Cincinnati, OH -- (SBWIRE) -- 05/12/2010 -- In its most recent issue, COLLOQUY magazine, the voice of loyalty marketing since 1990, celebrates its 20th anniversary with a list saluting the leading loyalty innovations of the past two decades.

Just some of the highlights from a 1990-to-2010 timeline that traces major milestones in the evolution of loyalty marketing include:

1990: The proliferation of the branded rewards credit card begins as AT&T introduces its AT&T Universal Card
1991: The first example of large-scale, Word of Mouth rewards marketing occurs with MCI’s Friends & Family Program, which encourages customers to recruit new members in return for awards
1992: The rise of two-tier pricing – a watershed moment for grocers– takes place when Vons supermarkets offer in-store savings to club card members
1994: Airline miles become profit centers as carriers discover their program miles can be used as promotional currency by hotels, restaurants, credit card and car rental companies
1997: The gaming industry fully embraces loyalty marketing as Harrah’s Total Gold debuts
2001: America’s first coalition program to gain national attention arrives through Upromise, which partners with corporate giants to help students plan, save and pay for college
2005: Big U.S. banks begin to embrace debit loyalty with Bank of America’s Keep the Change, a program that rounds up members’ debit purchases to the next dollar and deposits the difference.
2006: Word of Mouth is harnessed by loyalty marketers in order to transform consumers into brand ambassadors after the broad acceptance of social platforms such as Facebook and LinkedIn, and
2009: Smartphones promise loyalty marketers new ways to engage with on-the-go consumers and enable real-time options for mobile rewards, payments and commerce.

“Prior to 1990, airline and hotel frequency programs dominated the loyalty industry. Credit card programs were a novelty and retailers were still sorting out their strategies. So, our 20-year timeline covers a fascinating period in the history of loyalty marketing,” said COLLOQUY Partner Kelly Hlavinka.

Hlavinka noted the COLLOQUY list begs the question: Of the developments since 1990, which are the most significant? Her view: “I would say the top three start with the introduction of loyalty's ‘killer app’ – the loyalty coalition program. Second is the extension of rewards and benefits beyond purchase behaviors into non-purchase behaviors, first seen with MCI Friends & Family, more recently seen in harnessing Word of Mouth communications in the social networking environment, and most recently emerging to drive socially responsible behaviors.

“The third would be the emergence of ‘Enterprise Loyalty’ in which companies began to use customer data from their loyalty program to transform their customer experience, product mi, pricing strategies and other operational efforts,” she said.

COLLOQUY magazine, published by LoyaltyOne, explores critical best practices, innovations, trends, opinion and strategies in relationship, dialogue and database marketing. Coverage in the latest edition also includes:

Cover Story: The Mom Effect: Marketing to Moms
With such a complex target audience of moms that is far from monolithic, loyalty marketers must go beyond the stereotypes and determine the best ways to engage with the right moms in the right way. Here, common mom myths are busted and replaced by the truths you need to tackle if you want to succeed in increasing mom’s loyalty.

The Practitioner’s Perspective: Vision, Gumption and Kismet
COLLOQUY Partner Kelly Hlavinka looks back on COLLOQUY’s 20-year anniversary and revisits the established beliefs and the know-how that loyalty marketers in travel, retail, financial services, telecom, business-to-business and coalition programs have developed through rigorous testing, trials-by-fire and entrepreneurial gumption.

Hospitality Report: And All That Jazz
As Total Rewards moves through its second decade, Harrah’s believes the time is right to open up the program to new influences that will continue to enhance the basic program, bring it further in tune with customers’ lives, and allow for innovative, customer-centric improvisation to delight best guests. Harrah’s CMO David Norton outlines the innovations bringing the Total Rewards program to another crescendo.

International Report: Globe-Trotting
True to prediction, coalitions are going global. Discover how Loyalty Partner Solutions GmbH, Groupe Aeroplan and LoyaltyOne have expanded their core loyalty programs in new countries and explore how the programs have fared in their migration. The era of international coalition expansion and migration is clearly upon us. The next questions are, where next, and how fast?

LeaderTalk: The COLLOQUY Interview with Buyology’s Martin Lindstrom
Delve into the mind of Martin Lindstrom, bestselling author of “Buyology: Truth and Lies About Why We Buy,” as he discusses his neuromarketing findings, the source of brand loyalty, and the future of loyalty programs.

About COLLOQUY:
COLLOQUY® comprises a collection of publishing, education and research resources devoted to the global loyalty-marketing industry. Owned by LoyaltyOne, COLLOQUY has served the loyalty-marketing industry since 1990 with over 30,000 global subscribers to its magazine and www.colloquy.com the most comprehensive loyalty web site in the world. COLLOQUY’s research division develops research studies and white papers including industry-specific reports, sizing studies and insights into the drivers of consumer behavior. COLLOQUY also provides educational services through workshops, webinars and speeches at events throughout the world and is the official loyalty-marketing partner of both the Direct Marketing Association and the Canadian Marketing Association and a content provider to the American Marketing Association. COLLOQUY also operates the COLLOQUY Network, a global consortium of practitioners certified in COLLOQUY’s proprietary methodology. COLLOQUY magazine subscriptions are available at no cost to qualified persons at http://www.colloquy.com or by calling 513.248.9184.