You can find examples of loyalty anywhere – especially in pro football. The Wise Marketer recently published an article from Hinda Loyalty Account Manager, Stacey Allgeier, connecting the Buffalo Bills and their fans to engagement building in the loyalty industry. But what can an NFL team and its fans teach loyalty marketers about creating meaningful engagement?
Hinda is excited to announce the promotion of Mike Donnelly to the position of President. Formerly Executive Vice President/General Manager of Hinda, Donnelly’s promotion provides expanded leadership responsibilities covering all aspects of the business, including sales, marketing, product development, strategic direction, quality, operations, technology and program administration along with leading the efforts in helping Hinda’s partners and clients to achieve their goals with well developed and managed programs.
“I am incredibly proud to be leading the Hinda Incentives team, and I am excited about our future. We have an aggressive and value-based model that will continue to position us not only as a leader in the incentive/loyalty/engagement industry, but will ensure that we continue to realize joint success with our partners,” said Donnelly.
Donnelly joined Hinda Incentives in March 2014 after serving as a consultant for the company. His career includes over 30 years in the marketing services and incentive and loyalty business. Prior roles include executive management and leadership positions with Donnelly Creative Partners, Maritz Rewards’ Motivation & Loyalty business units, and with InteliSpend, formerly American Express Incentive Services.
Hinda Incentives has announced the appointment of Michael J. Donnelly to the position of executive vice president and general manager. Donnelly reports to Brett Tharpe, president and chief executive officer for Hinda-TharpeRobbins.
Donnelly most recently served as president and owner of Donnelly Creative Partners, Inc., where he provided consulting services to businesses, including full-service marketing and communications services. Previously, he served as an executive with Maritz Inc. There he held leadership positions with Maritz Rewards, Maritz Motivation Solutions and Maritz Loyalty Marketing.
“With Mike’s years of experience in the incentive, loyalty and marketing industries, we are honored to have him join our team,” says Brett Tharpe. “He comes to us with an extensive and diverse background and will work closely with the Hinda team to ensure that it continues to be the undisputed leader in the incentive and loyalty industry.”
"I am excited and eager to take this leadership role and work with a talented group of individuals,” says Donnelly. “We have tremendous opportunities ahead of us and I look forward to guiding this respected organization into the future."
Mike has received several industry honors including awards from the St. Louis Direct Marketing Association and the national Direct Marketing Association and he is a winner of the William E. Maritz Award from Maritz, Inc.
Groupon, to the shock of onlookers, recently turned down a $6 billion buyout offer from Google. Yes, that's billion with a "B." They apparently have a lot of faith in the growth of their business model despite the threat from competitors like LivingSocial.
In an article from CustomerThink.com, Bryan Pearson talks about the future of Groupon from a loyalty standpoint. He makes the point that Groupon is doing great now but needs to plan how to retain that loyalty and enthusiasm down the road. One of these suggestions is offering free Groupons to loyal users or rewarding them loyalty points for frequently buying deals. Definitely a few solid point of suggestions from Pearson.
Why couldn't we take that idea a step further. With gaming elements becoming more prevalent in loyalty and rewards, what if you were to add a game layer to Groupon loyalty?.
Part of the appeal to Groupon for a business offering a deal is increased brand exposure. Sure they are giving steep discounts but I assume the goal is to have more people walking through the door that may not have otherwise. In return, that "preview" of their business may result in more return customers.
Groupon Meets Location-Based Services
If the goal is increased brand exposure for the business and in addition - more Groupon loyalty - why not tie both in together through a location-based marketing campaign? SCVNGR has already shown ways it can add a game layer to "check-ins." One could incorporate a check-in style like SCVNGR's that would both promote the business offering the deal while rewarding points to Groupon users. Let's explore that:
SCVNGR's game model is built mainly on a progression dynamic, meaning that one has to complete a 
series of tasks to achieve some ultimate goal. We talk more about that dynamic on this post. Let's say a Groupon buyer wants to earn a free Groupon. They could not only buy X number of deals to ultimately earn a free deal (like the Subway sticker card or punch card for a free hair cut) but could also ask for brand interaction in return. They could have a game set up on SCVNGR asking customers to "check-in" using SCNVGR to earn points, giving that particular business an online shout out. In addition, deal buyers could earn more points by taking a picture of their Groupon deal, mentioning what they're ordering (if the deal is at a restaurant), taking a pic of that venue etc.
The Object of the Game...
Ultimately, the "game" on SCVNGR would be to earn enough points to land a free Groupon deal. By participating in the above tasks (checking in, snapping photos etc) deal buyers could earn points. Using the progression bar provided by SCVNGR, these consumers would be able to see how many tasks or deals they would have to redeem and participate in to earn a free deal. This game function would not only improve brand awareness for businesses offering deals but increase engagement and loyalty for Groupon.
Obvoiously, this concept could be taken in many different directions and would require more marketing specificity and could involve other services. What do you all think? Could LBS help improve Groupon loyalty? How else could Groupon create loyalty?
