Merkle, the customer experience transformation consultancy within dentsu, has entered into a new partnership with Airship that will enhance how brands build mobile centered loyalty programs through Salesforce Marketing Cloud. The announcement highlights a joint effort to give marketers and product teams better tools to convert mobile interactions into meaningful customer relationships, deeper loyalty, and sustained business value. By bringing these capabilities together, the companies are providing a new path for brands that want their loyalty strategies to function smoothly in an environment where customers spend the majority of their time on mobile devices.
The collaboration combines three sets of strengths into a single approach that aims to elevate the entire loyalty ecosystem. Salesforce Marketing Cloud Loyalty Management offers the foundational technology that manages the process of earning and redeeming rewards across every point of connection between consumers and brands. Airship contributes the ability to activate those engagements through personalized messages and real time experiences that reach customers through apps, web interactions, digital wallets, and modern mobile messaging channels. Merkle serves as the strategic connector, using its data integration and orchestration expertise to design customer journeys that respond fluidly to signals and behaviors, creating engagement that is constant and valuable.
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David Novak, Global Head of CRM at Merkle, explained the importance of making loyalty programs more responsive to how people use their devices. “A mobile first loyalty approach has become an imperative for marketers looking to create signal based experiences amongst modern consumers who are constantly on the move,” he said. Novak emphasized that while Salesforce provides the backbone for engagement and data management, the connection with Airship unlocks the immediacy and personalization necessary for mobile interactions to deliver true value in the moment. “By bringing these two exceptional providers together with Merkle’s leading data and identity spine, and client first party data, we can unlock more relevant and engaging mobile loyalty opportunities than ever before.”
The partnership supports mobile loyalty programs that function seamlessly across apps, web environments, mobile wallets, push notifications, in store activations, and emerging formats like RCS messaging. It also speeds up deployment through aligned customer flows, ready to use templates, and a real time exchange of data between Salesforce Marketing Cloud and Airship.
Brett Caine, CEO of Airship, described the value the relationship brings to brands and their customers. “Today’s customers expect loyalty programs that offer personalized convenience, save them money and provide experiences that help them feel more connected to the brand, so being always on and at the ready in their palm, pocket or purse is critical and no one does this better than Airship,” he said. Caine added that by combining the strengths of all three companies, the partnership makes it possible to deliver loyalty experiences that increase both emotional connection and measurable business growth. “Together, we are empowering brands to deliver personalized, real time experiences that build lasting relationships and drive measurable growth.”
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David Adler, Product Management Director for Salesforce Loyalty Management, said the integration helps solve a major challenge that comes with managing loyalty across multiple mobile systems. “Integrated mobile experiences are becoming a larger need of our clients’. This solution meets members where they are, on mobile for shopping, social commerce, community engagement and is critical for easy to use and value added loyalty programs,” Adler noted. He pointed out that brands often struggle with the technological overhead of maintaining multiple code bases and keeping pace with frequent platform changes. The partnership reduces that burden so companies can focus on their customers rather than infrastructure concerns.
Through this collaboration, Merkle, Airship, and Salesforce aim to set a new standard for how loyalty programs operate, making them more connected, real time, and aligned with the expectations of consumers who rely on their mobile devices every day.
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