Cole Walsh

Researcher

Forrester Bio

Author Insights

Blog

There Is No Single “Personalization Technology” Category

Jessica Liu June 6, 2023
Tackling consumer personalization requires strategy, data, and technology (see figure). When it comes to the third pillar, technology, consumer personalization capabilities are baked into many different technology categories across the business technology ecosystem. Companies must strive to harmonize multiple tools to deliver personalized moments that can occur anywhere in the customer lifecycle. Instead of focusing […]
Blog

From Breakup To Makeup: e.l.f.’s Creator-Led Media Strategy Spins Sorrow Into Sales

Kelsey Chickering May 30, 2023
E.l.f. exemplifies a creator-led media strategy with premium content. Discover how the brand hit the mark with their TikTok couple collab.
Blog

Paid Loyalty Programs Pique Premium Interest

Mary Pilecki May 19, 2023
Premium loyalty programs charge a fee for access to membership or a program tier. These can be one-time fees (REI — $30 once for a lifetime) or monthly/annual fees (Amazon Prime, Walmart +). In recent weeks, we’ve seen several new premium loyalty programs or tiers announced: Sweetgreen announced a two-tiered program in April with a […]
Blog

The Rise Of The Creator Economy: Creators Displace Advertising Paradigms

Kelsey Chickering May 10, 2023
With more than 300 million creators worldwide, the creator economy has grown exponentially over the last several years and shows no signs of slowing down. Creators — individuals who make and monetize social media content — matter to brands because they wield the power to make ideas, trends, songs, or products go mainstream overnight. They […]
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Flexible Loyalty Technology Solutions Power Profitable Loyalty Programs

Mary Pilecki March 14, 2023
As brands contend with rising media costs, changing consumer behavior, and, for some, lackluster sales results, they continue to invest in consumer loyalty programs and technology solutions to help them engage and retain consumers. In fact, 53% of B2C marketing decision-makers plan to increase their spend on loyalty technology this year. But economic uncertainty adds […]
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It Pays To Share: Refer-A-Friend Programs Boost Customer Acquisition And Engagement

Mary Pilecki March 7, 2023
We’ll let you in on a secret: Cometeer coffee keeps Forrester’s B2C marketing research team running. When our colleague evangelized the innovative coffee company in a team meeting last year, the brand quickly found its way into many of our team members’ daily routines — and it’s not just because we like really good coffee. […]
Blog

Order Up: Starbucks Rewards Changes Signal A Renewed Focus On Profitable Loyalty

Mary Pilecki January 31, 2023
As one of the most popular loyalty programs in the world, the stakes for the Starbucks Rewards program are high. Today, the program boasts nearly 29 million active members, and over half of Starbucks sales are driven through the program. Starbucks Rewards members collect “stars” for every purchase they make, redeemable for free drinks, food, […]
Blog

CMOs Drive Growth With Media Inclusivity

Kelsey Chickering December 13, 2022
After the 2020 murder of George Floyd, brands and agencies swiftly made bold commitments to invest in Black-owned media companies. The goal? To better reflect the diversity of brands’ audiences and create a more equitable media ecosystem. While well intentioned, it too narrowly focused media dollars solely on minority-owned media groups and away from other […]
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Prepare For 2023: Sharpen Your Loyalty Data Collection This Holiday Season

Mary Pilecki November 1, 2022
Use your loyalty program to collect consumer data and boost B2C sales this holiday season.
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Level Up Your Loyalty Marketing With Zero-Party Data

Mary Pilecki September 14, 2022
Loyalty programs, rife with first-party data, are seemingly a salve to the challenges posed by the forces of data deprecation. But even loyalty marketers struggle to effectively collect and use data. Whether it be a lack of respect for customer privacy, data sets saturated with useless information, or an inability to make customer insights actionable, […]
Blog

This Back-To-School Season, Learn To Evolve Your Loyalty Strategy

Mary Pilecki August 16, 2022
Despite the heat wave across the United States, summer is quickly coming to a close. In just a few weeks, kids around the globe will be back in the classroom for a new year of learning. Loyalty marketers, you might consider joining them! Since early 2020, concerns for health and safety, supply chain issues, and […]
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The End Of An Era: Moving Beyond The One-Size-Fits-All Marketing Cloud

Joe Stanhope April 28, 2022
Learn how marketing clouds are embracing a platform strategy and specializing across marketing, customer experience, and data & analytics.
Blog

Loyalty Is A Lifeline During The Inflation Crisis

Mary Pilecki March 14, 2022
Last week, consumers in the United States woke up to a grim statistic from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Price Index: Consumer prices rose 7.9% in February, the highest rate of annual inflation in 40 years. This rise is not unexpected if you’ve read the news headlines over the past couple of months. […]