The Loyalty Newswire from The Smart Marketer
From the Editor
Pleased Monday!
This week’s Newswire is brimming over with bulletins as Citi launched its latest premium bank card, the Citi Stata Elite, Tesco is providing incentives to Clubcard members to pursue a more healthy life-style, and JetBlue’s short-lived romance with TAP Air Portugal has ended.
We additionally discover the elements wanted to successfully ship Agentic AI and, as CMO’s agree, belief and human participation are keys to success.
Lastly, we pause to tip our hat to former GraceKennedy CEO Don Wehby, who handed on July 26. Mr. Wehby was an completed enterprise govt, rising to guide Jamaica’s oldest and most well-recognized model, GraceKennedy. Amongst many accomplishments, Mr. Wehby was a member of the Senate of Jamaica. Having labored with him over time, we prolong our condolences to his family and friends.
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Invoice Hanifin, Managing Editor, The Smart Marketer
Quick Takes
JetBlue Ends TAP Loyalty Partnership
In February 2025, JetBlue and TAP Air Portugal introduced they had been extending their current partnership with the addition of reciprocal level incomes and redemption for award journey. Members of JetBlue’s TrueBlue loyalty program and of TAP’s Miles&Go program had been capable of earn and redeem factors utilizing this system of their selection when flying throughout both community.
Now, in one of many shortest airline romances ever, JetBlue introduced the partnership is coming to an finish. The final day you may ebook TAP Air Portugal flights to earn or redeem TrueBlue factors can be 9/30/25, although all current bookings made previous to September 30 can be honored.
Citi Launches the Citi Strata Elite Credit score Card
Citi introduced the Citi Strata Elite℠ Card—a brand new premium bank card providing 12x factors on Lodges, Automotive Leases, and Points of interest booked on the Citi Journey® platform; 6x factors on Air Journey booked on Citi Journey; 6x factors at Eating places, and extra journey, eating and leisure advantages.
Within the press launch, Pam Habner, Head of U.S. Branded Playing cards & Lending, Citi acknowledged “You shouldn’t want a math diploma and a spreadsheet to trace your bank card advantages! Now we have curated versatile life-style advantages that we all know our prospects will wish to use—as a result of we requested them what they worth. And that is the one branded bank card that has American Airways advantages constructed proper into the cardboard.”
Tesco launches marketing campaign to assist thousands and thousands of households eat extra veggies
Tesco is launching a marketing campaign to assist households to eat extra fruits and veggies, as Authorities figures present fewer than 1 in 10 youngsters and 1 in 5 adults eat the beneficial five-a-day portion. This follows a year-long session carried out in communities throughout the UK and marks the beginning of a long-term mission to make wholesome consuming simpler for each family.
From twenty fourth July, round 2.5 million prospects can be invited to earn personalised Clubcard stamps on recent fruit and veg, which may be transformed into bonus Clubcard factors and vouchers to spend in retailer. Clients can even be capable of earn additional factors via new Clubcard Challenges on frozen fruit and veg, beans and pulses. A revamped 5-a-day hub on the Tesco Actual Meals web site will present recipe concepts.
Fortunate Strike enhances buyer expertise with launch of latest loyalty program
Fortunate Strike Leisure has launched its new buyer loyalty initiative Summer time Season Go, providing friends each day bowling entry, 15% off concessions, and constant in-person enjoyable at areas nationwide. In only some weeks post-launch, over 200,000 passes have been offered, producing greater than $10.3 million in income.
Fortunate Strike is modernizing its model to satisfy at this time’s demand for immersive, multi-sensory social leisure. The corporate lately accomplished a nationwide rebrand, an initiative that’s reworked former Bowlero areas in high-traffic hubs. Every up to date venue options elevated hospitality, redesigned atmospheres, and a craft-driven culinary menu that’s shifted the corporate’s income mannequin.
How Hilton makes use of AI to maneuver zillennials from discovery to choice
Hilton acknowledged that connecting with zillennials required a brand new method, one rooted in genuine storytelling and open dialogue relatively than extra conventional, polished promoting. It introduced this refreshed technique to life by leveraging the inspirational energy of YouTube and AI-powered Search to satisfy zillennials the place they had been on-line and convert their wanderlust into precise stays.
