In this edition of Loyalty360’s Executive Spotlight, we speak with Erik Kapila, Director of Loyalty at Marcus Theatres. With over 25 years of experience spanning CPG, retail, and entertainment, Erik brings a wealth of knowledge in loyalty program strategy, analytics, and customer experience.
During this conversation with Mark Johnson, Loyalty360’s CEO, Erik shares his journey from Procter & Gamble and Kimberly Clark to launching loyalty programs at Fleet Farm and Marcus Theatres. He discusses the unique challenges and opportunities in entertainment loyalty, the importance of personalization and member value, and the insights that drive meaningful engagement. Erik also offers thoughtful advice for early-career professionals, emphasizing the importance of deeply understanding your customers and solving real business problems.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Good afternoon, good morning.
This is Mark Johnson fromLoyalty360.
I hope everyone's happy, safeand well.
It's a Saturday, so welcomeback to our Executive Spotlight
Series.
In this series, you get to meetthe individuals all of whom are
members of Loyalty360, who areworking behind the scenes within
organizations to develop andsustain award-winning customer
loyalty programs.
We're going to explore theirpersonal journeys, dive into
(00:26):
their passions, successes andalso hear about some of the
challenges they may have alongthe way.
Stay tuned as we uncover thestories that drive innovation
and impact in the world ofcustomer loyalty.
And today we have Eric Capilla.
He's Director of Loyalty atMarcus Theaters.
Eric, thank you for joining us.
How are you today?
Speaker 2 (00:46):
I'm great, mark, nice , to see you again in the team.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
Nice to always.
Great to connect with you.
You're looking awful spiffythere today, so that's good to
see as well.
First off, could you pleasetell us a little bit about
Marcus Theatres and your currentrole there?
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Yeah, absolutely, marcus Theaters.
We're the number four movieexhibitor here in the US, so
behind AMC, regal and Cinemark,which are all more national than
we are, but we're in.
We have 79 theaters across 17states, where we do have really
large shares in the states we doplay in.
My role here is the director ofloyalty, a role that I
absolutely love.
I have both our free program,magical Movie Awards, and a new
(01:27):
subscription program, marcusMovie Club, that we launched
back in November.
In addition to that, I handleall of our email marketing, of
which, when you have new movies,every week, we send a lot of
emails personalized to ourmembers' tastes, and then,
finally, also just doing all themember research.
We do a lot of surveying thatwe've talked about before and
just getting deep into theanalytics, which is just a
passion of mine, mark.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
Okay, customer loyalty is a very unique, fun,
amazing job.
We get to do all kinds ofthings.
It's not just the program youknow in the series.
We like to understand kind ofhow these leaders who are
running great programs, likeyourself, kind of got into your
(02:08):
role.
So how did you get into thiscustomer loyalty industry?
What roles led to your currentposition?
Speaker 2 (02:11):
It's a great question , mark.
It kind of evolved over time.
I've been working now for closeto 30 years, which is really
quite something, or at leastcertainly over 25.
And I started my career in CPGat Kid, first at Procter Gamble
Procter Gamble, excuse me andthen Kimberly-Clark, huggies,
diapers, kleenex all that mylast role there.
(02:32):
For five years I had thenational head.
I was the national head ofcategory and shopper insights,
so I was traveling around to allof the accounts and all the
retailers and that was socustomer focused, mark, and you
get a chance to sit in meetingswith.
I remember being in one with Ithink it was Dollar General and
the CEO was talking about I justremember this quote so clearly
what was it?
That our customers run out ofmoney before they run out of
(02:54):
months.
And it just always stuck withme, if you start thinking about
it, with loyalty and what we doand value and how important it
is in segmenting your customers,and it really kind of meant a
lot to me at the time.
And in addition to that, I hadall the loyalty programs across
the US wherever we had them atour retailers.
So that's where it reallystarted.
So I worked in loyalty forseveral years at Kimberly Clark
(03:16):
and then beyond that, I moved toa retailer called Fleet Farm
it's a regional retailer andlaunched a loyalty program
called Fleet Rewards.
That was both a free programand launched a loyalty program
called Fleetwood Rewards.
That was both a free programand also a credit program that
we evolved over time.
So that was really the launchof it.
And then came to Marcus, andI've already described what I do
here and just my passion behindit.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
Excellent.
So what attracted you to movietheater?
And, when you look at yourcurrent role, what may be
different between retailcustomer loyalty and, you know,
entertainment customer loyalty?
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
I would say I mean going from Kimberly Clark, where
we were, you know peddlingdiapers and you know
incontinence products andKleenex to you know working at
Fleet Farm, where we're you knowfarm equipment.
I mean it's a lot more funindustry and it's nice to be an
entertainment market.
It's a nice change, I'll tellyou that.
I would say that what isdifferent here, though, is if
you think about movies you cansee every single week there's a
(04:10):
new big release that comes out,so every single week is
different.
There's new content every week.
It's change every week.
So you've really got to be onyour toes and personalization
really matters every single week, whereas in CPG, we might have
a major you know productimprovement to Huggies every
three years or so.
So it was a lot more aboutmarketing and tweaking of things
(04:30):
when I was in CPG and atretailers.
At the retailers, that the tripcadence could be once or twice
a week here we're talking about.
You know you can count on bothhands how many trips a regular
movie goer makes.
So winning that next trip andpersonalizing and making sure
rewards are available to getthat trip is incredibly
important when you're in movies.
(04:50):
So I'd say that's a bigdifference of just trip cadence
and what I described before.
That's awesome.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
There's been a big discussion around value recently
, kind of front and center, andin many discussions we have the
economy, economic uncertainty,potentially economic uncertainty
, potentially consumerexpectations continue to evolve.
How is Marcus Theatres workingto deliver value and meeting the
changing needs of today'smoviegoers?
