We've partnered with Welcome Real-Time for point of sale rewards

We recently inked a deal with loyalty technology company Welcome Real-time to deliver a combined solution in the Oceanic and Asia Pacific market. It's called Carlson Marketing Point of Sale Rewards and it provides personalised loyalty experience in real time, at Point of Sale (POS).

The solution enables customers to redeem points for purchases at the till (instead of using money) and helps credit and debit card issuers to deliver personalised offers at the point of sale. It provides retailers with a great opportunity to market to their customers through their cards. retailers can treat different customers differently based on the RFM (Recency, Frequency, Monetary Value) of the payment card at their outlets. They don't need to know who the customer is and can provide an automated offer at the bottom of the till slip.

Welcome Real-time has customers in 30 countries and in the past year inked two serious deals. The first is with BarclayCard in the UK and the second with Maritz in the USA. Though not yet launched, these clients will bring Welcome Real-time into the G20 frame.

Groupe Aeroplan Concludes Acquisition of Carlson Marketing

Montreal, QC – December 7, 2009 - Groupe Aeroplan Inc. (TSX: AER) today announced the

completion of the acquisition of Carlson Marketing, a privately-owned marketing services

provider headquartered in the United States.

“We are pleased to officially welcome Carlson Marketing to Groupe Aeroplan. As stated, the

combination of our companies positions Groupe Aeroplan as the global leader in loyalty

management,” said Rupert Duchesne, President and CEO. “This acquisition provides

immediate geographic diversification and accelerates Groupe Aeroplan’s international

expansion strategy into the G20 countries. Moreover, Carlson Marketing’s solid US presence

secures an important footprint in one of the largest consumer markets in the world.”

Groupe Aeroplan’s existing businesses and Carlson Marketing will continue to operate

separately and independently. Jeff Balagna, President and CEO of Carlson Marketing, and his

executive team, will continue the management of Carlson Marketing. Jeff has also been

named Executive Vice President, Groupe Aeroplan.

Carlson Marketing is widely recognized for its leading-edge global knowledge of loyalty

marketing services, and engagement and events management. It has strong client

relationships, which include some of the world’s most respected brands in important sectors

including financial services, automotive, high tech, consumer packaged goods and

pharmaceutical. Carlson Marketing has a presence in North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and

the Middle East.