For the first time in the ongoing series of For Love or Money™ research studies we identified and quantified the consumers’ view of the connection between a loyalty program and the brand the program belongs to.

We explored three scenarios:

  • “My loyalty is typically to both the loyalty program and the brand that the program belongs to”
  • “I am typically more loyal to a loyalty program, rather than the brand the program belongs to”
  • “I am typically more loyal to the brand, rather than their loyalty program”

The research revealed 41% of consumers are loyal to both the loyalty program and the brand.

35% are more loyal to the loyalty program and 24% are more loyal to the brand.

There is more depth on this insight across the generations (where there are significant differences) in the For Love or Money™ report.

The insight here is loyalty programs are more than just a program.

They are a reflection of the brand’s DNA.

A few cases in point:

Harley Davidson and their HOGSTM Group

Go-to Skincare and Go-to-gang

LSKD (read their mission) and Club LSKD (the program is a proof point of the mission)

IKEA (read their vision) and IKEA Family (the program is a proof point of the vision)

A little more reflection on this insight for discussion and debate

In the research we did NOT specify any brand and their program be it a proprietary ‘owned’ program by the brand (eg MYER and MYER one) or a ‘coalition/partnership’ based program (eg Flybuys and their partners).

A reflection on this area of research by my mentor and friend Phil Hawkins brought this to light…

“I love the fact that you’re discussing loyalty to the loyalty program or to the brand or both. This was always a point of contention in a coalition program like Flybuys where the question was do I like Flybuys the program (loyal to Flybuys) or do I like (am loyal to) the brands in the program (eg Officeworks where I can earn Flybuys)”

Phil has highlighted an important context for this area of research and when I ask this question with brands/loyalty programs named, the results would be different and very interesting… (maybe in 2026 I will go deeper on this).

With the above in mind, I feel the research has opened the door for more discussion and debate on this topic.

With the proprietary programs in mind, I am still a believer that …

A loyalty program is not an island off the coast of a brand

Have a happy loyalty day!