Speaker 2 (05:16):
I think just stepping back from that, mark, I think
it's.
By the way, we'll answer thequestion.
I think it's a fantasticquestion.
That's on all of our minds, soyou're hitting it right on.
I'd say one thing you have tobe really careful with we have
to be really careful with is.
I've heard it said before atmultiple companies now that we
have our best customers, we needto go get the others.
You don't.
You never have them fully.
(05:37):
So being really careful to makesure that we treat our best
members fantastically all thetime, to make sure we're
delivering for them, is soimportant when it comes to value
.
So never overlook your bestcustomers when it comes to value
.
I'd say the second thing is, ifwe, I think the outlook for the
next year or two, you can seeobviously everyone knows prices
are rising I think it's probablygoing to be even tougher.
(05:59):
So the choices of discretionaryversus having to buy milk and
bread, I think is going to startto become a lot different and a
lot tougher.
So we do have value programshere called Everyday Matinee,
where you can get tickets for$7.50.
We also have Value Tuesday forour members tickets for $6.
But the question is, what elsedo we need to go do and with
(06:19):
that we're going to look atrevamping the program in the
next several months Mark todeliver even more value back to
our members.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
Well, that's good to hear.
I was reading an interestingarticle, I think, the Wall
Street Journal a couple of daysago.
Yeah, Even the Economist.
Just about many brands haveabsorbed some of that price cost
, right.
So you look at the consumerprice index at 2.7, I think,
last month, but the CPI has goneup a little, simply more right.
So you know, look at Ford, Fordtook a huge drilling right In
(06:49):
regard to kind of their earningsbecause they're eating the
tariffs, right, and the chargeof the parts aren't made here to
go to the final product.
So they think a lot goingforward that's going to be
passed on.
So that's going to have somepotentially deleterious impacts
for brands.
But it's great to hear that youare looking to address that
value and bring more value toyour customers.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
Oh for sure.
I think, like when I worked ata retailer, I mean we would
pre-order when we knew thingswere coming.
I think a lot of retailers didthat here in the US so they
didn't pass it along right away,but I think it's coming.
You hit Q4 into next year.
It's going to get going to.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
When we look at customer experience.
Been in this industry fromKimblee Park, p&g, your new role
.
What is the single biggestfactor that influences a great
customer experience?
Speaker 2 (07:40):
I think, if I look at loyalty Mark and just thinking
about my role here, I'mconstantly looking with the team
at a number of things, with theteam at a number of things.
But if you start at the top ofthe experience, right, it's
delivering that personalizedemail to Mark Johnson, who we
know loves horror movies.
Therefore, he's going to gethorror movies and thrillers
right at the top of you know hisemail.
So stuff like that really doesmatter, making sure we're
(08:02):
personalizing content for ouraudience and delivering rewards.
I think second to that would bewhen you go buy a ticket, to
make sure rewards are accessible, that you can use them if you
have them available, that it'seasy to use.
That when you show up at thetheater, that at concessions a
member is getting specialpricing on certain days or for
certain events.
All of that stuff really matters.
And I think just really tyingit together is that we, I think,
(08:26):
do a really good job of makingsure, if someone comes to see a
movie, send a nice personalizedthank you, a couple of movies
that are coming up and then justI mean, I have it every weekend
.
It hits right where membershave issues and they reach out
to guest services and or myself,and I'll make sure every single
time I'm going to get back tothem right away.
It's incredibly important andit also shows our theaters that
(08:51):
are in it with them that we'repaying attention during the
so-called off hours.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
So all of those things I think really matter in
delivering for your member mark?
Absolutely.
Uh, when you look at the thingsthat you do outside of work to
relax, rejuvenate, uh, you know,is there a passion or hobby
that you really enjoy?
Speaker 2 (09:03):
yeah, the other husband I'm.
I'm getting a little older,mark.
I was thinking about thinkingabout this the other day that
well, I've been playing tennisnow for you know, closing in on
50 years my dad was from India,moved to Canada and wanted his
kids to play tennis, so that'sone of the things that I took up
early and I've played for years, fairly competitively less so
these days but both my kids areactually my daughter's trying
(09:24):
out for a tennis team today ather school back in Appleton, and
my son is a very good playerand it's kind of carried through
the family, so it's a lot offun for us.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
Absolutely.
Yeah, tennis is fun.
It's great sharing passionswith your kids.
I played club soccer growing upat university and all my kids
play soccer and I don't know ifit's good or bad, but they still
play one place at the collegelevel.
And, yeah, it's great to sharepassions with your kids.
So great to hear that you dothat.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
Yeah, it's stuff to do together.
It matters.
Those are the things I rememberwhen I'm a kid, the stuff I did
with my parents, so hopefullyit carries over Mark right 100%.
Speaker 1 (10:02):
So can you tell us a little bit more about your
family?
Speaker 2 (10:05):
Yeah, we actually.
Well, I've been in the US nowfor almost 25 years.
I am Canadian, and my wife andI have been married just over 20
years.
We have two kids, hazel, who is15, just about to turn 16 in a
week or two, and our son, oliver, who is going into high school
in his first year.
Coming up Dog Archie good dog,a little too yappy, but it goes
(10:26):
with being a dog right.
So, yeah, it's good, life isgood.
I have no complaints at all andreally enjoy what I do here at
marcus.
They treat us very well, that'sawesome.
Speaker 1 (10:35):
Speaking of dogs, there's a.
I'm bringing up another randomarticle, but uh, on monday in
the economist there was a bigarticle about you know the
labradoodles, the, uh, theamerican kennel akc.
Right, and they will.
They don't recognize them as apure dog.
They're not one of their dogsbecause they're not pure, pure,
pure, bred, right, becausethey're bred.
I guess they're the mostpopular dog in the world.
(10:57):
But the whole doodle breed,they don't recognize them so you
can't get papers on.
