International Loyalty Awards Judges
The International Loyalty Awards would not be possible without our stoical, knowledgeable and hugely committed judging panel from across the world.
The International Loyalty Awards have brought together a broad spectrum of independent experts, who either specialize in a field or who have experience and insight into different aspects of the loyalty industry.
Key to the success of the awards is the high esteem in which the awards are held across the world and the exceptionally high standards adhered to. The International Loyalty Awards have an exceptional reputation for fairness, integrity and transparency and we work very to protect this.
The judging process is entirely independent of the management of the awards and to ensure that the highest standards of integrity are maintained, each judge must sign a code of conduct and NDA outlining the overall judging guidelines and standards.
Meet the 2023 Judges
David Parker
Chairman of the Judges 2023
David is the founder and CEO of Polymath Consulting working on projects and advising organisations across the Cards & Payments industry. Polymath Consulting and David are particularly well known for their work on E-money & Emerging Payments.
Prior to moving into payments David spent 20 odd years with leading advertising agencies including Saatchi & Saatchi, Bates and McCann Erickson. Starting his career below the line in Sales Promotion he ended up as a Group Account Director and Head of New Business through the line.
- Phone:+1 (859) 254-6589
- Email:info@example.com
Cecilia Floridi
Co-founder and Director, DataLab GmbH, Germany
Cecilia Floridi
As a founding partner of the Customer Equity consultancy DataLab., Cecilia leads a team of Loyalty and Data specialists who have been instrumental in supporting some of Europe´s most successful brands to derive increased financial value from their customer data.
With over twenty years of Loyalty expertise, dating back to her time as part of the team behind Payback´s earliest successes, Cecilia has held high-level CRM and operational positions at leading European companies in the food retailing-, banking- and utilities sectors.
Cecilia is a prominent member of “Generation CEO”, the German female network for top executives and has been a recipient of the group´s prestigious “Manager of the Year” award. She gains great personal satisfaction from supporting female managers on their path to the boardroom.
An Italian national, Cecilia is also a published author and a popular guest speaker who regularly lectures on Loyalty topics at conferences and universities throughout the German-speaking region.
She has been a member of the judging panel for the Loyalty Magazine Awards since 2017.
- Phone:+1 (859) 254-6589
- Email:info@example.com
Rob Chandler
Former head of Customer Loyalty, Sky
Rob Chandler
Curiosity, passion, ambition and opportunism has taken me on a 20 year adventure around the globe affording me the opportunity to work with some of the most talented minds at the bleeding edge of creativity, technology and data. Our industry has given me the opportunity to learn and the privilege to teach, and yet there is still so much more… my adventure is still in its infancy.
My background is as a strategist and leader. I am a bit data and modeller, a bit behavioural scientist, a bit brand planner, a bit UX a bit media planner, a bit coach and a bit change leader. If I were honest I would be the mongrel of strategists, with a unique blend of skills to help organisations maximise the value of technology, creativity and data in developing differentiating customer experiences for the digital world.
My career has been driven by my passion to develop a deeper understanding of how and why people make the choices and decisions they do. Unlocking choice and how to influence it lies at the heart of the success of our industry. On my mission to understand, I have had the opportunity to spend time with some of the world’s leading academic institutions (including Duke University, MIT, UTS and Cranfield) and work with the world’s leading creative, media and communications businesses (including IDEO, Google, Facebook, Adobe and BMF).
Over the years I have been lucky enough to contribute to the design and build of the user experience of one of the world’s first mobile wallets (Commonwealth Bank), I helped design the first cardless ATMs, I have overhauled the one to one, customer experience and loyalty programmes for many consumer and business brands including Virgin Atlantic, Qantas, Jet Star, KLM, Commonwealth Bank, HP, Boots and FOXTEL to name just a few.
I have been flattered and recognised as a leader in my field. I have been a regular speaker and awards judge. I have held engagements at Google, Facebook, Australian Marketing institute, DMA UK/US, ADMA, IDM, B&T, MFA (Media Federation Australia) Loyalty World, and customer experience conferences around Europe, Australasia and the US. While in Sydney, i was a regular speaker on post graduate courses on consumer buying behaviour at UTS and a number of ADMA’s training programmes. In 2012 I was recognised by the Association of Data -driven Marketing and Advertising for outstanding contribution to our industry.
