Loyalty programmes in their purest form reward a customer based on frequency of usage. Airlines have been very successful at this. Frequent flyer programmes are an expression of loyalty that has commoditised airline miles and enlightened the general consumer on loyalty. The success of such airline programmes has now been copied, adopted, translated and accepted by many organisations in various forms for a range of products and services.
In China, guanxi or connections smacks suspiciously of loyalty. Loosely translated, guanxi is all about relationships whether to an individual or a group. Developing and nurturing guanxi is serious business in itself and observing the right guanxi - "who you know up there" - can make all the difference between success and failure.
Loyalty in the context of marketing utilises the same principles. Time and money are necessary to establish meaningful relationships with your customers. Treating them in a personal way is paramount to getting your brand and products to be trusted and to foster an 'obligation' for repeat business. Technology has also made it possible for a host of CRM tools to be readily available to measure customer value, database development, campaign tracking and analysis. What has taken years to evolve and accepted could almost overnight be transported, through technology, lock-stock-and-barrel anywhere, China included.
Furthermore, loyalty programmes, like all marketable products and service, and coupled with China's quest for knowledge will be readily embraced and consumed. Already, we see airlines' and hotels' loyalty programmes making themselves accessible to the Chinese consumers.
Then there is the heavy discounting as prices are slashed all in the name of competition and market share. Companies will find alternatives to price cutting and learn to target in on those who are the real customers, versus those who are just making up the numbers.
Having a sound loyalty strategy with set goals and objectives that are measurable and benchmarked will help considerably in maximising your marketing dollar.
Perhaps the only issue is getting the right skills to do all this. Although it might have taken overnight to get the hardware from here to there, what is lost is the in-between knowledge - the loyalty specialist skills that are needed to push this through successfully.
At the end of the day, loyalty is about rewards and making your customer feel good and appreciated enough to want to come back to you time and time again. The Chinese consumer seems ready for this.