European Loyalty Association Event Highlights Uncomfortable Truths About Customer Loyalty
From Rewarding Transactions to Changing Behavior
Technology Alone Cannot Create Loyalty
Click here to subscribe to the ESM weekly e-newsletter.
The European Loyalty Association (ELA) reports that 329 loyalty professionals gathered for its Oct. 6–7, 2026, TBH Loyalty event in Amsterdam, where discussions focused on some of the industry's most difficult questions: Are loyalty programs genuinely changing customer behavior, or simply rewarding purchases that would have occurred anyway? Are companies investing too heavily in technology without understanding what drives customer relationships? And how can loyalty executives better demonstrate the financial value of their programs?According to Hadie Perkas, CEO and Co-Founder of the North America and Europe Loyalty Associations, the event’s producers, the content reflected a growing emphasis on moving beyond points, discounts, and transactional incentives toward a more strategic understanding of customer engagement. ELA says its approach encourages brand executives and practitioners to share not only successful initiatives but also experiments, mistakes, and lessons that rarely appear in conventional conference presentations.
From Rewarding Transactions to Changing Behavior
One of the central challenges is distinguishing genuine incremental business from purchases customers would have made without an incentive. This issue was illustrated in an earlier ELA interview with Louisa Evans, Head of Customer Loyalty and Retention at Hornby Hobbies, who questioned the economics of rewarding every customer equally.The broader implication for loyalty professionals is that program success cannot be measured solely through participation, redemption, or member spending. The more meaningful question is whether incentives influence behavior in ways that create additional value for both customers and the business.
Technology Alone Cannot Create Loyalty
Another recurring theme in ELA programming is the importance of understanding customers and testing program concepts before investing in sophisticated technology. Artificial intelligence, personalization, and customer data platforms can improve program effectiveness, but their value depends on clear objectives, sound program design, and organizational capabilities.
The discussions also underscore that customer loyalty cannot be the responsibility of the loyalty department alone. Effective programs require coordination across marketing, operations, technology, finance, and customer experience functions. For the rewards and recognition industry, the implications extend beyond customer loyalty. Whether programs target employees, channel partners, or customers, the underlying challenge remains the same: demonstrating that engagement investments produce measurable improvements in behavior and business performance.
The ELA's emphasis on candid discussions of what works, what fails, and why reflects an industry increasingly interested in demonstrating business value rather than simply reporting program activity.
Read ELA's event recap: 329 People, Two Days, and Some Uncomfortable Truths About Loyalty
Enterprise Engagement Alliance Services
Celebrating our 17th year, the Enterprise Engagement Alliance helps organizations enhance performance through:1. Information and marketing opportunities on stakeholder management and total rewards:
- ESM Weekly on stakeholder management since 2009. Click here to subscribe; click here for media kit.
- RRN Weekly on total rewards since 1996. Click here to subscribe; click here for media kit.
- EEA YouTube channel on enterprise engagement, human capital, and total rewards since 2020
Management Academy to enhance future equity value for your organization.3. Books on implementation: Enterprise Engagement for CEOs and Enterprise Engagement: The Roadmap.
4. Advisory services and research: Strategic guidance, learning and certification on stakeholder management, measurement, metrics, and corporate sustainability reporting.
5. Permission-based targeted business development to identify and build relationships with the people most likely to buy.
Contact: Bruce Bolger at TheICEE.org; 914-591-7600, ext. 230.