The convergence of data, technology and creativity means our focus has shifted toward building products, utilities, content and entertainment that transforms the way that people interact with the brands and organisations they connect with. It excites me, possibly more than it should!
Mandeep Pal
Client manager Tesco Clubcard, insight and CRM Dunnhumby
Mandeep Pal
Mandeep has worked in marketing for 15 years, gaining experience across a broad range of agencies and clients including Publicis Dialog, RKCR/Y&R, Laphroaig, Virgin Media and Lloyds TSB.
Today Mandeep works for dunnhumby – the world’s leading customer-data platform and a pioneer in transforming customer data into customer-first strategies through their consultancy and products. As a CRM and Customer Insight Consultant, Mandeep has deep expertise in optimising the Tesco Clubcard loyalty programme – one of the world’s first, most sophisticated, customer-first programmes.
For the last 8 years Mandeep has worked closely with Tesco to help inform and build customer loyalty propositions, whilst also delivering customer targeting strategies for their largest loyalty comms, including Clubcard Statement. Mandeep has a dedicated and expert team of Client Leads and Campaign Managers and works with some super smart Data Scientists/Analysts; together they strive to look for new and innovative ways to improve the customer experience and drive long term loyalty.
Ian Ramsden
Director of Strategy Direct Solution Int Ltd
Ian Ramsden
Ian is director of strategy for Direct Solutions Int Ltd, Sri Lanka’s leading response agency.
He has been involved in loyalty marketing since he had hair and created the first relationship programme for Hilton Hotels worldwide in 1987 (beating Peppers and Rodgers into Loyalty by 1 year!).
He’s also been part of the team that has developed some of the more innovative programmes in S Asia including the first totally mobile programme for an FMCG product range.
A Founder Member and Fellow of the UK’s Institute of Direct & Digital Marketing, he was awarded Educator of the Year in 2002 following 18 years teaching customer loyalty. Ian also sits on the Council for the SL Institute of Service Management.
He’s currently advising airlines on monetizing their reward programmes and launching a new mobile App for the financial services sector
Andrea Burchett
International Development Director of Virgin Red
Andrea Burchett
Andrea Burchett has provided executive leadership in the airline, e-commerce and loyalty sectors for the past 24 year in complex, uncertain, high paced, multi stakeholder environments.
She was the co-founder of Avios following the merger of the British Airways, Iberia and Airlines loyalty programs and led the growth and market entry strategies to transform the ubiquity of the currency for customers.
In 2017, Andrea has been the chief architect and founder ‘.air’ a unique, integrated platform which enables airlines to provide a seamless inflight customer experience.
Andrea recently completed an Executive Leadership programme at Chicago Booth University.
Robert J Graham
Strategy Consultant
Robert J Graham
Rob began his loyalty career in the first year of Nectar in the UK, heading up the retail analytics team before taking the reins of RBS Group’s award-winning YourPoints programme, introducing a paid loyalty concept and launching unique travel partnerships with EasyJet and eBookers.
At loyalty pioneer, Collinson, Rob was responsible for the group’s strategy as it doubled in size, acquired Welcome Real Time and launched its global redemption platforms. Rob led Collinson’s financial services strategy before consulting freelance for a global credit card issuer, leading research into virtual currencies and points payments solutions. Returning to retail, Rob joined Marks & Spencer in 2021 to reinvigorate the M&S Rewards loyalty programme and now heads strategy for the firm’s Bank & Services arm.
Annich McIntosh
(non-voting member of the panel)
Editor, Loyalty Magazine & CEO of the International Loyalty Awards
Annich McIntosh
(non-voting member of the panel)
An enthusiastic supporter of the concept of loyalty and what it can achieve, Annich also writes for Card & Payment World, Fraud Watch and Mobile Innovations Magazines, which has helped her develop a good understanding of how technology can enhance the customer relationship.
She is regularly asked to comment on loyalty matters by the BBC and also works as a consultant to firms wanting to gain an understanding of the loyalty big picture. She is a regular conference chair and speaker.