I guess it's a.
It's a big fight and it'sgetting very litigious.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
You can say well it's funny you mentioned that we
have a mini AustralianLabradoodle, so we know it very
well and I can hear him a lotwhen he barks.
So I know he's there and he's agreat dog.
But his recognition may notcome, I guess.
Speaker 1 (11:17):
That's fine.
Yeah, it's interesting.
And, as you know, labradoodlesthey were started in Australia.
Yeah, yeah, interesting.
Speaker 2 (11:26):
Yeah, very true.
Speaker 1 (11:27):
All right, yeah, interesting, very true, all
right, interesting.
So you're from Canada, you livein the US.
Great company work for you.
Know what do you like about theUS, what do you like about
Canada?
You know how does that work foryou.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
That is a big question these days, mark, and
yes, I will go anywhere in yourpolitics because it doesn't
matter for things like this.
And I'm, I got to say I mean Ilove the US, I enjoy it, I love
Wisconsin.
Wisconsin and Canada feel verysimilar to me and that's a
compliment to both, I think.
And just the casualness ofWisconsin and the kind of lack
(12:01):
of ego I think is very, I'd say,similar to Canada.
I think the sense of humor aswell.
So I enjoy it, I love it here.
It's it's, it's been a greatrun and we're certainly going to
continue.
Speaker 1 (12:12):
Okay, should the U?
S annex Canada?
No, no, no.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
I hope not these days .
You never know, Mark.
We'll see what happens though.
Speaker 1 (12:20):
Yeah, a wild card these days.
It is yeah, where did youattend college?
Speaker 2 (12:27):
I went to school in Canada at a school called Queens
university in Kingston Ontario,which in Canada, at a school
called Queen's University inKingston Ontario, which in
Canada, it's a very good school,Really enjoyed it.
Speaker 1 (12:39):
It's not well known here in the US, but in Canada it
is, and it was a great time.
Okay, what was your first jobafter college?
I think we talked about that alittle bit.
Speaker 2 (12:45):
Yeah, no, it was actually.
It was at Procter Gamble Iworked for probably I think it
was two and a half years beforeI went over to KC and customer
service very entry level at thetime.
Quite honestly, coming from asmaller town in Canada moving to
Toronto, which was big, andworking at this massive company
it was.
It was quite overwhelming and Ilearned a lot really quickly.
(13:06):
I got to tell you that, mark.
Speaker 1 (13:10):
OK, and when you look at that first job, you know
what do you remember about theposition?
Are the things that you broughtfrom that position into your
current roles?
Speaker 2 (13:18):
I think anyone who's been working for a while there
isn't a job that you do, that,even jobs you hate, and I didn't
you learn so much out of it andI think, just honestly, taking
care of the customer I wascalling customers every day and
taking care of their issues andyou learn that there's a great
diversity in the type of issues.
There's diversity in how peopleyou know some are more heated
(13:39):
conversations, some are lighterand how to, you know, take down
a situation that could get alittle bit tougher.
And that's no different fromthings we need to do in real
life right and handle yourselfwith the right you know
emotional equilibrium to makesure you keep things settled and
take care and loyalty, takingcare of your members when they
have issues and they're fired up, and how do you do that.
(14:00):
It all works together.
If you just learn things andpay attention and listen
effectively, you're going tocontinue to grow and do it
better.
Speaker 1 (14:07):
That makes perfect sense.
You know, when you look atchallenges or obstacles you've
overcome in your life, you know,is there kind of a big obstacle
or challenge that you've facedthat you've overcome and maybe
had an impact and kind of shapedyour kind of perspective today?
Speaker 2 (14:24):
That's a great question.
You know, what I'd say is maybea bit of a weird answer, but
being out of work teaches you alot and I'll say this when I
left Fleet Farm, there was agroup of us that all got kind of
let go on the same day.
You know how things go inretail at times, right, and
while it was a really tough daysearching for a job and starting
(14:44):
over and the vulnerability withit and having to look at your
resume again and realize that,hey, you know what things have
changed since the last time youupdated it.
And how do you search for a job, how do you make connections
with people and get moreconnections out of them to find
your next job?
Because that's probably themost effective way and I'd say
honestly, it's hugelychallenging, but there's a ton
(15:05):
of growth that comes out ofbeing out of work and finding a
job and interviewing and gettingthat job.
There's a lot of gratificationout of it when it does happen,
that's awesome.
Speaker 1 (15:15):
That's a great perspective, and if you go back
in time, is there something thatyou may do differently, maybe
change about your life, you know.
So what would that be and why?
So what would that be and why?
Speaker 2 (15:29):
I think that one thing I've learned over time,
quite honestly, is effectivelistening and how, at times that
we all want to kind of jump inoh wow, I've done that too and
you want to leap into theconversation too quickly and
just taking your time to reallyask questions, to learn about
the topic the person'sdescribing, to hear their
(15:50):
problems, to make a connectionwith them, it really works for
you.
It really works for you and Ithink being in insights and
being in loyalty, that's whatwe're doing right.
We're trying to find whatreally triggers people and I'd
say early in my career I talkedtoo much, I'd say.
As I've grown, I've realizednow it's a lot more effective in
taking time to listen and Ithink that'd be the one thing I
(16:11):
would have changed.
Speaker 1 (16:12):
You do a great job.
You're definitely veryloquacious, but you're very
empathetic and listen very well.
Speaker 2 (16:21):
So you're generally a solid person, so it's always a
great talk.
Well, it's very nice of you.
We're all trying, mark.
We're all trying, mister, I'lltell you.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
Absolutely.
If you had the opportunity ortime potentially to dive into
any facet of your job, you know,what would you like to learn
more about?
