Leaders in Customer Loyalty, Powered by Loyalty360

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529

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Jun 2026

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About the show

Leaders in Customer Loyalty : for those looking to deepen customer experience, engagement, and brand loyalty. Each episode features innovative brands, industry experts, and executive leaders who share actionable insights, proven strategies, and real-world experiences designed to help marketers and brand professionals stay ahead in the ever-evolving world of customer loyalty.

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June 11, 202635 min

Leaders in Customer Loyalty: Brand Stories | Inside WestJet’s Strategy to Keep Loyalty Simple in a Crowded Market

Send us Fan MailAs one of the pioneers of loyalty and rewards programs, the airline industry has long known the value these programs bring when it comes to customer engagement and retention. But in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic—which ground travel to a halt—airline rewards programs became arguably more important than ever, as airlines across the world sought to get people flying again. But according to Byron Kelly, Director of Loyalty at WestJet, the Canadian airline was getting more traction out of its WestJet RBC Mastercard, its co-brand credit card with Royal Bank of Canada, for purchases made on everything outside of travel. “There were months where airlines were getting more money in cash receipts from their co-brand credit card spend than they were in ticket sales because nobody was buying tickets,” he said. “So, COVID wasn't a blessing for anyone but in some ways for loyalty programs it's shined a bit of a spotlight on the value, and I think helped accelerate acceptance of the value of the programs in some ways coming out of COVID.”

June 4, 202630 min

Leaders in Customer Loyalty: Brand Stories | How Nothing Bundt Cakes Turned a Dormant Rewards Program into an Award Winner

Send us Fan MailWhen Jenn McMillen began her role as Vice President of Guest Loyalty and Insights at Nothing Bunt Cakes in November 2024, she was tasked with the enormous responsibility of jumpstarting a loyalty program that was essentially dormant. Launched nationally two months earlier in tandem with the launch of the company’s new app, Bundt Rewards was a loyalty program in name only, as McMillen describes it. “We went national in September of 2024, but we literally didn't have an onboarding series, and we didn't even have offers,” she said. “So, we launched this loyalty program, and nobody did anything with it.” For Nothing Bundt Cakes, her expertise came at the right time. McMillen first established herself in the loyalty industry in 1998, at age 27, when she launched Blockbuster Awards, the rewards program for the iconic video rental chain, Blockbuster.

May 28, 202629 min

Leaders in Customer Loyalty: Brand Stories | How Wyndham Hotels & Resorts is building customer loyalty beyond hotel stays

Send us Fan MailWyndham Hotels & Resorts, which was founded in 1981, has become one of the world's largest hotel franchising companies with over 8,000 properties across 100 countries and over 20 brands across the world. But competition remains fierce in the travel hospitality industry, even for a company like Wyndham that has built a massive global footprint. As the competitive landscape continues to change and grow, Wyndham remains successful by staying focused on two core constituencies. “A key pillar to our success is providing our franchisees with industry leading technology, as well as our massive scale to drive efficiencies across their business model to maximize their profitability,” said Michael Shiwdin, Group VP, Integrated Brand Marketing, Loyalty & Digital at Wyndham. “Second is really being laser focused on the consumer.”

May 26, 202624 min

Leaders in Customer Loyalty: Supplier Voices | How FIS is Helping Brands Build Loyalty in the Agentic World

Send us Fan MailThe advent of artificial intelligence is expected to create significant opportunities for brands to connect with consumers through AI-powered loyalty programs that become increasingly more efficient and personalized. But Jakob Harrison, Head of GTM for Payment Networks at fintech company FIS, notes that just like all new technology, AI will also bring new challenges for brands. This is especially true as agentic commerce grows more prevalent and transforms how consumers shop. “Brands are going to need a loyalty engagement solution that's more immediate, more relevant and easier to execute because they're going to be competing not only for the consumer but the AI agent as well,” Harrison said. “And the winning experience is the one that not only the consumer has, but that its assistant or its agent can confidently choose and apply in real time.”

May 21, 202623 min

Leaders in Customer Loyalty: Brand Stories | How Firehouse Subs’ Mission Has Strengthened Emotional Loyalty With Its Guests

Send us Fan MailCompanies often speak of their mission as a core business purpose centered around the primary products or services that it is producing to serve its customers and create value. But for Firehouse Subs, its mission is twofold: One is serving its customers the hot subs they crave, and the other is serving first responders across the country. The company, which was founded in 1994 by brothers Chris and Robin Sorensen, takes this mission to help first responders personally. The Sorensen brothers are both former firefighters who opened the first Firehouse Subs in Jacksonville, Florida before expanding to over 1,200 restaurants in about 46 states in the U.S. As part of its mission, a portion of every purchase at Firehouse Subs goes toward the Public Safety Foundation. According to Alex Arkhangelskaya, Senior Product Manager for Firehouse Subs, the company has provided over $100 million to first responders through the foundation to help fund life-saving equipment.

