The 2016 Customer LoveFest welcomes AVANZA, Inc. President and COO Ms. Yayu Javier as one of the speakers for this year's event.

She is an MBA graduate of the Ateneo de Manila university and has over 20 years of experience in loyalty and customer relationship marketing. She also has exposure in various companies ranging from retail, consumer goods and banking, and is an established expert in loyalty.

Ms. Javier has been part of the roster of speakers for the Customer LoveFest before, and now she's back to update us with the latest insights on effective loyalty and rewards program practices in the country.

See her and other international speakers at the Customer Love Fest happening at the New World Makati Hotel this October 20 and 21, 2016.

The Customer Love Fest will feature key resource speakers and the latest concepts in Customer Experience Management, Customer Relationship Management, and Customer Loyalty and Rewards. Join in on the fun and don't be left out.


This event is produced and organized by Ex-Link Management and Marketing Services Corporation, a business organizer in the Philippines. 

To be part of the Customer Love Fest, call telephone numbers 633-01-53, 643-38-87, mobile number 0920-981-4376 or send an email at info@exlinkevents.com. Ex-Link Events is also on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

The 2016 Customer Love Fest welcomes IKEA UAE, Qatar, Egypt and Oman Regional Digital & Content Marketing Manager Mr. Usama Qasem.

Usama has been working in web and digital marketing for over 10 years. He is one of the pioneers who early advocated for the importance of user experience (UX) and social media in the region.

During his career at IKEA he has helped the brand become the first furniture retailer in the Middle East to sell furniture online. In addition, his contribution towards the IKEA website and mobile website has earned the brand 2 awards for enhancement of these digital platforms. He as well launched the brand social media presence in the region.

Early in 2015 he founded ESTAND.ME an online shopping website specialized in selling unique and smart products.

See him and other international speakers at the Customer Love Fest happening at the New World Makati Hotel this October 20 and 21, 2016.

The Customer Love Fest will feature key resource speakers and the latest concepts in Customer Experience Management, Customer Relationship Management, and Customer Loyalty and Rewards. Join in on the fun and don't be left out.


This event is produced and organized by Ex-Link Management and Marketing Services Corporation, a business organizer in the Philippines. 

To be part of the Customer Love Fest, call telephone numbers 633-01-53, 643-38-87, mobile number 0920-981-4376 or send an email at info@exlinkevents.com. Ex-Link Events is also on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

In a surprising move, Microsoft Corporation has bought LinkedIn for US$26.2 billion. Some of us can't believe why a big-shot tech company has bought the so-called "Facebook for professionals," but for those who are tending to the aspects of Customer Love such as Customer Relationship Management, Customer Loyalty and Rewards, Customer Experience and the like, this deal is big.

A Wall Street Journal report even says that the deal will be very beneficial for Microsoft's Dynamics CRM line. The social network for business has 434 million users, citing the WSJ report, and tying it to the company's services may prove to be beneficial.

Imagine this: You're in a company that serves big clients, and it uses the Microsoft Dynamics CRM. Most (if not all) of the client's employees that you have spoken with are on LinkedIn. If Microsoft integrates LinkedIn to Dynamics, you can see their profile pages - or even their current status updates.

Sure, LinkedIn is more into content nowadays with their Pulse platform where its users can write blog posts, and is quite similar to the Medium platform. Grant Feller of Forbes describes the deal like this:

"[...] LinkedIn is a content company. In effect, Microsoft has just bought one of the world’s most influential, specialised, highly read, constantly-updated (and, it must be said, occasionally annoying) digital media companies around. [...]"

The tech giant also thinks to tie the social network to its Office suite, and that's just two of the many possibilities. Still, LinkedIn will act independently from other Microsoft services, according to a letter written by the social network's CEO Jeff Weiner.

This post is part of the "Love thy Customer" series as part of the preparations leading to the Customer Love Fest, which will happen at the New World Hotel, Makati on October 20 to 21, 2016 from 9am to 5pm. This event will feature key resource speakers and the latest concepts in customer rewards. Join in on the fun and don't be left out.


