WHAT ’ S HOT
SALES & MARKETING
WHAT ’ S HOT
SALES & MARKETING
THE NEW
Alot of attention in the loyalty space in the past year has focused on integration : Marriott International integrated the Starwood program ( triggering some complaints about status changes and difficulties in redeeming points ) and introduced Bonvoy ; more recently , Accor rebranded and relaunched Le Club into the ALL “ lifestyle ” loyalty program encompassing hotel and non-hotel brands . Both , though , are flogging experiences as ways to spend those points ,
COMMODITY
whether you ’ re an elite or occasional guest . “ I travel 120 days average a year and I really don ’ t care about the experience ,” confesses Paris-based consultant Simone Puorto . Points , he argues , will always matter , but is loyalty still a thing ? Maybe not so much .
HOTELS : It seems like hotel companies are really revving up their loyalty programs .
Simone Puorto : Everybody ’ s bringing bigger marketing companies to create a perfect loyalty program , but when I look at the numbers , these new customers are not so loyal to the brands like we used to be or the generation before us used to be . These customers — first of all , they don ’ t want anything that is super-complicated … Second , you need to give this sense of community and security and that , I think , these programs are lacking right now . H : What does that lack of brand loyalty mean ?
SP : Customers , now more than ever , want to be free to use points on different platforms . So I redeem my Marriott points , I ’ m buying something on Amazon ( for example ), shopping with points . And that makes sense … The future will be more in integration with different industries , so it ’ s making sure that you can actually use your points , not only to just sleep more , ( but ) to buy a drink , or get chocolate , or other stuff that it would be used for , and not even for experiences .
H : How could members be using their points ?
SP : They want to have the freedom to do whatever they want to do with their points because they are used to that . And , in the retail world , it ’ s already like this … To me , loyalty is all about freedom to do whatever you want with these points . If you give me that freedom , but I can redeem my points somewhere else , I will stick with your brand because you give me the opportunity to do whatever I want , so I have the illusion of freedom .
H : Is that truer of younger members ?
SP : The main point is always the same : to have the freedom to do different things with your points . Flexibility . So to be effective , we ’ ll not have to focus on experiences , we ’ ll have to focus on flexibility .
H : Any predictions about how loyalty programs will evolve ?
SP : They will get leaner and more agile ; they will get rid of all this complexity – sometimes you really need a degree in quantum physics to understand what to do with these points . And , so , it will be like removing all this fiction and all this complexity … But the real difference will be when these brands actually understand that they need to make sure that these points can be redeemed outside the hotel .— B . B .
14 hotelsmag . com June 2019