Airlines, with the hotel industry close on their heels, pioneered the modern loyalty program, so it’s fitting that both have been the focus of recent news. Airline, travel and hospitality rewards programs, like much of the loyalty industry, find themselves at a critical junction. With two Deloitte reports – one on airline loyalty and the other on hotels – indicating lackluster engagement, brand fickleness and mounting consumer frustration, it’s as if the airline, travel and hospitality industries have been given a challenge. How do they re-invigorate customer engagement and long-term loyalty? Encouragingly, brands within these sectors – along with third-party loyalty program providers – are meeting these challenges head-on. Rather than feed the perception of themselves as verticals forever dialing back rewards or making higher tiers more difficult to reach, the airline, travel and hospitality industries are re-writing that narrative. Through their efforts, brands are discovering: • The evolving importance of Big Data and coalition loyalty programs. How can airline and hotel partnerships embrace omnichannel tenets that offer more personalized experiences? Big Data analysis is also being used to help airlines cut costs by finding minute inefficiencies. Once corrected, savings can be used to augment new loyalty initiatives. • The need for airlines (and hotels) to adopt a tiered, omnichannel loyalty strategy that combines tangible and status-based rewards and allows them to be transferred between programs. American Airlines and its AAdvantage frequent-flyer program is an excellent example of this. The program lets members redeem their miles with most of its partners as well as give miles as gifts or to charity. They also have the ability to bid on exclusive VIP experiences such as plush outings to high-profile sporting events, awards shows and more. • The re-popularization of SoLoMo (social, local, mobile) – especially as it relates to hotel guest engagement. To loyalty marketers who thought they knew what SoLoMo stood for: think again. Spelled out as Social, Local, Mobile, too often the ‘Lo’ in SoLoMo is thought of as a strictly location-based initiative. But thinking in those narrow terms fails to consider a vital and valuable subset of hotel guests: locals. These trends – and additional insights – are what the Kobie Quarterly Review: Airline, Travel and Hospitality edition is all about. We hope the Kobie Quarterly Review: Airline, Travel and Hospitality Edition broadens your appreciation for what loyalty programs entail and the genuineness they seek to deliver. Airline and hotel loyalty programs may have encountered some customer engagement difficulties of late. But thanks to its long and robust history, no industry is better equipped to confront and rise above these challenges.

1. KOBIE
QUARTERLY
REVIEW
NOV 2013
TRAVEL EDITION
9 Spotlight
Three Things Airline
Loyalty Programs
Should Be Doing
Right Now
By David Andreadakis
17
Why Personalized
Experiences Are Key
to Airline Loyalty
By Bram Hechtkopf
on.fb.me/17n5zxV
@Kobie_Marketing
linkedin.com/company/kobie-marketing
kobie.com

2. CONTENTS
4
5
7
9
TURNING THE TABLES ON AIRLINE LOYALTY TURBULENCE: HOW
BIG DATA AND OMNICHANNEL LOYALTY CAN HELP
You don’t have to be a frequent flyer, a cabin crew member or loyalty provider to know
that the airline loyalty industry has faced some serious turbulence of late. But there’s also
some good news – especially as it relates to Big Data metrics, analytics
and omnichannel loyalty tactics.
WHAT AIRLINES AND HOTELS CAN LEARN FROM STARBUCKS’,
COCA-COLA’S AND SEPHORA’S APPROACH TO SOLOMO
SoLoMo, or social, local, mobile, is a term that’s back in the news and once again
gaining prominence. Like retailers, travel and hospitality brands are no strangers to
attracting and retaining customers in innovative ways. But there are clearly some
lessons to be learned from particularly successful brands doing SoLoMo well.
THREE THINGS AIRLINE LOYALTY PROGRAMS SHOULD BE
DOING RIGHT NOW
There’s no denying airlines have weathered a challenging several months – not for
their bottom lines so much as in traveler perceptions. Here are three
recommendations to help improve the relationships airlines have worked so hard to
build.
www.kobie.com

3. 11
12
14
17
21
A NEW AIRLINE LOYALTY PROGRAM THAT PUTS B2B FRONT AND
CENTER
Little by little, brands are realizing the importance of business-focused loyalty programs,
and now airlines are jumping on board too. The MileagePlus Small Business Network
allows businesses to earn reward miles for products they normally buy.
AIRLINES AND HOTELS: TIERED OMNICHANNEL LOYALTY DONE
RIGHT
What does tiered omnichannel loyalty look like and which airline and hotel brands are
doing it well? How can such loyalty-challenged industries learn from their mistakes and
drive loyalty and ROI? Is American Airlines AAdvantage Program the model others
should emulate?
HOTEL LOYALTY REBIRTH: FIVE THINGS YOUR LOYALTY
PROGRAM SHOULD BE DOING NOW
What can hotel loyalty program managers do to make their brands more appealing? Here
are five recommendations to help hotels get maximum engagement and ROI from their
loyalty programs.
WHAT’S UP WITH AIRLINE
LOYALTY?
For the most part, the airline industry
gets a bad rap. Reporters and travelers
alike long for the days of attentive and
personalized service yet lament the
loss of perks that were previously
included in the fare. Encouragingly, a
“loyalty fix” is within reach, coming
down to airlines’ better use and
understanding of omnichannel loyalty.
WHY PERSONALIZED
EXPERIENCES ARE KEY TO
AIRLINE LOYALTY
It’s no secret that for airlines, the most
valued fliers are those who accumulate the
most miles flown per year, spend the most
on tickets and make generous use of their
ancillary services – on or off the plane.
That’s why the notion of “personalization”
has become so important. Only by giving
passengers incentives that speak to their
needs delivered on preferred channels will
the loyalty experience be satisfying enough
to drive long-term engagement.
HOW HOTELS CAN IMPROVE GUEST LOYALTY THROUGH SOLOMO
MARKETING AND A LOCALS-FIRST FOCUS
To loyalty marketers who thought they knew what SoLoMo stood for: think again. Too
often, SoLoMo is thought of as a strictly location-based initiative. But thinking in those
narrow terms fails to consider a vital subset of hotel guests: locals.
www.kobie.com
2

