December 16, 2024 • 19 mins
Memorable experiences are a key part of creating lasting customer relationships, and Häagen-Dazs Shops are taking steps to enhance its approach. In this conversation with Maya Pocock, Brand Marketing leader for Häagen-Dazs Shops, Loyalty360 CEO Mark Johnson gets the inside scoop into how the iconic ice cream brand is building loyalty through its refreshed app. With a focus on frictionless engagement and visually stunning design, Häagen-Dazs is improving user experience and operational efficiency in a simplified and aesthetically appealing platform for customer engagement.
Read the full article on Loyalty360 here.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Rolling out new or enhanced technology that is
organizationally aligned can bea challenge for larger and
well-staffed organizations.
Yet for smaller teams, makingsure to not only create the most
robust customer loyaltyapproach and experience is very
important.
Ensuring that the program iseasy to understand and the value
is shared from the frontline tothe C-suite all the way through
(00:24):
to the end customer is oftantamount importance.
Today we have the pleasure ofspeaking with Maya Pocock.
She's a brand marketer forHagen Dazs Shops and she is
going to share their journey ofhow her small team is refreshing
their loyalty program withaplomb Thanks to a newly
designed app meant to elevatecustomer engagement and
experience.
Thank you very much for takingthe time to talk with us, maya.
(00:47):
How are you?
Speaker 2 (00:48):
I'm great.
Thanks so much for having meExcited to chat.
Speaker 1 (00:51):
Absolutely.
Thank you very much for takingthe time.
First off, we'd like to startthese with a little information
regarding the brand that we'respeaking with, so we'd love to
get a short introduction toHaagen-Dazs Shops and your role
within the company, and maybeeven some of your past
experience in customer loyalty.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
Yeah, so I work with Haagen-Dazs Shops, which is part
of the Haagen-Dazs brand.
We have 200 plus shops acrossthe country, with our biggest
markets in South Florida and NewYork Northeast area.
We're a small team of nine.
We have regional managers andour development team across the
(01:26):
country, so we're a fully remoteteam we are.
The Haagen-Dazs shop system isfranchise owned and operated, so
our role is to really you know,you know be the cheerleaders
and be the advocates for ourshop owners across the country,
and that includes, you know,national marketing efforts, some
(01:47):
local marketing efforts and, ofcourse, the loyalty program.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
Excellent High Mass Shops.
You're rolling out a newcustomer loyalty app.
Can you tell us how it works,how customers are engaged with
the app and how they'reencouraged to join?
Speaker 2 (02:03):
Yeah, so we actually just rolled it out.
We work with Punch, so that'sour kind of loyalty program
provider, and we launched theapp in 2019.
We've recently updated it, so anew SDK, so backend technology
as well as design, and the realgoal for us, given our market,
(02:26):
is to make it frictionless.
A frictionless app experience,frictionless loyalty experience.
That is super simple.
So it's a point-based system.
So for every dollar you spendat a Hagenau shop, that is
applied to your account in theway of points that you can
redeem for toppings, scoops,dazzlers which is what we call
(02:50):
our sundaes, milkshakes and evenpints.
So that's kind of the superhigh level way that it works,
yeah.
Excellent when you look at theapp.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
You know what are two or three things that you are
most proud of.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
Excellent.
When you look at the app, youknow what are two or three
things that you are most proudof.
I mean, to be honest, you knowit's beautiful, it's, it really
matches the look and feel of theHaagen-Dazs brand.
So that's, that's huge for me.
I'm a very visual person and,frankly, you know if, if you
know, I've got a lot of appsthat I use regularly on my phone
.
If they don't look great, I'mnot interested, and I know that
(03:26):
that's how our consumers thinkas well and it's super
straightforward and easy to use.
So, again, I think you know weare in the dessert, the snacking
space.
So you know we don't needcomplicated, we don't need a, we
don't need a complicatedprogram, we just need it to be
super simple for our guests.
So it's simple, it'sstraightforward, the user
(03:48):
interface is just beautiful.
So I'm really really proud ofthat.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
Excellent, as we kind of talked before.
We, you know, kind of startedthis interview.
You talked about some of thethings that you did when you
redid the app.
You know, when you redevelopingthe app, adding new
functionality, updating the SDK,you know, when you redeveloping
the app, adding newfunctionality, updating that SDK
, the software developer kit canbe kind of challenging.
