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What happens when choice is abundant, switching is easy and customers owe brands nothing?
We pondered the answer to these questions, and others, at our recent loyalty event with Aura in Leeds.
Across three sessions, leaders from Yorkshire Building Society, Virgin, IAG Loyalty, Co-op and STRAT7 Crowd DNA challenged some familiar assumptions about what loyalty is, how it’s created and how we should measure it. The conversation moved from financial services to points programmes, culture, AI and generational differences. But one idea kept bubbling up: loyalty is becoming less about owning the customer relationship and more about earning a useful place in people’s lives.
The setting, at the Royal Armouries Museum, made that debate feel particularly apt; surrounded by historic symbols of allegiance and reward, we were asking what allegiance means in a world where customers can compare, switch and buy in seconds. The answer wasn’t that loyalty has disappeared. It’s that the conditions around it have changed.
Below I’ve summarised my key takes from the three sessions and the important shifts they flag for brands.
Session 1: Loyalty has moved from allegiance to permission
Steve Grimwade from Yorkshire Building Society opened with a deliberately provocative polemic: traditional loyalty is dead. His point wasn’t that customers no longer form lasting relationships with brands but that the signals businesses have traditionally treated as proof of loyalty can be misleading. Long tenure, recommendation, trust and products per customer may look reassuring, but they don’t necessarily equal exclusivity or commitment anymore.
His examples from financial services made the challenge tangible. A financial services brand can have strong tenure, trust and advocacy measures, yet its customers will still spread their financial lives across multiple providers. Some customers keep only a token balance with a provider to access a better loyalty offer later. In that context, tenure only tells part of the story.
Steve’s reframe was straightforward: we should move from thinking about allegiance, exclusivity and longevity towards affinity, value and help. Customers don’t owe brands the whole relationship, however they can give brands permission to play a role in their lives. Our job is to understand that role, deliver genuine value within it and do the job brilliantly.
So, instead of asking how to make customers stay, we should ask how we can become useful enough that they don’t want to leave. Steve used the Monzo 1p savings challenge as an example of a proposition built around a real customer job: helping people save, easily. The point of his example wasn’t the mechanic itself but that the mechanic supported an outcome that mattered.
This shift also has implications for loyalty measurement. Point-in-time satisfaction and traditional CX metrics still have a place, but Steve argued for a deeper, more continuous understanding of customers: the other providers they use, the jobs those providers perform, milestone moments, emotional connection, outcomes and how a brand fits into people’s lives. In fast-moving markets, understanding needs to evolve with the customer.
The shift: Don’t try to win the whole relationship. Earn a meaningful role in it.
Session 2: Measure the relationship beneath the score
The panel session, hosted by STRAT7 Jigsaw’s Ross Denton with panellists from Virgin, IAG Loyalty and STRAT7 Crowd DNA, picked up the next question: if loyalty is changing, what does that mean for how insight teams understand and measure it? The discussion quickly moved from points earned, points redeemed and headline scores towards a richer view of value, emotion, behaviour and cultural context.
There was agreement that commercial and CX metrics aren’t going away because boards still need evidence of return, and trackers can provide a useful steady line. But an NPS or satisfaction score can’t explain the full relationship. The panel argued for combining measures with customer stories, verbatims, qualitative conversations, behavioural data and cultural signals to understand not just what customers do, but why.
Keeping real customers visible was a strong theme. Discussed touched on the need to focus on the reasons behind NPS responses and asking customers to tell their stories, as well as the value of bringing engaged and disengaged customers directly into sessions with board members because survey data alone doesn’t always create enough cut-through. The lesson was refreshingly human: whilst a dashboard can flag a problem, it’s hearing someone explain it and the impact it’s had that can make the issue really hit home with the C-suite.
The panel also explored what loyalty can draw from outside traditional programmes. Benji Long from STRAT7 Crowd DNA pointed to brands and experiences that create progression, belonging or community without necessarily relying on a conventional loyalty scheme. Gamification came up too, but as a tool rather than a strategy. The lesson was that streaks, points and challenges work best when they connect to a higher need, whether that’s learning, wellbeing or progress.