4. FROM OUR PRESIDENT
Airlines, with the hotel industry close on their heels, pioneered the modern loyalty program, so it’s fitting
that both have been the focus of recent news. Airline, travel and hospitality rewards programs, like
much of the loyalty industry, find themselves at a critical junction. With two Deloitte reports – one on
airline loyalty and the other on hotels – indicating lackluster engagement, brand fickleness and
mounting consumer frustration, it’s as if the airline, travel and hospitality industries have been given a
challenge. How do they re-invigorate customer engagement and long-term loyalty?
Encouragingly, brands within these sectors – along with third-party loyalty program providers – are
meeting these challenges head-on. Rather than feed the perception of themselves as verticals forever
dialing back rewards or making higher tiers more difficult to reach, the airline, travel and hospitality
industries are re-writing that narrative. Through their efforts, brands are discovering:
•
The evolving importance of Big Data and coalition loyalty programs. How can airline and hotel
partnerships embrace omnichannel tenets that offer more personalized experiences? Big Data
analysis is also being used to help airlines cut costs by finding minute inefficiencies. Once
corrected, savings can be used to augment new loyalty initiatives.
•
The need for airlines (and hotels) to adopt a tiered, omnichannel loyalty strategy that combines
tangible and status-based rewards and allows them to be transferred between programs.
American Airlines and its AAdvantage frequent-flyer program is an excellent example of this.
The program lets members redeem their miles with most of its partners as well as give miles as
gifts or to charity. They also have the ability to bid on exclusive VIP experiences such as plush
outings to high-profile sporting events, awards shows and more.
•
The re-popularization of SoLoMo (social, local, mobile) – especially as it relates to hotel guest
engagement. To loyalty marketers who thought they knew what SoLoMo stood for: think again.
Spelled out as Social, Local, Mobile, too often the ‘Lo’ in SoLoMo is thought of as a strictly
location-based initiative. But thinking in those narrow terms fails to consider a vital and valuable
subset of hotel guests: locals.
These trends – and additional insights – are what the Kobie Quarterly Review: Airline, Travel and
Hospitality edition is all about. We hope the Kobie Quarterly Review: Airline, Travel and Hospitality
Edition broadens your appreciation for what loyalty programs entail and the genuineness they seek to
deliver. Airline and hotel loyalty programs may have encountered some customer engagement
difficulties of late. But thanks to its long and robust history, no industry is better equipped to confront
and rise above these challenges.
Michael Hemsey, President
Kobie Marketing
www.kobie.com
3

6. TURNING THE TABLES ON AIRLINE LOYALTY
TURBULENCE: HOW BIG DATA AND OMNICHANNEL
LOYALTY CAN HELP
By Bram Hechtkopf
You don’t have to be a frequent flyer, a cabin from Delta) – especially as it relates to Big
crew member or loyalty provider to know
Data metrics, analytics and omnichannel
that the airline loyalty industry has faced
loyalty tactics.
some serious turbulence of late.
Here’s one example: Alaskan Airlines landed
First there was the American-US
a glowingly positive review in the New York
Airways merger that’s raised fundamental
Times. Compared to other carriers, Alaskan
questions over how the two vastly different
Airlines has expanded mostly without
corporate cultures will combine, along with
mergers and was profitable for 33 out of the
their respective philosophies, in terms of
last 39 years, achieving a record $316
customer reward programs. Then there
million in net income last year.
is Delta with a major announcement that its
32-year-old Sky Miles rewards program will
Part of that success came in the form of
be linked to additional passenger spend and strict cost savings. Not through tinkering with
pegged to ticket price costs – a new
its Mileage Plan™ loyalty program, mind you
passenger hoop designed to better manage two-thirds of Alaska’s 730,000 residents are
(read: limit) the number of travelers who
members of the program – which includes
reach elite status, thus, reducing airline
discounted tickets – but by using Big Data to
costs.
their advantage.
When Kobie talks about loyalty programs
engendering genuine customer relationships
that inspire experience-driven outcomes,
returning customers and improved ROI,
somehow this is not what we envision.
And unfortunately, there’s growing public
skepticism that airlines are only loyal to one
thing: profits.
Thankfully, in airspace littered with troubling
news, there’s also some good news (even
5
By tracking a wealth of minutiae, such as the
time it takes pilots to begin taxiing, the
airline discovered that cutting just one
minute of taxiing time per aircraft saves $25
to $30 million. Now that’s what I call turning
data into action. Revenue like that gives
airlines more room to continue supporting
their loyalty initiatives. That’s true even when
faced, as Delta was, with rising loyalty
program popularity that threatened to
undermine Sky Miles’ profitability if
something wasn’t done.

7. “Sharing rewards between
hotels and airlines is a great
way to maximize benefits,
streamline point accrual and
drive loyalty simply by
adding transparency to the
process.”
Smoother Skies Ahead?
Of course, Sky Miles’ changes aren’t all
that’s happening with Delta. The
airline recently announced a joint loyalty
program, called Crossover Rewards, with
Starwood hotels. Sharing rewards between
hotels and airlines is a great way to
maximize benefits, streamline point accrual
and drive loyalty simply by adding
transparency to the process. The move
follows the popularity of similar coalition
programs like Air Miles in the UK and
Canada and is also inspired by loyalty
program partnerships between grocery
stores and gas stations. In the latter
example, a topic we’ve written about in a
recent blog, Five Things Your Retail
Customers Expect This Year, shoppers earn
points toward discounted fuel based on the
amount they buy. Since food and fuel are
necessities, the programs’ symbiotic nature
is encouraged.
deluge and a fear of “loyalty cannibalism” –
where one company operates more
parasitically than symbiotically – considering
its success elsewhere, Delta shouldn’t be the
only pioneer.
Sky-High Pioneers
Speaking of pioneers from a pioneering
state, I really hope Alaska Airlines will be
similarly inspired by Delta’s doings.
Regardless, both carriers, in separate ways,
have advanced the airline/FFP conversation,
demonstrating that the tables can be turned
on frequent flyer program turbulence.
Whether Alaska Airlines’ revenue success
can be emulated by other carriers
(augmented by Big Data analysis) remains to
be seen. Likewise, it’s anyone’s guess if
Delta’s revamped Sky Miles program will
ultimately hit its stride. But one thing is
certain. Only through the most detailed,
granular analysis of their program successes
and failures will this information be
discerned.
For many, how people fly and where they
stay is equally linked. While I applaud Delta
for its actions in this regard, I’m surprised
airline-hospitality partnerships aren’t more
common. As we discuss omnichannel loyalty,
an enterprise-level initiative to drive, track,
measure and reward incremental behavior
throughout the customer experience, going
“omni” might also include omni-partnerships.
In this advanced scenario, interdepartmental
data will be de-siloed as will customer
behaviors shared across verticals, improving
loyalty management. While crossover loyalty
programs are fraught with security risks, data
GET AMPED!
A revolutionary new loyalty marketing platform is coming.
Find out more info@kobie.com
6

8. “In perhaps one of the greatest
realizations of the phrase
‘everything old is new again,’
SoLoMo, or social, local, mobile,
is a term that’s back in the news
and once again gaining
prominence.”
WHAT AIRLINES AND HOTELS CAN LEARN FROM
STARBUCKS’, COCA-COLA’S AND SEPHORA’S
APPROACH TO SOLOMO
By Bram Hechtkopf
In perhaps one of the greatest realizations of the
phrase “everything old is new again,” SoLoMo, or
social, local, mobile, is a term that’s back in the
news and once again gaining prominence.
smartphones into mobile wallets, one links to
Starbucks’ rewards program, My Starbucks
Rewards™, and the other partners with the mobile
payment company Square. Using the second app,
for instance, customers can find a nearby Starbucks
Like retailers, travel and hospitality brands are no
as well as other area retailers that accept Square
strangers to attracting and retaining customers in
payments and offer additional deals and
innovative ways. But there are clearly some lessons discounts. A popular SoLoMo example comes from
to be learned from particularly successful brands
China. In 2011, Starbucks offered a free drink to
doing SoLoMo well, like Starbucks, Coca-Cola and everyone who checked in to specific store locations,
Sephora:
which culminated in more than 20,000 weekly
check-ins. This wasn’t a Groupon-like daily deal; it
Starbucks
was a fun, social and collective experience where
Starbucks pioneered the SoLoMo movement back
“team unity” built brand awareness and long term
in 2011 and today offers two apps for different
loyalty – and continues to do so.
customer segments. While both apps turn users’
7

9. Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola’s “The Coke Machine
Fairy” also stands out as a great
SoLoMo example. Launched in
Sydney, Australia in September
2012, the two-week campaign
distributed prize-winning Coke
cans in vending machines
throughout the city. Prizes
included a $300 voucher, flight
tickets, a helicopter ride and
others. The goal: to generate
brand excitement and gamify the
search-for-rewards process.
Participants signed in to locationbased social network Foursquare,
then friended and followed The
Coke Machine Fairy to find the
nearest vending machine.
Additional tips narrowed the
search. The Coke Machine Fairy
earned more than one thousand
friends on Foursquare in 14 days
and helped hidden vending
machines find new life.
Sephora
Sephora, the French cosmetics
chain, might be doing SoLoMo
best. The brand has a
Facebook page, a Twitter feed
and a YouTube Channel, also
engaging shoppers through its
Beauty Talk community and
helping them share in-store
experiences through Instagram.
Users share products and ideas
on the brand’s Pinterest page
while the “Sephora to Go” app
provides real-time GPS mapping
to store locations and in-store
information. With some 2 million
downloads and a 300% mobile
sales increase in 2011, Sephora
knows that engaging users via
social media must occur across
multiple channels. It also knows
that tablets are not oversized
smartphones. That means the
successful use of its “virtual
mirror,” where users can follow
how-to makeup tutorials while
seeing their own image on
screen.
Flying SoLo(Mo?):
Travel and Hospitality
Lessons Learned
So, after reviewing the above
examples, what’s the common
thread? What does SoLoMo do
well regardless of vertical? In
each instance, the SoLoMo
campaigns were fun, engaging,
timely and useful. They all
generated genuine excitement,
conversation and loyalty.
They also:
• Sought engagement
across age, gender and
socio-economic
brackets: The lesson?
Smartphones and
gamified approaches to
collective enjoyment
aren’t limited to teens
and 20-somethings. Many
travelers are older but no
less interested by these
loyalty-generating tactics.
• Two of the three examples
employed SoLoMo
strategies in narrow
windows: Airlines and
hotels should remember to
keep their SoLoMo
experiments limited in
duration, but frequent in
updates – especially when
campaigns’ gaming
aspects figure prominently.
Such diversity will help
keep consumers engaged
and their wallets open.
• Sephora’s efforts
downplay gaming but
promote the need for an
omnichannel approach.
SoLoMo may be a threepart abbreviation, but
hotels and airlines must
continuously be reaching
out to their customers on
the channels they prefer
with an engagement style,
email, SMS and/or push
notification that speaks to
them best.
“The point is that
SoLoMo can be an
engagement method
easily adapted to
many verticals and
airline, travel and
hospitality brands
are re-discovering its
marketing and brand
loyalty potential.”
With the above examples in mind,
consider these hypothetical
scenarios. In light of the tightening
mobile booking window, imagine a
Coca-Cola-like scavenger hunt
that incentivizes guests’ hotel
stays – especially in chains with
multiple locations per city. Instead
of “lucky” soda cans, guests are
awarded “lucky” room numbers.
Airlines, too, might employ
additional social media. Or
envision a campaign wherein
smart digital airport signage
connects to consumers’ mobile
phones, sending timely and
relevant travel information as well
as offers related to future trips
and allowing travelers to share
this knowledge instantly with
friends and family via Facebook
and Twitter integration.
The point is that SoLoMo can be
an engagement method easily
adapted to many verticals and
airline, travel and hospitality
brands are re-discovering its
marketing and brand loyalty
potential. So is everything old new
again? You’d better believe it.
8

10. THREE THINGS
AIRLINE
LOYALTY
PROGRAMS
SHOULD BE
DOING RIGHT
NOW
Quick Tip: Don’t wait
for the findings on a
macro airline study
to gauge your
airline’s loyalty
success.
By David Andreadakis
There’s no denying airlines have
weathered a challenging several
months – not for their bottom
lines so much as in traveler
perceptions. Earlier this year
Delta Air Lines ended its
policy of allowing SkyMiles
members to pass on unused
points to relatives after their
death. The merger of American
Airlines and US Airways
has raised concerns that loyalty
program perks won’t be honored
in the same way as before (read:
more rule changes). And,
according to the 2013 Temkin
Experience Ratings, the airline
industry’s overall score on
customer satisfaction landed it
right on the border between “OK”
and “poor.”
Then there were the furloughs the
Federal Aviation Administration
implemented as part of
government spending cuts known
as sequestration. While shortlived, reduced staffing caused
longer lines at airports,
unnecessary delays and overall
traveler frustration – not to
mention a lingering fear that such
snags represent the “new
normal.”
But enough with negativity.
Airlines pioneered the frequent
flyer program more than 30 years
ago and today they net billions in
revenue. As a result, these loyalty
programs rank very high on an
airline’s priority list. So how can
airlines leverage this priority to
ward off customer angst?
9
Here are three recommendations
to help improve the relationships
airlines have worked so hard to
build:
•
•
Be Transparent: Airlines
must spell out how their
loyalty programs work.
What are the rules? How,
where and when can
accrued mileage be used?
And if there is a rule
change – even one that
raises the points-for-miles
threshold – don’t use
crafty language that calls
something a traveler
benefit (like narrower
seats yielding more leg
room) when it’s not.
Passengers aren’t stupid
and they’ll read right
through such efforts.
Be Engaging But Be
Simple: A recent study
by Dr Andreas Liebrich of
Lucerne University of
Applied Sciences and Arts
found that an airline’s
website layout is critical in
driving loyalty. Mobile
apps and mobile web
pages shouldn’t be
ignored either as
smartphones and tablets
are the centerpieces of
SoLoMo – social, local,
mobile – initiatives. The
same goes with rewards
technology. Virgin
Australia recently
announced the launch of a
new prepaid contactless
payment credit card,
partnering with American
Express. Contactless
payments streamline
payment processes and
continue to test the waters
of the still-nascent mobile
wallet era. By making this
an opt-in experience, the
airline leaves loyalty
program control in
members’ hands.
•
Measure, Manage,
Mitigate: Don’t wait for the
findings on some macro
airline study to gauge your
airline’s loyalty success.
Customer relationship
management software and
loyalty program data work
better when they’re
operating under one desiloed roof.