Speaker 2 (16:37):
Well, I'll tell you my passion, mark and this comes
from, you know, kimberly Clarkdays all the way through to
today is just jumping in,figuring out, taking your 100%
of your members and your baseand diving into the segments,
finding out what their behaviorsare.
I mean, if I could do that allday, every day.
It's the only thing I did,because the truth is in there
(16:59):
and I used to say this back inthe day that you need to go
through like levels of pain toget to great insights, and you
don't find them in surface levelone, two, you find them in
surface level eight, nine, andif you really do your homework,
you will find something that youcan open up and you can really
drive with for your business,and so I'd say that's one thing
that I would do.
Speaker 1 (17:18):
Okay, we'd like to end these executive spotlights,
you know, with a word of advicefor people who may be early in
their career in marketingcustomer experience.
For people who may be early intheir career in marketing
customer experience, you know,is there a thing or two that you
would recommend to someonewho's just getting a start in
this field?
You know, that would yousuggest to them?
Speaker 2 (17:38):
Yeah, you know I'm a huge believer in what I'm going
to tell you right now, which isand it's going to sound again
very simple but know whatproblem you're solving.
Know what problem you'resolving.
Know what problem you'resolving, because too often we
get in a room and people want togo hey, what's the next kind of
really cool thing that we couldgo do without knowing is it
actually going to drive yourbusiness?
Is it going to reach yourconsumer the way you want to?
(18:00):
Are you solving the problem?
Is it active?
Member rate?
It could be very different froma segment that's struggling
versus spending is down.
So really do a deep dive in yourbusiness.
Take the time to learn yourcustomer, take the time to
really dive into the businessand that's where you're going to
find, as I said, the nuggetsthat will drive your business.
So, if I was going to give anyadvice to anyone coming in to
(18:20):
any loyalty program to a newcompany take time to understand
the customer at a length thatyou are the expert in the
company.
I think that really matters andI feel like I try to be that
here.
But you can never stop.
It continues to evolve, mark,absolutely.
Speaker 1 (18:35):
Well, Eric, now we have our wonderful quick fire
questions.
Oh boy, I think the second timeyou've done this, so we have a
new set for you.
First question is how would youdescribe your work life?
Speaker 2 (18:47):
Honestly, it's fun.
It's really fun.
I have a long drive to get hereevery day, but I'm thrilled to
be here and I kind of see Ilearn a lot off the people that
work here.
Entertainment's a fun industryand it tends to be a lot of fun
here.
They take care of us prettygood, so I'd say that, Mark.
Speaker 1 (19:03):
Okay, excellent, if you have a day week off from
work.
What are you doing if you?
Speaker 2 (19:09):
have a day, week off from work.
What are you doing?
It's often if I have the time,mark, and I don't know if you're
a smoker and when I say smokerI don't mean smoking, I mean
literally smoking stuff on myTraeger, if I can do that and I
have the time.
I love making ribs, I lovemaking bacon on it, whatever it
may be, but that's just a lot offun for me.
Speaker 1 (19:27):
Okay, if you could live in any city, any country,
where are you living?
Speaker 2 (19:32):
This one's easy Vancouver, British Columbia,
Canada.
Anyone who's been there and hasbeen up to Whistler, it's a
beautiful city If you can affordto live there.
Speaker 1 (19:40):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
If you could go back to school,what would you study?
Speaker 2 (19:45):
Economics?
Yeah, for sure.
I have a real interest in howit all works together.
Speaker 1 (19:51):
so and I think it's important even in our jobs here-
okay, we talked a little bitearlier, but, you know, is there
a facet of your job, uh, thatyou would like to know more
about?
Speaker 2 (20:01):
um, you know what?
I think I think I've talkedthis before partnerships.
I don't feel.
Feel like I still get how toget a mutually beneficial
partnership with a company thatwould work well and you can
actually help feed each other ina lot of ways.
I think that's something I'dlove to understand better.
Speaker 1 (20:18):
Okay, and is there a facet of a job you would like to
know less about?
Speaker 2 (20:24):
But the performance review on myself I need to write
by the end of today, Mark, so Idon't really want to do that.
I don't know.
How am I doing?
Is it okay?
I don't know.
You're doing well I thinkyou're doing okay, I guess I'll
find out by the end of the day.
I'll submit it in and see whatmy boss says Okay.
Speaker 1 (20:39):
What motivates you when tackling challenges at
Marcus Theaters?
Speaker 2 (20:56):
Hey, again, coming from analytics and insights, I
love a big, messy problem that,honestly, even if no one else
wants to touch it, to me it'sfascinating and it's incredibly
gratifying because the truth isin the data, it will be there,
and so I'm pretty relentless infiguring out how to problem
solve so that I enjoy greatly.
Speaker 1 (21:07):
Okay, what do you draw inspiration from?
You know what lights your fire.
Speaker 2 (21:13):
You know what it's learning from the people around
me and, like I mean, I talkedabout it at the expo back when
was it?
Was that in May?
Speaker 1 (21:21):
I think it was in May .
Speaker 2 (21:22):
Honestly.
Just you talk to othercompanies, you watch the
presentations, and I really meanthat.
I mean you gain incrediblevalue if you're you're again
listening to what others aredoing.
You know every idea doesn'tneed to be your own.
Someone else has a really greatidea that you could duplicate
for your business.
Speaker 1 (21:36):
I think that's a big part of it okay, and is there
one skill that you maybe wouldlike to learn?
Speaker 2 (21:43):
you know if the nerd in me would love to learn how to
be a really good data scientist?
Yeah, I cannot.
I can't envision that happening.
But you know, you never know,mark.
Speaker 1 (21:55):
Eric, thank you very much for taking the time to join
us today on the Except forSpotlight.
Speaker 2 (21:59):
It was great speaking with you, as always.
Speaker 1 (22:02):
Great insight.
Thank you for everything thatyou do for the industry.