This event is produced and organized by Ex-Link Management and Marketing Services Corporation, a business organizer in the Philippines. For more information, call telephone numbers 633-01-53, 643-38-87, mobile number 0920-981-4376 or send an email at info@exlinkevents.com.

Ex-Link Events is also on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

The resource website SearchCRM of TechTarget defines CRM as "a term that refers to practices, strategies and technologies that companies use to manage and analyze customer interactions and data throughout the customer lifecycle, with the goal of improving business relationships with customers, assisting in customer retention and driving sales growth." In short, CRM is a way to know what your customers do.

Today, we are going to expand what we've talked about in the past few weeks to dig deeper and give you the benefits of Customer Love to improve your business. Maybe you're still not convinced to have your loyalty and rewards system until now, so we'll be delving more on why there is a need for businesses to have these kinds of systems.

To Attract Customers

One reason why your business has a need to implement rewards systems is to attract customers. There are customers who are buying pizza pies at the pizza parlor because they have a loyalty card, more so if they have friends tagging along. Their friends in turn will think of getting their own cards because chances are they are attracted to getting a delicious pizza pie at a discounted price.

To Know Your Customer

"Never waste an opportunity to get to know your customer," said speaker, consultant and book author Don Peppers in a Fast Company article. Knowing your customers mean knowing the purchasing decisions they are doing. If you know they're buying apples each time you put them on sale, you know that your customers are looking forward to your apples when it's sold less. This should make you think more about the value of those delicious apples.

To Influence Purchasing Decisions

Clothing brands also have their system of rewarding its loyal customers, thus affecting their purchasing decisions. Aside from having a sale on clothes, having a loyalty and rewards system adds more value to it, making it more sell-able.

These are just a few reasons why your business needs to reward your loyal customers, and if you look online, there are lots of great examples of companies having their own, some of which we are sharing in the "Love thy Customer" series on this space. Having a loyalty and rewards system is the norm these days, so think about these further as a way to solidify your business.

The Customer Love Fest will happen at the New World Hotel, Makati on October 20 to 21, 2016 from 9am to 5pm. This event will feature key resource speakers and the latest concepts in customer loyalty, rewards and experience. Join in on the fun and don't be left out.


This event is produced and organized by Ex-Link Management and Marketing Services Corporation, a business organizer in the Philippines. For more information, call telephone numbers 633-01-53, 643-38-87, mobile number 0920-981-4376 or send an email at info@exlinkevents.com.

Ex-Link Events is also on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Just in time for a special #ThrowbackThursday, on this edition of "Love thy Customer," we'll talk about our beloved video rental store, Video City. Most of you won't see a Video City nearby, but at a time where renting DVDs were common, they were a go-to place for movie lovers who want to watch their favorite movies over and over again at the comfort of their home.

Video City lends a wide variety of local and foreign films on DVDs, VCDs and even VHS tapes, and they have a membership card where you can get discounts and good deals on movie rentals. What they do is a good example of implementing Customer Rewards practices - you can rent three movies for the price of two using your membership card.

Most of your parents have known Video City through the years, and they will remember that special place, so go ask them. In a world where YouTube and Vimeo are the choices to watch videos, the nostalgic feeling of renting a movie is priceless.

This is the fourth part of our "Love thy Customer" series as part of the preparations leading to the 2016 Customer Love Fest. This series will look back at the best customer relationship, rewards, loyalty and experience practices done by various businesses over the years. There's more case studies to reminisce to, and we'll be talking more about it in the next few weeks.

The Customer Love Fest will happen at the New World Hotel, Makati on October 20 to 21, 2016 from 9am to 5pm. This event will feature key resource speakers and the latest concepts in customer loyalty, rewards and experience. Join in on the fun and don't be left out.


This event is produced and organized by Ex-Link Management and Marketing Services Corporation, a business organizer in the Philippines. For more information, call telephone numbers 633-01-53, 643-38-87, mobile number 0920-981-4376 or send an email at info@exlinkevents.com.

