Loyalty & Awards 2023
09 - 11 October 2023
As a platform for loyalty experts, the Conference is focused on providing the best presentations and discussions in the industry. Our speakers talk about the trends as well as their unique experiences, sharing best practices and case studies to benefit their peers.
If you have a topic you'd like to share with the audience and would like to become a speaker at Loyalty & Awards 2023, please contact our chairman Ravindra Bhagwanani.
06:00
L&A run

Join us for the legendary L&A run, the inofficial kick-off to Loyalty & Awards for the most sportive ones!
We'll be leaving at 06:00h for a 8-km run on Copacabana with a chance to win a free pass for Loyalty & Awards 2024. Meeting point is at 05:50h in the hotel lobby!
You will find the full details here
12:00
Registration

13:00
Welcome address from the chair

Ravindra Bhagwanani, Managing Director, Global Flight
13:05
Opening keynote: Loyalty in Latin America: The same, but different

- The three things you should know about Latin America, general landscape and its particularities
- How the fear of currency devaluations impacts interactions with loyalty programs
- The cultural importance of status and its operational implications
- Loyalty: A fine line between opportunities and risks
Martin Holdschmidt, Latam Pass Brasil General Director, LATAM Airlines
13:45 - 18:30 (max)
Social Activities

Choose one of three small group social activities. Discover rio from a different angle, while fostering and expanding your professional network in a relaxed atmosphere. Places for activities are limited and given out on a first-come, first-served basis.
Select your favourite activity when you complete your registration and enjoy!
- Set foot on the Maracanã Stadium
- Live a unique carnival experience
- Cooking & Caipirinha in Santa Teresa
You will find the full details here
Participants will be picked up and dropped off at the conference venue.
17:30
1-to-1 meetings

This is your opportunity to meet existing and potential partners/suppliers from all over the world to strengthen and start business relationships in a highly efficient manner.
Meetings can be pre-arranged through connecting with other delegates over the event website or the event app in the run-up to the event.
19:00 - 20:00
Networking Drinks Reception

09:00
Opening remarks from the Chair

Ravindra Bhagwanani, Managing Director, Global Flight
09:10
Opening keynote: From price focus to loyalty

- Understanding the role of a loyalty program in your distribution strategy
- A sound program value proposition as basis to success
- Creating emotional ties to reduce unilateral price sensitiveness
- Turning engagement into long term loyalty
Mehdi Hemici, Chief Loyalty & Ecommerce Officer, Accor
09:35
From loyalty to fintech

- From Smiles to PaGol: The idea behind
- In what is a fintech superior to a traditional bank?
- Coexistence with financially critical partners for Gol/Smiles
- Milestones achieved, challenges ahead
Ravel Lage, CEO, PaGol
10:00
Maximising the lifetime value through subscription plans

- Subscription plans: Creating loyalty and market entrance barriers
- Operating different parallel plans to cater for different customer groups
- Maximising the lifetime value of customers: a task for today or for tomorrow?
- How to explain an all-you-can-fly approach to your CFO
Lorena Varela Nagore, Ancillary Product Development Leader, Volaris
10:25
Mid morning coffee & Networking

10:55
Subscription plans vs. loyalty programs: Why we do both!

- Subscription programs as entry level to a loyalty strategy
- The early success of subscription models in the Mexican market
- How Doter and subscription plans coexist and have both their strategic place
- Is there enough value gain with a loyalty program justifying the investments?
Pablo Sordo, Chief Strategy Officer, Viva Aerobus
11:20
Panel discussion: Taking financial partnerships to new heights

- Evolutions in the payment landscape and what they mean to loyalty programs
- Understanding that cooperation between all players is key to success
- Sharing equally the benefits between all parties engaged, incl. members
- What to do if results fall short of expectations?
Moderator: Julien Rochard, Chief Revenue Officer, Merit Incentives
Panellists:
Martin Holdschmidt, Latam Pass Brasil General Director, LATAM Airlines
Tommy Langhauser, Director, Loyalty & Customer Intelligence, Frontier Airlines
Rafael Littieri, Head of Latin America Co-brand Partnership Development, Visa
12:05
Personalisation: What can we learn from retail?