11. “The goal is to measure how well
your airline loyalty program is
working. That means asking how
many members are actively
engaged and discovering what
their travel experience is truly
like.”
The goal here is to measure how well your airline
loyalty program is working. That means asking how
many members are actively engaged and
discovering what their travel experience is truly like.
Raising these questions across an omnichannel
loyalty framework is critical if an airline is to best
manage the results and mitigate any downstream
errors.
So airlines, the time for action is now. Some 9.7
trillion frequent flyer miles go unredeemed every
year. While airline loyalty programs remain
successful, the 9.7 trillion-mile sieve needs to be
plugged and traveler perceptions require some
serious improvement.
developments and trends their programs must stay
ahead of. With airlines facing criticism for being
loyal to revenues first – and not their customers – it
wasn’t surprising that much of the conversations
centered on how airlines can go beyond the typical
points-for-rewards paradigm and deliver
engaging experiences to their passengers. The
degree to which airlines have turned these words
into actions is top priority in the months ahead.
Earlier this year, I attended the Loyalty Innovation
Show and Freddie Awards in Washington, DC with
my colleague Bram Hechtkopf, Kobie’s VP of
Business Development & Marketing. We met with
airline loyalty execs to discuss the latest
10

12. A NEW AIRLINE LOYALTY
PROGRAM THAT PUTS
BUSINESS TO BUSINESS
FRONT AND CENTER
By Bram Hechtkopf
Brands are slowly realizing the importance of
business-focused loyalty programs, and now
airlines are jumping on board too.
United’s MileagePlus Small Business Network is
the first US B2B travel loyalty program of its
kind.
program. Small Biz Rewards allows Verizon
customer companies with fewer than 20
telephone lines to accumulate one point per
dollar spent on a variety of Verizon service
upgrades including Long Distance and/or High
Speed Internet, FiOS and certain charges on
their phone service. They can also earn points
by participating in surveys and by shopping on
the Small Biz Rewards online mall.
Regardless of the vertical, loyalty programs that
are geared towards businesses can help:
•
Improve communications and networking
potential between brands
Heighten internal company loyalty, which
can in turn influence consumer brand
allegiance
Inspire new and innovative consumerfacing loyalty initiatives
Reduce business expenses by
incentivizing bulk purchase of goods and
services
•
The MileagePlus Small Business Network allows
businesses to earn reward miles for products
•
they normally buy. Thanks to partnerships with
more than a dozen vendors including Dell, UPS,
•
Staples, Chase Paymentech, Canon, McAfee
and the Apple Online Store, everything – from
printing, shipping, credit card payment
processing, office supplies and computing
Whether business- or consumer-facing, loyalty in
services – is covered. And, just like consumers,
all its forms is about building genuine trust and
companies can convert their earned miles into
transparency and, ideally, reciprocal
travel reward upgrades.
relationships that rise to the level of moral
obligation. That’s a tall order. But that’s why
Even in our age of perpetual connectivity and
loyalty programs require constant real-time
instant communications, traveling to trade
employee/customer feedback and adjustment.
conferences and meeting with clients or new
prospects is vital to any company. Anything that
So congratulations to United Airlines on its new
helps small businesses thrive is great for the
business-focused loyalty program. Here’s to the
American economy.
introduction of more B2B programs that truly
focus on the needs of enterprise and business –
Small businesses, despite an improving
a largely underserved segment.
economy, continue to struggle and they’re
looking for a leg up. A CNN survey found only
14% of small businesses plan to add more
workers and two-thirds aren’t hiring at all.
“Whether business- or
Considering that small businesses employ over
consumer-facing, loyalty in
half of the US workforce and contribute up to
all its forms is about building
50% of the nation’s GDP, there’s an opportunity
here for big businesses to help smaller ones –
genuine trust and
and earn their loyalty in the process.
Benefits of a Business Loyalty Program
As some of my colleagues have written about on
the Kobie blog, B2B customer rewards programs
are often the unsung heroes of the loyalty
landscape as they empower genuine
professional relationships while reducing
overhead. Dell and its efforts to prevent its own
death spiral via a B2B loyalty program is a good
example. Another great B2B loyalty example
comes from Verizon and its “Small Biz Rewards”
11
transparency and, ideally,
reciprocal relationships that
rise to the level of moral
obligation.”

13. AIRLINES AND
HOTELS: TIERED
OMNICHANNEL
LOYALTY DONE
RIGHT
“Omnichannel loyalty
is as much about
consumers’ mindset
as it is about
delivering messages
on member’s
preferred channel of
engagement.”
By Bram Hechtkopf
For the past 23 years, business
scholars at Wichita State and
Purdue universities have been
analyzing the performance of
US airlines based on metrics
such as percentage of on-time
arrivals, mishandled bags and
consumer complaints about
overselling, reservation issues
and service to disabled
passengers.
However, even though frequent
flyers are airlines’ highest-value
customers, issues related to
loyalty programs don’t have much
of an impact in the Airline Quality
Rating Report: they’re relegated
to the “other” category on the list
of 12 customer complaint types.
That’s quite surprising, since
airlines (and their travel industry
partners, hotels) are among the
companies that do loyalty best.
And this is particularly true about
tiered programs.
program’s partners as well as
give miles as gifts or to charity.
They also have the ability
to bid on exclusive VIP
experiences such as plush
outings to high-profile sporting
events, star-studded awards
shows and the like.
memberships through multiple
channels including mobile.
It’s important to remember
omnichannel loyalty is as much
about consumers’ mindset as it is
about delivering messages on
member’s preferred channel of
The program’s elite members also
engagement. American, Delta,
get plenty of special perks that
United and many others have
include:
clearly taken this lesson to heart
• Complimentary access to and put it into practice as a model
for other airlines – as well as
exclusive Preferred Seats
Take, for example, the world’s
other verticals – to follow.
and Main Cabin Extra
second-oldest frequent-flyer
• Priority Access security
program, American
screening and boarding
Airlines’ AAdvantage. AAdvantage
• 100% mile bonuses for
offers members an omnichannel
Platinum and Platinum
experience with a mix of tangible
Executive members
and status-based rewards.
• Unlimited complimentary
Members can earn miles by
upgrades for Platinum
booking on AA and the other
Executive members
members of the OneWorld
Alliance as well as over 10 other
Other great programs that offer
partner airlines. They can also
earn miles by booking hotel stays, these types of status-linked
benefits include Delta’s SkyMiles
rental cars, vacation packages
and cruises with a wide variety of and United Airlines’ MileagePlus.
partners and access bonus miles As I mentioned earlier, hotel
chains such as IHG and Marriott
through limited-time deals.
International also have excellent
tiered multichannel programs that
All members of AAdvantage,
which won Program of the Year in reward members not just with
the Americas category at the 2013 points, but with memorable
Freddie Awards, can also redeem experiences. And members can
access and manage their
their miles with most of the
12

14. WOULD YOU ASK A MECHANIC TO
PERFORM OPEN HEART SURGERY?
PUT YOUR PROGRAM BACK IN THE
HANDS OF THE LOYALTY EXPERTS
Kobie is the secret. Reach your customers at
every touchpoint with omnichannel loyalty.
Go to kobie.com to learn more.