Brian Almeida
Managing Director & Partner at Strategic Caravan Intl Pvt Ltd
Brian Almeida
Brian is the founder of ‘Points for Good’ (www.pointsforgood.org) an award-winning charity platform to enable members of over 30 banks credit card lLoyalty programs to donate their loyalty points to more than 30 projects and 13 charities.
A Customer loyalty practitioner Brian for over close to 3 decades – among the many programs he has overseen, he launched several leading loyalty programs, including the British Airways Executive Club in South Asia, Taj Inner Circle, Jet Privilege, PetroBonus, First Citizen Club for Shoppers Stop, and many others programs like IRIS student science talent discovery program for Intel and Inquimed a medical portal for doctors for Pfizer’s.
He is continuously researching trends in the loyalty and business worlds to advice clients and organisations on becoming more customer-centric.
Brian, is an HBS Alumnus of the Advanced Management Program (AMP) – Leadership and Management from Harvard in the year 2013, before this he obtained his Master’s degree in Marketing (1993) from Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management, Mumbai. He is an alumnus of St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai where he pursued his bachelor’s degree in Math and Statistics and is also a Fellow of the Institute of Direct & Digital Marketing, UK. Most recently Brian has been certified as a Certified Loyalty Marketing Practitioner by the Loyalty Academy – USA.
Apart from Take Charge – a mentorship program, Brian helps on the Board of Trustees of Shanti Avedna Sadan, The Shanti Avedna Sadan is India’s first Hospice, an institution that takes care of the advanced terminally ill Cancer patients. A Member of the Board of Statistics – St Xavier’s College Mumbai as the Industry representative on the Board of Statistics.
Brian has been a jury member for the International Loyalty Awards in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020.
Mark Palmer
Founder Maverick Planet
Mark Palmer
Mark was an executive strategy director career in advertising, media and marketing agencies for most of his career and nominated as among UK’s top 10 Media Thinkers. He then founded Maverick Planet - a facilitated change consultancy helping clients find business, brand and marketing solutions for the dynamic digital, social and commercial world they inhabit.
Clients include: Google, The Economist, BSkyB, Ebay, Cadbury, Bupa, Samsung, Vodafone, English Cricket, Dixons, Quiet Mark and the governments of Denmark & Nigeria. Mark also advises a small number of mobile tech start-ups, is a guest lecturer at Henley School of Management and an occasional columnist for the Times & Guardian.
Radek Hrachovec
Radek Hrachovec, CLMP Partner of Pricewise
Radek Hrachovec
Radek dedicated last 20 years of his professional life to loyalty programs and direct marketing. He became one of the most skilled practitioners within the loyalty industry in Central Europe. His experience has been successfully exploited by companies looking to create programmes from scratch or who simply wish to use an experienced eye to evaluate an existing scheme. He is partner of the Pricewise company, which delivers Loyalty Programmes, Pricing & Direct Marketing Solutions.
Trish Ferguson
Former VP, Global Product Development at Mastercard & now a consultant
Trish Ferguson
Simon Hinks
Director, PARALLEL marketing
Simon Hinks
Simon began his career as an accountant before moving into direct sell holidays. He spent many years in Financial Services in both building societies and Personal Banking, working across a range of products and services which included regulated products. Roles included Head of Merchandising, Process Design and CRM including running Loyalty schemes through credit cards. Since setting up his business eighteen years ago, he has worked across many different business sectors for both B2B and B2C including Charities, start ups and Schools.
He is currently a member of the GDPR Institut and the EADPP, he has written core modules for the IDM (Institute of Direct Marketing) GDPR certificate which was awarded a certificate for best online course.
He also has clients in Turkey, Germany, and the US. He is a guest lecturer at the Pittsburgh University helping their MA and business students understand the impact of data protection across the world.
He has spoken at numerous business events on the impact of GDPR on Loyalty and is frequently asked onto panel discussions relating to GDPR and his speciality is the impact of Facial Recognition around the world.
Pieter Twine
General Manager, Loyalty & MySchool, Woolworths South Africa
Pieter Twine
Commerce with a Purpose: making a positive impact commercially and socially
More than 38 years’ experience in the retail industry as a Retail Specialist, General Manager, Loyalty and Strategic CSI professional, together with a strong interest in Human Behaviour Economics and the "why" customers respond to brands, gives Pieter the unique ability to create propositions that deliver sustainable results.