Ex-Link Events is also on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

You're just about to go home when your boss told you to re-send the email that you sent him earlier. the problem is, you don't have a data connection. You see a silver lining in the form of a 7-Eleven store which has a WiFi connection open for those who have their Every Day! Rewards card. Lucky you.

7-Eleven Philippines introduced its Every Day! Rewards three years ago, and one of its features is their points-to-WiFi data conversion, where 1 reward point is equal to 20MB of WiFi data. to get points, buy items at 7-Eleven stores, show your Every Day! Rewards card or CLiQQ app before the transaction, and get points for every Php50 spent. This approach is simple.

While the speed varies from branch to branch, this feature is loved by its customers, and this is among the reasons why some go to 7-Eleven frequently.

Combined with the CLiQQ mobile application, this has made transactions more convenient, as the mobile app doubles as a rewards card as it includes the card's bar code. Tapping into users with mobile phones is very effective for 7-Eleven, and eventually other brands will try and follow the same effort that they've done. That's what you get by loving your customers.

This is the third part of our "Love thy Customer" series as part of the preparations leading to the 2016 Customer Love Fest. This series will look back at the best customer relationship, rewards, loyalty and experience practices done by various businesses over the years. There's more case studies to reminisce to, and we'll be talking more about it in the next few weeks.

The Customer Love Fest will happen at the New World Hotel, Makati on October 20 to 21, 2016 from 9am to 5pm. This event will feature key resource speakers and the latest concepts in customer loyalty, rewards and experience. Join in on the fun and don't be left out.


This event is produced and organized by Ex-Link Management and Marketing Services Corporation, a business organizer in the Philippines. For more information, call telephone numbers 633-01-53, 643-38-87, mobile number 0920-981-4376 or send an email at info@exlinkevents.com.

Ex-Link Events is also on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Last Tuesday on our "Love thy Customer" series, we talked about the Starbucks Philippines Planner and how they made use of the brand's experience to reward their loyal customers. As promised, we'll talk about another planner that made full use of its experience to build a community - ladies and gentlemen (especially ladies), we'll talk about the Belle de Jour Power Planner.

Ten years ago, Viviamo, Inc. released the first BDJ Power Planner which aims to help women conquer the world. Included in it are full-color pages filled with inspiration, spaces to jot on, and coupons from different brands. The Power Planner's users love it, and with their support, Viviamo set up websites such as www.ilovebdj.com and www.bdjbox.com. They even have their own series of events like the BDJ Fair!

What should brands take note of about the BDJ Power Planner? In the case of Starbucks, the planner is more of a reward for staying to drink; but in the case of the Belle de Jour Power Planner, the planner is more of a benefit to those who got one.

Vivamo focused on targeting its market of passionate women through it and then expanded it further through below-the-line activities (such as events). They've reinvented "Customer Experience" further.

This is the second part of our "Love thy Customer" series as part of the preparations leading to the 2016 Customer Love Fest. This series will look back at the best customer relationship, rewards, loyalty and experience practices done by various businesses over the years. There's more case studies to reminisce to, and we'll be talking more about it in the next few weeks.

The Customer Love Fest will happen at the New World Hotel, Makati on October 20 to 21, 2016 from 9am to 5pm. This event will feature key resource speakers and the latest concepts in customer loyalty, rewards and experience. Join in on the fun and don't be left out.


This event is produced and organized by Ex-Link Management and Marketing Services Corporation, a business organizer in the Philippines. For more information, call telephone numbers 633-01-53, 643-38-87, mobile number 0920-981-4376 or send an email at info@exlinkevents.com.

Ex-Link Events is also on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Planners. These are the things that scatterbrains need in order to keep standing. These include the tasks that you jot, the things needed to take note of, and the important dates which you should not miss - well, it's you who will mark these out. Brands can take advantage of planners by adding their touch to it.

There are lots of planners available today, but we'll be showing two examples of how brand leveraged the planner into something more than just what it looks like - we're going head first with the Starbucks Philippines Planner.

