“Disloyalty” card – clever marketing

You’ve heard about loyalty cards – they lead to repeat customers, build brand loyalty, drive  customer retention, and are on the top of most retailers strategy map more then any other single marketing effort.  As a matter of fact, you probably have a deck accumulating stamps and hole punches in your wallet or purse. 

Well, let me introduce you to the “disloyalty” card. 

Seattle coffee dynamo Sarah Dooley has launched the disloyalty card to encourage Seattleites to try lots of different coffees around town. Modeled after a similar card that World Barista Champion Gwilym Davies started in London last year, the card offers a free beverage at the participating cafe of your choice after you’ve had a drink at each of the 10 coffeehouses on the card (which together have 13 locations, mostly in Seattle).  The cards, which expire in December 2012, were designed by Dan Baumfeld at Neptune Coffee. Printing was paid for by Equal Exchange Espresso.

Great idea and a simple twist on a trusted marketing standard.  Actually encourage your customers to experiment, to sample the competitor, to explore the industry landscape – and trust them to form their own educated opinion.  Raise the bar for quality, show implicit confidence in your product, and display transparency.  “My product is so good that I trust you will remain loyal even after having sampled the competition.”  And best of all, the idea is being discussed, blogged, tweeted and debated – which is all good for business.  That’s a coffee buzz better than caffeine.

Maybe it’s because of the countercultural appeal — it’s anticapitalist, it’s cool, and it fosters a sense of community while asking the question: Why are there punch cards for coffee, anyway? And for some, the card serves as an insider’s guide to the best coffee in the city.

“It’s not about cash,” Dooley explains. “It’s supposed to provoke a level of expertise in the consumer. If you raise what they come to expect in a cup, you’re asking them to define where they’re going to spend their money. They’re going to make their local cafes do a better job or they’re going to go elsewhere.”