Welcome to the weekend! This newsletter is packed with new sections, stories, links, music, dictators, and Podcasts to tickle your brain.

Loyalty programs have been around for years, the question remains, do they work? For many people, the simple act of having to carry a card, or do anything in order to receive credit for purchases is too much to justify the reward. Others are so committed to loyalty programs that the number of UPC codes and fobs hanging from key chains borders on absurd. The simplest loyalty program is one that rewards a customer with free stuff if they buy so much stuff.

Recently Dunkin’ (Donuts) [link] changed its rewards program going from something simple, i.e. spend $40 and get a free drink of your choice, to spend $40 and you can get a tea, $50 you can have a coffee, and additional price tiers allow for additional selections like lattes. Updating a loyalty program, especially for established businesses is a normal part of doing business. Updating a loyalty program during a real or perceived inflation hurricane can be a double whammy. Brands, as established as Dunkin’, can withstand a temporary “decaffeinated” response to the changes in the loyalty program. It could also be an opportunity for a smaller player to steal market share by promoting a price freeze on a specific coffee drink as an inflation buster!

Several stories have popped up over the past few weeks citing that Chick-fil-a has the longest drive-through line wait times. This info has been backed up by everyone in the office stating that there is always a line at Chick-fil-a. There will always be a line for quality products. Goes to the saying “the best marketing, is a great product.”

How many local restaurants decided to expand into the vacant space next to them to reduce wait times, and were out of business the next year? Better to have a small joint, with less overhead and a line, than a large joint that looks half empty all the time. Food for thought.

Winners of the 2022 Weather Photographer of the Year have been announced. The winner is a picture of a massive wave that looks like it’s about to eat a lighthouse in one big bite. Additional pictures of various clouds and sunsets were also featured in the annual awards. Awe-inspiring pictures that once again remind us how small we really are. Mother Nature continues to do her best to remind us of her beauty and with a blink of her eye could wash us all away.

Forbes reported the Dallas Cowboys are worth $8 Billion Dollars. The Cowboys have not won a Super Bowl since 1995. A few of the factors that went into this valuation include:

For a great walkthrough of how the worth of a football team can be developed watch this video. Morning Brew Breakdown.

Forbes Article

Here is another quote attributed to Albert Einstein. Used to tickle your brain, and based on the time it took to produce today’s letter!

Wow, out of time and it’s only Monday!

The new sections inside the newsletter have been a lot of fun to curate and comment on. In order to keep the quality high, the sections may come off daily and the top three stories will stay.

Thank you!

Music Notes will include news from the music world.

Who is in Blink 182 and who is not in Blink 182? This is the question and new sources and videos are screaming with hot takes. Similar to our cover from above - this is one that will prove itself in time. Mark Hoppus who recently went through treatment for cancer continues to work like a champ. One of his many ventures is a weekly radio show on Apple Music Hits called After School Radio. It is a fantastic radio show for anyone who loves fast punk rock music Blink 182 did as well if not better than anyone in the business. Listen to it here, and stay tuned for Blink (Rumors) News as we see it.

There is a great bass line in this one.

Click on the Apple Music image to listen to the song on Apple Music or on the Spotify Image to listen on Spotify.

Be Good,

Johnny