Were there some things that yousaw surprising, that you saw in
(04:14):
the process, in the app orgoing through the process, that
you maybe didn't expect to see?
Speaker 2 (04:20):
The process itself.
I mean, it definitely tooklonger than we thought it would.
You know, nothing's ever assimple as you think it's going
to be, but you know, we goteverything out of that
experience that we wanted to.
But, yeah, it took much longer.
I will say it took much longerthan we were hoping, but you
know, we think that it wasdefinitely worth the wait.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
Excellent.
Engagement and loyalty are allthe rage right now within those
who have custom loyalty programswithin our community.
When you look at things thatHaagen-Dazs does you talked
briefly, as I mentioned, and wekind of led up to this about
Haagen-Dazs University.
You know how do you plan tomaintain and increase the
(05:04):
engagement, especially withmaybe younger demographics, with
the app and with?
You know the loyalty program.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
Yeah, that's a great question.
Right now we're really focusedon increasing guests.
So overall, you know, userswithin the program, that's our
number one goal right now.
I think in the new year,thinking more about engagement
and repeats, that's going to bea bigger sort of focus for us.
Right now it's reallyincreasing those users because,
(05:31):
frankly, we were very quiet onour program before the update so
we're really trying to get backto those goal numbers.
So that's the main focus.
But certainly in the new yearwe'll be thinking about new ways
to increase engagement numberof visits per month and
specifically how to cut throughto specific demographics of
(05:54):
segmenting.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
Excellent.
You touched a little bit onpersonalization.
Personalized experiences,rewards, offers, cadence are
very important within thecustomer loyalty arena as well.
When you look atpersonalization, how would you
effectively leverage data andthe insights that data brings to
help personalize the app andthe experience for each user?
Speaker 2 (06:18):
Yeah.
So that's an interestingquestion.
I feel like again, right nowwe're not focused so much on
that personalization and,frankly, you know, with our
program it's ice cream and thereality is you're only visiting
a Haagen-Dazs shop maximum threetimes a month because the
nature of our business is thatit's often in the moment right.
(06:39):
So you're at the mall with yourfamily, hey, there's a
Haagen-Dazs shop, let's, let'sgo.
I forgot that there was aHaagen-Dazs shop at this mall.
Let's, let's visit that.
So it is different the way thatwe think about and the way that
we strategize with our specificindustry.
You know, we we frankly can'tpersonalize in the same way that
you might be able to do withStarbucks.
(06:59):
You can go to Starbucks everyday, right, you could eat there,
you can get a morning beverageand an afternoon beverage, and
that's just not the reality ofour business.
So I think for us it's truly avery simple program, so it's
just not as much aboutpersonalization in that way.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
Okay when you kind of onboard new customers or even
training.
You know when you look attraining, the importance of
training and making sure thattheir internal stakeholders are
bought in the value of thecustomer loyalty program.
You know we continue to hearthat that's a big challenge and
an opportunity for brands tomake sure that not only the
(07:40):
customers understand the programbut the frontline staff and the
organization understands theimportance of the program.
You know frontline staff andthe organization understands the
importance of the program.
You know what training do youprovide for your employees in
the Hagen-Dazs shops toencourage, you know, the
customers to download the app orto educate them as to the
benefit of the program?
Speaker 2 (07:57):
Yeah, so we were just previously talking about
Hagen-Dazs University.
That's our, I think we do itfour times a year.
It's our program that weeducate new franchisees on how
to truly run a Haagen-Dazs shop.
So there's a lot of trainingthere.
Additionally, for every newhire there's significant
training about the program, howto talk to guests about the
(08:20):
program.
We've got POP surrounding thecash register, so there's a lot
of emphasis on the program andtraining in that way.
Additionally, we have a secretshopper program and that's one
of the questions that they hiton is, you know, was I asked
about the loyalty program?
Was I asked, do I have theprogram?
(08:41):
If not, was I asked to join?
So there's a lot of emphasis onthat.
I think even more emphasis canbe on, you know, not just like
telling the guest join theprogram, like really
understanding the why behindjoining the program, because I
think to your point, you know wecertainly want to bulk the
number of users we have on theprogram, but beyond that, we
(09:03):
want them to be engaged, soreminding them, like, the
benefits of the program.
