Episode 787

ITA Group Research Reveals Powerful Loyalty Drivers (#787)

Published on: 9th July, 2026

Today’s edition of Let’s Talk Loyalty and Loyalty TV discusses ITA Group’s latest loyalty research “Quantifying Customer Loyalty’s Hidden Drivers”, featuring educational and actionable insights around the power and importance of emotional connection.

Our guest is Chris Jones, Senior Vice-President for ITA Group.

Based in the USA and 100% employee owned, ITA Group is a global engagement and loyalty consulting company that helps clients improve business performance through experiences, incentives, loyalty programs, research, and technology.

Chris unpacks this research showing that emotionally connected customers visit 8x more often and spend about a third more than other customers, using real examples from leading brands like Casey's, North Face, and Chewy.

The research also shows why frontline employees can make or break a program, and where AI genuinely adds value in personalization at scale.

Hosted by Bridget Blaise-Shamai

This episode is sponsored by ITA Group,Inc.

Show Notes:

1)Chris Jones

2) ITA Group Research: Quantifying customer loyalty’s hidden drivers

3) ITA Group Research: Transforming Customer Loyalty Programs

4) For more information about ITA Group’s Customer Loyalty Solutions: https://www.itagroup.com/what-we-do/customer-loyalty

5)Book recommendation: How Great Ideas Happen: The Hidden Steps Behind Breakthrough Success:

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About the Podcast

Let's Talk Loyalty
“Let’s Talk Loyalty” is an industry podcast for loyalty marketing professionals.

If you work in loyalty marketing, join us every week to learn the latest ideas and marketing insights from loyalty specialists around the world.

Check out our website on: http://www.letstalkloyalty.com/

About your host

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Paula Thomas

Paula Thomas is the Founder and CEO of Let’s Talk Loyalty and Loyalty TV.

Paula Thomas is an award-winning podcaster who founded the “Let’s Talk Loyalty” podcast and business in 2019, and Loyalty TV in 2023.

She has over twenty-five years blue-chip marketing experience, including almost a decade leading consumer loyalty programmes in multiple sectors including telecommunications, the energy sector, banking and airline loyalty programmes.

She is from Ireland and lives in Dubai.

Paula is a former judge for the “International Loyalty Awards”, and the author of the book “Driving Loyalty in Convenience Retail”.

She holds an Executive MBA from Smurfit Business College, one of Ireland’s top universities, and is a “Certified Loyalty Marketing Professional”.

In 2025, she was chosen as the International Loyalty Industry Personality of the Year.