My Coke Rewards - Was Not a Cautionary Tale!

I read with interest Steve Bocska 's recent "cautionary tale" take on My Coke Rewards published in The Wise Marketer ? And with not a little surprise, since the original MCR program was launched almost 20 years ago, and the entire program was sunsetted 7 years ago.? Why critique that program today?? Things have evolved greatly in the loyalty space since 2006, and I doubt any CPG brand at this time would launch a program that looks anything like the original MCR.

Before I go further, full transparency: I was part of a larger team that helped re-shape the program many years ago now.? (A few names I recall, apologies to others for my faulty memory, but kudos to all: Michael La Kier , Julie Bowerman , Tara Scarlett , Doug Rollins , Marti Walsh , Geoff Miller , Margaret DiSantis Jennings ...I know I'm leaving a lot of people out, apologies.)??

My take would be quite different than Steve's:?the history of My Coke Rewards is the story of a brand that launched a (then) groundbreaking attempt to interact directly with consumers at a level and in a way that had never been done in their category before, found it wasn't entirely hitting the mark on several dimensions, and subsequently evolved the program into something much more engaging for consumers and sustainable for the brand. I would also suggest that rather than providing a cautionary tale for brands, the program was a substantial success, considering it stayed in the market for over ten years, and provides a number of positive lessons for brands that are still relevant today.

All that said, parts of Steve's analysis of the program are spot-on... if you look only at what you might call MCR "version 1.0", which ran from 2006, when the program was launched, until 2009, when it was re-launched with a significant strategic overhaul and re-design.? He nails some of the early challenges: the first iteration was overly transactional, and provided a poor consumer experience that was off-brand.? But his analysis and critique of the overall strategy suggests that the first design was what remained in the market the entire time, and that was not the case.??

The shortcomings he calls out are specifically what were addressed with the 2008 re-design effort, following the internal mantra "Every Experience is Rewarding."? That drove all strategic and design decisions.? In a nutshell, the goal was to ensure that every interaction a consumer had with the program resulted in a rewarding experience, through either a hard or soft benefit, or even just leaving them with a good feeling.? MCR was one of the first programs of it's kind to address the issue that many CPG programs shared: numerous transactional interactions were required before any type of benefit could be delivered.? And that was a function of the price point of the products and the technology that was available at the time.? (If you want to think about a truly terrible consumer experience, go back to the mid 90s and CPG programs like Marlboro Miles that required you to rip UPC codes off product packs and mail them in to receive a reward many, many weeks later.)??

Additional innovations were incorporated into the redesign that we would currently think of as best practices.?

• Rewards shifted from physical products with an extended fulfillment cycle to a digital-based rewards delivery that offered immediate gratification and that increased the value of the rewards by eliminating product warehousing and fulfillment costs.? This is the standard today - see the success of NeoCurrency , for example.?
• The revised prize offerings eliminated those not necessarily related to the brand, including things like luggage and housewares.? Those were replaced by items aligned more closely with the brand promise, with a focus on product rewards, along with offerings centered around music, movies, games and sports - all areas that had long been part of the Coke marketing halo.?
• The rewards structure was changed from primarily aspirational, meaning program members were saving up over a long period to qualify for a high-value prize, to a balance between aspirational and attainable, meaning rewards were available for redemption at much lower points thresholds, but members could still save up for higher value items.?

And the re-design incorporated aspects of personalization, gamification, strategic use of LTOs, and charitable integrations that are commonplace today.

Going back to Steve's analysis, his close is also on the mark.?

"Successful programs should do more than just reward purchases; they should magnify the brand’s core messages and values, simplify the customer experience, and align seamlessly with the brand’s overall marketing strategy. "?

Absolutely.? Otherwise you're just giving back margin.? I would add that most importantly, the program must profitably drive incremental spend.? And that was the driving motivation of My Coke Rewards.