So there's a lot of training,you know, and continuous
training about the program withour frontline teams, because you
know I can do a lot of work onmy end to send out push
notifications and emails, but itreally doesn't matter if we're
not getting new users to sign upat the shop level.
Speaker 1 (09:25):
Absolutely.
You know data privacy securityare also big topics in customer
loyalty.
Now, when you look at data,everyone's talking about data
first-party data, zero-partydata, third-party data,
transactional, non-transactional.
You know how does the launch ofthe new Haagen-Dazs Shops app
impact the ability to collectand analyze data within your
(09:46):
team?
Speaker 2 (09:47):
Yeah, so with the app and this is not just since the
update, but since we brought iton in 2019, we're able to gain
more insight into how ourcustomers interact with the
brand.
It allows us to betterunderstand their preferences and
experiences.
But, of course, with that datathat we take that very seriously
and we recognize that havingthat access means that we have
(10:10):
to safeguard it as well.
So, you know, it certainlyhelps us to again to understand
what guests gravitate towardswhen we do certain offers like
what, what is really impactful?
What do our guests actuallywant to use?
What offers do they want to use?
So that's super important to usand it helps better inform
(10:30):
future LTOs even.
Speaker 1 (10:33):
But, yeah, we definitely take that data very,
very seriously, especially withand Montana just rolled out a
new privacy legislation.
California obviously you'requite familiar with.
You know CCPA and some of therestrictions there.
You know how do you kind ofmanage the need for data and
(10:58):
also making sure that data issecure and that you're building
trust with the customers withinthe loyalty program.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
Yeah, so it's.
You know that data privacy is atop priority for us.
We have a lot of safeguards inplace.
The privacy policy on our appis the privacy policy on our
website.
So it's, you know, it's notjust for our app, it's for, you
know, our, our company and thecorporation that owns us.
So we have policies in place toensure that the app, you know,
is that all of that informationis safeguarded.
(11:24):
And you know, we want to makesure that the app is accessible
only to users over the age of 18.
So that's actually somethingthat we implemented when we
updated the app and that'sreally just in the interest of,
you know, a commitment toprotecting younger audiences.
So that was actually a trickything to implement, right?
(11:46):
So we essentially had toprovide written, we had to email
all of our current guests andthose individuals under the age
of 18 and let them know that wewould be changing this policy
and that they had a certainnumber of days to use their
points and on the date that weupdated the app, we would not
(12:09):
allow new minors to use the app.
So that was just really in theinterest of protecting children.
We don't market to children.
So, yeah, we take it very, veryseriously and it's something
that we're always thinking about.
We audit just to ensure thatall the info, that we don't have
any new minors on the program.
(12:31):
But yeah, we take it veryseriously and and have a team
behind us to to ensure that wedo.
Speaker 1 (12:37):
That's awesome.
You talked about the process ofdeveloping a new app and
launching it.
Being able to leveragetechnology is a core challenge
with many brands now.
Oftentimes they sign up for atechnology that says they're
going to do X and it does Xminus Y.
Getting it to integrate withyour other systems can be a
challenge.
(12:57):
Now you have this new wonderfulapp, are you planning to add
enhancements to it?
Are there other types oftechnology you would like to be
able to integrate within it?
Maybe a smart device or paymentsystems that could potentially
enhance user experience?
Speaker 2 (13:13):
Yeah, I mean just I would love to allow for Apple
Pay.
You know, I would love to beable to do virtual wallets
through our loyalty program onthe app.
We currently aren't.
It's quite cost prohibitive forus, but there's certainly
things that we think aboutlonger down the app.
We currently aren't.
It's quite cost prohibitive forus, but there's certainly
things that we think aboutlonger down the line as we build
the program and as the programbecomes more profitable for us.
(13:37):
So certainly more integrationsand technologies are really
really helpful to us, but rightnow we don't have anything in
the pipeline.
Speaker 1 (13:46):
Excellent Measuring success and being able to
optimize around.
That is very important as wellwhen you look at some KPIs that
you have and what are the keymetrics you use to measure the
success and efficacy of your app.
Speaker 2 (14:01):
So most of our offers we send through push
notifications and emails.
We know that emails just don'tget opened right.
So for us it's like looking atthose open rates and it's
looking to see those pushnotification rates to see who
actually read the information.
And also it's just looking atwhen we create an offer, so a
BOGO or a 10% off how manyredemptions did we get?
(14:25):
So that's really important tous.
