When the traditional hotel loyalty program gets revamped

THE SITUATION:
——

As a hotel chain primarily representing leisure brands, there was an interest in developing a loyalty program that would appeal to upscale business travelers that travel frequently – rather than the existing program that has been designed to appeal to less frequent leisure travelers.

MAGID APPROACH:
———

Three key components of loyalty

Using a variety of qualitative approaches, we discovered that hotel guests want a program that focuses on three key buckets: (1) know me, (2) assist me, and (3) enrich me. While each are important, there are do’s and don’ts associated with each.

There are also specific components of a loyalty program that are particularly important to business travelers in a way that is differentiated from leisure travelers. A large focus of our efforts was making sure we screened in the most qualified respondents to address these differences. Finally, so many loyalty programs feel transactional in nature (e.g., earn X points and get Y rewards) as opposed to focusing on the relationship between the guest and the hotel chain (e.g., imagine how you treat a close friend when they come to your house).

This resulted in a blueprint for a loyalty program recognized as the most appealing in the travel industry.

PROJECT DELIVERABLES:
———

» Facilitation of online communities
» Moderating the ideation phase, including solicitation of feedback from industry experts
» Focus group facilitation and reporting