With a passion for human capital development and the belief that Leaders are most critical to the success of organisations and brands, Pieter’s core strengths include coaching, mentoring, leadership development as well as innovation, commercial acumen and specialist application of Customer Experience (CX) to loyalty and customer engagement.
His education includes a degree in Social Sciences and a Diploma in Advance Executive Management.
Pieter has led the development of non-traditional Loyalty programmes in South Africa and Africa, including the biggest Community based Loyalty Programme MySchool MyVillage MyPlanet since 1999. His points of departure when determining the foundations of Loyalty programmes are a) Relevance (personalisation), and b) Shared Value, two critical factors when engaging customers successfully.
His team have had eight winning entries in the International Loyalty Awards since its commencement and also six South African Loyalty Awards, his proudest local achievement being the recently awarded “The Best SA Loyalty Team”. He was also recognised as an Alumni Award recipient from North West University (SA), for sustainable positive impact in the broader SA Community landscape. Pieter has served as an International Loyalty Awards judge since 2016 and values the opportunity to contribute globally to a field he is passionate about.
Pieter believes that technology should support and enable great CX when delivering Loyalty programmes to the customer, and to this end his team regularly deliver exceptional results in Nett Promoter and Customer Efforts Scores. Above all else, he remains a true trader that loves engaging with his customers in a forever changing world.
He has a passion for conservation and through the MyPlanet Rhino Fund over R20m was invested in strategic anti-poaching initiatives in the South African Developing Community (SADC) countries.
Crawford Davidson
Director, PARALLEL marketing
Crawford Davidson
0 years experience in data led marketing predominantly on the client side and in retail, with world class experience in customer loyalty, customer insight, CRM and digital marketing. He has won many marketing awards becoming a judge in the DMA’s and the Loyalty Awards.
He learned his craft in Boots and launched the Boots Advantage Card in 1997 putting 4% on Boots sales and gaining 10m members in the first year
Went on developing his customer insight and CRM expertise in Tesco and digital expertise running Tesco Bank and Tesco.com. He relaunched Tesco Clubcard in 2002 stole Airmiles from Sainsburys and used CRM to take 1% of sales from them Grew Tesco Bank from 3m customers to 5m and over £200m of profit.
Put this experiencer to great use in Avia and Direct Line Group who became the biggest UK advertiser on google in 2009, only to vastly reduce this to drive even more growth through other channels, he remains a ppc sceptic!
Developed and launched the Morrisons loyalty programme and scaled their CRM to more than £1bn in sales. Working with RMG, we grew their retail media revenue to more than £54m/year
Becoming a marketing consultant he has worked in many retailers, and countries around the world.
He spent the last few years on the agency side leading a small data insight consultancy based in Leicester, working with many retailers and highly successful loyalty and CRM programmes.
Crawford was persuaded to come back from early retirement to work with RMG bring this expertise to our clients. He is too young to retire and has too much fun working with retailers to spend all his time cycling.
Nicole Wilhelm
Loyalty Marketing Expert
Nicole Wilhelm
Nicole Wilhelm is an independent customer loyalty expert, well-known industry thought leader and advocate for emotional loyalty with global cross industrial expertise. Since 2003 her assignments range from conceptual program design and optimization to operational implementation of customer loyalty projects at which clients find an experienced sparring partner with Nicole. Her unbiased evaluation of strategic options and in-depth knowledge of loyalty marketing execution is highly valued within the market.
Amanda Cromhout
CEO and Founder of Truth.
Amanda Cromhout
Amanda Cromhout is CEO and Founder of Truth. Amanda’s extensive experience in the field of loyalty & CRM has put Truth at the forefront of the loyalty industry. As a boutique consultancy specialising in loyalty, CRM and customer centricity strategy development, Truth has proudly delivered loyalty programmes and customer centricity strategies for many of South Africa’s best-known brands and our international clients or conference keynote speaking in USA, New Zealand, Europe, Ghana, Kenya, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Mauritius and Malaysia. She had previously spent 11 years at British Airways, leading sales & marketing teams across UK, Africa, Middle East & Asia. She has also spearheaded the Customer (CRM) division at Woolworths, South Africa’s leading premium retailer. Amanda is invited to speak, professionally, as a keynote speaker and thought-leader in her field, both in South Africa and internationally. Amanda is married to Theo with 3 children and enjoys extreme endurance events to keep her mind sane!