Beyond that, we're looking atthe shop level and the regional
level to see, you know, newusers who have joined the
program, new signups.
We're looking at lift rates,we're looking at user engagement
and number of visits per month.
So we have goals, you know, ona monthly basis and then, of
(14:45):
course, on a yearly basis.
So that's really what we'relooking at and we were able to
get all of that data throughreporting on the backend on
Punch.
Speaker 1 (14:55):
That's awesome.
Do you guys do anything withregard to kind of listening
customer feedback, being able topotentially iterate for new app
enhancements or addedfunctionality from a voice of
the customer perspective, whenyou look at potentially
continuous improvement?
Speaker 2 (15:14):
Yeah, definitely so.
With the release of our updatedapp, we have a committed
customer experience team.
So when a guest needs to leavefeedback, they can reach out to
that team immediately, whereasbefore it was through our
website.
So it's a more directcommunication with the punch
(15:37):
team and then for anythingspecific to guest experience it
goes to our team.
So we're always looking at that.
We're looking at those reviews.
In addition, you know, even ifit's not direct to the app,
we're looking at reviews acrossGoogle and Yelp, because often
they're related to the app, andthen, of course, on the app, the
(15:57):
iOS app store and the GooglePlay store.
So I feel like we get sort of afront row seat to what's really
going on in the shop level,because you know, I can't be in
200 places at once.
So it's really valuablefeedback for us and for our shop
owners.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
Excellent and last question, a little bit
self-serving.
You know, what can loyalty 360do to help you and your team of
one and nine with your customerloyalty efforts?
Speaker 2 (16:23):
Yeah, so I think the biggest challenge for us is
understanding our specificmarket.
Right?
So it's dessert and it'ssnacking.
You can't compare us again tolike a Chipotle or a Starbucks,
right?
So you know our guest is a lotdifferent.
They're visiting less often andthey're spending a little bit
more money.
So just thinking about ourguest and also thinking about
(16:46):
competitors in the market andstrategies that they're using
would be super helpful to us,because you know we found it
challenging to actually get thatinsight.
So that's the biggest thing forus is really understanding.
You know how how to serve ourguests in the best way through
loyalty.
You know how how to serve ourguests in the best way through
(17:07):
loyalty.
Speaker 1 (17:10):
That, yeah, super helpful to us, excellent.
And now we have the wonderfulquick fire question around.
Like these two, a one word orshort phrase, and the first
question we have is what word orshort phrase do you use to
inspire others?
Speaker 2 (17:21):
This too shall pass.
Speaker 1 (17:23):
Okay, what is your least favorite word that other
people use?
Speaker 2 (17:27):
Quota.
Speaker 1 (17:28):
Okay, what excites you at work?
Speaker 2 (17:31):
Our guests, making our guests happy, and my team.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
Excellent.
And what do you find tiresomeat home or at work?
Speaker 2 (17:38):
Trying to properly forecast for the future.
Speaker 1 (17:42):
Okay, what is your favorite flavor of the
Haagen-Dazs ice cream?
Speaker 2 (17:46):
New York strawberry cheesecake.
Speaker 1 (17:48):
Okay, is there a book that you've read, or read
frequently, that you'd like torecommend to colleagues?
Speaker 2 (17:55):
Kitchen.
Confidential by AnthonyBourdain.
Speaker 1 (17:57):
Okay, what profession , other than the one that you're
currently in, would you like toattempt?
Speaker 2 (18:02):
Photography.
Speaker 1 (18:04):
Is there something that you enjoy doing that you
often don't get you like toattempt Photography?
Is there something that youenjoy doing that you often don't
get the time to do?
Speaker 2 (18:08):
See my team in person .
Speaker 1 (18:09):
There you go.
Who inspired you to be theperson that you are today?
Speaker 2 (18:14):
My mom and my sister, and it's both their birthdays
today.
Speaker 1 (18:18):
Oh, wow, that's good.
And happy birthday to them.
It's cool that they have it onthe same day.
That's awesome.
And last question we have howdo you want to be remembered by
your friends and family?
Speaker 2 (18:28):
Kind and hilarious.
Speaker 1 (18:30):
Well, Maya, thank you very much for taking the time
to speak to us today.
It was great getting to knowyou and getting to know more
about the program.
We appreciate you sharing yourjourney with our audience and
look forward to hearing more in2025 and beyond.
