OUT WITH OLD KING! YAYYY FOR THE NEW KING! … now it’s back to the same thing!

The love of the new shiny toy is never to be underestimated, it can sway us all, and its seems that’s especially true for marketers. My take on Blockchain’s impact on loyalty marketing.

So Blockchain is the new shiny toy on the block and everyone wants it. I meet a lot of very excited clients and solution providers who talk about how loyalty is going to be changed forever by Blockchain disruption. They expect me to be equally excited…

And well I am not.

Let’s examine this rationally. What is the Blockchain promise:

1.    Full free fungibility/ zero cost exchange of currency/ tokens: So yes, the platform allows members for different programs to move their reward points freely. Yes beyond a doubt the members would love it. But is this new? Not it’s not. All existing coalition programs offer it, and partnership programs have always allowed it. Also the very fundamental behind economic rewards is to hook the customer in for long term gains. If brands allow these to be freely transferable then it defeats the very purpose!! Look at the demise of the coalition programs for evidence of it.

2.    Covers for the trust deficit between transacting parties: Yes, this is an extremely useful feature in the financial transactions space where one is dealing with relative strangers. This is not the case in programs which are allowing convertibility to partners. Partners are very carefully selected, and only when there is complete trust and agreements between the parties do programs allow convertibility.

True innovation needs to solve a genuine problem… and create true value for the adopters. Let Blockchain show it does either of the above… then this new toy will get my blessings.

As always would love to hear your views. Do leave your comments below.