And of course, the conversation touched on AI. The conversation covered AI-assisted analysis of large unstructured datasets, AI-led qualitative approaches and synthetic audiences. Mario Streng from Virgin described using synthetic audiences to answer questions rapidly, test ideas and narrow options before taking selected questions into real-world research. Other panellists were more cautious about synthetic data, reflecting an industry that’s still testing, learning and establishing where these approaches add value.
The common ground was more important than the differences. AI can help insight teams work faster and at greater scale, particularly with large volumes of unstructured information. But transparency matters. Teams need to understand what a method is good at, where greater precision is required and when real customers need to be brought back into the process.
The shift: Stop looking for one perfect loyalty metric. Connect what people say, what they do and the context shaping both.
Session 3: Loyalty across generations, and beyond them
The final session saw the Co-op put delegates to work, with tables exploring how the meaning and drivers of loyalty can shift across generations. Jumping off with some generational data on loyalty captured via the Co-op’s online community, the discussions focused on what brands should consider when interpreting generational patterns.
A recurring theme was that loyalty should never be treated as permission to take your foot off the pedal. Established relationships can actually bring higher expectations, making customers more alert to changes in range, availability, price or service. In practice, loyalty may raise the standard a brand has to meet.
In the discussion about older customers and Baby Boomers, participants considered reassurance, accessibility and responsible digitisation. Digital journeys matter, but there was also support for retaining human or familiar backup channels for more complicated needs. Shared values and community contribution were talked about too.
For Gen X, the conversation focused on consistency, recognition and the pressures facing time-poor customers with high service expectations. Our delegates felt that getting the basics right at every interaction may matter more than adding yet another reward. Recognition can be simple: acknowledge repeat custom, reduce friction and make the customer experience feel joined up.
The Millennial discussion explored reliability. For busy customers, a service that simply works and sits happily in the background can itself create loyalty. Small, relevant reasons to connect may offer more value than forcing engagement for engagement’s sake.
For Gen Z, participants discussed the challenge of standing out in a world of abundant choice. Relevance, distinctiveness and convenience were seen as increasingly important, with personalisation, immediate value and gamification possible ways to earn attention and secure Gen Z’s continued engagement.
Perhaps the biggest takeaway from the tables was to resist thinking about generational differences as the only or primary lens. Life stage, category and personal circumstances all shape what people need from a brand. Generational perspectives can help teams ask better questions, but they shouldn’t replace understanding the specific ‘jobs to be done’ for a customer.
The shift: Design for real needs and moments, not generational stereotypes.
So what does loyalty mean now?
Across all three sessions, the debate kept returning to the same tension. The old language of loyalty suggests something a brand possesses: a customer, a relationship, a share of wallet. The emerging reality is more nuanced and less possessive. Customers have more choice, more information and more ways to seek value. They can be loyal to several brands at once, or they can be loyal to an outcome rather than a provider.
All of this makes loyalty harder to earn, but it also makes the role of insight more important. We need to understand the jobs people are trying to do, the context around them and who or what else is competing for that role. We need benchmarks and easy to communicate metrics, but we need to complement those with behavioural insight, real customer stories and an eye on shifts in culture. We also need to use new technology in ways that expand understanding without losing sight of real people.
Traditional loyalty may not be dead. But entitlement to it is. The opportunity for brands is to stop chasing exclusivity for its own sake and start building more meaningful relationships on the new terms that exist. Solve something that matters. Deliver consistently. Ultimately make your customer’s life a little easier, better or more rewarding. Then keep listening and don’t rest on your laurels, because the role you’ve earned in your customers’ lives may not be the role they need tomorrow.
About the author
- Sarah Askew
- Head of Brand and Innovation
Sarah leads on innovation and thought leadership at STRAT7 Researchbods and is a member of STRAT7’s AI Innovation Lab. A 2025 MRS Research Hero, Sarah has spent over 20 years pioneering methodologies that bridge the gap between technology and human insight. She’s passionate about ethical AI innovation and rigorous evaluation of new technologies and techniques. Her published work on the future of insight includes studies on consumer attitudes to AI, engaging Gen Z and insight community buyer needs.
