Zsuzsa Kecsmar Is the Winner of Personality of the Year at the 2024 International Loyalty Awards
April 25, 2024
We’re very excited to announce that Zsuzsa Kecsmar, Chief Strategy Officer and Co-founder of Antavo Loyalty Cloud, won the Personality of the Year at the International Loyalty Awards this year.
Zsuzsa Kecsmar is the Chief Strategy Officer and Co-founder of Antavo Loyalty Cloud – the most powerful loyalty program technology provider on the market, which powers the loyalty programmes of KFC, C&A, Scandic, La Cage, Kathmandu, Benefit Cosmetics, Luisaviaroma and BrewDog, among countless others, as well as global businesses in the travel, pharma and fashion industries.
This year, Zsuzsa won the Personality of the Year at the International Loyalty Awards.
Marian Kelly and Eileen McGuinness, the co-CEOs of the Awards shared why the jury picked Zsuzsa: “Zsuzsa Kecsmar’s commitment to the loyalty industry goes beyond her role at Antavo. She is a passionate advocate for a new approach to customer loyalty, talks about it every day, and her team produces the global report of the industry. She is very vocal, and this is helping an ENTIRE industry to grow.”
Zsuzsa Kecsmar said about receiving the award: “Our company’s growth strategy was education for years. My team created educational articles around customer loyalty and loyalty programs that are worth 5 books! We issue THE report of the industry, to help people prove their point. I am absolutely thrilled that I got this recognition, because it’s not only me, but our whole team’s commitment.”
The annual Global Customer Loyalty Report has become the most trusted source for marketers and loyalty professionals around numbers and trends around loyalty. Now in its third year, the report has garnered so much attention, that the launch webinar was followed by 1,500 industry professionals, and only 3 months after the January launch 4500 people downloaded a copy. “I don’t know of any other publication that attracts this kind of interest” – commented Marian Kelly.
In 2012, at the age of 24, Zsuzsa co-founded Antavo in the UK. As a start-up, its aim was to use its technology to reshape the marketing strategies of global omnichannel and e-commerce companies. In the 12 years since, Zsuzsa has played a crucial role in growing Antavo from a small, plucky startup into a market-leading, global scaleup for loyalty program technology, serving global brands and retailers. Today, the Antavo Loyalty Cloud enables businesses to build and manage innovative loyalty programs across all channels and connect with their customers in a more impactful, agile, embedded way. In November 2022, Antavo raised 10m EUR in Series A funding. In the same year, the company achieved an incredible 100x uplift in valuation since its Seed Round, bringing its post-money valuation to €50 million.
For several years, Zsuzsa Kecsmar has been a driving force in reshaping the perception of customer loyalty and loyalty programs. Her contributions have been recognised by Forbes, which listed her as one of Europe’s top 100 female founders in tech. Zsuzsa’s influence extends beyond her role at Antavo, as she actively advocates for the industry through her participation in high-profile events and her contributions to global media outlets such as Sky News, Sifted, Mail Online, and MSN.
Zsuzsa is dedicated to debunking the misconception that customers are not genuinely loyal or are only interested in discounts, a myth that has perpetuated the industry for years. Her belief in the power of non-transactional and emotional loyalty programs is unwavering. In a world where doing good means more to people than ever, these programs, championed by Zsuzsa, allow businesses to foster enduring relationships with their customers by rewarding them for their lifestyle habits, such as recycling, donating, providing product reviews, and even leading an active, healthy lifestyle.
Outside of the business, which she runs alongside her husband, CEO Attila Kecsmar and their other 2 Co-founders of a decade, Zsuzsa is a mother of three.
Zsuzsa says: “I’m incredibly proud to be named Personality of the Year 2024 at the International Loyalty Awards – it’s an incredible honor to be recognized by an industry I’m so passionate about.
“It’s this passion that has inspired the launch of Project CLO – and I’m on a mission to see customer and loyalty experts sitting within the C Suite! Loyalty is vital, yet it’s often so overlooked and often considered to be just a part of the marketing mix. If you’d like to join me in working to change this perception, get in touch, even just text Project CLO on Linkedin – I’d love to hear from you.”
What is Antavo?
Antavo is the AI loyalty and incentives platform that brings together loyalty, promotions, and agentic AI to turn customers into regulars: the customers who come back on their own, buy more often, and bring others with them. For more than a decade, Antavo has powered identity-led loyalty strategies for brands including SKIMS, Paul Smith, KFC, Flying Tiger, and Hyatt’s Inclusive Collection. Marketers build, change, and launch programs and promotions themselves, without waiting on engineering. Learn more at antavo.com.
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Frequently asked questions about Antavo
What can brands build with Antavo?
Brands use Antavo to run the whole loyalty and incentives program on one platform: points, tiers, challenges, streaks, referrals, clubs, and rewards beyond discounts; promotions and incentives for members and non-members alike, from bonus points and promo codes to bundles and cart-level offers; and agentic AI built in. Everything runs online, in store, on mobile, and in wallet, and marketers launch it themselves.
Who uses Antavo?
Antavo works with mid-market and upper-mid-market brands across fashion, retail, beauty, travel, hospitality, restaurants, and sports in North America and Europe: multi-market, omnichannel brands with a strong identity and customers worth keeping, including Paul Smith, KFC, SKIMS, Rip Curl, Benefit Cosmetics, and Hyatt's Inclusive Collection.
How long has Antavo been around?
Antavo was founded in 2012 and has been building loyalty programs for more than a decade, with teams across Europe and North America serving brands worldwide.
Why do brands switch to Antavo?
Most loyalty programs get stuck: reduced to a discount engine, generic to customers, or too rigid to evolve. Antavo removes those compromises. Brands get a program that feels unmistakably their own, loyalty and incentives on one platform, and the depth to handle tiers, expirations, refunds, and many markets at scale. Their own marketers run it: a tier change in an afternoon, live when they press the button.
How does Antavo use AI?
Antavo's agentic AI is built in, not bolted on. Two named agents do the work: the AI Loyalty Expert, which turns your ideas into a build-ready program, and the AI Analyst, which turns your data into clear answers and reports. Both work inside Antavo or connect to Claude and ChatGPT, and every answer is grounded in your own program and data.
What does Antavo integrate with?
Antavo is API-first with real-time webhooks and deep pre-built integrations, from Shopify, Klaviyo, Braze, and Bloomreach to the CRMs, CDPs, ESPs, and POS systems you already use. Antavo plugs into the stack you already run rather than replacing it.