Learn how Hilton leveraged YouTube’s energy to embed its content material inside moments zillennials are most enthusiastic about and AI-powered Search adverts to assist this viewers uncover Hilton’s model and convert wanderlust into precise bookings.
Belief and human-AI collaboration set to outline the following period of agentic AI
Agentic AI is poised to ship as much as $450 billion in financial worth by 2028, but solely 2% of organizations have absolutely scaled deployment, and belief in AI brokers is declining. Organizations are discovering that AI brokers ship the best affect when people stay actively concerned.
Learn the Capgemini Analysis Institute’s newest report Rise of agentic AI: How belief is the important thing to human-AI collaboration, that finds belief and human oversight are essential elements in realizing the $450 billion potential of agentic AI.
Why CMOs should put individuals on the middle of AI adoption
The Institute for Actual Development (IRG) helps CMOs and different progress leaders drive extra humanized progress for his or her organizations. The not-for-profit group says Humanized Development addresses the wants of colleagues, prospects, communities and capital markets.
On this interview with IRG founder Marc de Swaan Arons you’ll hear outcomes of their research based mostly on interviews of greater than 150 CMOs discovering that whereas AI’s effectivity wins are well-documented, they’ve additionally turn out to be desk stakes for doing enterprise. The actual alternative lies find methods to drive new progress, and meaning equipping leaders with greatest practices for managing this distinctive period of change.
May Extreme pre-roll adverts and trailers dilute buyer loyalty for film goers?
The three largest movie show chains within the U.S. are AMC Theatres, Regal Cinemas, and Cinemark Theatres. Every chain has a vibrant buyer loyalty program, with AMC’s Stubs Rewards and Regal’s Crown Membership main the best way. Cinemark operates its Cinemark Film Rewards.
Every of those applications is well-conceived and executed, however their affect might be restricted by the precise movie-going expertise. Lately, a Smart Marketer staffer clocked 39 minutes of ready time watching ads and trailers earlier than their film even began. Who’s answerable for this experience-numbing pre-roll? It’s Nationwide Cinema Media (NCM), which proudly made that announcement through the pre-roll combine. We perceive the economics of the film enterprise, however this can be a good instance of the disconnect that may happen between a loyalty program and the shopper expertise.
Understanding Visitor Frequency utilizing a brand new metric from Paytronix
Paytronix Technique & Analytics got down to present its QSR and Informal Eating prospects with an understanding of how friends actually behave, and the way that ought to affect advertising and marketing to drive frequency. They found that the traditional thought of friends every having their very own underlying frequency after which visiting constantly at that fee will not be the best way (most) friends behave.
A greater psychological mannequin of how friends behave is that every visitor has an n-sided die. Every morning, they rise up and roll it, and if it exhibits n, they go to a particular location. Learn this text to judge this new mannequin, that entrepreneurs usually are not actually attempting to drive frequency. As an alternative, they’re attempting to extend the likelihood that their friends select to go to on any given day.
Kobie Analysis Exhibits Shoppers Demanding Extra Than Ever from Model Relationships
New Kobie analysis of 5,000 customers reveals loyalty applications should evolve. Financial uncertainty has created refined worth evaluators who demand transparency and significant returns.
- Key findings: 67% acknowledge loyalty program worth once they see precise financial savings, 85% need higher reductions past token rewards, and knowledge sharing jumps from 82% to 94% when manufacturers provide affordable worth in return.
- The truth: conventional points-and-perks applications are failing. In the present day’s customers need transparency, substantial reductions, and shock worth throughout unsure occasions.
- For entrepreneurs: manufacturers delivering actual monetary advantages will thrive; these clinging to outdated rewards danger dropping more and more discerning customers.
Learn the press launch and study extra right here.
Jobs in Loyalty
There are numerous proficient individuals in search of full time and contract positions in loyalty advertising and marketing. Fortuitously, there are alternatives out there from each manufacturers and suppliers. We listing a sampling of what we’re conscious of right here.
Please click on via the hyperlinks if offered or contact us right here to study extra and apply for these positions.
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