Baesman Group helps brands solve personalized marketing challenges with a strategic focus on loyalty programs. Their team of customer engagement strategists, made up of former brand-side marketers, specializes in helping their clients truly understand their customers’ buying behaviors and mapping that to their overall loyalty journey. Baesman also offers its own customizable loyalty platform, Intuition, or has the ability to integrate and work with any platform on the market. Baesman believes in evolving loyalty programs so loyalty strategy drives the program, rather than technology limitations that can often exist.
Mark Johnson, CEO of Loyalty360, spoke with Kelsey Crookes, Account Management at Baesman. Crookes is a fourth-generation member of the family-owned company—her great-grandfather started the business in 1952. Kelsey is experienced in deriving strategic insights and customer engagement strategies from data to create a more loyal customer. In this interview, Crookes discusses loyalty program differentiation, leveraging “secret” or “unpublished” tiers, and harnessing customer data to create more personalized communications.
Baesman Group helps brands solve personalized marketing challenges with a strategic focus on loyalty programs. Their team of customer engagement strategists, made up of former brand-side marketers, specializes in helping their clients truly understand their customers’ buying behaviors and mapping that to their overall loyalty journey. Baesman also offers its own customizable loyalty platform, Intuition, or has the ability to integrate and work with any platform on the market. Baesman believes in evolving loyalty programs so loyalty strategy drives the program, rather than technology limitations that can often exist.
Mark Johnson, CEO of Loyalty360, spoke with Kelsey Crookes, Account Management at Baesman. Crookes is a fourth-generation member of the family-owned company—her great-grandfather started the business in 1952. Kelsey is experienced in deriving strategic insights and customer engagement strategies from data to create a more loyal customer. In this interview, Crookes discusses loyalty program differentiation, leveraging “secret” or “unpublished” tiers, and harnessing customer data to create more personalized communications.
Good afternoon, good morning. It's Mark Johnson from Loyalty360. Everyone's happy, safe and well. I want to welcome you to another edition of Loyalty Live. In this series we see leading agencies, technology partners and consultants in customer channel and brand loyalty about the technology trends and best practices that impact a brand's ability to drive unique experiences, enhance engagement but, most importantly, impact customer loyalty. Today we have the pleasure of speaking with Kelsey Crooks, an account manager at Basement. Welcome, Kelsey, how are you today?
Speaker 2:
Hi Nice to talk to you, Mark.
Speaker 1:
Nice to talk to you as well. First off, we'd like to start this on a more personal level, so we'd love to know a little more about yourself and your current role at Basement.
Speaker 2:
Yeah well, I'm actually a proud member of the fourth generation of Basement. We are a family owned business and have been for the last 70 plus years. My great grandpa started the business back in 1952. So excited to be part of the team and get to work with the family. And really one of the great things about Basement is our ability to really personalize the experience for our clients. But prior to joining Basement, I actually worked at 8451, which is the Kroger company's subsidiary, doing merchandising analytics, and also worked on their retail media team, helping brands get more personal with Kroger customers. And that's where I really fell in love with loyalty, customer data and how we can actually use that data to make better decisions and ultimately help the customer.
Speaker 1:
Okay, perfect. For those who may not be familiar with Bazeman, can you give us a little overview of how you support the brand's customer loyalty efforts, overview of what you do, how you do it and maybe the industries that you focus on?
Speaker 2:
Yeah. So since we've been around for over 70 years, we really started in the direct mail space and then expanded into our more strategic marketing services over the years. So we support brands in the loyalty space, helping them define their loyalty programs, run their loyalty programs with our technology platform, and then we're also just an overarching end-to-end partner so we can start with that data analytics and strategy, help them figure out what type of tactics we need to be engaging members with, and then all the way through actual execution of their program. We work mainly with retail, but also in the financial sector, healthcare, etc.
Speaker 1:
Absolutely. There's been a growing number of conversations that we have within our community around expanding the loyalty ecosystem and, in a world where values are more and more pertinent, more top of mind, how should brands be leveraging these ecosystems, not just for their loyalty programs but more generally, to engender and build more loyal customers?
