The 21st Century Business Series provides a look at state of the art technologies, innovative business strategies and insights from cutting edge business leaders of today. In an upcoming exploration of the potential influence of E-Gift cards on customer loyalty and engagement, esteemed loyalty marketing experts Mark Johnson, CEO and President of Loyalty 360, and Randy Fox, Managing Director at FuzeBuy, will discuss the changing landscape of e-gifting and loyalty programs. Scheduled to air July 7, 2012 on Fox Business Network.

Mark Johnson, provides an overview of the challenges of running a loyalty program today sharing, “loyalty programs are about driving behavior, and truly driving behavior is a very detailed and complex process… You have to truly understand and listen to your customers to drive sustainable behavioral change, and its very challenging right now for retailers, banks, and other entities to do tha

B2B marketers are using video but have mixed feelings on the ease of customer engagement, according to a survey from PR firm Waggener Edstrom.

The survey revealed 82 per cent of marketers are using video with the majority (61 per cent) creating corporate videos. Around half of the respondents use it to extend their marketing campaigns (49 per cent) and for internal communications (43 per cent).

While a high percentage of marketers are using social media – LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube were used by 75, 71 and 61 per cent of respondents respectively – 44 per cent felt it was becoming more difficult to engage with customers. Principal barriers were felt to be the number and complexity of channels available.

A UK-based airline is facing criticism from privacy advocates over a new plan which allows staff members to identify customers by using a new computer system to search Google for images of them, according to various media reports published Friday.

According to John-Paul Ford Rojas of the Telegraph, British Airways cabin crew, check-in staff, and first-class lounge employees will be able to use the technology in order to meet and greet specific travelers.

It’s called the “Know Me” system, he said, and the company told him that the goal was to be able to put together a name and a face before the customer arrives in the airport.

“The aim is to give the airline a more personal touch when serving important passengers, such as chief executives of financial companies, who may not be instantly recognizable by British Airways employees,” Rojas said. “The carrier already identifies such passengers on each flight but until now staff would not have known what they looked like until they checked in. Now they will be able to approach such clients proactively.”

HubShout is a US based white label SEO firm with offices in Rochester, NY and Falls Church, VA. All HubShout online marketing services are available to direct clients. Specialties include SEO, PPC, social media, email marketing, websites, customer reviews and local SEO.

Achieving top search results is the first priority for all HubShout white label SEO campaigns. The HubShout account manager/SEO reseller partnership focuses on selling services and ensuring customer satisfaction. Once a client signs on as a HubShout SEO reseller, the new reseller is supplied with a custom branded SEO dashboard. The white label SEO dashboard is customized with the reseller’s logo and colors to match the style of the reseller’s website.

ClearLine Mobile, a mobile marketing and loyalty technology company, has entered into an agreement with Global Service Solutions and completed the integration of a mobile marketing and loyalty program that will enable access to advanced mobile marketing and customer retention technology, it was announced by ClearLine Mobile.

ClearLine Mobile designs and manages mobile marketing and loyalty programs that create an awareness campaign to increase customer retention and sales for providers of prepaid services. ClearLine’s programs can feature mobile rewards and incentive plans, couponing, mobile and content websites, and e-commerce websites delivering airtime refills in real time, automated marketing, refill and low balance reminders and much more.

While travel websites have impacted traditional travel agency bookings and the way individuals plan travel today, many assume that travel agencies are on their way out. But new research by PhoCusWright, a travel research firm, suggests that travel agents are making a comeback. Alpha Flight Guru is one travel agency that is growing by offering personalized service and special rates that online travel sites cannot offer.

Visit http://alphaflightguru.com/cfo to download Alpha Flight Guru's latest white paper. The company specializes in helping customers redeem credit card points for cheap business class flights.

“Travelers are finally figuring out that they have been spending four hours online to knock 25 bucks off an airfare,” said Ed Perkins, a contributing editor for SmarterTravel.com. “Businesses understand that when you’re paying somebody to do a job and sending him on a trip, you don’t want a guy to spend half a business day looking for a travel deal.”