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It’s Data Habibi – Episode 2 With Gemma Hill and Namrata Sarmah

In Episode 2 of our podcast, "It's Data Habibi," we dove into why traditional points-based loyalty programs no longer work and what modern loyalty should look like. Our guests, Gemma Hill, Head of Product & Co-founder at 10X, and Namrata (Nam) Sarmah, CPO and Founder of CPO Track and Women in Product UK, broke down why the earn-and-burn model falls flat and what customers actually value today.

Customer loyalty programs were supposed to make brands unforgettable. Instead, most of them have become… well, forgettable.

In Episode 2 of It’s Data, Habibi, HEMOdata co-founder Dustyn Smith sits down with Namrata Sarmah (Nam), CPO and founder of CPO Track® and Women in Product®UK, and Gemma Hill, Head of Product and Co-Founder at 10x, to unpack why today’s points-based systems don’t work and what loyalty should look like in places like Dubai and Riyadh, where convenience, lifestyle, and premium experiences shape everyday decisions.

This episode goes deeper than “loyalty is broken.” It asks the harder questions:

  • Why are brands still obsessed with points?
  • Is redemption data even useful?
  • Do customers really care about rewards or something else entirely?
  • In the Middle East, a region that is defined by luxury and speed, what does value even look like?

Here are the biggest insights:

1. Points Don’t Explain Behaviour

Brands want trackable customer actions. They want enrollment numbers. They want redemption metrics.

But they’re measuring the wrong thing.

“Enrollment doesn’t mean engagement.” – Gemma

A customer signing up for a loyalty program does not mean they’re using it, valuing it, or even remembering it exists. Most users sit dormant. Redemption data, Gemma argues, is a weak proxy for motivation:

  • Why did the customer come back?
  • What experience actually drove loyalty?
  • What emotional or functional needs were met?

Points don’t reveal any of that.

2. Loyalty Is Moving From Points → Community

Nam brings a powerful alternative: community-driven loyalty.

“The brands that win long-term aren’t doing it through points…they’re doing it through relationships.” – Nam

Luxury brands understand this deeply. Beauty and skincare brands pre-launch products to their most active customers. Designers cultivate micro-communities that feel exclusive and seen.

This is where most loyalty programs fail though: they try to scale transactional behavior, not emotional connection.

3. Why Some Programs Work (and Why Most Don’t)

It’s Data Habibi’s Loyalty Program Winners:

✨ Marriott Bonvoy, beauty brands, UK grocers (Tesco, Boots), insurance models like Vitality.

These brands get it right because:

  • Rewards are instant (upgrades, free coffee, early product access).
  • Value is tangible.
  • The experience feels personal.
  • The program reinforces lifestyle and not just transactional data

Gemma calls it instant gratification: you feel the benefit at the point of purchase, not months later when you dig up a forgotten points balance.

Losers:

  • Overcomplicated points system / airline miles
  • Points that expire
  • Rewards that require a PhD in Math to redeem
  • Loyalty apps that aren’t personalised

These programs forget the basic truth: effort vs reward determines loyalty.

If the reward isn’t worth the cognitive load, customers simply won’t care.

4. Culture Matters: Loyalty in the Middle East Isn’t Built Like the West

Consumer behaviour in the Middle East vastly differs from the West. Are loyalty programs here built for these difference?

The region runs on a different mix of motivations:

  • Convenience as a baseline and not a perk
  • Premium treatment
  • Experiences that feel curated
  • Social proof and reputation within your circle
  • Family-first, community-first decision-making

Nam captures it in one line:

“Anything only one person can use has less value than something they can share with family or friends.”

That one sentence explains why so many point-based systems fall flat here.

Most loyalty programs are designed for individuals. But in the Middle East, real decisions are often made:

  • As a family
  • As a group of friends
  • Inside tight-knit communities and social circles

If a benefit can’t be shared, extended, or experienced together, it feels small, even if it looks big on paper.

Gemma adds another layer: the expat reality: People move. A lot.

Someone might spend years building loyalty in the UAE, then relocate to Singapore, London, or Sydney and their entire “loyalty history” disappears. Years of spend. Years of data. Gone.

For a region with:

  • High mobility
  • High purchasing power
  • High expectations

…loyalty that is static, country-locked, or hard to transfer feels fundamentally misaligned with how life here actually works.

And that’s exactly where the episode gets really interesting.

Because the conversation doesn’t stop at what’s broken, it dives into:

  • How airlines could rethink miles and tiers
  • How referral and plus-one cultures could supercharge loyalty
  • How AI might personalize without killing the premium, human feel

What Loyalty Needs: Final Takeaways

Episode 2 of It’s Data, Habibi unmasks the real challenge: Most loyalty programs aren’t failing because customers are disloyal, they’re failing because brands aren’t giving them anything worth being loyal to.

True loyalty isn’t transactional. It’s emotional. Behavioral. Lifestyle-driven. Cultural. And in markets like Dubai and Riyadh, the brands that understand that will win.

🎧 Watch or listen to the full episode to hear how Gemma and Nam would redesign loyalty for Dubai, Riyadh, and beyond.

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