Loyalty trends for the twenty‐first century

Abstract Purpose – As loyalty marketing programs have reached a state of maturity, the aim of this paper is to outline the key loyalty‐marketing trends for the twenty‐first century that can serve as guideposts as marketers create, expand and revamp their loyalty and customer relationship management (CRM) strategies. Design/methodology/approach – The paper uses data and statistics from numerous loyalty‐marketing programs to support its conclusions. Findings – Five key loyalty‐marketing trends are identified and explored in detail: ubiquity; technology enables but imagination wins; coalition lite; customer analytics; and the Wow! factor Practical implications – The challenge for marketers is to reinvigorate the market with new strategies, tactics, and technologies backed by imagination, innovation and sound program design. The five key loyalty‐marketing trends for the twenty‐first century identified in this paper can serve as guideposts as marketers create, expand and revamp their loyalty and CRM strategies in the new century. Originality/value – Provides a view point based on the authors' opinion or interpretation of the key loyalty‐marketing trends for the twenty‐first century.