Loyalty Expo Kicks Off with Warmth and Competence

In the current loyalty environment, marketing technology is a huge topic of discussion. Tech providers offer an array of services, from program implementation and management to personalization driven by artificial intelligence engines. Undoubtedly, these are valuable tools to have. Data collection, analytics, and insight creation, after all, are absolute necessities.
 
But technology certainly isn’t the only thing brands need to create or improve customer loyalty. This is the insight that kicked off the 2019 Loyalty Expo at the Sheraton Hotel in Charlotte, North Carolina today. During the very first session at the event, Chris Malone, author of The HUMAN Brand, argued that technology has made customer loyalty initiatives more and more expensive, even though they aren’t even the primary drivers of loyalty.
 
Instead of being overly concerned about developing their martech stacks, brands need to develop warmth and competence, Malone said. To illustrate this point, he discussed the relationship between how human beings perceive one another and the emotions that result. He provided the following explanation.
 
When humans perceive others as warm and welcoming, they tend to have more positive reactions. When they perceive others as cold and uninviting, they tend to have negative reactions. When people combine these perceptions with other perceptions about competence, they arrive at value judgements.
 
For example, Malone claimed that when people look at Oprah Winfrey (who is perceived as both warm and competent), they tend to feel loyalty. However, when they look at Charlie Sheen (who is perceived as both cold and incompetent), they reject him. Tom Brady (who is perceived as cold and competent) is responded to with envy, while Jessica Simpson (who is perceived as warm and incompetent) is responded to with pity.
 
Malone argued that it is of utmost importance for brands to project not just competence, but also warmth. Major problems ensue when they don’t. For instance, he cited banks during the 2008 recession as examples of brands who projected coldness and competence, which led to a huge decrease in loyalty. To achieve real loyalty, brands need to be perceived as caring.
 
Malone offered one case study of how brands can do this. When one son’s mother was gravely ill, she requested that he order her clam chowder in a bread bowl from Panera. When he went to do so, he was at first told that, during the summer, Panera only offers clam chowder on Fridays. However, when the son explained the direness of the situation, the manager made sure that the mother got her clam chowder just as she wanted.
 
Later, the son offered a sincere thank-you to Panera on his Facebook page. This led to engagement from thousands of people, driving a huge uptick in loyalty to Panera. This is the kind of warmth, Malone argued, to which brands need to commit.
 

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