Starbucks Philippines started this concept in 2003 with these words: "[...] we’ve thought of creating something to keep you company as you begin your day with a fresh cup of coffee, something to plan your day with or cherish your moments with. Something that will tell our story. And keep yours as well."

They've been doing this before the year ends, and there's been widespread positive and negative reaction about this. Even Fitz Villafuerte, an influential blogger on personal finance, has stated his advice to those who would like to get it; not to mention the satirical news website "So, What's News?" shed humor into this.

What seems to be appeal of the Starbucks planner? Let's get back to what they've said before: It's about Experience. Starbucks has positioned itself as the "third home," and part of this positioning is the look and feel of their stores.

This also rubs off on the planners that they are giving away in exchange of their continued visits to Starbucks stores. In this case, they've used Customer Experience and Loyalty methods, and they've improved this over time by partnering with notable brand Moleskine last year.

In the next post, we'll talk about another brand which leveraged the planner not just as a tool but also as a gateway to building a community.


This post starts our "Love thy Customer" series as part of the preparations leading to the 2016 Customer Love Fest. This series will look back at the best customer relationship, rewards, loyalty and experience practices done by various businesses over the years.

The Customer Love Fest will happen at the New World Hotel, Makati on October 20 to 21, 2016 from 9am to 5pm. This event will feature key resource speakers and the latest concepts in customer rewards. Join in on the fun and don't be left out.


This event is produced and organized by Ex-Link Management and Marketing Services Corporation, a business organizer in the Philippines. For more information, call telephone numbers 633-01-53, 643-38-87, mobile number 0920-981-4376 or send an email at info@exlinkevents.com.

Ex-Link Events is also on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

In every business, there are two parties: The customer/client and the businessmen. In every deal with both parties, the customer/client needs something that the businessmen provides. This was how simple deals are done.

Through the years, we see three things that are related to doing business: Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Customer Loyalty and Customer Experience (CX). Yes, these are related to each other, but what's the difference between them?

Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

The resource website SearchCRM of TechTarget defines CRM as "a term that refers to practices, strategies and technologies that companies use to manage and analyze customer interactions and data throughout the customer lifecycle, with the goal of improving business relationships with customers, assisting in customer retention and driving sales growth." (Emphasis ours)

A great example of implementing a CRM is Amazon.com, in which they have your details and the list of purchases that you bought from them. They, in turn, can recommend you the things you might want to add to that shopping card of yours.

Customer Loyalty (and Rewards)

According to UK-based Customer Experience consultancy and training company Beyond Philosophy, "Customer loyalty is the result of consistently positive emotional experience, physical attribute-based satisfaction and perceived value of an experience, which includes the product or services." (Emphases ours)

Think of it this way: You're using your preferred brand of detergent because it cleans better than the other brands as if it's brand new. You kept using it for that reason, and it consistently gives you the same great effects that made you love the said product.

If your company makes that detergent brand, then you have a loyal customer. Now what if your business is a grocery store? How can we apply customer loyalty in that case?

Imagine this: Your customer has been buying fresh vegetables from your store for so long, and you want to reward him for coming back to your store - then you decided to give him a little extra - a bottle of Hundred Island dressing to complement the packs of Lolla Rosa lettuce that he bought.

The next day, another customer bought three tubs of ice cream for a party, and as a reward, you gave him a pack of wafer cones. The next customer who followed him bought packs of sausages and you gave a bonus pack of barbecue sticks.

Rewarding your customers consistently gives them the feeling being welcomed always, and that is where we go into the last part,

Customer Experience

According to a market insight published by US-based SAS Institute, "Customer experience is defined as your customers’ perceptions – both conscious and subconscious – of their relationship with your brand resulting from all their interactions with your brand during the customer life cycle." (Emphasis ours)

From the earlier part, we can see that the customer enjoys his/her experience at the grocery, and they will recommend their friends to come to your store. Customers who refer their friends to come to your store have become advocates for your store, serving as a guide of sorts for those who have no idea what your store looks like, what you offer and how do you fare well with them.

