A speculative piece of writing, part of a collection that looks to the future of x, y and z.

I mean at its core, loyalty is supposed to be a human centred experience right?

These days it feels very object/goal oriented. Rigid and transparent; spend this for that, do this for that etc. Boring. Still, it works as a default; “I’m spending the money anyways, so it’s nice that I get rewarded for that expenditure” – That’s a reward platform, predicating on inactive decision making and passive engagement. Again, it works.

But, when you come across brands approaching the concept of loyalty very differently, it’s difficult to not see it as the future.

In my eyes, experience oriented loyalty has always been the most engaging type of loyalty platform, and is actively resurfacing as the most effective future of loyalty.

Take crtzrtw (Corteiz) and their guerrilla ‘trade in your designer jacket for one of ours’ exploit, only to give all the traded (competitor brand) jackets to homeless people suffering the cold (participation & contribution). RTFKT and giving individuals the tools and facilities to experience digital worlds and personalise their online presence (participation & ownership). Lacoste and it’s community product design approach when crafting their digital collectibles (participation & ownership). Reddit, Inc.’s r/place where autonomous groups coordinated to create pixel art (contribution, participation & ownership). The examples could go on…

What we begin to see is brands that coexist with their community (rather than seeing them as separate entities) are developing cultures more organically. Cultures that tie the idea of loyalty with the participation, contribution and connection an individual has within that community.

Opportunity to participate in and contribute to a brand’s story & community – is exactly what grips attention and builds fanaticism. Being given the tools to personalise and reinterpret a previously rigid environment is what people are looking for. As a friend of mine, Hon-Ming Gianotti, once put it, “without toys to play with, you don’t have a playground, and nobody will come [to play]”.

TL;DR

I believe that a future of loyalty is a focus on community participation and contribution. This experience of being loyal can help to grow cultures and change how we relate to and interact within brand communities.