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Whitepaper 2024/5

By Academic Director

I’m pleased to share another insightful whitepaper with the loyalty industry. This is the 9th edition of the Truth and BrandMapp Loyalty Whitepaper, which reveals that more than 4 out of 5 South African consumers actively use loyalty programmes, and over 35% of consumers are using these programmes more than they did last year. The whitepaper provides detailed insights into which brands are performing well in loyalty and which benefits are most appreciated by consumers.

As the Academic Director and an industry leader in loyalty, I’m committed to contributing valuable insights to help further the understanding and development of loyalty programmes.

Download the whitepaper
March 28, 2025
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Carte Blanche

By Interviews

‘Is it worth the swipe’

I was honored to be featured on Sunday’s Carte Blanche episode, where I spoke with Claire Mawisa about whether loyalty is really worth the swipe.

For DStv subscribers, you can catch the episode on Catch Up – Season 37, Episode 47.

February 27, 2025
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Blind Loyalty Challenge: Erin Murray, Chief Marketing Officer at Loyalty Status Co.

By Blind Loyalty Challenge

This Blind Loyalty Challenge is with Erin Murray, Chief Marketing Officer at Loyalty Status Co.

✅ The ways in which tiering and status motivate change in behaviour
✅ Erin’s favourite exceptional travel experiences and services in loyalty
✅ A discussion on the various ways to show loyalty performance as well as one of the most important metrics of success of loyalty programmes

February 21, 2025
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Health of the Nation Podcast

By Interviews, Podcast

The truth about loyalty: How rewards programs can help (or hurt) your wallet

Hosted by Claire Mawisa, in this episode of the Health of the Nation Podcast, Dis-Chem Pharmacies CEO Rui Morais discusses customer loyalty programmes with Amanda Cromhout, the Founder and CEO of the international loyalty consultancy, “TRUTH”.

February 19, 2025
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Loyalty Wired – Newscast 16 – The Airline Episode

By Interviews

Join our CEO, Amanda Cromhout, who talks through loyalty misconceptions with Iain Pringle on Loyalty Wired. The discussion focuses on how customer #churn is so often incorrectly measured and the danger of working with loyalty performance averages. It can create havoc in your organisation.

Whilst this podcast is titled ‘The Airline Episode’, it also unpacks different aspects of loyalty including loyalty in restaurants amongst other insightful loyalty nuggets.

February 16, 2025
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Digital Marketing: A South African Perspective

By Academic Director

I am very proud to be one of the authors contributing to this world-class educational text book on digital marketing. Chapter 6: CUSTOMER CENTRICITY – by Amanda Cromhout.

Other topics include:
* Content marketing (with AI tips and tools)
* Data protection and privacy (POPIA)
* Starting your online business
* Doing Digital Research
* Integrating traditional and digital media
* Securing influencers and more, this textbook equips readers with the knowledge and skills to thrive in the digital world.

The textbook is now available, in South Africa, through print (R780) and as an eBook (R702). 📖 ISBN: 978-0-627-04183-9

💡 Let’s pave the way for a future where academia and industry work hand in hand.

February 16, 2025
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Keynote – Loyalty Juggernaut in Hyderabad, India

By Keynote speaker

Loyalty storytelling from around the world

Loyalty Juggernaut in Hyderabad, India

I was recently invited as a keynote speaker at the Loyalty Juggernaut conference, where my keynote discussion focused on the concept of “Loyalty Storytelling” and the key elements of effective loyalty programmes.

I explored the importance of making loyalty programmes engaging and fun, incorporating gamification to enhance user experience. Customer experience and loyalty are inseparable, and understanding consumer psychology is critical to designing and managing a successful programme.

Consumers prioritise travel and the consolidation of their loyalty currencies, making it essential to understand these behaviours. Another key aspect of loyalty storytelling is the creation of communities within a loyalty programme, strengthening engagement and connection.

The purpose and authenticity of a loyalty programme are also vital, ensuring it resonates with consumers on a meaningful level.

”The purpose and authenticity of a loyalty programme are vital, ensuring it resonates with consumers on a meaningful level.

February 13, 2025
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Blind Loyalty – Carly Neubauer

By Blind Loyalty Challenge

Want a fun way to learn about loyalty?

Listen to the Blind Loyalty Challenge I host to gain insights from loyalty masters across the globe. 7 – 10 minutes of questions asked and answered in a fun, rapid and energetic way.

This Blind Loyalty Challenge is with Carly Neubauer, Managing Director at Elevate Loyalty.

This amazing 7-minute challenge is definitely worth a listen and covers:
✅ What the best partnerships should look like
✅ Payment-linked loyalty and pondering the question of whether it drives behavioural change
✅ Challenges faced when implementing loyalty programmes

February 5, 2025
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Blind Loyalty Challenge – Charlie Hills

By Blind Loyalty Challenge

Bringing you the first Blind Loyalty Challenge for 2025, with a slightly new spin and question added! First up is Charlie Hills, Chief Strategy Officer at Mando.

✅ Sustainability and its relevance to loyalty
✅ Loyalty partnerships and a shout-out to many incredible partnerships out there: VeryMe rewards from Vodafone with 20-30 partner rewards, Tesco ClubCard who have a brilliant value exchange through partners, Marriott Bonvey leveraging brand sponsorship partners through Marriott moments, Shell Go+ with the Ferrari partnership… the list goes on!
✅ A discussion about whether data legislation like GDPR can be applied equally across Europe and a great example from IKEA Family.

January 24, 2025
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The Modern Loyalty Blueprint

By News

Turning Customer Loyalty Into Customer Lifetime Value

It is with great pleasure that I have been asked to write a forward for this eBook by The Loyalty People and Marigold. It’s never been more critical to consider customer loyalty in a brand proposition. But, interestingly, the struggle to prove positive return on loyalty investment never really seems to get easier for loyalty professionals.

How a brand sets its loyalty KPls will obviously depend on many variants, like programme strategy and structure, company priorities and sector to name a few. First and foremost, the lifestage of the loyalty programme must be considered. If it’s a newly launched loyalty programme, customer/member acquisition will always be top of the agenda. If it’s a mature and well-established programme, more insightful KPls need to be interrogated. One of my absolute favourite KPls which shows a company’s commitment to its loyalty strategy is % of sales through the programme. If a retailer is achieving a low score of 15%, it proves that it is not taking loyalty seriously enough; loyalty is sitting low in its priorities. If the brand achieves 80% of total sales through the loyalty programme (which so many of the world’s best loyalty brands are tracking), it is evident that loyalty is front and entre in its strategy, with appropriate investment and compelling results.

Last but not least, loyalty professionals must be aware of member self-selection when gathering performance insight to prove the value of the programme. The best customers will join the loyalty programme and will skew to higher tiers or segments. The ROI calculation needs to extract incrementality rather than ACV (average customer value) metrics. I believe this is one of the most challenging proof points and yet the most important.

Good luck!

Amanda Cromhout

CEO & Founder TRUTH

”One of my absolute favourite KPls which shows a company's commitment to its loyalty strategy is % of sales through the programme.

December 6, 2024
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