For years I have collected miles with a few different airlines, but have managed to fly only twice using my miles. Here, in one sentence, you have the problem with airline loyalty programs, but also my loyalty strategy.
Airlines want you to fly with only them and collect miles. But they really don’t want you to use the miles to fly – or so it would seem from the way the programs are structured. It is a “game” and you need to understand how to play in order to win. In fact, modern loyalty programs are morphing based on gamification techniques. More on this later.
Flawed loyalty strategy
Having been treated to a Loyalty101 class by an American colleague, I’ve discovered I’m doing it wrong. First, you need to fly with just one carrier, no matter how inconvenient it may be in terms of routing, to make sure that you are at the highest level in the loyalty program. These high levels are the only place you get real benefits. My loyalty mentor has over 1 million miles on United and gets access to lounges, automatic upgrades, and priority access to seats. And on every upgraded flight, she collects miles at a higher rate – like compound interest. So she will happily take United flights which include a change rather than take a direct flight with an alternative carrier. [Read more...]
It used to be that companies drove traffic solely with a new product launch. While that’s still largely the case for how marketing cycles work, we are in an era of consumer event triggers where each product cycle is increasingly dictated per person. Why? Because new things launch every day and we are constantly inundated by all forms of outbound marketing messaging. There are very few things we need (not want) when they’re new. Sure, new things can be better, but when we have a problem and need a solution, we don’t care when the solution was created; we care that it’s available at our fingertips.
Getting the right information on demand is an eternal problem of today’s knowledge workers, and will only grow. Lack of knowledge causes a delay in decision-making, and ultimately leads to bad decisions. This is the essence of the 
Think of business in a new way. If one runner speeds up to get ahead of the pack, what tends to happen is everyone else speeds up to match his pace. With everyone running above their optimal level just to keep up, no one gets ahead and everyone loses efficiency… the market becomes less efficient. What if someone from the pack starts to run in a particular direction? The pack will follow and match the “leader.” Just like the Keystone Cops, the pack becomes a slapstick routine where everyone expends energy and resources to end up in another huddle, just at another location.
Only a decade ago, India and China fully opened their societies to the West. Instead of telephone poles and landlines, Asian companies met 21st-century challenges head-on by skipping investing in outdated infrastructure for moving directly to smart phones and deploying mobile apps. A parallel can be drawn with the healthcare industry. Let’s leapfrog to 21st-century information technology solutions and stop trying to solve today’s problems with yesterday’s outdated technology.
Symphonies and orchestras are the two things that come to mind when I think of banking operations. Today’s banks have to outshine competitors and provide exceptional customer services; that’s the path of success. In doing so, banks need to harmonize technology and IT services that run and monitor business operations.
I fly fairly often. I don’t fly so often I am always upgraded to first class, but I find myself in a plane at least a couple times a month. Let’s put it this way, I fly frequently enough that my status waives luggage-checking fees.
When it comes to shopping, today’s consumers are in control, with more choices and more options than ever before. It is no longer enough to offer a good selection of merchandise at an attractive price because customers want “experiences” to go with the products they buy.
Recently, my daughter was in the market for a dress and her experience with the retail store was so positive, she 
