Curating Real Conversations, Not Corporate Noise
At The ELA™, we live and breathe loyalty and CRM— but not the fluffy, corporate kind.
Every day, I’m hunting down the real-world lessons, honest mistakes, and game-changing ideas that loyalty and engagement professionals actually want to hear.
Whether it’s meeting one-to-one with new speakers, reviewing our ‘Let’s Geek Out’ topics, shaping Toolkits, launching polls, or working with our brilliant partners, my focus is simple:
Bring the 600+ community content that challenges, inspires, and makes a real difference.
If you’re wondering why The ELA™ feels different — it’s because it is. We’re building something with honesty, energy, and a bit of grit.
And if you’re serious about loyalty, you’ll feel right at home.
Loyalty X™: Loyalty’s Unfiltered Stories
One of the best parts of my job is curating Loyalty X™ sessions — these are short, punchy talks where loyalty leaders ditch the slides at our in person events and share their real-world lessons. They are given a stage and a microphone and tell stories that peers can actually use.
In just 18 minutes, speakers like Eray Avcioglu from Cosnova, Amy Harman from Hotel Chocolat, and Milou Steenvoorden at adidas, Ben Freeman at Just Eat Takeaway open up about the truth behind loyalty: the mistakes, the experiments, the breakthroughs.
Because loyalty isn’t built on buzzwords. It’s built on lessons learned the hard way.
Let’s Geek Out: Deep Dives That Actually Make a Difference
We’re proud that our Let’s Geek Out sessions at our in person events have developed a bit of a cult following.
They are roundtable deep dives of small groups of people discussing real loyalty topics ( the messy, complicated ones), guided by an ambassador, but driven by everyone’s experiences
In London, Amsterdam, and Berlin, these sessions have unlocked gold:
how to prove ROI, how to align global and local CRM teams, how to treat emotional loyalty as more than a buzzword…..
It’s where the real questions get asked — and the real answers get shared.
Virtual Loyalty Toolkits: Practical Learning, No Fluff
Our virtual Loyalty Toolkits are designed for people who don’t have time for another theory-filled white paper. Online, focused sessions built around a single topic — e.g., AI in Loyalty, Leadership Buy-In, Loyalty ROI. Case studies, debates, lessons learned — all shared openly under Chatham House Rules. Always shaped by real challenges raised by the community.
Most recently we were thrilled to host Shama Wilson, Group Membership and Loyalty Director at Tesco Clubcard, Johannes Schmidt, Head of Loyalty at Germany based pharmacy, dm and Ed Child, Global Head Consumer Data and Digital Analytics at Costa Coffee during our July session. Proudly sponsored by our Founding Partner, Braze , 50 of our members joined the Q&A and networking session. The most popular questions being:
“Given the sheer volume of product sets and member pricing, what tools does Tesco plan to use to drive 1:1 personalisation at scale, and to what extent is Tesco using AI to-date to drive this?”
“What would you say is the main KPI you measure for the success of dm’s loyalty scheme?”
“What actions do you take to keep lost customers with Costa? How do you activate them?”
Every Toolkit session starts with a simple idea: What’s the biggest problem loyalty pros are facing today — and how do we solve it, together?
You can download the recap recordings here –
March 2025 – sponsored by Kobie
ELAbrations™: Awards That Actually Mean Something
Awards in the loyalty world often come with judges, fees, forms, and politics.
Not ours.
ELAbrations™ are simple:
- ELA members nominate and vote for brands, programmes, or people they admire.
- No judges. No entry fees. No fancy submissions.
- Winners are voted by the community — and celebrated by the community.
If you win at ELA, it’s because your peers said you deserved it.
Not because you paid for a shiny trophy.
ELAbrations™ will be celebrated at The BIG Handshake Loyalty™ event on 14-15 October in Amsterdam.
Book your ticket here.
Why We Run Polls at Events
Every ELA and TBH Loyalty™ event kicks off with a few simple polls.
Why?
Because we believe in listening before we start talking.
Our polls ask questions like:
- Where are you on your loyalty journey?
- Are you B2B or B2C?
- Are you looking for new tech solutions?
- Have you seen a return on your loyalty programme this year?
- What’s your biggest loyalty challenge today?
The point?
We tailor every event in real time.
If 80% of the room is stuck on personalisation, we dig deeper there.
If most people are struggling with coalition models, we geek out on that.
Polls aren’t for show. They’re how we stay useful.
Our WhatsApp Group: Loyalty Conversations That Don’t Wait
One of the hidden gems of The ELA™ is our WhatsApp group — now 100+ brand members strong.
What the WhatsApp group is:
- A live, working group of loyalty pros
- Quick questions, immediate advice, no corporate filter
- Real-time help on everything from tech vendor tips to leadership challenges
In our group, you can post a question mid-meeting —
and get 3 or 4 real answers from real peers before your coffee even cools down.
It’s not staged. It’s not moderated to death.
It’s a live loyalty network — working, learning, growing together.
Authentic, actionable, and there when you need it most.
What Happens at an ELA HUB Event?
If you’ve never been to an ELA HUB Meeting, here’s what you’re missing:
London HUB Highlights (Feb 2025)
- Poundland: Building a loyalty app for real-world shoppers
- Hotel Chocolat: Loyalty without points — just passion
- Boots UK: Mastering data personalisation without losing customer trust
- Geek Outs: Loyalty ROI, Talent strategies, CRM best practices
Amsterdam HUB Highlights (April 2025)
- Decathlon: Evolving a local loyalty programme into a global community
- Heineken: Brewing B2B loyalty like they brew beer — carefully and creatively
- Marigold: Real loyalty case studies that show what actually works
Berlin HUB (June 2025)
- Zooplus: Ripping up loyalty templates that no longer work
- Babbel: Turning CRM into customer lifetime value
- Adidas: UX insights that kill assumptions and drive smarter loyalty design
Our HUB Meetings aren’t big trade shows with a million vendors.
They’re tight, curated, lively gatherings of people serious about building better loyalty.
Partners Who Make it All Happen
None of what we do — the virtual networking, the Toolkits, the Geek Outs, the Loyalty X™ talks, The BIG Handshake Loyalty™ 2025 — wouldn’t happen without our amazing ELA Partners:
- Braze
- Comarch
- Epsilon
- Marigold
- Smashlabs
- Neoday
- PDI
- Kobie
- Loyalty Point
- CarltonOne
- Advice Group
Their belief in an honest, practitioner-first loyalty community makes everything we do possible.
Final Word: Why You Should Actively Engage with The ELA™
If you’re tired of the same old loyalty noise, and you want real learning, real connection, and real action —
then The ELA™ is your home.
Join our community.
Come to our events.
Shape the future of loyalty with people who are living it, not selling it.
Because loyalty isn’t built in boardrooms — it’s built by real conversations between real people who care.
See you inside!
Hadie Perkas
CEO, European Loyalty Association ( The ELA™)