Speaker 2 (18:43):
Awesome.
Thank you guys.
Thank you Mark.
Speaker 1 (18:49):
Thank you, everyone else, for taking time to listen
today.
Make sure you check back foranother additional episodes in
our leaders in customer loyaltyseries soon.
Until then, have a wonderfulday.
Rolling out new or enhanced technology that is
organizationally aligned can bea challenge for larger and
well-staffed organizations.
Yet for smaller teams, makingsure to not only create the most
robust customer loyaltyapproach and experience is very
important.
Ensuring that the program iseasy to understand and the value
is shared from the frontline tothe C-suite all the way through
(00:24):
to the end customer is oftantamount importance.
Today we have the pleasure ofspeaking with Maya Pocock.
She's a brand marketer forHagen Dazs Shops and she is
going to share their journey ofhow her small team is refreshing
their loyalty program withaplomb Thanks to a newly
designed app meant to elevatecustomer engagement and
experience.
Thank you very much for takingthe time to talk with us, maya.
(00:47):
How are you?
Speaker 2 (00:48):
I'm great.
Thanks so much for having meExcited to chat.
Speaker 1 (00:51):
Absolutely.
Thank you very much for takingthe time.
First off, we'd like to startthese with a little information
regarding the brand that we'respeaking with, so we'd love to
get a short introduction toHaagen-Dazs Shops and your role
within the company, and maybeeven some of your past
experience in customer loyalty.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
Yeah, so I work with Haagen-Dazs Shops, which is part
of the Haagen-Dazs brand.
We have 200 plus shops acrossthe country, with our biggest
markets in South Florida and NewYork Northeast area.
We're a small team of nine.
We have regional managers andour development team across the
(01:26):
country, so we're a fully remoteteam we are.
The Haagen-Dazs shop system isfranchise owned and operated, so
our role is to really you know,you know be the cheerleaders
and be the advocates for ourshop owners across the country,
and that includes, you know,national marketing efforts, some
(01:47):
local marketing efforts and, ofcourse, the loyalty program.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
Excellent High Mass Shops.
You're rolling out a newcustomer loyalty app.
Can you tell us how it works,how customers are engaged with
the app and how they'reencouraged to join?
Speaker 2 (02:03):
Yeah, so we actually just rolled it out.
We work with Punch, so that'sour kind of loyalty program
provider, and we launched theapp in 2019.
We've recently updated it, so anew SDK, so backend technology
as well as design, and the realgoal for us, given our market,
(02:26):
is to make it frictionless.
A frictionless app experience,frictionless loyalty experience.
That is super simple.
So it's a point-based system.
So for every dollar you spendat a Hagenau shop, that is
applied to your account in theway of points that you can
redeem for toppings, scoops,dazzlers which is what we call
(02:50):
our sundaes, milkshakes and evenpints.
So that's kind of the superhigh level way that it works,
yeah.
Excellent when you look at theapp.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
You know what are two or three things that you are
most proud of.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
Excellent.
When you look at the app, youknow what are two or three
things that you are most proudof.
I mean, to be honest, you knowit's beautiful, it's, it really
matches the look and feel of theHaagen-Dazs brand.
So that's, that's huge for me.
I'm a very visual person and,frankly, you know if, if you
know, I've got a lot of appsthat I use regularly on my phone
.
If they don't look great, I'mnot interested, and I know that
(03:26):
that's how our consumers thinkas well and it's super
straightforward and easy to use.
So, again, I think you know weare in the dessert, the snacking
space.
So you know we don't needcomplicated, we don't need a, we
don't need a complicatedprogram, we just need it to be
super simple for our guests.
So it's simple, it'sstraightforward, the user
(03:48):
interface is just beautiful.
So I'm really really proud ofthat.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
Excellent, as we kind of talked before.
We, you know, kind of startedthis interview.
You talked about some of thethings that you did when you
redid the app.
You know, when you redevelopingthe app, adding new
functionality, updating the SDK,you know, when you redeveloping
the app, adding newfunctionality, updating that SDK
, the software developer kit canbe kind of challenging.
Were there some things that yousaw surprising, that you saw in
(04:14):
the process, in the app orgoing through the process, that
you maybe didn't expect to see?
Speaker 2 (04:20):
The process itself.
I mean, it definitely tooklonger than we thought it would.