- Data mining as mean to survive in a competitive landscape
- From discounts to gamification: Finding the right approach for each client
- Ensuring a high level of delivery at touchpoints
- Justifying the business case for IT investments
Roberto Chade, Co-Founder and CEO, Dotz
12:30
Lunch & Networking

13:45
How to deploy ChatGPT and AI in loyalty initiatives?

- Between hype, reality and the future: What is the truth?
- Adapting technologies to strategies - not vice versa
- Looking at initial case studies: creating loyalty through increased customer experience
- Tipps for successful first steps: from hyper personalization to predictive analysis
Alejandro Gonzalez Saul, Loyalty and Customer Engagement Managing Director, Digital@FEMSA
14:15
Elevating loyalty: embracing digital collectibles in air travel

- Uptrip: The NFT-based loyalty card collection app by Miles & More and Lufthansa Innovation Hub
- Exploring how digital collectibles are reshaping the landscape of airline loyalty programs
- Understanding the integration of NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens) and blockchain technology into the loyalty experience
- Highlighting the unique gamification elements that engage travelers and enhance loyalty
Michael Meraner, Manager Loyalty Strategy & Status Management, Lufthansa
14:30
Deep Dive workshops

Participate in one of two parallel workshops of key vendors, talking about their latest solutions to common industry issues.
No pre-registration is required.
Workshop 1: Back to the future - loyalty from then to now and beyond
- Essential lessons from loyalty's past and present
- Envision tomorrow’s loyalty landscape
- Collaboration on ideas to shape the future of loyalty
Isabella Rosier, Sr. Innovation Consultant, Loyalty Partner Solutions
Daniel Kahdemann, Pre-Sales Consultant, Loyalty Partner Solutions
Workshop 2: Be your customers’ hero and unlock your loyalty superpowers.
How technology can support travel companies to humanize customer relationships
- Discover how cloud-based loyalty solutions can supercharge your customer relationships as IBS Software and LATAM Pass reveal the challenges and key wins behind LATAM’s loyalty program transformation
- Explore how technology can foster deeper human connections and discover what AI and other innovations to come can do for your loyalty program
- Assess your technology-related challenges and uncover practical solutions through real-world use cases
Olivier Cazeaux, Sr. Director, Product Management, IBS Software
Martin Holdschmidt, General Director LATAM Pass Brasil, LATAM Airlines
15:30
Afternoon Tea & Networking

16:00
Supplier of the Year Award

- 8-minute pitch for each of three shortlisted suppliers
Moderator: Ravindra Bhagwanani, Managing Director, Global Flight
Judges:
Xavier Lucas, Principal Software Engineer, Alaska Airlineso
Kristi Gole, EVP Strategy, Global Hotel Alliance
Linus Benjamin Bauer, Founder & Managing Director, Bauer Aviation Advisory
16:30
Presentation of a special 2023 start-up

16:35
Fireside chat: Understanding data-related opportunities and risks

- Current status of personalisation efforts in the travel loyalty industry
- Taking fraud prevention to the next level
- Are we ready for the new era in data management with the arrival of AI?
- The enabling role of tech suppliers
Marcus Puffer, Vice President Global Loyalty Strategy, IBS Software
Moderator: Ravindra Bhagwanani, Managing Director, Global Flight
17:05
Closing Remarks from the Chairman

17:15
1-to-1 meetings

This is your opportunity to meet existing and potential partners/suppliers from all over the world to strengthen and start business relationships in a highly efficient manner.
Meetings can be pre-arranged through connecting with other delegates over the event website or the event app in the run-up to the event.
19:00 - 23:00
Gala Dinner and Golden Loyalty Awards 2023

Master of Ceremony: David Andreadakis, Chief Growth Officer, Bluewater Media
Judges:
Manuj Jain, Head of Loyalty, Air India
Beatriz Polo, Head of Loyalty, Iberia
Sven Neweling, Head of CRM Strategy and Loyalty Programs, Deutsche Bahn
Ravindra Bhagwanani, Managing Director, Global Flight
08:30
Coffee & Registration

09:00
Opening remarks from the Chair

Martha Cohen, VP, Client Services, Travel & Hospitality, Kobie Marketing
09:10
Gaining support from top management

- What matters to top management when it comes to loyalty programs?
- Aligning loyalty program, customer experience and revenue strategies
- Making results transparent as mean to secure future investments
- Which challenges lie ahead for loyalty management?
Abhi Shah, President, Azul Airlines
09:35
Little by little, a little becomes a lot: How loyalty programs can help your sustainability strategy