We appreciate you sharing yourinsights with our listeners and
look forward to learning morefrom you and your team in the
future.
So thanks again.
Speaker 2 (22:12):
I always like to see you, Mark.
Thanks for your time.
Speaker 1 (22:15):
Also want to thank you to everyone for taking the
time to listen and make sure youjoin us back every Saturday for
a new Executive Spotlightinterview.
Until then, have a wonderfulday, thank you.
Good afternoon, good morning.
This is Mark Johnson fromLoyalty360.
I hope everyone's happy, safeand well.
It's a Saturday, so welcomeback to our Executive Spotlight
Series.
In this series, you get to meetthe individuals all of whom are
members of Loyalty360, who areworking behind the scenes within
organizations to develop andsustain award-winning customer
loyalty programs.
We're going to explore theirpersonal journeys, dive into
(00:26):
their passions, successes andalso hear about some of the
challenges they may have alongthe way.
Stay tuned as we uncover thestories that drive innovation
and impact in the world ofcustomer loyalty.
And today we have Eric Capilla.
He's Director of Loyalty atMarcus Theaters.
Eric, thank you for joining us.
How are you today?
Speaker 2 (00:46):
I'm great, mark, nice , to see you again in the team.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
Nice to always.
Great to connect with you.
You're looking awful spiffythere today, so that's good to
see as well.
First off, could you pleasetell us a little bit about
Marcus Theatres and your currentrole there?
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Yeah, absolutely, marcus Theaters.
We're the number four movieexhibitor here in the US, so
behind AMC, regal and Cinemark,which are all more national than
we are, but we're in.
We have 79 theaters across 17states, where we do have really
large shares in the states we doplay in.
My role here is the director ofloyalty, a role that I
absolutely love.
I have both our free program,magical Movie Awards, and a new
(01:27):
subscription program, marcusMovie Club, that we launched
back in November.
In addition to that, I handleall of our email marketing, of
which, when you have new movies,every week, we send a lot of
emails personalized to ourmembers' tastes, and then,
finally, also just doing all themember research.
We do a lot of surveying thatwe've talked about before and
just getting deep into theanalytics, which is just a
passion of mine, mark.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
Okay, customer loyalty is a very unique, fun,
amazing job.
We get to do all kinds ofthings.
It's not just the program youknow in the series.
We like to understand kind ofhow these leaders who are
running great programs, likeyourself, kind of got into your
(02:08):
role.
So how did you get into thiscustomer loyalty industry?
What roles led to your currentposition?
Speaker 2 (02:11):
It's a great question , mark.
It kind of evolved over time.
I've been working now for closeto 30 years, which is really
quite something, or at leastcertainly over 25.
And I started my career in CPGat Kid, first at Procter Gamble
Procter Gamble, excuse me andthen Kimberly-Clark, huggies,
diapers, kleenex all that mylast role there.
(02:32):
For five years I had thenational head.
I was the national head ofcategory and shopper insights,
so I was traveling around to allof the accounts and all the
retailers and that was socustomer focused, mark, and you
get a chance to sit in meetingswith.
I remember being in one with Ithink it was Dollar General and
the CEO was talking about I justremember this quote so clearly
what was it?
That our customers run out ofmoney before they run out of
(02:54):
months.
And it just always stuck withme, if you start thinking about
it, with loyalty and what we doand value and how important it
is in segmenting your customers,and it really kind of meant a
lot to me at the time.
And in addition to that, I hadall the loyalty programs across
the US wherever we had them atour retailers.
So that's where it reallystarted.
So I worked in loyalty forseveral years at Kimberly Clark
(03:16):
and then beyond that, I moved toa retailer called Fleet Farm
it's a regional retailer andlaunched a loyalty program
called Fleet Rewards.
That was both a free programand launched a loyalty program
called Fleetwood Rewards.
That was both a free programand also a credit program that
we evolved over time.
So that was really the launchof it.
And then came to Marcus, andI've already described what I do
here and just my passion behindit.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
Excellent.
So what attracted you to movietheater?
And, when you look at yourcurrent role, what may be
different between retailcustomer loyalty and, you know,
entertainment customer loyalty?
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
I would say I mean going from Kimberly Clark, where
we were, you know peddlingdiapers and you know
incontinence products andKleenex to you know working at
Fleet Farm, where we're you knowfarm equipment.
I mean it's a lot more funindustry and it's nice to be an
entertainment market.
It's a nice change, I'll tellyou that.
I would say that what isdifferent here, though, is if
you think about movies you cansee every single week there's a
(04:10):
new big release that comes out,so every single week is
different.
There's new content every week.
It's change every week.
So you've really got to be onyour toes and personalization
really matters every single week, whereas in CPG, we might have
a major you know productimprovement to Huggies every
three years or so.
So it was a lot more aboutmarketing and tweaking of things
(04:30):
when I was in CPG and atretailers.
At the retailers, that the tripcadence could be once or twice
a week here we're talking about.
You know you can count on bothhands how many trips a regular
movie goer makes.
So winning that next trip andpersonalizing and making sure
rewards are available to getthat trip is incredibly
important when you're in movies.
(04:50):
So I'd say that's a bigdifference of just trip cadence
and what I described before.
That's awesome.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
There's been a big discussion around value recently
, kind of front and center, andin many discussions we have the
economy, economic uncertainty,potentially economic uncertainty
, potentially consumerexpectations continue to evolve.
How is Marcus Theatres workingto deliver value and meeting the
changing needs of today'smoviegoers?
Speaker 2 (05:16):
I think just stepping back from that, mark, I think
it's.
By the way, we'll answer thequestion.
I think it's a fantasticquestion.
That's on all of our minds, soyou're hitting it right on.
I'd say one thing you have tobe really careful with we have
to be really careful with is.
I've heard it said before atmultiple companies now that we
have our best customers, we needto go get the others.
You don't.
