NEW YORK: Kellogg and Coca-Cola are prioritising innovative cross-brand customer loyalty programmes in order to increase the amount of consumer data at their disposal.
A report by Advertising Age into the efficacy of the initiatives employed by the two consumer product giants also suggested that the companies are using the data to optimise their product offerings.
The Kellogg's Family Rewards programme was launched a year ago and now covers more than 90% of Kellogg's products in the US, or 2.5bn individual packages, and it is expected the initiative will be expanded outside the US.
Product packages are printed with unique loyalty codes that consumers can submit online in exchange for points, discounts or prizes and the codes provide information about each product type, size, flavour and store location.
Previously, Kellogg was unable to match its consumers back to actual products when they submitted codes for special promotions, but now, according to Maria Keller, the director of digital marketing at Kellogg, consumer purchasing habits are "understood exactly".
Meanwhile, Coca-Cola's MyCokeRewards programme has grown to 20m members, operating across 230 products. "With increased amount of consumer data, we are able to better understand and market to our consumers," added Ashish Arya, the programme's senior manager of digital marketing.
Although portfolio-wide loyalty programmes may not be suitable for some companies with a very diverse range of products, the type of system used by Kellogg has enabled it to integrate its promotions. Previously, promotions were managed by separate business units responsible for particular brands.
Huluk Nural, a senior vice-president at DunnhumbyUSA, the consumer insights company, said more companies were moving towards platform-based programmes, but the main obstacle was "the current marketing structure and dependency on brand funding to run programmes".
A report by Advertising Age into the efficacy of the initiatives employed by the two consumer product giants also suggested that the companies are using the data to optimise their product offerings.
The Kellogg's Family Rewards programme was launched a year ago and now covers more than 90% of Kellogg's products in the US, or 2.5bn individual packages, and it is expected the initiative will be expanded outside the US.
Product packages are printed with unique loyalty codes that consumers can submit online in exchange for points, discounts or prizes and the codes provide information about each product type, size, flavour and store location.
Previously, Kellogg was unable to match its consumers back to actual products when they submitted codes for special promotions, but now, according to Maria Keller, the director of digital marketing at Kellogg, consumer purchasing habits are "understood exactly".
Meanwhile, Coca-Cola's MyCokeRewards programme has grown to 20m members, operating across 230 products. "With increased amount of consumer data, we are able to better understand and market to our consumers," added Ashish Arya, the programme's senior manager of digital marketing.
Although portfolio-wide loyalty programmes may not be suitable for some companies with a very diverse range of products, the type of system used by Kellogg has enabled it to integrate its promotions. Previously, promotions were managed by separate business units responsible for particular brands.
Huluk Nural, a senior vice-president at DunnhumbyUSA, the consumer insights company, said more companies were moving towards platform-based programmes, but the main obstacle was "the current marketing structure and dependency on brand funding to run programmes".
Data sourced from Advertising Age; additional content by Warc staff
