Leaders in Customer Loyalty, Powered by Loyalty360

Send us Fan MailAs loyalty programs move into 2026, brands are confronting a fundamental shift: loyalty is no longer sustained by accumulation alone. Points, miles, and introductory bonuses still matter, but they no longer guarantee relevance or emotional attachment. Instead, transparency, experiential value, and ongoing engagement are becoming the defining forces shaping how loyalty programs earn and maintain consumer trust. We recently spoke with Eileen Peacock, Senior Vice President, General Manager, at Valuedynamx U.S., who shared how shifting consumer expectations, subscription-influenced behavior, and a growing desire for real-world experiences are reshaping loyalty strategy across industries. 

Send us Fan MailFew restaurant brands carry the emotional weight of Friendly’s. Founded in 1935 during the Great Depression, the brand was built on a simple but enduring belief: even in hard times, people deserve comfort, joy, and togetherness. Nearly 90 years later, that purpose still anchors Friendly’s strategy.  But executing Friendly’s brand strategy is rapidly evolving.  Under the leadership of Erik Jensen, Vice President of Marketing, Friendly’s is in the midst of a renovation-led revival that touches everything from restaurant design and franchising to customer loyalty. At the center of that work is a renewed focus on listening, particularly when customers signal that something isn’t working. 

Send us Fan MailIn the latest edition of Leaders in Customer Loyalty: Brand Stories, Loyalty360 spoke with Rachel Masocol, Director of Digital Marketing and Ecommerce for Jollibee Group, North America, about how the company’s rapid growth and loyalty program redesign are driven by increasing digital engagement. Jollibee has always been about more than just chicken—despite being voted America’s number one fast-food fried chicken two years in a row by USA Today. What began as a small ice cream parlor in the Philippines, founded by Tony Tan Caktiong, has grown into one of the fastest-growing quick-service restaurant brands in the world. 

Send us Fan MailAs loyalty programs look toward 2026, few categories are under more pressure to evolve than travel. Shifting consumer expectations, accelerating AI adoption, and rising demands for immediacy are forcing brands to rethink how loyalty shows up, not just at booking, but throughout the entire journey. In this Supplier Voices conversation, Nowell Outlaw, Chief Executive Officer of Switchfly, shares how AI-driven planning, real-time relevance, and emotional engagement are reshaping what effective travel loyalty looks like, and where many programs still struggle to keep pace. 

Send us Fan MailCustomer loyalty has become a cornerstone of modern brand strategy, but for shopping center owners, it has never been a simple equation. Without control of the point of sale and with thousands of independent retailers operating under one roof, building a cohesive loyalty program  presents challenges most consumer brands never face. That tension is what ultimately shaped Simon+™: a loyalty program built to reflect how people shop today, across stores, channels, and experiences. In a recent conversation, Enna Allen, Senior Vice President of Marketing at Simon shared how Simon is re-thinking loyalty for a nontraditional category and why flexibility, collaboration, and value are essential to making the program work. 

Send us Fan MailFor more than a century, Hilton has been shaping how people experience hospitality. Today, the company spans 26 brands, 9,000 properties, and 141 countries and territories, yet its loyalty strategy remains grounded in a simple idea: make travelers feel seen, valued, and supported at every stage of their journey. In this edition of Leaders in Customer Loyalty: Brand Stories, Loyalty360 spoke with Brad Anderson, Vice President of the Hilton Honors program, about how the brand continues to evolve loyalty in an increasingly complex and expectation-driven travel landscape. 

Send us Fan MailAs loyalty leaders look toward 2026, the conversation is shifting away from feature sets and toward fundamentals: trust, relevance, and human connection. While artificial intelligence is accelerating what brands can do with data and personalization, it is also forcing a reassessment of what customers actually value in their relationships with brands. In a recent conversation with Denise Holt, Senior Vice President and Head of Strategy, Experience, Research, and Insights at Phaedon, and Emily Merkle, Senior Vice President of Analytics and Data Science, they shared their thoughts about how brands are recalibrating loyalty strategies after a year of rapid experimentation, and what that means for the future of customer engagement. Rather than viewing loyalty as a standalone program, both leaders argue the next phase of loyalty will be defined by systems that adapt to individual preferences, empower human interaction, and deliver value quickly and transparently. 

Send us Fan MailPapa Murphy’s has sliced out a unique position in the crowded pizza category with a simple yet transformative idea: pizzas made fresh in-store, taken home, and baked by the customer. With more than 1,000 locations across the U.S., including franchise-owned stores, the brand continues to differentiate through both product and experience. Loyalty360 recently spoke with Jason Focht, Vice President of Digital Marketing, about the uniqueness of the take-and-bake model and the launch of the redesigned MySlice Rewards loyalty program. Both lend themselves well to motivating customer engagement and creating loyalty.

Send us Fan MailLoyalty programs aren’t failing because they lack features: they’re failing because customers don’t feel value fast enough. As consumer budgets tighten and expectations accelerate, patience has become one of the scarcest resources brands contend with. Loyalty is no longer judged by what it promises over time, but by how quickly it proves its worth. We spoke with Don Smith, Global Chief Consulting Officer at Capillary, about what that shift means for loyalty strategy in 2026, and why speed, relevance, and emotional connection are now deeply intertwined. 

Send us Fan MailAs one of the fastest-growing fast-casual brands, Mediterranean eatery, CAVA, was founded in 2010 as a full-service restaurant. The company’s goal is to make delicious food that customers feel good about buying and eating. Today, the company has grown substantially, with more than 400 restaurants in 28 states across the country. In this edition of Leaders in Customer Loyalty: Brand Stories, Loyalty360 spoke with Andy Rebhun, Chief Experience Officer for CAVA, about the secret to this brand’s dramatic growth strategy.