For years we told ourselves that Loyalty was a question of more or less glossy cards, stamps, points and catalogues. It was enough to slip a card into the customer's wallet and convince him that, if he bought enough detergents or spent Sunday morning queuing at the supermarket, sooner or later he would have the right to a blender.

It was the golden age of guaranteed prizes, of stickers glued with the same dedication reserved for Panini albums and of a consumer willing to do anything to take home a set of pans that he already owned in duplicate. Then came 2026, and that world melted like an icicle in August.

The problem is not that companies no longer want to invest in loyalty. On the contrary. It's that what we passed off as "loyalty" for decades was actually a gentle form of barter: you buy, I reward you, and we both pretend to be linked by an emotional and lasting relationship. It's a shame that today's consumer, accustomed to moving between aggressive marketplaces, hyper-stimulating social networks and apps that know his habits better than his mother, is no longer enchanted by a soft toy or a discount voucher valid only on Tuesdays between 9 and 11.

The truth is that traditional programs have not failed: they have simply become irrelevant. They don't scale, they don't surprise, they don't really speak people's language. Above all, they have nothing to do with what we call “loyalty”. At most they stimulate inertia, which is very different: we don't always return to the same chain out of love, but because we have memorized the route. And the day a new app shows us a better price a kilometer away, the magic fades.

In today's consumer market a company can no longer afford to think of loyalty as a project to be ticked off at the end of the year. It is a strategic asset, a business lever, a revenue line and even a data source of incalculable value. But to work it must be rethought at its root. Today, true loyalty does not arise from a rewards catalogue, but from an experience that makes the customer feel at the centre. Not "special" in words, but truly recognized, listened to and involved.

The most far-sighted companies are investing in dynamic programs, no longer linked to the logic of the physical reward, but powered by personalization, micro-experiences, content and tailor-made incentives.

Modern loyalty is made up of continuous interactions, challenges, micro-rewards that arrive at the right time, of a brand that behaves more like a motivational coach than a points store. It's made of intelligent, non-childish gamification; of paths that make the customer feel like a protagonist, not just a consumer to be counted at the checkout.

Those who operate in the consumer market must invest first and foremost in data. The old systems rewarded behaviors, the new ones anticipate them. And here artificial intelligence plays the part of the wise friend: it observes, predicts, suggests, models personalized experiences and transforms every interaction into a relationship. The customer doesn't come back because "he has to accumulate points", he comes back because that brand, unlike all the others, seems to really understand what he needs and when. It's not magic, it's data-driven empathy.

The loyalty of the future is also an open ecosystem. The most effective programs are not closed enclosures, but networks of partners that amplify the value perceived by the customer. Because if I can use my benefits everywhere in my daily life, from fuel to groceries to e-commerce, then that program is no longer an artificial micro-world but a natural extension of my habits.

We then need a fresher, more authentic language. The consumer today does not expect a brochure, but a conversation. He wants stories, not catalogues. He wants to feel like he's in a relationship that grows over time, not in a contract to be redeemed. Loyalty is a feeling, not a points balance.

In this scenario, continuing to use the tools of the past is like trying to do 5G with the Nokia 3310. Traditional programs no longer work because they don't speak to today's people, they don't adapt to their pace and they don't create a real reason to return. The companies that win will be those that abandon the idea of ​​"rewarding the purchase" and start "rewarding the relationship". Everything else is modern marketing.

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