You never have them fully.
(05:37):
So being really careful to makesure that we treat our best
members fantastically all thetime, to make sure we're
delivering for them, is soimportant when it comes to value
.
So never overlook your bestcustomers when it comes to value
.
I'd say the second thing is, ifwe, I think the outlook for the
next year or two, you can seeobviously everyone knows prices
are rising I think it's probablygoing to be even tougher.
(05:59):
So the choices of discretionaryversus having to buy milk and
bread, I think is going to startto become a lot different and a
lot tougher.
So we do have value programshere called Everyday Matinee,
where you can get tickets for$7.50.
We also have Value Tuesday forour members tickets for $6.
But the question is, what elsedo we need to go do and with
(06:19):
that we're going to look atrevamping the program in the
next several months Mark todeliver even more value back to
our members.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
Well, that's good to hear.
I was reading an interestingarticle, I think, the Wall
Street Journal a couple of daysago.
Yeah, Even the Economist.
Just about many brands haveabsorbed some of that price cost
, right.
So you look at the consumerprice index at 2.7, I think,
last month, but the CPI has goneup a little, simply more right.
So you know, look at Ford, Fordtook a huge drilling right In
(06:49):
regard to kind of their earningsbecause they're eating the
tariffs, right, and the chargeof the parts aren't made here to
go to the final product.
So they think a lot goingforward that's going to be
passed on.
So that's going to have somepotentially deleterious impacts
for brands.
But it's great to hear that youare looking to address that
value and bring more value toyour customers.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
Oh for sure.
I think, like when I worked ata retailer, I mean we would
pre-order when we knew thingswere coming.
I think a lot of retailers didthat here in the US so they
didn't pass it along right away,but I think it's coming.
You hit Q4 into next year.
It's going to get going to.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
When we look at customer experience.
Been in this industry fromKimblee Park, p&g, your new role
.
What is the single biggestfactor that influences a great
customer experience?
Speaker 2 (07:40):
I think, if I look at loyalty Mark and just thinking
about my role here, I'mconstantly looking with the team
at a number of things, with theteam at a number of things.
But if you start at the top ofthe experience, right, it's
delivering that personalizedemail to Mark Johnson, who we
know loves horror movies.
Therefore, he's going to gethorror movies and thrillers
right at the top of you know hisemail.
So stuff like that really doesmatter, making sure we're
(08:02):
personalizing content for ouraudience and delivering rewards.
I think second to that would bewhen you go buy a ticket, to
make sure rewards are accessible, that you can use them if you
have them available, that it'seasy to use.
That when you show up at thetheater, that at concessions a
member is getting specialpricing on certain days or for
certain events.
All of that stuff really matters.
And I think just really tyingit together is that we, I think,
(08:26):
do a really good job of makingsure, if someone comes to see a
movie, send a nice personalizedthank you, a couple of movies
that are coming up and then justI mean, I have it every weekend
.
It hits right where membershave issues and they reach out
to guest services and or myself,and I'll make sure every single
time I'm going to get back tothem right away.
It's incredibly important andit also shows our theaters that
(08:51):
are in it with them that we'repaying attention during the
so-called off hours.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
So all of those things I think really matter in
delivering for your member mark?
Absolutely.
Uh, when you look at the thingsthat you do outside of work to
relax, rejuvenate, uh, you know,is there a passion or hobby
that you really enjoy?
Speaker 2 (09:03):
yeah, the other husband I'm.
I'm getting a little older,mark.
I was thinking about thinkingabout this the other day that
well, I've been playing tennisnow for you know, closing in on
50 years my dad was from India,moved to Canada and wanted his
kids to play tennis, so that'sone of the things that I took up
early and I've played for years, fairly competitively less so
these days but both my kids areactually my daughter's trying
(09:24):
out for a tennis team today ather school back in Appleton, and
my son is a very good playerand it's kind of carried through
the family, so it's a lot offun for us.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
Absolutely.
Yeah, tennis is fun.
It's great sharing passionswith your kids.
I played club soccer growing upat university and all my kids
play soccer and I don't know ifit's good or bad, but they still
play one place at the collegelevel.
And, yeah, it's great to sharepassions with your kids.
So great to hear that you dothat.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
Yeah, it's stuff to do together.
It matters.
Those are the things I rememberwhen I'm a kid, the stuff I did
with my parents, so hopefullyit carries over Mark right 100%.
Speaker 1 (10:02):
So can you tell us a little bit more about your
family?
Speaker 2 (10:05):
Yeah, we actually.
Well, I've been in the US nowfor almost 25 years.
I am Canadian, and my wife andI have been married just over 20
years.
We have two kids, hazel, who is15, just about to turn 16 in a
week or two, and our son, oliver, who is going into high school
in his first year.
Coming up Dog Archie good dog,a little too yappy, but it goes
(10:26):
with being a dog right.
So, yeah, it's good, life isgood.
I have no complaints at all andreally enjoy what I do here at
marcus.
They treat us very well, that'sawesome.
Speaker 1 (10:35):
Speaking of dogs, there's a.
I'm bringing up another randomarticle, but uh, on monday in
the economist there was a bigarticle about you know the
labradoodles, the, uh, theamerican kennel akc.
Right, and they will.
They don't recognize them as apure dog.
They're not one of their dogsbecause they're not pure, pure,
pure, bred, right, becausethey're bred.
I guess they're the mostpopular dog in the world.
(10:57):
But the whole doodle breed,they don't recognize them so you
can't get papers on.
I guess it's a.
It's a big fight and it'sgetting very litigious.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
You can say well it's funny you mentioned that we
have a mini AustralianLabradoodle, so we know it very
well and I can hear him a lotwhen he barks.
So I know he's there and he's agreat dog.
But his recognition may notcome, I guess.
Speaker 1 (11:17):
That's fine.
