In a crowded Canadian market where most programs looked and felt the same, a leading financial institution wanted to sharpen its loyalty program strategy but needed clarity on which experiences truly drove loyalty.
Opportunity Mapping.
Pinpointed 20 high-value opportunities across 57 touchpoints
Strategic Roadmap.
Delivered six strategic recommendations balancing quick wins with long-term differentiation
Competitive Benchmarking.
Benchmarked against competitors to identify friction, unmet needs, and untapped opportunities
Loyalty without distinction
In a sea of points and perks, sameness was the enemy. The financial institution’s loyalty program had strong awareness and equity. But in practice, it was struggling to stand apart. Competitors offered similar rewards, similar redemption mechanics, and similar communications. For members, the experience was undifferentiated, leaving little reason to choose one program over another.
Leadership recognized that if loyalty was going to remain a competitive advantage, it couldn’t rely on parity. The program needed to reframe its value around the moments that mattered most to members, and do so in a way that competitors weren’t delivering.
A rigorous framework to separate noise from opportunity was applied. To uncover what truly mattered, we applied our Moments That Matter framework, combining:
- Journey mapping across 57 touchpoints, from enrollment to redemption
- Quantitative and qualitative research to identify pain points and unmet needs
- Competitive benchmarking to reveal where rival programs underdelivered, creating white space opportunities for differentiation
The analysis revealed both friction points that needed fixing and opportunities to surprise and delight members. It also showed where competitors were over-investing in features that didn’t truly drive engagement, giving the client confidence to prioritize differently.
A roadmap for meaningful loyalty
The work uncovered 20 high-value opportunities, scored by impact and resonance. From these, we distilled six clear strategic recommendations. Some were near-term plays, like reframing communications around critical decision points. Others were longer-term.
The outcome was a member-first roadmap that balanced immediate wins with future differentiation. It gave leadership the clarity to focus investment, the confidence to ignore parity-driven distractions, and the language to align cross-functional teams around a sharper loyalty North Star.