You know, nothing's ever assimple as you think it's going
to be, but you know, we goteverything out of that
experience that we wanted to.
But, yeah, it took much longer.
I will say it took much longerthan we were hoping, but you
know, we think that it wasdefinitely worth the wait.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
Excellent.
Engagement and loyalty are allthe rage right now within those
who have custom loyalty programswithin our community.
When you look at things thatHaagen-Dazs does you talked
briefly, as I mentioned, and wekind of led up to this about
Haagen-Dazs University.
You know how do you plan tomaintain and increase the
(05:04):
engagement, especially withmaybe younger demographics, with
the app and with?
You know the loyalty program.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
Yeah, that's a great question.
Right now we're really focusedon increasing guests.
So overall, you know, userswithin the program, that's our
number one goal right now.
I think in the new year,thinking more about engagement
and repeats, that's going to bea bigger sort of focus for us.
Right now it's reallyincreasing those users because,
(05:31):
frankly, we were very quiet onour program before the update so
we're really trying to get backto those goal numbers.
So that's the main focus.
But certainly in the new yearwe'll be thinking about new ways
to increase engagement numberof visits per month and
specifically how to cut throughto specific demographics of
(05:54):
segmenting.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
Excellent.
You touched a little bit onpersonalization.
Personalized experiences,rewards, offers, cadence are
very important within thecustomer loyalty arena as well.
When you look atpersonalization, how would you
effectively leverage data andthe insights that data brings to
help personalize the app andthe experience for each user?
Speaker 2 (06:18):
Yeah.
So that's an interestingquestion.
I feel like again, right nowwe're not focused so much on
that personalization and,frankly, you know, with our
program it's ice cream and thereality is you're only visiting
a Haagen-Dazs shop maximum threetimes a month because the
nature of our business is thatit's often in the moment right.
(06:39):
So you're at the mall with yourfamily, hey, there's a
Haagen-Dazs shop, let's, let'sgo.
I forgot that there was aHaagen-Dazs shop at this mall.
Let's, let's visit that.
So it is different the way thatwe think about and the way that
we strategize with our specificindustry.
You know, we we frankly can'tpersonalize in the same way that
you might be able to do withStarbucks.
(06:59):
You can go to Starbucks everyday, right, you could eat there,
you can get a morning beverageand an afternoon beverage, and
that's just not the reality ofour business.
So I think for us it's truly avery simple program, so it's
just not as much aboutpersonalization in that way.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
Okay when you kind of onboard new customers or even
training.
You know when you look attraining, the importance of
training and making sure thattheir internal stakeholders are
bought in the value of thecustomer loyalty program.
You know we continue to hearthat that's a big challenge and
an opportunity for brands tomake sure that not only the
(07:40):
customers understand the programbut the frontline staff and the
organization understands theimportance of the program.
You know frontline staff andthe organization understands the
importance of the program.
You know what training do youprovide for your employees in
the Hagen-Dazs shops toencourage, you know, the
customers to download the app orto educate them as to the
benefit of the program?
Speaker 2 (07:57):
Yeah, so we were just previously talking about
Hagen-Dazs University.
That's our, I think we do itfour times a year.
It's our program that weeducate new franchisees on how
to truly run a Haagen-Dazs shop.
So there's a lot of trainingthere.
Additionally, for every newhire there's significant
training about the program, howto talk to guests about the
(08:20):
program.
We've got POP surrounding thecash register, so there's a lot
of emphasis on the program andtraining in that way.
Additionally, we have a secretshopper program and that's one
of the questions that they hiton is, you know, was I asked
about the loyalty program?
Was I asked, do I have theprogram?
(08:41):
If not, was I asked to join?
So there's a lot of emphasis onthat.
I think even more emphasis canbe on, you know, not just like
telling the guest join theprogram, like really
understanding the why behindjoining the program, because I
think to your point, you know wecertainly want to bulk the
number of users we have on theprogram, but beyond that, we
(09:03):
want them to be engaged, soreminding them, like, the
benefits of the program.
So there's a lot of training,you know, and continuous
training about the program withour frontline teams, because you
know I can do a lot of work onmy end to send out push
notifications and emails, but itreally doesn't matter if we're
not getting new users to sign upat the shop level.
Speaker 1 (09:25):
Absolutely.
You know data privacy securityare also big topics in customer
loyalty.
Now, when you look at data,everyone's talking about data
first-party data, zero-partydata, third-party data,
transactional, non-transactional.