May 19, 202626 min

#524: Leaders in Customer Loyalty: Supplier Voices | CarltonOne Helps Clients Build Global Loyalty Programs that are Meaningful

Send us Fan MailWhen most people think about loyalty programs, they likely think about the ones that are designed for consumers — gift cards, travel points, credit card rewards, and other perks that brands use to deepen their relationship with their members. CarltonOne is a Canadian technology company that provides the platform powering these types of programs for roughly 200 clients in financial services, technology, automotive, healthcare, the restaurant industry and more. But the company also provides the infrastructure for loyalty programs that might sometimes get overlooked: those that are designed to recognize and reward employees. Whether it's recognizing employees for years of service, reaching performance goals or other reasons, these programs are vital to helping companies reduce employee churn and increase engagement among their workforce, according to Melanie Corasaniti, Vice President of Client Success at CarltonOne.

April 30, 202628 min

#523: Leaders in Customer Loyalty: Brand Stories | How SharkNinja Drives Customer Loyalty through Customer Engagement

Send us Fan MailEven as SharkNinja has grown into a home goods behemoth with a market cap over $17 billion, the fundamental expectations of its customers have remained the same: They want to see the company deliver the same value it has always provided them. Known for its Shark vacuums and its Ninja blenders among other products, SharkNinja still focuses on one consumer at a time. Or to put it another way, CEO Mark Barrocas has often said that the goal is to build the business one five-star review at a time. For SharkNinja, providing value to its customers goes beyond just delivering great products. It’s also about delivering top-notch customer service that creates a superior customer experience. Jake Finch, Vice President of Global Customer Experience for SharkNinja, has seen customer experience become a much more holistic deliverable for companies today.

April 28, 202637 min

#522: Leaders in Customer Loyalty: Supplier Voices | Bringing Data Together: Why a Modern Tech Stack is Crucial to Personalizing Customer Journeys

Send us Fan MailOne of the challenges that brands can often face when implementing a loyalty program is getting key stakeholders on the same page about the value of the initiative. More specifically, a chief financial officer and a chief marketing officer might have very different views of the program, with the former seeing it as a cost center while the latter sees it as a growth engine. A CFO could focus on economics over perks by looking to add expiration policies or increasing redemption thresholds, whereas a CMO is focused on things like personalization, brand engagement, and customer acquisition and retention. According to David Glantz, Director of Business Development for Germany’s Loyalty Partner Solutions (LPS), one of the key ways a CMO can bridge the divide with a CFO is by having the right KPIs in place to effectively argue the value of the program for not just customers, but also the company. KPIs are just one aspect of the program design that LPS helps its partners create.

April 23, 202633 min

#521: Leaders in Customer Loyalty: Brand Stories | How Schlotzsky’s Deli is Returning to its Roots While Also Focusing on the Future

Send us Fan MailIt was in McAllen, a small town just over 300 miles from Austin, where Donna Varner had a revelation about her new employer. Varner had been hired by Schlotzsky's Deli as Chief Brand Officer, and one of her first tasks was to lead the deli franchise through a rebranding effort. While trying to get back to Schlotzsky’s home base in Austin one day, a storm in Texas led to canceled flights, and so Varner and a handful of other people decided to carpool there together instead. After telling her fellow passengers where she worked while passing through McAllen, something stuck out to her: All of them referred to Schlotzsky’s as Schlotzsky’s Deli. Although the company had dropped Deli from its name during a previous rebranding, Varner realized how important it remained to its identity among its longtime customers. “Every single person in that car knew Schlotzky's because they were Texans. But they all called it Schlotzsky’s Deli,” Varner said. “So, one of the things that we found out is even though the brand has had a lot of names and we've dropped deli over the years, we still had a deli heritage.” Loyalty360 spoke to Varner about her rebranding strategy, how the company continues to innovate its loyalty program, and the challenge of attracting a younger generation of diners, while continuing to deliver the service and menu that its most devoted customers expect.

April 16, 202643 min

#520: Leaders in Customer Loyalty: Brand Stories | How Deutsche Telekom AG Is Expanding Loyalty Beyond Telecom

Send us Fan MailFor most consumers, telecom is largely invisible. It powers everyday moments, streaming, messaging, navigation, but rarely commands attention. When it does, expectations are straightforward: reliable service, fair pricing, and a seamless experience. For Deutsche Telekom AG, meeting those expectations is only part of the equation. The company is focused on extending its role beyond connectivity, building a model where it becomes a meaningful part of customers’ daily lives through added value and relevance. Loyalty360 spoke with Arnab Goswami, VP of Customer Engagement and Partnerships, about how Deutsche Telekom is rethinking loyalty through its Magenta Moments program, creating a partner-driven ecosystem, and scaling a unified experience across diverse markets.