Incentives Can Deliver Information

In Uruguay I found one of the most interesting programs for capturing customer information without having a loyalty card. H ctor Bajac, marketing director for Johnny Walker in Montevideo, and his team have developed a very successful customer relationship program for the Johnny Walker brands. Customers can purchase a bottle of Red Label or Black Label at their local pub and register with their national identification number. The distiller has provided pubs with special shelving for the customers to store their bottles between visits. Information about bottle purchases is collected weekly from the pubs and entered into a database. By tracking customer purchases, the firm is able to segment customers by monetary value and use the information to reward steady purchasers with complimentary upgrades from Red Label to Black Label. Se or Bajac told me the complimentary upgrade often results in a conversion of the customer to the premium label. He is capturing customers’ e-mail addresses, developing dialogs, and learning more about their interests. In addition to the benefits accruing to Johnny Walker, the pub owners love the program because it keeps their patrons coming back—an added distributor loyalty factor for the firm.