Loyyal’s Sean Dennis on Blockchain Rewards: “I want to get things that are personalized to me”
Loyyal is a loyalty and rewards platform built with blockchain and smart contract technology. It introduces interoperability to the currently fragmented loyalty rewards industry. Rewards can now be multi-branded, such as an “Airline/Bank” co-branded reward or even an “Airline/Retailer/Consumer” multi-branded reward.
COO and co-founder Sean Dennis – who also carries the title of “Chief Happiness Officer” – explains how blockchain will transform the business of customer loyalty relationships.
Block Tribune: I get the sense that the loyalty programs in general are changing. Can you explain a little bit about that and how blockchain is affecting that?
Sean Dennis: I’d like to give an overview of the large market, and then how we aim to hopefully help operators adapt to the changing needs of consumers. What we’ve seen at the moment happen is programs were designed in the late 70’s, 80’s. They’ve now become the problem of the finance departments. You’ve got groups like American Express and large hotel groups with liabilities and their balance sheets in the billions of dollars. That’s enough to sink a number of companies if there’s a slight downturn in the economy and consumers start actually using their points.
What we provide using blockchain is a way for operators to run their loyalty programs in a far more efficient manner, both in terms of financial cost and time, as well as use the data of those points in order to target their consumers in a far more effective manner. Therefore making better revenues and profits in the long run as well. It’s kind of a good overview of what it is we’re trying to affect.
Block Tribune: Is every business a candidate for a loyalty program, or are there things that work better than others?
Sean Dennis: It’s interesting to see the industries that are coming out and we’re really looking to use that technology. The obvious ones are retail – health care is one that’s come out very quickly, obviously – we’re working with the government to buy, if it’s smart to buy. Which has been interesting. That’s something rather loyalty and rewards, it’s more behavior justification. It’s something we thought we’d be looking at five years down the line where as everything seems to be moving a lot quicker than we’d anticipated. It’s a very, very exciting turn to see it happen. There really doesn’t seem to be any one particular area which is really pushing which is better suited than any other one.
What we are trying to do is, loyalty programs have usually been the reserve of the larger multinational, or larger operators, at least, because they’re expensive to run, expensive to set up, expensive to shut down if they’re not working. For example. usually the mom- and-pop shops, the cafes, are limited to be able to do this alone. Buy nine coffees, get one for free, and they get useful-to-know data on their consumers from that in order to target them again for giving them better service.
What blockchain and what Loyyal aim to do is to create this global network that leverages blockchain and it’s “now” contact technology to make loyalty programs accessible to anyone and everyone. There are more operators able to jump into this. That should reduce their cost, but give their consumers a better service as well. One thing we’ve seen and it’s been a pitch line as part of our pitch right from the start is, that consumers are inundated with loyalty programs. It’s something like the average household has 22 loyalty programs underneath their roof and less than half of them are active. That’s not something in the current state that we’re in right now that’s going to be getting any better.
There was a report that I think we were a part of as well that cited Millennials, what they want to have in their loyalty programs: better technology and more choices We live in what’s called the social age. From what I’ve seen, we actually live in the least social age. We’re all tied to our phones and we’re on social networks, but not getting very much face time with other people. What we want is, we want choice, we want it now, and we want to be able to share it. These are capabilities that Loyyal is looking to provide operators with, so that they can then use that or use these tools to satisfy their consumers in this very quickly changing market I guess.
Block Tribune: Are the nature of rewards themselves changing? Or are they pretty much the same as they’ve always been, discounts and additional travel options?
Sean Dennis: There will always be an element to that. I think everything is starting to change. Again, because there is so much choice out there, and I don’t think I’m alone in saying this, a lot of people switch-off from these rewards, and that’s why I think we’re going to see less and less engagement if they didn’t change. I don’t just want to get the generic rewards. I want to get things that are personalized to me. We are seeing that in general consumerism. We don’t go out and buy the same things that everyone else has. We all want different customized things. That where loyalty rewards should be as well. They should be customized to me instead of you. You and I are two very drastically different people. What I value and what would make me a loyal customer is going to be very different from what makes you a loyal customer.
The operators need these tools to be able to target you in a better way. They haven’t been able to do because again using the limited capabilities of points, they don’t have that data. Right now, ten thousand points in your wallet is the same as ten thousand points in my wallet. When it’s on Loyyal, every single one of those points is differentiated. They’re able to identify how you earned loyal points. They’re able to tag all of those and therefore able to target you using smart contracts as well, dynamically for what you actually value. So therefore, you’re going to feel more loyal, feel more satisfied, and therefore more likely to spend more money as well with them.
Block Tribune: Can you give me how a rewards program, an ideal rewards program, may work in the future, or especially one that’s going to be inter-operable?
Sean Dennis: Without using a specific subject, it will be interesting to see how it goes. What I do like is when we work with these holding companies that have, let’s say, five to six different verticals underneath the holding companies – one’s retail, one’s medical or healthcare, one is online and another one might be hotels, or something like that. My favorite is when we get almost providing them with capabilities of creating multi-branded programs within that system. So one thing that we do is facilitate or provide capabilities for that, and it goes back to the totalization element of it. I see Loyalty Programs becoming far more personalized, dynamic and customized to the individual consumer – Right now the average touchpoint for a consumer with a loyalty program might be once a month, Loyyal will enable far more engagement for program operators, and more tracking capabilities that allow the operators to incentivize behavior in a more effective manner.
I see greater interoperability between programs and the potential for larger more effective redemption networks. With the use of a common ledger that is blockchain, the ease to connect and the reduced operational costs of a loyalty program means we are going to see more effective programs, both for the operator and for the consumer.
