A loyalty programme revamp involving a wizard and a blue thread has had measurable benefits

After conducting quantitative and qualitative research Wyndham soon found that its loyalty programme was driving anything but loyalty. Instead the perception was that hotel chains were trying to trick guests by making it intentionally difficult to redeem points.

With 15 very different hotel brands under the Wyndham umbrella, tying the programme together was tricky. Among the steps it took were to:

• Simplify and democratise points’ redemption (eg. 15,000 points  = free room night at any destination)

• Create a central character to promote the brand story  – a wizard in the form of Game of Thrones actor Kristofer Hivju –

• Develop a centralised loyalty app that connected the dots between all Wyndham brands

Hear from Wyndham’s Whitney Smith Cripe, Senior Director, Loyalty Marketing and Miguel Oliviera, Vice President, Global Digital Commerce about how they did it.

Since launching the programme a year ago the results have been impressive:

• 5 million new Wyndham rewards members (the programme is now just short of 50 million members)

• 70% increase in free night redemptions

• 900% increase in social engagement

• 9.5 million video views of a range of conent  

• 11 major industry awards

Missed Miami? Why not join us at TDS North America on October 6 – 7, 2016