Jessica Freeman
Loyalty Marketing Specialist
Jessica Freeman
Jessica is loyalty marketing specialist across Australia and New Zealand and has been an Advisory Board Member of the Australian Loyalty Association (ALA) for five years. The ALA is an organisation established to provide thought leadership, education and networking opportunities to those working in the loyalty industry. Jessica contributes to the design and implementation of the many arms of the ALA including education courses, a loyalty vendor marketplace, an employment hub and local and international conferences. Jessica currently leads loyalty, digital and CRM strategy for Nando’s and has won Best Loyalty Program in multiple award channels over the last two years. Jessica is passionate about promoting loyalty, especially mentoring loyalty marketers as they enter the field.
Bill Hanifin
CEO Wise Marketer Group
Bill Hanifin
Bill Hanifin is CEO Wise Marketer Group (WMG) and a Certified Loyalty Marketing Professional (CLMP). As Managing Editor of TheWiseMarketer.com, he leads the operation of this global source of news, education and research serving the Customer Engagement, Loyalty, CRM, and Digital Marketing community.
WMG operates The Loyalty Academy™, which offers the first educational program for marketing professionals in the industry, the Certified Loyalty Marketing Professional (CLMP). Loyalty Academy offers public workshops for loyalty marketing training and provides corporate training to global brands.
His consultancy, Hanifin Loyalty, has a global scope and Bill has developed, implemented, managed, and measured customer marketing strategies for well-recognized brands, including American Express, Circle K, Denny’s, Lucky Brands, Master Card, McGraw Hill, Panera Bread, Redbox, 7-Eleven, Scotiabank, and others.
Bill is passionate about understanding how people interact with brands and what drives their purchase decision-making. Though his roots are in the Customer Loyalty industry, he understands that a holistic approach to developing value in customer groups is needed to be successful in this digital age.
Bill is an accomplished speaker and trainer and is a requested presenter at industry events as well as leading public and privately organized workshops in the U.S., Canada, Latin America, EU, and Asia Pacific regions. He is based in South Florida and is an outdoor enthusiast, having discovered some of his best ideas during a long run, bike, or open water swim.
Steph Barr
Senior Manager Loyalty AGL Australia
Steph Barr
Steph is an award-winning creative strategist, who has dedicated her career to helping brands grow through brand innovation, customer experience, and marketing effectiveness. Currently heading AGL’s Loyalty and Engagement teams, Steph is responsible for developing and delivering AGL’s enterprise loyalty strategy. With 20 years industry experience, Steph has led teams across Australia’s biggest and most creative brands, helping Telstra achieve its status as most valuable brand, and landing the big ideas behind some of the Australia's most effective campaigns.
Shawn Tan
Managing Director Interactive Rewards
Shawn Tan
A highly experienced Loyalty and Customer Experience practitioner, Shawn is a strong advocate of an insight driven approach to orchestrate and deliver delightful customer experiences across relevant channels throughout the engagement journey.
Shawn has more than 20 years of professional experience. He graduated in 1996 with a Bachelor of Science in Marketing and Management, from University of Oregon, USA. In 2003, he started a career path in loyalty marketing, joining a company specializing in loyalty program services. Launched & managed more than 20 loyalty and digital marketing programs across Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand and China, some of which are Fortune 500 companies. He has worked with clients across many industry verticals including Telco, Airlines, Oil and Gas, Retail, Media, FMCG, Banking and Insurance. He was involved in strategy and planning, customer success and service delivery, management, research, and operations for many coalition and private label loyalty programs in the region. Shawn has helped organize loyalty conferences in the APAC region, bringing speakers from across the globe to share loyalty strategies and perspectives from different regions.
