McDonald's loyalty scheme to go regional

"The programme was launched by McDonald's and was spun off into its own company," said Dale McAllister, managing director of At-Life. "The programme is aimed at helping retailers leverage new communications without the heavy investment of building new stores." The loyalty scheme, he added, provided marketers with rewards programmes, analytical tools to identify, profile and segment members, affinity marketing programmes to shape customer perceptions, attitudes and advertising, and direct sales. It will roll out in Indonesia and Thailand in the first half of the year, with South Asian markets introducing the programme before yearend. "Every month, more than two million consumers visit McDonald's outlets in Singapore and half of these are adults, remaining in the outlet for about 20 minutes. This presents enormous potential for advertisers. We have a database of a half million consumers," said McAllister. The programme uses 42-inch plasma TV screens installed at McDonald's outlets to display advertisements, competitions and special promotions from At-Life marketing partners. Customers can register for the programme through in-store touch-screen kiosks and take part in SMS contests. The kiosks also print vouchers and coupons for the special promotions. In Singapore, At-Life has rolled out campaigns for Disney, Xbox, and iGames. McAllister added: "The programme is really about tracking who is responding to the campaign and we have the profiles of these consumers."