Yeah, it's interesting.
And, as you know, labradoodlesthey were started in Australia.
Yeah, yeah, interesting.
Speaker 2 (11:26):
Yeah, very true.
Speaker 1 (11:27):
All right, yeah, interesting, very true, all
right, interesting.
So you're from Canada, you livein the US.
Great company work for you.
Know what do you like about theUS, what do you like about
Canada?
You know how does that work foryou.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
That is a big question these days, mark, and
yes, I will go anywhere in yourpolitics because it doesn't
matter for things like this.
And I'm, I got to say I mean Ilove the US, I enjoy it, I love
Wisconsin.
Wisconsin and Canada feel verysimilar to me and that's a
compliment to both, I think.
And just the casualness ofWisconsin and the kind of lack
(12:01):
of ego I think is very, I'd say,similar to Canada.
I think the sense of humor aswell.
So I enjoy it, I love it here.
It's it's, it's been a greatrun and we're certainly going to
continue.
Speaker 1 (12:12):
Okay, should the U?
S annex Canada?
No, no, no.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
I hope not these days .
You never know, Mark.
We'll see what happens though.
Speaker 1 (12:20):
Yeah, a wild card these days.
It is yeah, where did youattend college?
Speaker 2 (12:27):
I went to school in Canada at a school called Queens
university in Kingston Ontario,which in Canada, at a school
called Queen's University inKingston Ontario, which in
Canada, it's a very good school,Really enjoyed it.
Speaker 1 (12:39):
It's not well known here in the US, but in Canada it
is, and it was a great time.
Okay, what was your first jobafter college?
I think we talked about that alittle bit.
Speaker 2 (12:45):
Yeah, no, it was actually.
It was at Procter Gamble Iworked for probably I think it
was two and a half years beforeI went over to KC and customer
service very entry level at thetime.
Quite honestly, coming from asmaller town in Canada moving to
Toronto, which was big, andworking at this massive company
it was.
It was quite overwhelming and Ilearned a lot really quickly.
(13:06):
I got to tell you that, mark.
Speaker 1 (13:10):
OK, and when you look at that first job, you know
what do you remember about theposition?
Are the things that you broughtfrom that position into your
current roles?
Speaker 2 (13:18):
I think anyone who's been working for a while there
isn't a job that you do, that,even jobs you hate, and I didn't
you learn so much out of it andI think, just honestly, taking
care of the customer I wascalling customers every day and
taking care of their issues andyou learn that there's a great
diversity in the type of issues.
There's diversity in how peopleyou know some are more heated
(13:39):
conversations, some are lighterand how to, you know, take down
a situation that could get alittle bit tougher.
And that's no different fromthings we need to do in real
life right and handle yourselfwith the right you know
emotional equilibrium to makesure you keep things settled and
take care and loyalty, takingcare of your members when they
have issues and they're fired up, and how do you do that.
(14:00):
It all works together.
If you just learn things andpay attention and listen
effectively, you're going tocontinue to grow and do it
better.
Speaker 1 (14:07):
That makes perfect sense.
You know, when you look atchallenges or obstacles you've
overcome in your life, you know,is there kind of a big obstacle
or challenge that you've facedthat you've overcome and maybe
had an impact and kind of shapedyour kind of perspective today?
Speaker 2 (14:24):
That's a great question.
You know, what I'd say is maybea bit of a weird answer, but
being out of work teaches you alot and I'll say this when I
left Fleet Farm, there was agroup of us that all got kind of
let go on the same day.
You know how things go inretail at times, right, and
while it was a really tough daysearching for a job and starting
(14:44):
over and the vulnerability withit and having to look at your
resume again and realize that,hey, you know what things have
changed since the last time youupdated it.
And how do you search for a job, how do you make connections
with people and get moreconnections out of them to find
your next job?
Because that's probably themost effective way and I'd say
honestly, it's hugelychallenging, but there's a ton
(15:05):
of growth that comes out ofbeing out of work and finding a
job and interviewing and gettingthat job.
There's a lot of gratificationout of it when it does happen,
that's awesome.
Speaker 1 (15:15):
That's a great perspective, and if you go back
in time, is there something thatyou may do differently, maybe
change about your life, you know.
So what would that be and why?
So what would that be and why?
Speaker 2 (15:29):
I think that one thing I've learned over time,
quite honestly, is effectivelistening and how, at times that
we all want to kind of jump inoh wow, I've done that too and
you want to leap into theconversation too quickly and
just taking your time to reallyask questions, to learn about
the topic the person'sdescribing, to hear their
(15:50):
problems, to make a connectionwith them, it really works for
you.
It really works for you and Ithink being in insights and
being in loyalty, that's whatwe're doing right.
We're trying to find whatreally triggers people and I'd
say early in my career I talkedtoo much, I'd say.
As I've grown, I've realizednow it's a lot more effective in
taking time to listen and Ithink that'd be the one thing I
(16:11):
would have changed.
Speaker 1 (16:12):
You do a great job.
You're definitely veryloquacious, but you're very
empathetic and listen very well.
Speaker 2 (16:21):
So you're generally a solid person, so it's always a
great talk.
Well, it's very nice of you.
We're all trying, mark.
We're all trying, mister, I'lltell you.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
Absolutely.
If you had the opportunity ortime potentially to dive into
any facet of your job, you know,what would you like to learn
more about?
Speaker 2 (16:37):
Well, I'll tell you my passion, mark and this comes
from, you know, kimberly Clarkdays all the way through to
today is just jumping in,figuring out, taking your 100%
of your members and your baseand diving into the segments,
finding out what their behaviorsare.
I mean, if I could do that allday, every day.
It's the only thing I did,because the truth is in there
(16:59):
and I used to say this back inthe day that you need to go
through like levels of pain toget to great insights, and you
don't find them in surface levelone, two, you find them in
surface level eight, nine, andif you really do your homework,
you will find something that youcan open up and you can really
drive with for your business,and so I'd say that's one thing
that I would do.
