The Goal

YoungLA needed a brand-new rewards loyalty program launched with a full email and SMS lifecycle built to support it end to end — not just a welcome series, but a complete system to enroll members, keep them aware of their point balance, celebrate milestones, and re-activate them at the right moments.

The program had to launch simultaneously across two very different audiences: an established US customer base with mature lifecycle expectations, and a fast-growing EU market that needed its own tone, currency, and cadence. Both had to stay true to YLA’s direct, confident, hype-driven brand voice.

The Strategy

A loyalty program is only as good as the messaging that carries it. YoungLA’s tier structure — Member at $150 total spend, Elite at $750, and Legend at $1,500 — gave members a reason to keep earning, and a redemption ladder running from 200 points for $5 in store credit up to 1,000 points for $25 gave them a reason to come back and spend it. BMO’s job was to make sure every member always knew where they stood, what they had earned, and what came next.

The two markets launched together as a single lifecycle system with two market-specific expressions, sharing structure and creative logic while diverging on currency, cadence, and tone.

Personalization was structural rather than added later. Current tier, live point balance, and available store credit render dynamically inside nearly every touchpoint across both email and SMS — so a reminder is never a generic nudge, it is a specific amount of money the member has already earned, waiting at checkout.

The Solution

Welcome Series

A multi-touch flow that introduces new members, explains how points and tiers work, and drives the first redemption. Built to convert immediately, not just to onboard. The opening email lays out the Member, Elite, and Legend structure alongside the full redemption ladder; the follow-up shows every route to earning — including the actions that require no purchase at all, like creating an account, opting into SMS, or following the brand on social.

Point Balance Reminders

Four tiered credit reminders keep members aware of their earned store credit as it grows, using one templated structure scaled up per threshold. Each message leads with the dollar value unlocked, then routes straight into product so the credit has somewhere to go.

Tier Upgrades

Member, Elite, and Legend upgrade emails treat status as an achievement rather than an account notification, each paired with an app CTA. The Legend email is deliberately built differently: with no further tier to chase, it spotlights lifetime status and the 1.25x point multiplier instead of progression.

Birthday & Re-engagement

A dedicated birthday flow delivers a tier-specific reward inside the member’s birthday month. An inactive-member win-back series catches members before their points expire at twelve months of inactivity, leading with what they have already earned rather than with a new discount. Standalone content blocks keep the program visible year-round.

On-Site Continuity

The rewards hub on site mirrors the email and SMS program — the same tier cards, the same ways to earn, the same redemption ladder. A member who clicks from an email into the site does not have to re-learn the program.

Impact

Across the first 30 days post-launch, the program delivered 118,831 messages across both markets.

US Market

The US program delivered 100,205 of those messages and converted at a 62.96% average rate across all rewards touchpoints.

The Welcome Series carried the program, driving 60.6% of total program revenue and 64.8% of total conversions. Point Balance Reminders contributed a further 38.4% of program revenue — confirming that reminding members of credit they already hold is a revenue engine in its own right, not a housekeeping message. Revenue per message climbed 136% between the $10 and $25 credit reminder tiers: the larger the balance, the harder the message worked.

Tier Upgrade emails posted a 52.70% open rate and a 15.18% click rate, well above standard campaign benchmarks.

EU Market

The EU program delivered 18,626 messages in the same window on a newer, smaller list — and outperformed the US decisively on open and click engagement.

Average open rate reached 64.22%, against 43.92% in the US. Conversion averaged 45.67% across all rewards touchpoints. The Welcome Series was even more dominant here, driving 74.4% of program revenue and 77.0% of total conversions — the signature of a program landing with an audience encountering it for the first time. Revenue per message rose 68% between the €10 and €25 credit tiers.

Tier Upgrade emails posted a 90.12% open rate and a 27.78% click rate on early, limited volume, making them the strongest-engaging journey in either market.

Why It Worked

Three things separated this launch from a standard loyalty rollout.

The program was built as a lifecycle system, not a series of announcements. Enrollment, balance awareness, milestone recognition, and reactivation were designed as one architecture, which is why the Welcome Series and Point Balance Reminders together accounted for roughly 99% of US program revenue in month one without cannibalizing each other. The reactivation side of the program had barely started: a win-back series triggered by twelve months of inactivity cannot fire inside a thirty-day-old program, and the birthday flow had only reached one month of members. These are month-one numbers from a program that has not yet run a full cycle.

Personalization was structural rather than decorative. Because tier, balance, and credit value are rendered inside the message itself, every reminder carries a specific, personal dollar figure instead of a generic prompt to shop.

And the two markets were treated as two audiences, not one translated twice. The EU program’s higher open rates and heavier Welcome Series concentration reflect a newer audience meeting the brand’s loyalty offer for the first time. The US program’s steadier distribution across journeys, and its stronger conversion rate, reflect a mature base that needed reasons to keep going rather than an introduction. Reading those differences correctly at launch — instead of averaging them into a single plan — is what let both markets perform on their own terms.