You know how does the launch ofthe new Haagen-Dazs Shops app
impact the ability to collectand analyze data within your
(09:46):
team?
Speaker 2 (09:47):
Yeah, so with the app and this is not just since the
update, but since we brought iton in 2019, we're able to gain
more insight into how ourcustomers interact with the
brand.
It allows us to betterunderstand their preferences and
experiences.
But, of course, with that datathat we take that very seriously
and we recognize that havingthat access means that we have
(10:10):
to safeguard it as well.
So, you know, it certainlyhelps us to again to understand
what guests gravitate towardswhen we do certain offers like
what, what is really impactful?
What do our guests actuallywant to use?
What offers do they want to use?
So that's super important to usand it helps better inform
(10:30):
future LTOs even.
Speaker 1 (10:33):
But, yeah, we definitely take that data very,
very seriously, especially withand Montana just rolled out a
new privacy legislation.
California obviously you'requite familiar with.
You know CCPA and some of therestrictions there.
You know how do you kind ofmanage the need for data and
(10:58):
also making sure that data issecure and that you're building
trust with the customers withinthe loyalty program.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
Yeah, so it's.
You know that data privacy is atop priority for us.
We have a lot of safeguards inplace.
The privacy policy on our appis the privacy policy on our
website.
So it's, you know, it's notjust for our app, it's for, you
know, our, our company and thecorporation that owns us.
So we have policies in place toensure that the app, you know,
is that all of that informationis safeguarded.
(11:24):
And you know, we want to makesure that the app is accessible
only to users over the age of 18.
So that's actually somethingthat we implemented when we
updated the app and that'sreally just in the interest of,
you know, a commitment toprotecting younger audiences.
So that was actually a trickything to implement, right?
(11:46):
So we essentially had toprovide written, we had to email
all of our current guests andthose individuals under the age
of 18 and let them know that wewould be changing this policy
and that they had a certainnumber of days to use their
points and on the date that weupdated the app, we would not
(12:09):
allow new minors to use the app.
So that was just really in theinterest of protecting children.
We don't market to children.
So, yeah, we take it very, veryseriously and it's something
that we're always thinking about.
We audit just to ensure thatall the info, that we don't have
any new minors on the program.
(12:31):
But yeah, we take it veryseriously and and have a team
behind us to to ensure that wedo.
Speaker 1 (12:37):
That's awesome.
You talked about the process ofdeveloping a new app and
launching it.
Being able to leveragetechnology is a core challenge
with many brands now.
Oftentimes they sign up for atechnology that says they're
going to do X and it does Xminus Y.
Getting it to integrate withyour other systems can be a
challenge.
(12:57):
Now you have this new wonderfulapp, are you planning to add
enhancements to it?
Are there other types oftechnology you would like to be
able to integrate within it?
Maybe a smart device or paymentsystems that could potentially
enhance user experience?
Speaker 2 (13:13):
Yeah, I mean just I would love to allow for Apple
Pay.
You know, I would love to beable to do virtual wallets
through our loyalty program onthe app.
We currently aren't.
It's quite cost prohibitive forus, but there's certainly
things that we think aboutlonger down the app.
We currently aren't.
It's quite cost prohibitive forus, but there's certainly
things that we think aboutlonger down the line as we build
the program and as the programbecomes more profitable for us.
(13:37):
So certainly more integrationsand technologies are really
really helpful to us, but rightnow we don't have anything in
the pipeline.
Speaker 1 (13:46):
Excellent Measuring success and being able to
optimize around.
That is very important as wellwhen you look at some KPIs that
you have and what are the keymetrics you use to measure the
success and efficacy of your app.
Speaker 2 (14:01):
So most of our offers we send through push
notifications and emails.
We know that emails just don'tget opened right.
So for us it's like looking atthose open rates and it's
looking to see those pushnotification rates to see who
actually read the information.
And also it's just looking atwhen we create an offer, so a
BOGO or a 10% off how manyredemptions did we get?
(14:25):
So that's really important tous.
Beyond that, we're looking atthe shop level and the regional
level to see, you know, newusers who have joined the
program, new signups.
We're looking at lift rates,we're looking at user engagement
and number of visits per month.
So we have goals, you know, ona monthly basis and then, of
(14:45):
course, on a yearly basis.