Speaker 1 (17:18):
Okay, we'd like to end these executive spotlights,
you know, with a word of advicefor people who may be early in
their career in marketingcustomer experience.
For people who may be early intheir career in marketing
customer experience, you know,is there a thing or two that you
would recommend to someonewho's just getting a start in
this field?
You know, that would yousuggest to them?
Speaker 2 (17:38):
Yeah, you know I'm a huge believer in what I'm going
to tell you right now, which isand it's going to sound again
very simple but know whatproblem you're solving.
Know what problem you'resolving.
Know what problem you'resolving, because too often we
get in a room and people want togo hey, what's the next kind of
really cool thing that we couldgo do without knowing is it
actually going to drive yourbusiness?
Is it going to reach yourconsumer the way you want to?
(18:00):
Are you solving the problem?
Is it active?
Member rate?
It could be very different froma segment that's struggling
versus spending is down.
So really do a deep dive in yourbusiness.
Take the time to learn yourcustomer, take the time to
really dive into the businessand that's where you're going to
find, as I said, the nuggetsthat will drive your business.
So, if I was going to give anyadvice to anyone coming in to
(18:20):
any loyalty program to a newcompany take time to understand
the customer at a length thatyou are the expert in the
company.
I think that really matters andI feel like I try to be that
here.
But you can never stop.
It continues to evolve, mark,absolutely.
Speaker 1 (18:35):
Well, Eric, now we have our wonderful quick fire
questions.
Oh boy, I think the second timeyou've done this, so we have a
new set for you.
First question is how would youdescribe your work life?
Speaker 2 (18:47):
Honestly, it's fun.
It's really fun.
I have a long drive to get hereevery day, but I'm thrilled to
be here and I kind of see Ilearn a lot off the people that
work here.
Entertainment's a fun industryand it tends to be a lot of fun
here.
They take care of us prettygood, so I'd say that, Mark.
Speaker 1 (19:03):
Okay, excellent, if you have a day week off from
work.
What are you doing if you?
Speaker 2 (19:09):
have a day, week off from work.
What are you doing?
It's often if I have the time,mark, and I don't know if you're
a smoker and when I say smokerI don't mean smoking, I mean
literally smoking stuff on myTraeger, if I can do that and I
have the time.
I love making ribs, I lovemaking bacon on it, whatever it
may be, but that's just a lot offun for me.
Speaker 1 (19:27):
Okay, if you could live in any city, any country,
where are you living?
Speaker 2 (19:32):
This one's easy Vancouver, British Columbia,
Canada.
Anyone who's been there and hasbeen up to Whistler, it's a
beautiful city If you can affordto live there.
Speaker 1 (19:40):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
If you could go back to school,what would you study?
Speaker 2 (19:45):
Economics?
Yeah, for sure.
I have a real interest in howit all works together.
Speaker 1 (19:51):
so and I think it's important even in our jobs here-
okay, we talked a little bitearlier, but, you know, is there
a facet of your job, uh, thatyou would like to know more
about?
Speaker 2 (20:01):
um, you know what?
I think I think I've talkedthis before partnerships.
I don't feel.
Feel like I still get how toget a mutually beneficial
partnership with a company thatwould work well and you can
actually help feed each other ina lot of ways.
I think that's something I'dlove to understand better.
Speaker 1 (20:18):
Okay, and is there a facet of a job you would like to
know less about?
Speaker 2 (20:24):
But the performance review on myself I need to write
by the end of today, Mark, so Idon't really want to do that.
I don't know.
How am I doing?
Is it okay?
I don't know.
You're doing well I thinkyou're doing okay, I guess I'll
find out by the end of the day.
I'll submit it in and see whatmy boss says Okay.
Speaker 1 (20:39):
What motivates you when tackling challenges at
Marcus Theaters?
Speaker 2 (20:56):
Hey, again, coming from analytics and insights, I
love a big, messy problem that,honestly, even if no one else
wants to touch it, to me it'sfascinating and it's incredibly
gratifying because the truth isin the data, it will be there,
and so I'm pretty relentless infiguring out how to problem
solve so that I enjoy greatly.
Speaker 1 (21:07):
Okay, what do you draw inspiration from?
You know what lights your fire.
Speaker 2 (21:13):
You know what it's learning from the people around
me and, like I mean, I talkedabout it at the expo back when
was it?
Was that in May?
Speaker 1 (21:21):
I think it was in May .
Speaker 2 (21:22):
Honestly.
Just you talk to othercompanies, you watch the
presentations, and I really meanthat.
I mean you gain incrediblevalue if you're you're again
listening to what others aredoing.
You know every idea doesn'tneed to be your own.
Someone else has a really greatidea that you could duplicate
for your business.
Speaker 1 (21:36):
I think that's a big part of it okay, and is there
one skill that you maybe wouldlike to learn?
Speaker 2 (21:43):
you know if the nerd in me would love to learn how to
be a really good data scientist?
Yeah, I cannot.
I can't envision that happening.
But you know, you never know,mark.
Speaker 1 (21:55):
Eric, thank you very much for taking the time to join
us today on the Except forSpotlight.
Speaker 2 (21:59):
It was great speaking with you, as always.
Speaker 1 (22:02):
Great insight.
Thank you for everything thatyou do for the industry.
We appreciate you sharing yourinsights with our listeners and
look forward to learning morefrom you and your team in the
future.
So thanks again.
Speaker 2 (22:12):
I always like to see you, Mark.
Thanks for your time.
Speaker 1 (22:15):
Also want to thank you to everyone for taking the
time to listen and make sure youjoin us back every Saturday for
a new Executive Spotlightinterview.
Until then, have a wonderfulday, thank you.
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