15. HOTEL LOYALTY REBIRTH: FIVE THINGS YOUR LOYALTY
PROGRAM SHOULD BE DOING NOW
By Bram Hechtkopf
While forecasters predict a rebound in the
hospitality economy – albeit a slow one, because
the vast majority of Americans still feel their
economic situation is too precarious to safely
absorb the expense of a vacation – this kind of
uncertainty can cause hotel managers to cut back
on loyalty programs and eliminate amenities like
room service, as the New York Hilton Midtown did in
August 2013 (it has since brought back limited room
service).
There is plenty of good news in the industry:
•
According to the latest American Express
Spending and Saving Tracker report,
summer travel plans were up 17% from last
•
•
•
year as two-thirds of consumers plan to get
away.
Eighty-one percent of affluent consumers
were forecast to travel in 2013 (versus only
73% in 2012) and 38% of those polled said
they will be traveling abroad. Nearly onethird, 31%, planned to spend $1,000 or more
per person. That’s an increase of 4% from
2012.
Analysts forecast stable fuel prices, settling
to around $3.66 a gallon for regular.
According to a Harris poll, 43% of Americans
planned to travel this past summer no matter
what the macroeconomic picture looked like.
14

16. “Increasingly, both
business and
leisure travelers
seek genuine
engagement and
offerings beyond
the points-forrewards model.”
•
•
STR forecast that this past
summer hotel occupancy
rates would rise 1%
compared to 2012, to
70%. ADR would increase
4.4% to $112.21 and
revPAR would increase
5.4% amounting to
$78.50.
What do these mixed economic
messages mean? Consumers will
likely be more discerning when it
comes to the hotel loyalty
programs they choose.
Increasingly, both business and
leisure travelers seek genuine
engagement and offerings beyond
the points-for-rewards model.
Deloitte’s recent study, “A
Restoration in Loyalty” – which
many in the industry saw as an
indictment of their existing loyalty
programs – underscores the need
for hotel program rebirth.
•
15
Hotel loyalty programs are
a low priority for most
travelers; nearly half of
members’ annual spend is
not with their preferred
brand.
Respondents said their
grocery stores’ loyalty
programs offered more
value than their hotels’.
Clearly the hospitality
industry has some work to
do – on many fronts.
Five Tips for Giving Your
Loyalty Program a Boost
Taking the above statistics and
findings into account, what can
hotel loyalty program managers
do to make the summer season a
more successful one? Here are
five of my recommendations to
help hotels get maximum
engagement and ROI from their
loyalty programs:
1. Engage Guests on Multiple
Channels
The vast majority of customers,
86%, will pay more for a better
experience. They’ll also be more
likely to engage with a particular
hotel brand if it’s easy to do so.
Thus, today’s channel
proliferation and high mobile
device adoption rates make it
easier than ever to attract,
engage and retain guests.
Potential guests can be engaged
via a number of channels:
smartphones, tablets, SMS, push
notifications, digital signage,
social media, phone calls, email,
radio, TV and print
advertisements and even oldfashioned letters and post cards.
So, when hotels consider
omnichannel loyalty they must
include traditional channels.
That’s because guests, while
increasingly tech-savvy, still crave
personal one-on-one connections.
2. Offer Genuine Experiences
that Trump Rewards
Fostering genuine, personalized
experiences is critical. Too many
travelers already feel that their
hotel loyalty program is
indistinguishable from
competitors’. That’s an important
reason why the Deloitte study
found such high levels of
consumer disengagement in the
first place. Hotels must get
creative, offering rewards like
discounted or free day trip
excursions, concert tickets,
access to wine tastings, city
nightlife, restaurants and retail
opportunities.

17. Westin hotels, for example, has
begun offering guests 3 p.m.
Monday checkouts as part of its
“Make Mondays Better” program
– a simple but effective way to
promote product differentiation.
Status, too, plays an important
role. Imagine if frequent guests
had a vote on hotel program
decisions, the way publicly-traded
companies’ shareholders do.
Such efforts would make frequent
guests feel empowered because
their voices would literally matter.
business centers,
conference rooms, etc.
Airlines, the world’s largest lowcost carrier, to link Mlife with the
carrier’s Rapid Rewards program.
But loyalty programs and the
Loyalty aggregation may be
information they collect are often challenging but its time has
more effective at discerning guest undoubtedly arrived.
psychographic data: how do they
wish to be engaged, which
Moving to a Sunnier Loyalty
channels do they prefer, what
Outlook
specifically makes them loyal and One final suggestion hospitality
what experiences will help them
brands should consider:
become ambassadors who
• Evaluate each of the
promote a hotel brand long after
their stay? The more data
above five loyalty
collected from various sources,
upgrades through what I
3. Consider Multi-Tender
the more accurate the picture of
call the “5 Es,” which are:
Options to Improve Flexibility
individual guests’ preferences.
Enterprise, Economics,
Multi-tender loyalty is often
Enablement, Execution
neglected and rarely considered. Guest profiles can be thought of
and Engagement.
If your hotel loyalty program is
as broader personal interest
Enterprise speaks to the
operating in an omnichannel
snapshots, similar to Facebook
business at hand (hotels in
fashion, toggling between intrinsic homepages showing individuals’
this case) and making
and extrinsic rewards, why
likes and dislikes. Learning how to
loyalty an enterprise-level
shouldn’t it also give guests’
use a customer’s profile to
initiative, economics
program interactions maximum
deduce likely preferences is really
concerns the cost of
flexibility? Multi-tender loyalty
where the digital and mobile
generating such loyalty,
means expanding points
future of hotel guest engagement
enablement relates to the
accumulation beyond a branded
lies.
mechanics and technology
or co-branded credit card. For
running the program,
instance, hotels could consider
5. Combine Existing Loyalty
execution refers to its realupgrading all on-property
Programs with Others in
time deployment and
transactions to a points-accrual
Related Verticals
operational effectiveness
model. Beyond paying for rooms, Aggregation is my final
and engagement relates to
guests spend money in multiple
recommendation because it may
the brand relationship
locations and often make smaller be challenging to implement. The
customers seek.
transactions with cash. That
hospitality industry is known for its
includes tips for bellmen and valet aggressive brand pride. And the
Of course, adopting the above
parking, drinks at the bar and
idea of sharing customers
checklist and reviewing it through
basic travel necessities, like
between loyalty programs might
the “5 Es” filter doesn’t guarantee
toiletries and sunscreen, that
cause C-level backlash. After all, a rosier hospitality forecast. As I
guests sometimes forget to bring. the goal of a hotel’s loyalty
wrote earlier, economic trends
program is not to fill a
continue to put a damper on
4. Merge CRM and Loyalty
competitor’s pockets. But just as
hospitality industry health and,
Management Software for More guests use their smart mobile
indirectly, to affect customer
Granular Guest Insights
devices for a host of functions,
engagement as hotel managers
Convergence of CRM and loyalty they want that same level of
remain cautious.
program databases is a topic I’ve seamlessness and one-stop
discussed at length before. Until
efficiency from their loyalty
But with Deloitte’s study still fresh
recently customer relationship
programs. That’s why MGM
in hoteliers’ minds, it’s imperative
management software was
resorts and Hyatt Hotels are
hotels breathe new life into old
excellent for collecting consumer embracing the risks associated
loyalty programs. Making genuine
metrics. In a hotel’s case that
with loyalty aggregation. Their
engagement and experiences a
includes:
new partnership (announced in
priority can help hotel brands
• Number of visits per year
June) links the Mlife Tier Credits
ensure their guests go home with
• Total number of stays
and Hyatt Gold Passport
positive memories that linger for
• Average duration of stay
programs, allowing members to
life.
• Reason for trip
earn and burn points toward stays
• Typical amount spent onat both chains. MGM Resorts is
property at restaurants,
also partnering with Southwest
16

