Mature Customer Lifetime Loyalty

In August 2025 the thought leaders at McKinsey wrote an interesting piece on the Future of Loyalty, where they referenced the 'Bronze', 'Silver' and 'Gold' opportunities that lie ahead for those enterprises that wanted to 'seize the moment' by combining "pricing and loyalty integration with a fully personalised shopping experience that offered tailored promotions, member benefits, marketing and personalised customer journeys". Sign me up! Whilst noting that "most organisations are struggling to operationalise this, due to siloed organisations, limited and technological capabilities". Ah...the harsh reality.

I know someone who has experienced that; 'Dear TPB, we are delighted to downgrade you from Gold to Bronze and here is your new digital card to really ram the message home. Despite being very loyal for a long time you are not doing any long-haul travel, so frankly that doesn't cut it with us. So, forget lounge access (sorry kids') and any form of customer recognition. PS, when do you get round to your 'bucket list' don't forget us...we will take care of you! Yours...'

This narrow view of 'loyalty' versus 'customer lifetime value' is indicative of the short-term thinking that the mature consumer has to contend with every day. A valued segment(s) that are responsible for £0.63 in every £1 spent but are still misunderstood - clumped together as the 'over 60's' rather than being recognised as the highly dynamic audience they are. Their loyalty to brands is considerable but too often not recognised. That's certainly what they have told us.

But the opportunity to 'bust the cycle' is here! It's called Ozzy - Humbug's unique data-driven cluster segmentation platform - and it means you don't need to be in the dark any longer. Ozzy enables you to see that the mature consumer market has fundamentally changed. This isn't the "older demographic" of a decade ago. These are entrepreneurs, active travellers, engaged grandparents, technology adopters, and sceptics etc. They're often high-net-worth individuals making independent purchasing decisions, yet they remain dramatically underserved because insight tools have been lacking.Ozzy enables precise targeting and messaging through six validated clusters, mapping attitudes, spending, media behaviours, and financial decision triggers and brand loyalty. So, it gives you the tools for re-modelling and changing KPI's that don't reflect the true value potential. With that you can start to change your marketing investment, to re-structure those customer journeys with clarity on what it takes secure growth.

It can be easily deployed alongside your existing segmentation(s) and classifications. But, we think better deployed when applying the nous and IP of the Humbug partners' network to give you the 'Real Deal' and your customers a real change. Yep, there should be no reason why you can't create those personalised customer journeys with pricing that reflects the mature customer lifetime loyalty.

Then, all you have to do is battle that siloed thinking....may the force be with you on that.

By Tim Birchinall