Speaker 2:
Yeah, one of the big trends that we're seeing is brands actually realizing hey, we've spent so much time developing our brand, why is our loyalty program over here on the side just kind of hanging out on its own? Brands are starting to realize and utilize the value of their actual brand and value proposition to bring that into the loyalty program. So brands where loyalty program is being treated as a silo or maybe its own channel or tactic, they're not doing as well because it's over there on the side. They're not integrating it with their entire brand strategy. And one of the things that we're seeing is something like the loyalty marketing manager needs to be integrated across the entire brand portfolio, across the marketing team, to help make those decisions. So it's really about capitalizing on what's the brand overall trying to do? What differentiated benefits can they pull out to create into the loyalty program, based on what that brand is actually standing for?
Speaker 1:
Okay, there's a great deal of discussion right now around this idea of sea of sameness that many customer loyalty programs are similar. It's hard to differentiate them. So when you look differentiating a customer loyalty program, it's top of mind for brands. We did a study at the end of last year on the state of customer loyalty 92% of brands looking to add or enhance their loyalty programs and they want to stand out in this crowded marketplace. So what can brands do to showcase why they're different and prove the value to their existing customer loyalty program members, while also inspiring potential employees and potential advocates that they want to bring into the program?
Speaker 2:
Yeah, I think it's building off that overall brand value proposition. So an example that comes to mind for me is, like Madewell, they're known for their denim and so denim perks are specifically part of their loyalty program. You get extra points, you can also return the jeans, that type of thing and that makes it a differentiated benefit from just buy our product and get these points. So actually integrating that together. We've also seen a lot of brands have some type of charitable impact within their brand and in their loyalty program. So, like a DSW, you get 50 points when you bring back a pair of shoes, and 50 points equals the same as if they would have spent $50 with the brand. So something very meaningful that they can connect to and makes them actually choose that brand loyalty program over someone else.
Speaker 1:
So really it's about thinking what can you offer that's unique to your brand that no one else can, and then that's already going to start differentiating you how can that value be demonstrated across tiers within the program, driving loyalty members to be more aspirational, go up tiers based on their interests, their value, that they have right and hopefully align it with the value that Brown's disposing? Can you provide a couple of examples of successful efforts with the brands that you work with? Sure?
Speaker 2:
Yeah, I think the first thing about tiers is a lot of brands tier that you're in and why you should be striving for a different tier is really important. We see that the higher you go in tiers, the more experiential it's going to be getting and more about member recognition, that FOMO experience. You want people to be striving for that upper tier. So some good examples Sephora is always one that comes to mind. People are very eager about the various birthday rewards. It's a unique one.
Speaker 2:
Any program that's really doing a good job of communicating where you are within the program so, like Starbucks, is good at that. But the way that you can make the tiers really work for you is by really harnessing your customer data, because you need to be aware of who we can move across the tiers. So we call that you know moving the movables and from deeper analysis you can figure out where people are within that tier and what type of specific offers can we give them within their tier to drive them up to the future tier. But they're not actually going to seek that other tier unless the benefits are actually differentiated.
Speaker 1:
Okay, there's also an idea of a secret tier or an unpublished tier where brands can leverage special communications, special offers to recognize their most valuable customers, but it's not explicitly stated. It's often used by luxury brands, but it can be used across a variety of different brands within different industries.
Speaker 2:
How does, how does a?
Speaker 1:
secret tier enhance the customer loyalty offering.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, so when we think about the various fundamentals of loyalty, one of the big ones is member recognition, and so, like what we were just talking about with differentiating the tiers, having something like a secret tier is really like the top of the top when it comes to member recognition. You're specifically communicating with your very best customers and saying you've unlocked this special tier because of how loyal you are to us and we want to give you these extra special benefits that no one else knows about. So we see this often work well. Like you mentioned luxury brands, high ticket value brands but often this is also used as a way to engage employees, to get them to be talking about the brand and really buy into the loyalty program.