18. WHAT’S UP WITH
AIRLINE
LOYALTY?
“There are simply too
many miles chasing
too few seats, a
challenge affecting
many airlines and
their loyalty program
members.”
By Bram Hechtkopf
For the most part, the airline
industry gets a bad rap.
Reporters and travelers alike
long for the days of attentive and
personalized service and lament
the loss of perks previously
included in the fare.
Increasingly, airlines are coming
under fire for the significant
changes being made to their
loyalty programs. Though some
changes such as earning miles
on partner airlines, converting
hotel stays into airline miles and
access to more lounges are good,
others, like higher award ticket
fees, minimum annual spending
requirements and disappearing
bonuses have caused members
genuine distress. Other changes
are a little of both: last
summer Virgin America added
“gold” and “silver” tiers to its
Elevate frequent flier program.
Of course new tiers mean new
status, but as my colleague David
Andreadakis has pointed out,
such changes can make existing
members feel less important. And
changes like these, as evidenced
in the dissatisfaction with reward
earned air miles on a preferred
redemptions by frequent flyers
airline.
have led to an even more
fractured airline loyalty landscape. Delta’s challenges, as I see it,
aren’t surprising. Ever since its
According to a recent Frequent
2008 merger with Northwest
Business Traveler and
Airlines, the airline has struggled
FlyerTalk survey, Delta’s SkyMiles
and Air Canada’s Aeroplan ranked with loyalty program currency
devaluation – which is bound to
at the bottom of the satisfaction
drive customer satisfaction levels
list. Both loyalty programs face
dissatisfaction rates as high as
down. There are simply too many
67% and 68%, respectively.
miles chasing too few seats, a
Meanwhile the latest Deloitte
challenge affecting many airlines
study finds airline brand loyalty
and their loyalty program
“dangerously low” with fewer than
half of all travelers, 44%, flying at members.
least three quarters of their
WHY
PERSONALIZED
EXPERIENCES
ARE KEY TO
AIRLINE LOYALTY
By Bram Hechtkopf
It’s no secret that for airlines, the
most valued fliers are those who
accumulate the most miles flown
per year, spend the most on
tickets and make generous use of
17
their ancillary services – on or off
the plane. Call them an airline’s
cash cows: losing their loyalty
could negatively impact profits at
a time when other industry
variables like fluctuating fuel
costs, low cost carrier competition
and mergers threaten to create
additional turbulence.
Con$nued
on
page
19

19. Continued from previous page top
Endomondo, recently launched a new
program called “Keep Fit with BalticMiles,”
Contrast Delta with American Airlines,
which rewards members with points based
though, and a different picture emerges.
on their physical activity. During the month
Loyalty program rewards and traveler
of August 2013, members received virtual
perks (like seat upgrades) aren’t as easy to lottery tickets for every 1,000 calories they
obtain and their perceived value
burned where, at the conclusion of the
therefore increases.
competition, 10 winners would be awarded
10,000 BalticMiles points, good enough for
An Airline Fix: Omnichannel Loyalty
several free flights with airBaltic.
Encouragingly, a ‘loyalty fix’ is within reach,
coming down to airlines’ better using and
understanding omnichannel loyalty. For
airlines, mobile is an increasingly important
communications medium due to its ability
to link easily with other channels and do so
anywhere.
In other words, communication channels
are converging and mobile is that conduit.
While airlines still need to do a better job
integrating mobile as part of their
passengers’ loyalty experience,
encouraging changes are beginning to
unfold: airlines are moving beyond mobile
flight booking and status update
capabilities and adding more “mobile 2.0”
features.
This is especially true inside the cabin.
More airlines are equipping flight
attendants with tablets that can access
passenger profiles. These actions are
helping flight attendants create more
accurate pictures of what passengers
might want to purchase even before they
board the plane. They’re also enabling
loyalty program managers to understand
the types of incentives or program perks
that best speak to their passengers’
personalized needs. Something as simple
as an airline communicating seat upgrade
lists to passengers via a native app or by
SMS is a major improvement.
Fuelling For Takeoff
Convergence, however, isn’t just channelfocused or about coalition, multi-partner
loyalty programs. It’s a larger phenomenon
unfolding across all walks of life. That’s
why, in addition to omnichannel loyalty and
improved mobile capabilities, coalition or
multi-partner programs like Delta and
Starwood’s Crossover Rewards program
(where a member’s hotel and airline points
are shared) are where the future of loyalty
lies for many travel, airline and hotel
brands alike.
My advice to airlines and their loyalty
programs is simple: remember that
consumers are smart and when they see a
smart message they’ll likely want to
engage it. So whether we’re talking about
coalition programs, seat upgrades or the
emerging trend of personalized pricing,
relevant offerings combined with a
seamless customer rewards program will
remain a vital component to keeping
passengers happy and brand-engaged.
It also helps if airlines and their affiliated
loyalty programs get downright creative.
Back in April, American Airlines tweaked its
Elite Rewards program, giving members
incentives and special rewards as they
progressed between tiers – a move that
inspired loyalty as it became easier to
utilize points. Even more creative
incentives have stemmed from BalticMiles.
BalticMiles, a multi-partner loyalty program
in Northern and Eastern Europe and
Russia, owned by Latvia-based Air Baltic
Corporation in partnership with
18

