about the criteria for the ad, they had to speak to my style, they had to be memorable and they had to be done with certain finesse.  My top criteria for the ads were that it has not yet been shown in class.

When searching for the ads and the initial drafts of this post, I changed my idea for the types of appeals and the ad, to make sure I had the best ones in my post. In the end I chose to write about fear, humor and musical. But in each ad, there are multiple appeals within; something that I noticed and I think is very effective.