- Loyalty programs can play a key role in sustainability
- Going beyond travel - recognising and rewarding sustainable choices
- Introducing a new "Green Tier", Qantas Loyalty's experience
Sarah Udy, Executive Manager - Member & Program, Qantas Loyalty
10:00
Panel Golden Loyalty Awards winners

- Insights into case studies of Golden Loyalty Awards 2023 winners
- Benefits for shareholders and members
- Process of generating award-winning initiatives
Moderator: Ravindra Bhagwanani, Managing Director, Global Flight
Golden Loyalty Awards 2023 winners - IBA on site
10:40
Mid-morning coffee & Networking

11:10
Taking the baby back home

- Flashback on the FFP spin-offs: What worked, what didn't work
- Decision factors for AeroMexico to change course
- Creating a new dynamic at AeroMexico Rewards
- How has the role of partnerships evolved?
- Conclusion: Lessons learned & recommendations
Rodrigo Sandoval Piemonte, VP Loyalty, Banks, Travel Stores & AM Vacations, AeroMexico
11:35
Deep dive workshops

Participate in one of two parallel workshops of key vendors, talking about their latest solutions to common industry issues.
No pre-registration is required.
Workshop 1: Translating Trust: ChatGPT's Impact on Global Loyalty Content
- Hocus pocus: how does AI content creation and translation actually work? Explaining the process.
- Limitations in the logic: where does AI go wrong?
- Man vs. machine: who’s winning?
- Conclusion: tips for opportunities & best practices
Matthijs Kooijman, Commercial Director, Attached Language
Workshop 2: Game On: Leveraging Game Mechanics to Enhance Engagement and Harness Zero-Party Data
- The importance of personalization and customer engagement in travel
- Gamification as opportunity to captivate travellers
- Gaining insights through zero-party data and how to leverage it
- Practical insights and actionable strategies to implement multi-channel gamified experiences
Adeline Heymann, VP, Strategic Consulting, Kobie Marketing
12:35
Lunch & Networking

13:45
Panel discussion: Leveraging partnerships to enhance member value

- Creating true win-win partnerships
- Moving away from cash cow dreams to enhancing value for members
- The role of technology
- What kind of new partnerships are on the horizon?
Moderator: Danielle Brown, Chief Marketing Officer, Plusgrade
Panellists:
Christophe Etchegaray, SVP Global Partnerships, Accor
Dave Canty, SVP, Head of Loyalty & Partnerships, Bilt Rewards
Ricky Horwitz, Chief Sales Officer, Global Travel Insurance, Allianz Partners
Kelli Hobbs, VP Business Development, US, Valuedynamx
14:30
The success of airline-backed coalition programs in Southeast Asia

- airasia, Cebu Pacific and VietJet Air: Exploiting local opportunities with a coalition program approach
- Understanding the ingredients of success of coalition programs
- Gaining credibility towards partners thanks to an independent strategy
- How much do the parent airlines benefit?
- Coming up next: The need to invest in sustainable relationships
Sereen Teoh, Former CEO, GalaxyJoy
14:55
Using technology for seamless partner integrations

- Moving to non-travel partnerships to increase the stickiness of the program
- Working with partners on the technology side to increase the speed to market
- The economic benefits: Easy integration of high numbers of low volume partners
- Case study Etihad Guest: Miles on the Go
Mark Potter, Director Loyalty & Partnerships, Etihad Aviation Group
15:20
Afternoon Tea & Networking

15:45
Together, we are stronger!

- The difficulty to gain sufficient loyalty traction as mid-sized company
- Innovating the market with a hotel-airline tie-up: a world's first
- Outlining the strategic loyalty vision
- Balancing the expectations of shareholders, customers and partners
Christian Lundén, VP Strategic Growth, Strawberry
16:10
The easy recipe for successful partnerships: the value proposition

- Building a compelling value proposition for clients
- Sourcing the right partners with different approaches around the world
- Getting partners on board for joint marketing campaigns
- Where is the hotel distribution market heading? What is the future for OTAs?
Sarah Moore, Head Officer, Rocket Travel by Agoda
16:35
Closing Remarks from the Chairman & Announcement of venue Loyalty & Awards 2024

16:45
Close of Conference
