Following our previous piece on the category winners: Marks & Spencer and Pets at Home, these next two entries are from the category of „Best Short-Term Loyalty Initiative“ and also a single winner across all three categories of „Best Long Term Loyalty Program“, „Best CSR Initiative Linked to Loyalty“ and „Regional Loyalty Champions of the Year – Middle East and Africa“.
Category: Best Short-Term Loyalty Initiative
Winner: New World / UNGA – NZ grows children’s grocery loyalty to a whole new level
New World is New Zealand’s grocery retailer. Together with UNGA, a children’s loyalty specialist, a 6-week long loyalty campaign was created to increase sales, acquire new customers and strengthen loyalty. The Little Garden campaign was an educational and engaging short-term loyalty program that is targeted at children. With every NZD$40 spent, a seedling kit is redeemed. A gamification element was also present, with 24 seedling kits making up the entire collection and an online platform to document the seedlings´ growth. This short-term loyalty program was successful in bringing together retailers, children, families, schools and the media.
What we like about the program: its ability to generate impressive results from a brand and sale point of view
This short-term program creates educational Farm-to-Table awareness and environmental responsibility for children. At the same time, it enhances brand image and leads to positive sales results. Multi-channel engagement with the brand message was also critical to this campaign´s success. Overall, the campaign achieved brand relevance, sustainability and managed to be educational while meeting sales targets.
Category: Best Long-Term Loyalty Program, Best CSR Initiative Linked to Loyalty and Regional Loyalty Champion for Middle East and Africa
Winner: My School My Village My Planet – Investing in what matters most reaps long term benefits
Snagging three awards this year is My School My Village My Planet, a multi-partner loyalty and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). It started as a small vision in Johannesburg in 1998 and today, over 8000 schools and charities benefit monthly from the program. The South African retail chain Woolworths has owned the program since 2006, as a strategic move to secure its exclusivity. The program’s goal is to drive customer behavior and address social concerns in South Africa at the same time. The program has managed to raise over 33.9 million euros and delivered billions in sales to date.
What we like about the program: its ability to retain brand relevancy and commitment to a social cause
Being a two-decades long loyalty program, its ability to deliver relevance and consistency is particularly impressive. The brand is involved in several initiatives and campaigns including a scholarship fund, animal charity donations and also the development of a mobile app. Despite South Africa’s poor economic growth and high unemployment during the operational period of the program in South Africa, has not only delivered incremental sales growth of 9.7% but also an excellent Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 59%, proving its commitment towards a social cause and relevance to beneficiaries and retail partners.
Look out for our next blog piece where we will be discussing the highly interesting loyalty program of UnipolSai Assicurazioni, a multi-branch non-life insurance company from Italy.