Now that you have a grasp of what CRM, Customer Loyalty and CX means, let's simplify it further by going back to the grocery store that we've talked about earlier:

By rewarding your customers (Customer Loyalty), you are creating your own ecosystem to track the customers who deserved to be rewarded (Customer Relationship Management) and by doing so, you think of a special way to reward them (Customer Experience).

If you want to know the latest in CRM, Customer Loyalty and Customer Experience, attend the Customer Love Fest, which caters to the Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Customer Loyalty & Rewards, and Customer Experience Management industries.

The Customer Love Fest will happen at the New World Hotel, Makati on October 20 to 21, 2016 from 9am to 5pm. This event will feature key resource speakers and the latest concepts in customer rewards. Join in on the fun and don't be left out.

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This event is produced and organized by Ex-Link Management and Marketing Services Corporation, a business organizer in the Philippines. For more information, call telephone numbers 633-01-53, 643-38-87, mobile number 0920-981-4376 or send an email at info@exlinkevents.com. 

Ex-Link Events is also on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Imagine this: As a customer, you go inside your favorite store and check which items you want to buy. After that, you go into the counter and the clerk asks you, "Do you have a rewards card?" You showed up your phone instead. The year is 2016, and this is now the norm for some mobile users in the country.

Fifty-four percent (54%) of the Philippines now has a smartphone, according to a GSMA Intelligence report (PDF), This means that smartphones have penetrated more than half of the country. Smartphones made us realize that there's one device for doing almost anything, and this is a big data pool for companies.

“Smartphone users are comfortable with using mobile apps and if the mobile app seems bona fide, beneficial and attractive, it will get downloaded,” said Dr. Lance Elliot of solutions provider Interactions in a Mobile Commerce Daily feature that talks about mobile commerce in this year.

With that said, the smartphone has become a tool for rewards cards - and most companies with rewards systems are tapping into the power of these devices, and those who has their rewards systems are now making the switch to smartphones from previous systems that use the short messaging service (SMS/Text Messages).

If you think you are missing out on these trends, then it's time to attend the Customer Love Fest, which caters to the Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Customer Loyalty & Rewards, and Customer Experience Management industries. Last year, mobile was the talk of the town in this event, and we'll catch up with the latest on mobile as a tool for rewarding customers.

The Customer Love Fest will happen at the New World Hotel, Makati on October 20 to 21, 2016 from 9am to 5pm. This event will feature key resource speakers and the latest concepts in customer rewards. Join in on the fun and don't be left out.

This event is produced and organized by Ex-Link Management and Marketing Services Corporation, a business organizer in the Philippines. For more information, call telephone numbers 633-01-53, 643-38-87, mobile number 0920-981-4376 or send an email at info@exlinkevents.com. 

Ex-Link Events is also on Facebook and Twitter.

This is where the 2016 Customer LoveFest comes in. As the first of its kind in the country, the Customer LoveFest is divided into two parts - the Customer Experience Management Conference and the Customer Loyalty Conference and Expo. This event is a learning opportunity for those who are in the fields of customer service and customer experience.

There are three simple reasons why you need to take part of this annual conference:

1. Meet like-minded professionals who are working in the field of customer service and related fields, as well as executives from various companies. This event gathers businesses who are seeking to improve their systems and methods in retaining customers and building brand loyalty.
2. Know the best practices in running Customer Loyalty Programs and Customer Experience Management. From branding to the digital economy, new innovations in customer love are popping up, so as a business, you need to gain knowledge on how brands have implemented effective strategies to keep your current and incoming customers happy.
3. Be ahead of everyone else. There are companies in the retail industry who have implemented their customer loyalty systems thanks to the knowledge they got form the Customer Love Fest.

Take a look at the highlights of last year's LoveFest:


The Customer Love Fest will happen at the New World Makati Hotel this October 21 to 22, 2016.

This event is produced and organized by Ex-Link Management and Marketing Services Corporation, a business organizer in the Philippines. For more information, call telephone numbers 633-01-53, 643-38-87, mobile number 0920-981-4376 or send an email at info@exlinkevents.com. 

Ex-Link Events is also on Facebook and Twitter.