20. Continued from page 17 bottom
That’s why the notion of
“personalization” has become so
important. Only by giving
passengers timely and relevant
incentives that speak to their
needs delivered on the channels
they prefer, will the loyalty
experience be satisfying enough
to drive long-term engagement.
the breadth of experiences out
there. But excessive tiering can
have drawbacks, too. Many perks
are too exclusive and others may
feel left out.
Which brings me to my final
point…
Considering how web-enabled
and reliant on connectivity
passengers and elite travelers
That’s why the airline loyalty
have become, it makes sense to
experience works best if customer broaden creative and exclusive
rewards program exclusivity is
content offerings via reliable, lowpaired with creativity.
cost high speed WiFi. Thus, it will
be interesting to see how Virgin
Encouragingly, such creativity was America’s partnership with GoGo,
And one of the best ways airlines displayed in abundance at the
an inflight connectivity provider
drive loyalty is by wedding
recent Future Travel
works out.
elements of personalization into
Experience convention in Las
ultra-exclusive tier structures.
Vegas. Allegiant Air, for instance,
GoGo is promising to deliver the
These are tiers barely publicized
is experimenting with expanding
first high speed in-cabin Internet
on airline’s website and whose
its in-flight inventory to include
access at 60Mbps called GTO, to
membership requirements are
cowboy hats on trips to Texas.
help airlines personalize new
purposely kept undisclosed in an
Qantas, meanwhile, is working
offers, whether their passengers
effort to build mystery, excitement hard to learn everything about its
are elite fliers or just your average
and a feeling of “I want in”.
passengers’ right down to the
Jane or Joe.
names of pets.
Case in point: United Airlines and
Whether it’s through in-flight WiFi
its ultra-elite Global Services
Other airlines are going ever
or something entirely different –
program, an invitation-only service further:
it’s clear personalized offers are
• Brazil’s TAM Airlines’
available to travelers who fly
key to continued airline loyalty.
hundreds of thousands of miles
“Commandant Kid”
per year. What does
program where children
personalization look like at this
help flight attendants
“Only by giving
level? A recent Wall Street Journal
wheel carts down aisles
article offers a compelling
to help keep them
passengers timely and
glimpse:
occupied.
relevant incentives
• Travel between connecting
• Flight attendants on Air
that speak to their
flights in luxury cars; bags
New Zealand read
already stowed
bedtime stories, while
needs delivered on the
• More than 400 airline
Emirates has recently
channels they prefer,
employees across 60
launched a squadron of
will the loyalty
airports tracking Global
“flying nannies.”
• Japan Air Lines is
Service member flights
experience be
watching for delays in
offering a curtained off
satisfying enough to
order to anticipate arrival
“women’s only” area for
drive long-term
snags
flights from Tokyo to
• No terminal or security
Honolulu to allow women
engagement.”
lines and ticket agent firstto breastfeed children or
name greetings with
apply makeup, reducing
already-printed boarding
long lavatory lines.
• Canada’s WestJet
passes
• Personal assistants, increated Tray Vu – tray
airport letter mailing and
tables specifically
suit pressing
designed for tablets.
Beyond United’s latest loyalty
initiative, many offers to elite tiers
focus on experiences. These can
include tickets to sporting events
and concerts, wine tastings and
gourmet events, arts and cultural
festivals – there’s really no limit to
19
In each of these examples, you
can see creativity and exclusivity
working well. But when it comes
to personalization and relevant
rewards practicality speaks
volumes, too.

21. HOW MANY PILOTS DOES IT TAKE TO
DELIVER THE BEST POSSIBLE
EXPERIENCE FOR YOUR CUSTOMERS?
Then why task your internal loyalty team
with solving your loyalty program and
technology needs? Kobie is the secretdelivering end-to-end loyalty solutions to
help your team soar.
kobie.com

22. HOW HOTELS
CAN IMPROVE
GUEST
LOYALTY
THROUGH
SOLOMO
MARKETING
AND A
LOCALS-FIRST
FOCUS
By Bram Hechtkopf
To loyalty marketers who
thought they knew what
SoLoMo stood for: think
again. Spelled out as
Social, Local, Mobile, too
often the ‘Lo’ in SoLoMo is
thought of as a strictly
location-based initiative.
But thinking in those
narrow terms fails to
consider a vital subset of
hotel guests: locals.
missing as much as 85% of
local customer feedback. It
also found that locals are
12 times more likely to give
a brand positive feedback
compared to non-locals.
Meanwhile, another study
by hotel software company
Monscierge found that 73%
of hotel guests want local
recommendations.
So “local” and locationbased marketing isn't
simply about performing a
search for "hotels in
Nashville" or researching
“Vietnamese restaurants
near New York’s Plaza
Hotel.”
It's also about people living
in proximity to a hotel. And,
for hotel loyalty marketers,
tapping that lucrative ‘Lo’
segment.
But as hotels are working
harder to engage guests
and create new
experiences (which include
4-star onsite dining, book
readings, poetry nights,
free in-lobby Wi-Fi, wine
Think about it. How often
tastings and the
do locals say, "Oh, I wish I “Starbuckification” of the
could be a tourist in my
lobby itself) they should
own city?" Instead of being also consider the truly local
incentivized to walk
aspects of the marketing
through hotel doors via an term SoLoMo. Perhaps we
engaging experience or
should also be asking how
rich loyalty program, locals hotels can more effectively
fail to consider options that wed that local engagement
are nearby or right in front to social and mobile
of them. Only on special
marketing.
occasions like birthdays,
anniversaries or nights out Engaging Locals
at the theater do some
Through the Five ‘Es’
locals buck this trend.
Nearly four years since the
Otherwise, a largely
Great Recession began,
untapped market is being
one in four travelers still
unfairly ignored.
plans vacations close to
A recent infographic
released by The Location
Based Marketing
Association and Venuelabs
speaks to this point. In a
review of 265 cities, it was
found that hotel brands are
21
home to save money.
Especially in an uncertain
economy where the
“staycation” is alive and
well, locals can be a hotel’s
most valuable asset.

23. Localizing Loyalty Outreach
For a variety of reasons, locals
are a great test market to
measure the success of a hotel’s
loyalty program:
•
The hotel in question can
easily turn mobile
outreach for promotions
and on-property events
into physical action
because locals can
conveniently reach nearby
establishments. For
instance, if a mobile app
sends push notifications
for discount drink specials
the following Tuesday,
residents can quickly
make the trip.
•
Likewise, engagement
should be easier as hotel
brands can better appeal
to local pride, improving
guest outlook. That means
hotels can partner with
restaurants, sports teams
and retail and
entertainment outlets for
specific events, attracting
local interest.
•
There’s also an intrinsic
sense that many locals
want their area hotels to
succeed. The Venuelabs
study also found that
consumers are 35% more
likely to discuss a local
brand positively – a fact
hotels can use to great
advantage. Such
neighborhood staples
attract out-of-towners,
increase foot traffic and
have a generally positive
influence.
•
Speaking of discussing
brands positively, if guests
are already feeling
passionate or optimistic
about a stay or visit, hotels
can encourage them to
share their positive
experiences on social
media, making the
enablement and execution
of a loyalty program easier
than it would be if nonground up. Capella went out of its
residents were the primary way to keep area residents
focus.
informed on the design and
aesthetic impact the new hotel
•
Locals often travel fewer
would have on the neighborhood.
than 50 miles to a hotel.
The hotel offers locals access to
This means that, as
exclusive Washington Ballet
guests, they’re likely to
performances, classes and even
spend on hotel amenities
behind-the-scenes tours. In
what they saved on flight
another example, the still-underand other travel expenses. development Hard Rock Hotel &
Costs lower not only for
Casino New England, in West
locals but for hotels too, as Springfield, Massachusetts, is
all aspects of loyalty
using social media to keep locals
outreach are less
abreast of the latest progress and
expensive, operating (at
designs plan.
least initially) on a
localized scale.
Upon completion, the property will
include a 350-room hotel and a
Locals also serve another
100,000-square foot casino with
important benefit. While their
100 table games and 2,500 slot
proximity and pride are pluses
machines as well as a Hard Rock
that can’t be replicated, their
Café. Ensuring this large,
smartphone usage patterns can.
complex project fits West
That means the metrics and
Springfield’s overall aesthetic will
analytics gained from engaging
be very important. Also, returning
locals via mobile and social can
to our 50-mile threshold, West
be quickly adapted to guests at
Springfield, although a small city
large.
of 28,000, may prove critical.
Located at the crossroads of
In this way, local guests are like
south-central New England (and
beneficial test subjects. SoLoMo’s an immediate bedroom
linchpin, the smartphone (uniting community of Springfield proper),
social media and location-based
West Springfield is within short
marketing together in one device) driving distance of: the
has become one of the world’s
southwestern Boston suburbs,
most ubiquitous technologies.
greater Hartford, Albany, New
According to Expedia at the
York, southern Vermont and the
second annual Cornell Hospitality extreme northeastern suburbs of
Research Summit, more Internet New York City. If a project like this
traffic is recorded over mobile
sours, the impact will be felt
devices than over desktops or
across a large region, affecting
laptops, two-thirds of Americans
not only “hyper locals,” who live in
sleep with their smartphone within West Springfield, but regional
arm’s reach and mobile bookings locals too.
(a vital measure of mobile
outreach’s ROI) are expected to
That said, Hard Rock New
double from $16 million to $32
England would further benefit by
million by 2016.
employing tactics used by the
Omni Fort Worth Hotel, in Fort
Worth, Texas. Rather than just
Examples of Localized
inviting locals to comment on their
Engagement
experience or on the property in
Encouragingly, some hotels are
general, the Omni offers local
starting to better engage local
residents reduced rates and
patrons with positive results. The Texas-themed events.
recently-opened Capella hotel, in
Washington D.C.’s Georgetown
neighborhood, began the local
engagement process from the
22

