Conferences

Loyalty@Freddie Awards 2015

Day One: Wednesday 29th April 2015

08:00 Registration and refreshments

09:00 Opening remarks from the Chair

Ravindra Bhagwanani, Managing Director, Global Flight

09:10 Opening panel discussion: Managing the expectations of a diverse, global customer base

  • Finding the appropriate level of customer segmentation
  • Widening the reach of a loyalty program
  • Identifying the needs of different customer groups
  • Justifying the ROI for specific target groups
       Karen Zachary, Managing Director, SkyMiles Global Program Management, Delta Air Lines
       Teresa Comparato, Director, Loyalty Marketing, The Rezidor Hotel Group
       Gary Leff, Author, ViewFromTheWing.com
       Bob Fawson, Chief Access & Engagement Officer, SSI
       Moderator: Max Kingsley-Jones, Editor, Airline Business

10:15 Opening keynote: Customer service as part of a broader image strategy

  • The secret of keeping customer expectations low
  • Impact of award availability on customer satisfaction
  • Outsourcing vs. in-house customer service
       Jonathan Clarkson, Director Rapid Rewards, Southwest Airlines

10:45 Morning refreshments 

11:15 Building loyalty through customer empowerment and personalization

  • Understanding the key elements of a successful loyalty strategy
  • Developing the reputation of being a highly attractive program
  • Importance of the redemption offer
  • Managing different brands within a loyalty strategy

Mark Weinstein, Global Head of Loyalty & Partnerships, Hilton Worldwide

11:40 Delivering exclusive top customer experience

  • Identifying and responding creatively to the needs of your top customers
  • Benefits of open vs. closed communication about initiatives
  • Using top customers as ambassadors
  • Best case study of luxury lifestyle treatment for top customers
       Nisa Ismail, Director VP Loyalty, Malaysia Airlines

12:05 Balancing the interests of all stakeholders

  • Determining stakeholder roles and influences during the decision process
  • Communication strategies for different stakeholders
  • What is the winning formula? Pinpointing the KPIs in a successful loyalty program
       Jeremy Rabe, Operating Partner, Advent International

12:30 Lunch

14:00 Panel discussion: Is the loyalty industry open to innovations?

  • Overview of the latest innovations in the industry
  • Gaining management buy-in to release necessary investment
  • Using early adopters as ambassadors
       Sylvie Charbonnier, Head of Partnerships, Virgin America
       Peter Gorla, Managing Director, VOILÀ Hotel Rewards
       Robert Moerland, EVP, Global Business Development, LRG Rewards
       Paul Gordon, Senior Vice President of Sales, Rymax Marketing Services
       Moderator: Roger Williams, Managing Director, Loyalty Click

15:00 Partnering with start-ups: assessing the line between risk and reward for loyalty program members

  • Increasing loyalty through critical product differentiator
  • Reviewing the benefits vs. risks for early movers
  • How to assess which start-ups are trustworthy?
  • Best practice examples
       Manish A. Shah, Chief VP of Growth & Innovation, KANGA

15:30 Afternoon refreshments

16:00 Successfully managing the transition to coalition program

  • When is the timing right to consider evolving into a coalition program?
  • Are coalition programs the new darlings of frequent flyers?
  • Involving program members in a successful IPO process
  • Branding and communication issues: How to handle the FFP legacy
  • Ensuring the value proposition for the parent airline is maintained
       Flavio Vargas, Chief Financial Officer, Smiles/Gol

16:30 Can successful credit card partnerships become even stronger?

  • The strategic importance of financial partnerships to the Aeroplan program
  • The three critical project periods: tender, roll-out, ongoing management of partnership
  • The value of accessing transactional data
  • What's next?

Matthew Hall, General Manager, TD Partnership, Aimia

17:00 Close of day

18:00 Drink reception

Day Two: Thursday 30th April 2015

08:30 Registration and refreshments

08:50 Opening remarks from the Chair

Max Kingsley-Jones, Editor, Airline Business

09:00 What is most important to your customers?

  • Understanding the non-negotiable basics of customer expectations
  • Managing the art of communicating changes
  • The danger and opportunities related to the dynamics of social media and online forums
  • Overview of classical failures to deliver the customer promise by loyalty programs

       Seth Miller, Journalist, Wandering Aramean

09:30 Measuring disloyalty; Knowing the competitions' share of your loyalty member's wallet

  • A case study at Hyatt Hotels
  • Determining share of wallet at a customer level by leveraging social media
  • Acting on this valuable knowledge to increase customer loyalty
  • Next steps: personalizing customer interactions
       David Borean, VP Products, InfoTrellis

10:00 Coffee break

10:30 Travel Executive Summit

Can We Talk? CEOs on the topic of Loyalty Programs

In an unprecedented panel, the CEOs of several major travel companies will present on a panel their on thoughts of the state of loyalty within travel. While it is often commented on from loyalty practitioners and marketing directors, rarely do we hear the thoughts from the corner office.

       Adam Aron, CEO, Starwood Hotels
Rob Borden, VP, Carnival Cruise Lines

11:30 Comfort break

11:45 Travel Executive Summit

Plastic Fantastic

This panel features executives from the various credit cards companies who will chat about the sky high bonus offers from their cards, whether or not they will last and what’s new and better for the future for these very important partners to most travel loyalty programs.

      Lisa Kalhans, Vice President, Co-Brands, American Express
      Bob Daly, Senior Vice President, FlexPerks Rewards & Loyalty Management, U.S. Bank
      David Gold, General Manager, Chase Card Services
      Matt Massaua, Managing Director for Airline Partnerships, Barclaycard US
      Bruce Sibley, Senior Vice President, Business Development, MasterCard

12:30 Lunch

14:00 Panel discussion: What does it take to become a winner?

  • Developing innovative, but relevant enhancements
  • Getting on the radar of the travelling public
  • Cooperation with innovative suppliers
       Alexandre Malfitani, Head of Loyalty, Azul Airlines
       David Canty, Vice President Global Loyalty Programs, Intercontinental Hotels Group
       Earl Quenzel, Partner, Quenzel & Associates
       Moderator: Edward Pizzarello, Freddie Awards

15:00 Building and delivering exclusivity through the elite program

  • Elements of a successful elite program
  • Keeping the exclusivity of the elite program
  • Partner benefits: Add-on or key element?
  • Published vs. non-published benefits
       Derrick Merkus, Program Director Flying Blue, Deputy VP Customer Loyalty, Air France KLM

15:30 Close of conference part

17:00 Departure for Freddie Awards venue

17:30 Freddie Awards: Announcement of winners and gala dinner at Delta Museum