[ G E N E R AT I O N N O W ]
THE MILLENNIAL FACTOR
Another study, this time Fusion’s Massive
Millennial Poll, found that 55% of millennials
consider their parents their best friends, which
implies they are influenced by their folks’ buying
decisions and habits. Twenty-one-year-old Cape
Town university student Claudia Hitzeroth’s
attitude to loyalty bears this out.
“I’m definitely loyal to brands I grew up with,”
she says. “My parents shopped at Pick n Pay, and
so do I. I share a Smart Shopper card with my
two housemates, and we’re very diligent about
using it. As students, the rewards and savings are
meaningful to us. I am also a Discovery Vitality
member, thanks again to my parents.”
Jason Desai, a Cape Town-based co-owner of a
graphic-design company and father to two small
boys, concedes that loyalty and rewards programmes
play a significant role in his and his wife’s shopping
decisions. “In today’s economy, we are grateful for
any opportunity to save,” he says. “I was disappointed
to discover that Absa Rewards only rewards
members for fuel purchases when we fill up at Sasol
garages. Sasol is not big in Cape Town.”
But, contrary to what others believe about
millennials, Desai is brand loyal: “When I find a
They’re comfortable with and expect
interactive and state-of-the-art technology to
access a rewards programme, and they expect
instant gratification – they are the millennials.
And while some are still living in their parents’
basement, the US-based Colloquy Customer
Loyalty in 2015 & Beyond Survey noted that
millennials have an estimated US$600-billion
in annual buying power. They simply cannot
be ignored.
They respond to initiatives that incentivise
good behaviour by offering tangible rewards.
One such programme is OUTsurance’s
OUTbonus, which rewards members in cash for
not claiming for three consecutive years.
The notion that millennials should be
grateful for what they get is not necessarily
borne out in the Colloquy survey: nearly
two-thirds had joined a loyalty programme within
the past year, and they respond to exclusivity
(that famous sense of entitlement), lifestyle
values and immediacy more than any other age
group surveyed. A full 25% of them said they
joined a programme because it offered “access
to members-only events”.
brand that I like, I am totally loyal to it – unless
something goes drastically wrong. For example,
until a few years ago, I bought a pair of jeans from
a major clothing brand, and the stitching gave out
while the clothing was still new. I was so badly
treated by staff when I took them back. I’ll never
purchase another piece of clothing from that brand.”
Hitzeroth has the final word: “I don’t think
loyalty and rewards programmes are compelling
Loyalty-programme consultant Peter G Wray
of PGW Ltd in the UK, who has a global client
base, describes the millennials as a “global tribe”.
“Whether in Manhattan or in an economically
suppressed part of South Africa, their thinking
and aspirations tend to be similar,” he says.
Certainly in the entertainment field, this is
borne out by Ster-Kinekor’s SK Club: “Youth
audiences demand very different things to those
with an existing affinity to a brand. We find
that rewards or benefits that give exclusivity
are highly valued across younger audiences
compared to simply adding discounts,” says
Ster-Kinekor’s General Manager of Customer
Relationship Marketing Darren Hampton.
The Colloquy survey showed that millennials
have little tolerance for unnecessary effort,
“unneeded communications or inconvenience”,
with nearly half of them withdrawing from
a programme because “it sent irrelevant
communications”. This is one of the reasons
programmes such as Edgars’ Thank U rewards
programme invites members to use its website
to check points balances, peruse rewards, spend
points and ask questions whenever it suits them.
enough in themselves to millennials to give
companies their business. The brand has to offer
more or mean more to an individual because of a
prior relationship. For example, I’ve been a loyal
Marcel’s Frozen Yoghurt customer since I was
about eight. I’m an active member of the loyalty
programme. But I don’t buy Marcel’s as often as
possible, so I can earn some more free yoghurt; I buy
it because it’s delicious.” ■
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