So that's really what we'relooking at and we were able to
get all of that data throughreporting on the backend on
Punch.
Speaker 1 (14:55):
That's awesome.
Do you guys do anything withregard to kind of listening
customer feedback, being able topotentially iterate for new app
enhancements or addedfunctionality from a voice of
the customer perspective, whenyou look at potentially
continuous improvement?
Speaker 2 (15:14):
Yeah, definitely so.
With the release of our updatedapp, we have a committed
customer experience team.
So when a guest needs to leavefeedback, they can reach out to
that team immediately, whereasbefore it was through our
website.
So it's a more directcommunication with the punch
(15:37):
team and then for anythingspecific to guest experience it
goes to our team.
So we're always looking at that.
We're looking at those reviews.
In addition, you know, even ifit's not direct to the app,
we're looking at reviews acrossGoogle and Yelp, because often
they're related to the app, andthen, of course, on the app, the
(15:57):
iOS app store and the GooglePlay store.
So I feel like we get sort of afront row seat to what's really
going on in the shop level,because you know, I can't be in
200 places at once.
So it's really valuablefeedback for us and for our shop
owners.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
Excellent and last question, a little bit
self-serving.
You know, what can loyalty 360do to help you and your team of
one and nine with your customerloyalty efforts?
Speaker 2 (16:23):
Yeah, so I think the biggest challenge for us is
understanding our specificmarket.
Right?
So it's dessert and it'ssnacking.
You can't compare us again tolike a Chipotle or a Starbucks,
right?
So you know our guest is a lotdifferent.
They're visiting less often andthey're spending a little bit
more money.
So just thinking about ourguest and also thinking about
(16:46):
competitors in the market andstrategies that they're using
would be super helpful to us,because you know we found it
challenging to actually get thatinsight.
So that's the biggest thing forus is really understanding.
You know how how to serve ourguests in the best way through
loyalty.
You know how how to serve ourguests in the best way through
(17:07):
loyalty.
Speaker 1 (17:10):
That, yeah, super helpful to us, excellent.
And now we have the wonderfulquick fire question around.
Like these two, a one word orshort phrase, and the first
question we have is what word orshort phrase do you use to
inspire others?
Speaker 2 (17:21):
This too shall pass.
Speaker 1 (17:23):
Okay, what is your least favorite word that other
people use?
Speaker 2 (17:27):
Quota.
Speaker 1 (17:28):
Okay, what excites you at work?
Speaker 2 (17:31):
Our guests, making our guests happy, and my team.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
Excellent.
And what do you find tiresomeat home or at work?
Speaker 2 (17:38):
Trying to properly forecast for the future.
Speaker 1 (17:42):
Okay, what is your favorite flavor of the
Haagen-Dazs ice cream?
Speaker 2 (17:46):
New York strawberry cheesecake.
Speaker 1 (17:48):
Okay, is there a book that you've read, or read
frequently, that you'd like torecommend to colleagues?
Speaker 2 (17:55):
Kitchen.
Confidential by AnthonyBourdain.
Speaker 1 (17:57):
Okay, what profession , other than the one that you're
currently in, would you like toattempt?
Speaker 2 (18:02):
Photography.
Speaker 1 (18:04):
Is there something that you enjoy doing that you
often don't get you like toattempt Photography?
Is there something that youenjoy doing that you often don't
get the time to do?
Speaker 2 (18:08):
See my team in person .
Speaker 1 (18:09):
There you go.
Who inspired you to be theperson that you are today?
Speaker 2 (18:14):
My mom and my sister, and it's both their birthdays
today.
Speaker 1 (18:18):
Oh, wow, that's good.
And happy birthday to them.
It's cool that they have it onthe same day.
That's awesome.
And last question we have howdo you want to be remembered by
your friends and family?
Speaker 2 (18:28):
Kind and hilarious.
Speaker 1 (18:30):
Well, Maya, thank you very much for taking the time
to speak to us today.
It was great getting to knowyou and getting to know more
about the program.
We appreciate you sharing yourjourney with our audience and
look forward to hearing more in2025 and beyond.
Speaker 2 (18:43):
Awesome.
Thank you guys.
Thank you Mark.
Speaker 1 (18:49):
Thank you, everyone else, for taking time to listen
today.
Make sure you check back foranother additional episodes in
our leaders in customer loyaltyseries soon.
Until then, have a wonderfulday.
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