How Brands Can Build Lasting Relationships With Fickle Customers

Yahoo

19-06-2025

Loyalty today means giving customers a reason to stick with a brand.
First-party data is the loyalty engine, as is creating mutual value.
Experiences, not discounts, seal the relationship.
Consumers today have infinite ways to scroll past, swipe away, or price compare a brand out of their lives, and brands now have the daunting task of giving consumers a compelling reason to stay.
During an ADWEEK House Cannes Group Chat co-hosted with Fetch, senior marketing leaders gathered to discuss and compare playbooks for turning fleeting attention into lasting loyalty.
Loyalty used to be a punch card or points game. It's now a live scorecard that updates with every tap, scan, or scroll. Robin Wheeler, chief revenue officer at Fetch, opened the conversation by explaining how the rewards platform sees over 11 million receipts a day, and about 88% of consumers' monthly purchases.
That breadth of data matters. "We know exactly what this person is doing in all aspects of their life," Wheeler said. Fetch can deliver targeting segments that nurture loyalty over time, vital when "consumers have more and more things to choose from."
Citing fresh qualitative research run with Digitas, she reframed the stakes: "Loyalty is no longer about keeping the customer; it's about giving the customer a reason to keep you."
Brands can't coast on yesterday's perks. "I think loyalty certainly has changed a lot, and I don't think it's necessarily about what you've done for that customer in the past," noted Jason Acker, VP of media, digital, and consumer data, Diageo North America. "It's what is the next thing you're going to provide for that consumer."
For Coca-Cola, that "next thing" is built on credibility. "Simply put, it's a trusted relationship," shared Robin Triplett, VP of integrated marketing experiences at Coca-Cola North America.
"Loyalty for me is pretty simple. It's mutual value," stated Melissa Berger, chief solutions officer at Digitas. When the exchange tilts, she warned, "Then it's just a discount. It's not loyalty. It's not driving a further relationship."
That sentiment echoed across categories. Elaine Rodrigo, chief insights and analytics officer at Reckitt, stressed that enduring loyalty starts with shared values. "First and foremost, the product has to be superior and deliver on what it promises," she said, pointing to two of Reckitt's brands, Lysol and Dettol. "After that comes the relationship you build with people individually, so you have this shared value system."
For Allegra Krishnan, chief loyalty and engagement officer at McDonald's, loyalty lives at the intersection of transactional and emotional rewards. "A program is our way of thanking customers for their loyalty to us in exchange for data," she explained.
At Ulta Beauty, data is the brand's "secret sauce." With 45 million active loyalty members responsible for 95 cents of every sales dollar, the retailer sits on what CMO Kelly Mahoney called "a mountain of first-party data." That reservoir lets Ulta bring together each guest's beauty goals, suggest the perfect shade match, and nurture "lifelong loyalty and brand love."
Andy Wells, head of growth marketing at DoorDash, shared the same principle in on-demand commerce. The brand uses data to understand "how the consumer has engaged with us, and then what's the next best thing to put in front of them, to teach them about a new use case or a new opportunity to leverage DoorDash."
Digitas' Berger distilled the consumer side of the equation: ease is everything. Research that her agency just completed found that shoppers abandon programs that make them "do math." Her advice: bake rewards into the native experience, so the value shows up before customers even think to ask.
"I think it's so important to follow the data, what drives the outcome, and be able to be nimble enough to quickly adopt and change," shared Carmen Gonzalez-Meister, general manager of food, beverage, and pet at Fetch. "So, if you're trying to get a brand buyer to shop your entire portfolio, how do you get them to actually make that change?"
It's clear that younger generations are changing the loyalty game. "They want to be rewarded for everything they do, not just how they spend their money," explained Gonzalez-Meister. "Gen Zs, especially, want to be rewarded for how they spend their time."
Experiences matter more to the younger generation than points, shared Ulta Beauty's Mahoney. However, they do "want to come to the stores" with their friends. And "we want the stores to become very much a destination."
It's this insight that is driving Ulta's roadmap of in-store events, destination-style "eventing," and built-in gifting moments aimed at what Mahoney calls "the next generation of consumer."
Featured Conversation Leaders
Jason Acker, VP of Media, Digital, and Consumer Data for Diageo, North America
Melissa Berger, Chief Solutions Officer, Digitas
Carmen Gonzalez-Meister, General Manager, Food, Beverage, and Pet, Fetch
Allegra Krishnan, Chief Loyalty and Engagement Officer, McDonald's
Kelly Mahoney, CMO, Ulta Beauty
Elaine Rodrigo, Chief Insights and Analytics Officer, Reckitt
Zoë Ruderman, Chief Content Officer, ADWEEK
Robin Triplett, VP, Integrated Marketing Experiences, Coca-Cola
Andy Wells, Head of Growth Marketing, DoorDash