Podcast Summary: The Agile Brand with Greg Kihlström®

Episode #727: Growing Sales in Uncertain Times with Chris Kuba, Snipp
Date: September 3, 2025
Host: Greg Kihlström
Guest: Chris Kuba, Chief Revenue Officer, Snipp

Episode Overview

This episode centers on how brands can drive sales growth and foster customer loyalty in economically uncertain times. Greg Kihlström and guest Chris Kuba discuss shifting consumer behaviors due to rising credit card debt and declining savings, the evolution of loyalty programs, and the strategic use of real-time data and technology to build long-term brand value.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Evolving Consumer Behavior in Challenging Times

• Consumer Shift to Value-First Thinking:
  • Economic stressors such as high credit card debt and lower consumer savings mean shoppers are more intentional and opportunistic.
  • Kubba brings data from Snipp’s “2025 Loyalty Survey”:
    • 42% of shoppers identify as “deal seekers.”
    • 85% say they would switch brands for a good deal.

      “Consumers are being more intentional and really more opportunistic. They're looking for brands that reward their spend, deliver reliable value, create experiences that are worth it.” – Chris Kuba [03:38]

  • Brands need to focus on relevance, including smart rebates, limited-time offers, and programs that reward specific behaviors.

2. Rethinking Legacy Loyalty Programs

• Limitations of Traditional Approaches:
  • Traditional loyalty programs based purely on frequency/spend are losing steam.
  • Only 31% of consumers say these programs strongly influence their brand decisions.
  • Emotional loyalty has diminished; 84% of consumers care more about price and quality than brand connection.

    “Marketers need to really reframe loyalty not as a points game, but as a value exchange.” – Chris Kuba [06:19]

  • Loyalty should consider the entire customer journey—awareness, purchase, experience, and issue resolution.

3. Behavior-Based Loyalty & Underutilized Tactics

• Engaging the Full Customer Journey:
  • The biggest opportunity lies in behavior-based loyalty, not just transactional rewards.
  • Successful brands reward actions at various journey points: discovery, trial, social sharing, and education.
  • 25% of consumers are influenced by personalized offers, rising further when tailored to their specific journey touchpoints.

    “Loyalty isn’t just about rewarding a purchase, it’s a way to build preference before the sale and drive repeat after it.” – Chris Kuba [09:33]

4. Case Study: Fresh Step’s Paw Points [12:12]

• Innovative Loyalty in Action:
  • Fresh Step’s Paw Points program rewards points for any pet category purchase, not just their own brand.
  • Redemption is flexible: coupons or donations to animal shelters.
  • Receipt data powers deep consumer insights and lets the brand target competitive users with tailored offers.

    “The smart part is they also give 1 point per dollar spent on any category purchase, not just their own brand...it creates huge goodwill with consumers.” – Chris Kuba [13:10]

  • The approach turns a loyalty program into a data asset to drive future marketing efficacy.

5. Balancing Short-Term Uplift with Long-Term Value

• Integrating Activations and Loyalty:
  • Promotions can win over customers, but data capture and continual engagement are key to retention.
  • Use initial engagement as a jumping-off point for customer data collection, then deliver ongoing, personalized value.
  • Especially for brands without direct access to purchase data (e.g., CPG), these tactics provide crucial consumer insights.

    “Loyalty should feel like a continuing conversation, not a transaction...turning transactions into relationships.” – Chris Kuba [18:11]

6. The Role of Data & Technology in Modern CX

• Technology as the Engine for Agility:
  • Modern tools allow agile, omnichannel promotions and rewards.
  • The need to avoid rigid platforms:

    “Technology is the engine for agility. The best tools today help brands…use data to adapt on the fly.” – Chris Kuba [21:28]

  • Receipt validation and API-driven solutions remove packaging barriers and accelerate campaign deployment.
  • For CPGs, omnichannel and direct-to-consumer strategies are essential.

    “85% of purchases are still occurring in store, but highest growth…is coming from Omnichannel Digital.” – Chris Kuba [23:11]

Notable Quotes

• On changing tactics for the new economy:

  “Agility requires brands to rethink how they create consumer value in real time, especially when traditional strategies no longer work as consumer behavior shifts unpredictably.” – Greg Kihlström [01:15]

• On the need to move beyond points-based loyalty:

  “It’s time to start thinking about how to reward actions, maybe capture data, use that data, create better offers… thinking about the whole spectrum of consumer engagement and keeping them coming back.” – Chris Kuba [06:38]

• On technology and flexibility:

  “If you’re locking yourself into a rigid platform that makes it hard to change, you’re going to find yourself struggling in a year or 18 months.” – Chris Kuba [21:55]

Memorable Moments & Takeaways

• Fresh Step’s Paw Points Program: — An innovative, category-based loyalty approach that exemplifies flexibility for the consumer and deep data collection for the brand. Also allows “points for good” through animal shelter donations. [12:12–15:56]

  • “What looks like from Fresh Step, ‘Hey, if you want to buy Church and Dwight’s [competitor’s] cat litter, sure, go ahead and we'll still give you a point. We want you to feel rewarded.’ But, now as the marketer, I know who’s buying our competitor’s products.” – Chris Kuba [15:20]

• Balancing Data, Technology, and Human Connection: — The importance of staying agile through data-driven decision-making, listening to clients, and frequent experimentation.

  • “Agility is less about reacting and more about setting up systems that allow you to adopt quickly without starting from scratch every time.” – Chris Kuba [24:02]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Opening Theme & Topic Introduction – 01:08
• Chris Kuba Background / Snipp – 02:01
• Consumer Behavior Shifts – 03:20
• Legacy Approaches & Loyalty Program Critique – 05:24
• Behavior-Based Loyalty & Underutilized Tactics – 08:28
• Case Study: Fresh Step’s Paw Points – 12:12
• Short-Term vs. Long-Term Brand Value – 16:28
• Role of Data & Technology – 20:35
• Advice for Staying Agile – 24:17

Final Thoughts

Chris Kuba emphasizes the importance of designing loyalty strategies that balance immediate consumer needs with long-term relationship building through data and technology. Modern loyalty programs must transcend points and purchase to embrace relevance, personalization, and omnichannel flexibility. As Kuba notes, “loyalty should feel like a continuing conversation, not a transaction” [18:11]—a principle echoed across the episode.