Speaker 2:
We always recommend that brands make sure that their employees are actually part of their loyalty program so they can speak about it and be those brand evangelists. So that's an option. We also see, as brands start working more with you know influencer or affiliate type marketing programs, that a secret tier can work well with those two. It's just other ways to kind of get your brand message out there can work well with those two. It's just other ways to kind of get your brand message out there. But at the end of the day, your segmentation needs to be on point to know who is actually going to be in that secret tier and why are they going to be there, and being able to actually speak differently to them.
Speaker 1:
Okay, there's a big push right now for partnerships, brand partnerships. It's dipped off a little bit but brands really want to expand the efficacy and efficiency of their customer loyalty efforts. With cookies going away deprecating, even though it's put off again, privacy laws growing across a number of states Some like Iowa next year, are going to be very, very restrictive when you look at the potential benefit of a partnership. What are the benefits? Can they use them to offset the cost of adding any benefits or perks to an existing loyalty program? What are some benefits of having a very strategic brand to brand partnership offering?
Speaker 2:
Yeah, we love to see brand partnerships. I think at the end of the day, it creates more value for the customer, and this could be across many different facets. So it could be something basic like a product collaboration that gets the name of both of your organizations together. An example of that is Jenny's Ice Cream and American Girl. They did a ice cream product collaboration and they were both able to speak about the benefit, and so at Jenny's they said bring your doll in for a free ice cream cone, and they had a special moment there in stores.
Speaker 2:
American girl on their side. They actually had a product that was branded Jenny's. So that's a fun product collab that gets your, your brand, out there, one that's more in like the service side would be like Hibbit Sports and Nike Connected side would be like Hibbett Sports and Nike Connected. They actually provide you specific benefits for Nike and for Hibbett that in that way it's more related to what they're trying to achieve within both of their brands. So what a brand hopes to achieve is helping you as the customer achieve what they're hoping to or be what they want to be all of that aspiration. And so in those types of partnerships we see that they're helping serve some type of lifestyle need. So with Hibbett and Nike, they're an athletic companies helping you get more fitness.
Speaker 2:
Vitamin Shop and Apple had a similar promotion last year where you could get Apple Health and Fitness for three months for free. So all of those types of partnerships are helping them recognize and say we know what you're trying to do, customer, because we know you and we want to help you achieve what you're trying to achieve. By having these other opportunities. It's a way to be more holistic with that customer experience versus what that brand could just offer on their own and really leaning into your values as a brand and finding those really valuable partnerships is where most of that can come from, versus just saying, hey, let's go partner up with this person who's willing. I think that's where it gets really important to choose that very carefully.
Speaker 1:
OK, and brands are looking to increase their partnership programs to more than just point earning opportunities earn and burn type opportunities. They're looking to, as you mentioned with Apple and some of their efforts with vitamin shops something core to what's important to them health and wellness align with the organizational value. They want to create memorable experiences. So how do you help brands do that? How do you make them see that the value is a strategic partnership that's more integrated? Because that could be a pretty significant challenge, because not only is getting a partnership that can work at a high level a challenge, but getting them to be more integrated where they're both co-marketing, they're both behind the effort, it's going to be a big challenge. So what are you seeing in that area and how should brands be approaching a more experiential partnership opportunity?
Speaker 2:
Yeah, I think this is a way for brands to say we want to engage with you beyond just the transaction.
Speaker 2:
It's not all about just buying our product, although we definitely want you to do that but this keeps the brands top of mind and so when they're engaging in other ways so say, it's with the fitness apps or that type of thing, or engaging with a product differently they're thinking back about those brands and it's just keeping them more top of mind. I think for any brand that has a retail store or a location like that, this is another way to unlock some of those experiential elements, especially as you think about differentiation between your tiers as well, getting those top members to come into the store for some specific reason. You're able to recognize them in that in-store moment and then, oh, if they also make a transaction while they're there, that's great. So it's really being able to experience the partnership live in their everyday life and not just when they're thinking about what their next purchase is going to be and not just when they're thinking about what their next purchase is going to be.
