Before approving a promotion, I want to understand why a customer would take part. Saving money is a clear answer. So are receiving something useful, enjoying a challenge or getting access to a relevant experience. Each gives us a different starting point for designing the offer.
Creative currencies offer a useful way to examine what customers receive from a promotion.
My interest is in how we apply the framework to a loyalty program. Which customers are we trying to influence? What would they value? What would they do differently, and would the resulting benefit justify the cost?
Those questions give the creative idea a practical purpose.
Eight ways to consider promotional value
Talon.One groups creative currencies into eight categories: utility, gamified, cultural, social, aspirational, purpose, consistency and counterintuitive. Here, currency describes a form of customer value. A business does not need eight new points balances to use the framework.
I would use the categories to examine a proposed offer through the following questions.
| Talon.One category | Question for your promotion brief |
|---|---|
| Utility | Which customer problem would the offer help solve? |
| Gamified | Would people enjoy participating before receiving a reward? |
| Cultural | Why would this moment matter to your intended audience? |
| Social | What would customers want to share, and why? |
| Aspirational | Which experience would feel worth pursuing? |
| Purpose | Which specific contribution would participation enable? |
| Consistency | Would the recurring benefit deserve a place in the customer’s routine? |
| Counterintuitive | Would the unexpected choice make sense coming from your brand? |
These are questions for selecting and improving an offer. There is no reason to include every category in one program.
A creative promotion still needs a clear reward
The distinction between creative promotions and discounts is less absolute than the phrase “beyond discounts” suggests.
Consider Chipotle’s 2026 Burrito Vault promotion. Participants guessed combinations of burrito ingredients. Rewards included buy-one-get-one-free codes, subject to the promotion’s rules and limits.
The game gave people an activity connected to the product. The reward retained a financial benefit. The interesting design choice was how the two worked together.
For a loyalty team, this raises a useful question: does the participation experience give customers another reason to engage, or does the game add effort before they reach the saving?
The answer depends on the customer and the task. A challenge involving a familiar product deserves a different assessment from adding several steps to a routine purchase.
Lush’s Bring It Back program in Germany offers another combination. Returning eligible packaging earns a contribution towards a purchase. The desired action, packaging return, connects directly to the brand’s recycling activity.
In both examples, the financial element has a role. I would assess the meaning of the action, the customer effort and the relevance of the reward together.
Define the behavior before choosing the mechanic
A team seeking a second purchase has a different problem from a team seeking packaging returns or awareness of a new product. The promotional mechanic should follow this distinction.
For a second purchase, I would first examine where customers stop. Are they waiting for another need, uncertain about the product or choosing a competitor? A reward needs a plausible connection to the reason they have not returned.
If customers struggle to use a product, useful guidance or a service benefit deserves consideration. If they enjoy exploring the range, a product discovery challenge is another hypothesis to test. Neither follows automatically from the availability of a game module.
Write the intended change plainly: more first-time buyers completing a second purchase within an agreed period, for example. Then specify the audience, qualifying action, customer benefit and comparison needed to judge the result.
This also helps avoid rewarding behavior with little chance of changing. Existing customers who already buy frequently deserve recognition, but subsidising their normal purchases and encouraging additional purchases are different commercial decisions.
Evaluate the evidence against your objective
Talon.One reports two research components. A survey of 2,000 UK consumers found 51% wanted promotions beyond a simple discount. Research with System1 across 1,800 consumers in six markets found gamified offers frequently performed better on measures including memorability, excitement and uniqueness.
These findings support considering a broader range of offers. A stated preference for a promotion and a response to a tested idea answer different questions from observed repeat purchasing or incremental contribution.
If your objective is brand perception, measure the relevant change in perception. If your objective is profitable repeat purchase, follow purchasing behavior and contribution over an appropriate period. A campaign with strong participation still needs evaluation against the objective chosen before launch.
Where practical, assign eligible customers to comparable test and control groups before sending the offer. Compare outcomes across the assigned groups. Comparing enthusiastic participants with everyone who ignored the promotion would mix the promotion’s effect with customers’ existing preferences.
Calculate the cost across all rewarded customers
A reward has a perceived value for the customer and a cost for the business. Creative design gives us more choices in balancing the two. We still need to pay for delivery.
Here is an illustrative calculation, using assumed figures rather than campaign results.
Suppose a promotion generates 1,000 reward redemptions. Each reward costs the business £3. Setup, fulfilment and support add £1,000. The promotion therefore costs £4,000.
If each additional order contributes £20 after normal variable costs and before these promotion costs, the promotion needs 200 additional orders to cover £4,000. This simple scenario assumes no other changes in contribution.
The relevant number is additional orders attributable to the promotion. Total purchases by people redeeming the reward include purchases which would have happened anyway.
Include the full reward cost, operational work and any margin given up when building your own calculation. For benefits with limited capacity, such as events or priority service, include the capacity required to fulfil the promise.
Give the promotion a role within the loyalty program
A promotion has a defined period. A loyalty program needs a continuing reason for customers to choose the business.
I would look at the period after the reward as well as the redemption itself. Do customers return? Do they use more of the service? Does the next communication reflect what they have done? Who handles a promised benefit when fulfilment goes wrong?
A game deserves a place when participation supports the customer relationship and business objective. A recurring benefit deserves a place when the business is prepared to deliver consistently. An aspirational reward needs clear eligibility and a credible route to receiving the benefit.
For your next promotion brief, specify one customer group, one intended behavior change and one reason the proposed benefit matters to those people. Set the cost limits and measurement approach before choosing the creative execution.
The creative currencies framework expands the options available to a loyalty team. The decision still belongs with the customer need and commercial objective.
If you are reviewing the role of promotions in your loyalty program, discuss the value proposition, mechanics and economics with LoyaltyCheck.
Sources and further reading
Talon.One, eight creative currencies every promotion manager should know.
Talon.One, Creative Currencies in Promotions report download.
Talon.One, report launch article and published research findings.