Top Gear: Useful Internet Marketing Strategies & Tips to Move You Forward: How the Vitamix Rewards Program Achieves the Perfect Blend with Oracle CrowdTwist

I have been working with Oracle CrowdTwist Loyalty and Engagement for almost five years. When I first joined the team, I was responsible for launching and managing the day-to-day operations of our clients' loyalty programs. I then spent time working in partner marketing and more recently joined the product marketing team. As an Oracle CrowdTwist Loyalty and Engagement platform expert and aficionado, I love hearing about how our clients leverage our technology to power loyalty programs that help meet their unique business objectives.

I was really excited to lead a discussion with Sarah Herrmann, manager of direct to consumer marketing at Vitamix, during a recent webinar. Vitamix, a family-owned business that manufactures high-performance blending solutions, launched its loyalty program Vitamix Rewards with Oracle-CrowdTwist in July 2019. To date, the program has attracted nearly 150,000 loyalty program members!

I wanted to learn more about the catalyst behind Vitamix's decision to invest in loyalty, why they chose Oracle CrowdTwist Loyalty and Engagement, how their program works, and what they attribute to the program's success.

Customers are incentivized to take action and keep engaged between purchases

Vitamix sells directly to consumers and through retailers and third parties. Sarah explained that, like many brands with high price points and long purchase lifecycles, their customer interactions are limited. Vitamix recognized a need to build customer loyalty and strengthen their customer relationships.

Sarah revealed that Vitamix wants to build deeper relationships with customers via two-way communications. They wanted to find new ways for their customers to engage with them and encourage them to take specific actions. For example, they wanted a way to collect product registrations to build more robust customer profiles, particularly from their retail customers. Vitamix also wanted to grow its email newsletter and amplify access to Vitamix content such as recipes articles.

Investment in flexible and customizable solutions and strategy

After understanding why Vitamix was motivated to invest in loyalty, I wanted to learn why they chose Oracle-CrowdTwist to power their program. Sarah disclosed that while attending an industry conference, she saw a presentation delivered by one of our clients with similar business challenges and saw how they were using their loyalty program to deepen customer relationships. After hearing about Oracle CrowdTwist Loyalty and Engagement’s diverse portfolio of clients across beauty, media and entertainment, and retail, Sarah and the Vitamix team were impressed by how customizable our technology is and excited about what they could achieve by adopting a loyalty program.

After working with the Oracle CrowdTwist Loyalty and Engagement team to establish their engagement economy and loyalty strategy, the Vitamix team set a tight timeline to launch their program. They didn't have a CRM or an existing loyalty program in place. Still, with frequent touch bases and the technical implementation support of the Oracle CrowdTwist Loyalty and Engagement team, they were able to get their program up and running quickly. What helps streamline the launch of a loyalty program is that our robust API suite can integrate with any brand's tech stack. We were able to, for example, integrate with Vitamix technology partners Movable Ink for dynamic emails and Bazaarvoice for reviews to help embed the loyalty program across every customer touchpoint.

Customers are rewarded for program participation and spend

Sarah shared how the Vitamix Rewards program offers members a variety of ways to engage. Vitamix product owners and non-owners can earn points for uploading receipts, writing reviews, engaging on social networks, completing surveys, and checking out recipes. They are also rewarded with five points for every dollar spent online or at retailers. These points can be redeemed for Vitamix products, accessories and vouchers, partner rewards such as Blue Apples. Coconut bowls and bamboo straws, donations to the Vitamix foundation, donations to the World Central Kitchen charity, and sweepstake to win Vitamix products and partner products.

I love how Vitamix maximizes Oracle CrowdTwist Loyalty and Engagement technology and allows members to earn points through spend and purchase and redeem for brand-authentic rewards. The customer data Vitamix captures in their program can power personalized experiences that build trust and emotional loyalty.

Topical campaigns keep the program fresh and fun

In March, as the world was thrust into a pandemic lockdown, Vitamix switched up their messaging and launched a healthy-made-easy campaign to encourage customers to incorporate whole foods and immune-boosting ingredients into their diet using Vitamix blender. They shared helpful content and resources (even including a hand sanitizer recipe!). They used loyalty to amplify the campaign by rewarding people for engaging with the content and offering double points on new product purchases.

To celebrate the program's one-year anniversary, Vitamix launched another campaign. Sarah explained how Loyalty members were invited to participate in week-long sweepstakes to win high-end blenders and containers, gain exclusive content access, and earn double points on all purchases. This campaign not only helped keep existing members engaged but also helped attract new customers.

Program optimization increases revenue and customer satisfaction

Since launching Vitamix Rewards in 2019, the program has attracted nearly 150,000 loyalty program members. During the webinar, Sarah also shared that Vitamix is seeing 30% greater average product registrations and 52% increase in recipe views since the program launch. They're seeing a 31% higher average order value for members over non-members.

She disclosed that Vitamix continues to optimize its program and collect feedback from their most engaged members to help drive continued purchases and create a valuable content and engagement hub.

In my experience, as a CPG company, Vitamix is ahead of the curve in their industry. Brands don't realize how much a loyalty program can do to drive spend and engagement. These results are truly impressive; kudos to Sarah and her team on a very successful first year.

Watch the playback of my discussion with Sarah Herrmann, manager of direct to consumer marketing at Vitamix, to learn how Vitamix is deepening customer relationships and elevating the customer experience using Oracle CrowdTwist Loyalty and Engagement here.

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