24. It also has relationships with an area
museum and a famous Texas luxury boot
maker. Even the property’s on-site
restaurant, Cast Iron, (one of four) was
created with locals in mind and evokes
frontier living while emphasizing native
foods.
What if locals could earn a free night’s stay
provided their reviews were the highestranked for a given week?
Homegrown Hospitality
Considering that more than 90% of global
smartphone users search for content on
And Boston’s Liberty Hotel goes one step
their mobile devices and that 61% research
beyond Capella, Omni and Hard Rock New local content, it’s clear mobile engagement
England by offering free events five days a is a vital way for hoteliers to attract, engage
week for downtown Boston residents.
and retain their guests. Yet infographics
While none of these examples explicitly
like the one produced by Venuelabs
reference mobile, you can be certain they
underscore how a critical component for
all have Facebook pages, Twitter feeds and hotel outreach – locals – is being
that friends and family are texting and
overlooked. Even as the economy
tweeting about their experiences. Given
continues to improve and staycations lose
time, some of these brands might go the
their luster, engaging locals through loyalty
route of Marriott’s Renaissance Hotels,
program perks and unique offerings that
which launched the Navigator Program last only residents can enjoy is a great way to
year. In conjunction with Twitter and
build brand commitment while serving as a
Instagram, the hotel built a database
launching pad for more expansive out-ofgenerated by locals listing the best places town loyalty outreach.
for eating, shopping and entertainment.
After just six months the campaign saw the Now is the time to make sure the ‘Lo’ in
your hotel’s SoLoMo efforts is fully
hotel’s number of Facebook ‘likes’ rise to
maximized and switched into high gear.
303,000 from 40,000 (a 658% increase)
while Twitter followers grew to 28,000 from
5,000, a 460% increase.
Here, too, the current program has much
potential for further growth. Rather than
simply soliciting local reviews, future
programs could easily add loyalty and
gamification elements to such outreach.
23

25. ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Michael
Hemsey,
President
As
President
of
Kobie
Marke2ng,
Michael
is
responsible
for
leading
all
facets
of
the
loyalty
marke2ng
organiza2on
including
business
development,
IT
ini2a2ves,
client
services,
as
well
as
the
overall
direc2on
of
the
Kobie
brand.
For
20
years,
Michael
has
cul2vated
a
rich
background
in
client
services,
product
development,
marke2ng,
technology
and
opera2ons
through
several
key
posts.
Prior
to
Kobie
Marke2ng,
Michael
was
Execu2ve
Vice
President
of
TSYS
Loyalty
(formerly
ESC
Loyalty)
and
led
the
loyalty
marke2ng
implementa2on
and
rela2onship
management
teams
serving
the
world’s
largest
issuers
and
retailers.
Bram
Hechtkopf,
Vice
President
of
Business
Development
&
Marke=ng
Bram
leads
the
“marke2ng
of
Kobie
Marke2ng.”
He
consults
with
current
and
prospec2ve
clients
on
new
business
opportuni2es,
helping
to
develop
customer
reten2on
and
loyalty
marke2ng
strategies
and
solu2ons
that
drive
increased
reten2on
and
spend.
Following
in
the
footsteps
of
his
father,
Kobie’s
founder,
Bram
is
eager
to
con2nue
Kobie’s
vision
of
technology
and
data
analy2cs
as
enablers
of
leading-­‐edge
marke2ng
execu2ons
for
world-­‐
class
customer
loyalty
ini2a2ves.
Bram
has
consulted
with
a
wide
array
of
leading
brands
including
AMC
Entertainment,
TGI
Friday’s,
BJ’s
Restaurants,
Verizon,
Bank
of
America,
RBC,
Flagstar
Bank,
JPMC,
Sagicor,
Coca
Cola,
Cox
Enterprises,
Ruby
Tuesday,
Hawaiian
Airlines,
and
Royal
Caribbean
Cruise
Lines.
Dave
Andreadakis,
Vice
President
of
Loyalty
Strategy
Dave
is
focused
on
business
development
with
a
bent
towards
helping
clients
and
prospects
think
through
the
strategic
and
financial
aspects
of
loyalty
and
the
benefits
that
we
can
bring
from
a
strategic,
design,
analy2cal,
behavioral
and
plaYorm
basis.
Prior
to
Kobie,
Dave
led
Business
Development
for
AIMIA
and
played
a
key
role
on
the
Loyalty
Strategy
team.
His
primary
focus
was
to
understand
markets,
ensure
the
op2mal
selec2on
of
strategies
and
tac2cs
that
will
meet
the
needs
of
clients,
and
then
design
programs
that
drive
maximum
value.

26. HOW MANY FLIGHT ATTENDANTS
DOES IT TAKE TO DELIVER THE BEST
POSSIBLE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE?
Then why task your internal loyalty team
with solving your loyalty program and
technology needs? Kobie is the secretdelivering end-to-end loyalty solutions to
help your team soar.
kobie.com

27. PROVEN
RELATIONSHIPS
POWERFUL
RESULTS

28. WE ARE KOBIE
Kobie Marketing is a diverse team of loyalty
enthusiasts who are passionate and
dedicated to the day-to-day management and
long-term success of your loyalty program.
We deliver quantifiable ROI and engaging
customer experiences to increase customer
retention.
Kobie Marketing is a global leader in loyalty
marketing and an industry pioneer, delivering
end-to-end strategy, technology and program
management solutions. Kobie drives results
and ROI through Kobie Alchemy®, a best-inclass loyalty marketing technology platform.
Find out more at info@kobie.com