sync 2025 | The new rules of customer loyalty

At sync, the evolving relationship between brands and their most loyal customers took centre stage in two standout sessions. Whether it’s keeping loyal fans engaged or turning them into active growth drivers, one thing is clear: loyalty is evolving, and brands need to evolve with it.

In one session, Matt Brindley, Senior Partner Manager and Managed Service Lead EMEA at Yotpo, joined forces with Alex Harley, Head of eCommerce at Percival, and Natasha Dabell Jones, CRM Manager at Percival, to share how Percival Menswear reimagined loyalty through a playful, data-led approach that goes far beyond points and discounts.

In another, Darren Loveday, Chief Revenue Officer at MentionMe, was joined by Laura Coppack, Senior Marketing Manager at Ripe, and Liv Partington, Head of Digital at William Wood, to discuss the power of trusted acquisition. This session explored how referrals and micro-influencers can transform happy customers into your most effective marketers.

Redefining loyalty: How Percival is turning rewards into relationships

Percival moved away from the standard points-for-discounts model by introducing Percy Bonds, a raffle system built into their loyalty program. As Alex explained, “We wanted to come up with an idea of how people could trade their points, which we now call coins, for 'Percy Bonds'. There's a way to enter a raffle every month, trade your points, and not just for going up a tier or receiving discounts. A way to be involved and a way to acquire more data basically, so customers become loyal before they even make their first purchase.” 

Percival’s rethink started with a simple question.“The first thing we did was ask friends and family what loyalty program they use and love,” Natasha explained. This led to new features, such as offering members discounts with partner brands. “From the outset, you might think that’s kind of crazy because we’re trying to sell to our customers, but actually they now get discounts with our friends of brands.”

Most uniquely, Percival invites loyal customers into WhatsApp and Instagram groups. “Our founder Chris… will go into WhatsApp and be like, ‘Alright guys… what colour shirt do you prefer?’ and they go wild for that… they feel really involved in shaping the brand.”

Turn trust and authenticity into profitable growth

Liv explained that one of the key strengths of referral marketing is how seamlessly it fits into existing strategies. “One of the things which is less of a headache is referrals because it runs in the background. A referral from a friend has so much more value than an advert which is plastered out there to the masses because why wouldn’t you trust a friend.”

Laura highlighted how Mention Me’s platform helps quantify this impact by visualising referral chains. “Our biggest chain is one referral of 13 new customers, then one of those referred another 7, and so there's actually 26 paying customers from that original one.”

The session also touched on the power of micro-influencers, as well as the influence of passionate customers. Liv shared, “There is a girl that we had gifted a product to. She generated half a million pounds in revenue from one picture… The ROI is still huge, it's like 12.”

The message was clear: when loyalty turns into advocacy, brands don’t just get repeat customers; they also get new ones. And when the message comes from a trusted voice, it lands with more meaning and better results.

Loyalty is evolving, are you?

These sessions showed that loyalty today isn’t about points or perks, it's about connection. From Percival building a community that shapes the brand, to William Wood and Ripe turning happy customers into growth engines, it’s clear: loyalty now plays a role across the entire customer journey. 

The brands leading the way are the ones that think beyond transactions, focusing on trust, advocacy, and long-term value. Loyalty hasn’t disappeared; it’s just evolved.

Watch every moment from Sync 2025 on demand now.