Speaker 1:
When you look at what's next for customer loyalty, what should brands be considering and how they should be looking at not only what they're doing today, but what they should be doing next gen really next generation customer loyalty is a big topic. How should they be thinking about things today that will prepare them to stand out tomorrow?
Speaker 2:
Yeah, I think right now, especially in the current macroeconomic time, it's about getting back to the fundamentals, making sure that you have everything right within your program. What value are you actually driving? And really get that value proposition right and becoming your customer and seeing what that whole experience looks like. A lot of brands fall into that trap of just assuming that everything's running smoothly when you've got operational issues. That's going to send those customers elsewhere and not build that loyalty with you. So that's something that's going to be really important to get right right now and then beyond. It's really making sure that you're using your data and helping that work for you, not against you To balance your file, to make sure that you've got enough new customers coming in alongside of your current customers and then running acquisition campaigns to actually build that customer base. So for us especially, it's making sure that our partners are being able to harness their data and use that data to actually make better decisions about what they want to do strategically.
Speaker 1:
Okay.
Speaker 2:
What's next for Baseman as we move throughout 2024? Anything unique, interesting. What's on the horizon that we're continuing to focus on is more personalization. Obviously, that continues to be a hot topic in the space, but we're really focused on helping brands go from kind of one-to-many type of communication where it's just spreading that message out to more of the one-to-one, and that is all starting from harnessing the data. So we're helping a lot of brands right now create more personalized journeys instead of just that kind of mass broadcast email campaign style. Once someone is engaged with your program or your brand, what other types of communication should be triggered for them? And we can help do any type of audit like that and create the strategy for it, all starting from that customer data.
Speaker 1:
OK, well, thank you very much for that, Kelsey. Very interesting to hear your perspective on personalization and where brands should be looking at partnership opportunities and making sure they're effectively designed for both brands. But now we have the fun part of the interview, the quick fire question around. We like to keep these to a one word or short phrase answer so I don't get into trouble with the content team. So first off, I'm going to start with what is your favorite word?
Speaker 2:
Curve.
Speaker 1:
What is your least favorite word?
Speaker 2:
Curse words.
Speaker 1:
Oh, okay. What excites you?
Speaker 2:
A good thriller book. Okay, what doites you? A good thriller book.
Speaker 1:
Okay, what do you find tiresome?
Speaker 2:
Commuting.
Speaker 1:
What book that you have read for in a professional setting do you recommend to colleagues?
Speaker 2:
Start with why.
Speaker 1:
Okay, simon Sinek yeah.
Speaker 2:
Yep.
Speaker 1:
What profession, other than the one you have currently, would you potentially like to attempt?
Speaker 2:
I love baking, so something like that.
Speaker 1:
What do you enjoy doing that you don't get enough time to do?
Speaker 2:
Skiing.
Speaker 1:
I'm right there with you.
Speaker 2:
Snow skiing? I hope yes.
Speaker 1:
Good, who inspired you to be the person that you are today.
Speaker 2:
My parents.
Speaker 1:
Okay, and what do you typically think about at the end of the day?
Speaker 2:
I have a seven-month-old baby, so probably is he going to sleep tonight.
Speaker 1:
There you go, and how do you want to be remembered by your friends and family.
Speaker 2:
My loyalty.
Speaker 1:
There you go. All right, perfect. Well, thank you very much, Kelsey, for taking the time to speak with us today. It was great to get to know you and also to know a little bit more about some things that Basement is doing to help brands in a number of different areas around their customer loyalty program. So thank you for taking the time and looking forward to hearing more from you and the Basement team throughout the remainder of 2024.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, thanks, Mark.
Speaker 1:
Absolutely, and thank you everyone for taking the time to join us today. Make sure you join us back for another edition of Loyalty Live soon. Until then, have a wonderful day.