Glenn Baker
Everyday Rewards business at Woolworths Group
Glenn Baker
Glenn has two decades of professional experience and expertise across Loyalty, Direct Marketing, CRM, Partnerships, and Data for a variety of blue-chip companies. He leads the Everyday Rewards business at Woolworths Group.
Phil Rubin
Global leader in strategic customer marketing and loyalty
Phil Rubin
Phil Rubin is a global leader in strategic customer marketing and loyalty, and an entrepreneur who has grown and led businesses for more than 25 years. He is currently the founder and principal of Grey Space Matters, an innovation and growth advisory that works with emerging technology companies and large enterprise clients in a variety of roles, all designed to drive profitable growth.
Prior to founding GSM, he led Global Insights, Strategic Partnerships, Global Enterprise Business Development and Client Growth for Bond, a Toronto-based firm focused on connecting brands and people to drive profitable growth.
Phil joined Bond in February 2020 when the company acquired rDialogue, the firm he founded in 2006. rDialogue, a leading independent customer loyalty firm, worked with blue-chip global clients including Activision, Adidas, Allergan, American Express, Boehringer Ingelheim, Brooks Brothers, Citigroup, Disney, Estee Lauder, Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants (now IHG), Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, Nike, Nordstrom, PGA of America, Panera, Pittsburgh Steelers, sweetgreen, UPS and Williams-Sonoma.
Phil is recognized as an industry thought leader and sought-after keynote speaker for events across North America, Europe and Asia. He is a charter Certified Loyalty Marketing Professional (CLMP) and is a Board of Regents member of The Loyalty Academy.
Phil’s career started in Macy’s Executive Training Program and included roles at Midway Airlines and GTE Wireless (now Verizon). He earned an M.B.A. with a concentration in marketing and strategy from the A. B. Freeman School at Tulane University and a B.S. in Finance from L.S.U.
Cristina Ziliani
Professor of Marketing and Scientific Director Osservatorio Fedeltà, University of Parma
Cristina Ziliani
Cristina Ziliani, Ph.D is Professor of Marketing at the University of Parma, Italy. She lectures on loyalty management at leading universities and business events around the world, including the US, Japan, UK, France, Belgium and Spain. She has been the Director of the Osservatorio Fedeltà UniPR (Loyalty Observatory) since 1999, dedicated to research, consulting and education on Loyalty Management, CRM and CX. The Observatory runs a yearly Loyalty conference attracting over 450 managers across Italy to discuss the latest loyalty trends and research. In-depth webinars dedicated to specific loyalty topics – such as Sustainability or Engagement - are offered every spring. Over the years, the Observatory has developed international partnerships with research centers, labs and associations dedicated to loyalty, for joint research programs and echange of speakers. Cristina is also the Director of the Master in Trade and Consumer Marketing at the University of Parma, growing talents for marketing, CRM and loyalty positions in Italy and abroad. She is the author of +50 scientific papers on loyalty and 5 books, the latest being "Loyalty Management. From loyalty programs to omnichannel customer experiences" published by Routledge.
How the judging works: A selection of the judges from the independent judging panels review and score all the qualifying entries and compile a shortlist in each category. The judges gather (virtually) for a final judging day in March/April annually, and vote for the overall winners in each category. Judges will be required to declare any vested or conflict of interest at the time of judging in any particular submission and will be asked to abstain from voting in that category. Supporting material, where provided, will be presented at this point in the judging process.
All judges of the International Loyalty Awards are bound by a Code of Conduct covering confidentiality, conflicts of interest and contact with entrants. The judges’ decisions are final and there will be no opportunity for appeal, discussion or correspondence.
Simon Rowles
Managing Director Beyonde
Simon Rowles
Simon is Managing Director at loyalty innovations and technology firm Beyonde Ventures and has over 20 years in customer loyalty, financial services and customer start-ups. He lead Aimia’s New Zealand operation and later a management buy out before co-founding Beyonde with Ellipsis and Co.
He’s been an engineer (Anglo American), a banker (Diners Club, American Express, Nedbank South Africa), a consultant (KPMG) and a founding member of customer start-ups (Destiny Electronic Commerce acquired by Verifone and In The Bag acquired by Woolworths South Africa).
He believes customer loyalty isn’t everything but it’s way ahead of whatever’s in second place.
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