V.I.P Treatment

CENDANT

Generous Host

Currying the loyalty of leisure travelers, Cendant Corp. launched TripRewards in December. More than 6,000 hotels participate in the program, which boasts more than two million members to date.

Parsippany, NJ-based Cendant has integrated its nine hotel brands into TripRewards, including Ramada, Travelodge, Knights Inn, Villager, Wingate Inn, Howard Johnson, AmeriHost Inn, Super 8 and Days Inn. Members may elect to earn either TripRewards, airline miles or rail points for hotel stays and can check and redeem points at www.gotriprewards.com.

“This program is for everybody, not just the business traveler,” explains Peter Strebel, senior VP of sales and marketing. “Our program emphasizes the accessibility for travelers to get more at lower point levels. People who don’t travel frequently earn enough points to get a free hotel stay or other offerings.”

The points-based program, handled by Detroit-based Campbell-Ewald, is designed to drive hotel business by attracting first-time guests and building existing consumer loyalty. The program’s “open earn” structure allows members to earn points both by staying in Cendant-franchised hotels and by purchasing partner products and services at more than 50 retail locations.

“We expect this number to grow as we enter peak travel months and as we launch marketing and advertising,” says Strebel.

Marketing efforts, which began in February and run through April, include TV spots, print and Internet-based ads touting the program’s new slogan: “TripRewards: It’s fun to get more.” Over two million direct mail pieces will be sent out over the 12-week campaign. The campaign will also employ e-mail messaging as well as online advertising on AOL, MapQuest and Yahoo. Cendant’s nine hotel Web sites will also promote TripRewards and logos have been added to all local advertising, rack cards and promotion literature at participating hotels.

A “Snooze and Choose” sweepstakes runs through April and is designed to both activate existing TripRewards members and acquire non-members. Guests can enter to win one of 10 prizes valued at $5,000 a piece each time they book a hotel stay online or refer a friend. Non-members are automatically enrolled in the program.
— Lorin Cipolla

NINTENDO

GAMERS SCORE REWARDS

Activating its vast consumer database, Nintendo of America added a loyalty program to its redesigned Web site. Die-hard fans are rewarded for site participation, feedback and product registration.

“With the re-launch of our new Web site in late 2003, we were looking for a new way to reward our loyal fans,” explains Beth Llewelyn, spokesperson for Nintendo. “Over the past 10 years we’ve had a lot of interaction with our fans.”

Since the November launch, traffic to www.nintendo.com has almost doubled. The site received over 60 million hits in January, up from 35 million in October.

“The new Web site will enable us to further strengthen our relationships with our valued customers,” says Dan Owsen, Nintendo’s online manager. “A higher level of feedback provided by our fans will give us a better view of what our fans want, which will help us tailor future marketing campaigns, customer service outreach and even new products to meet their needs.”

The bottom tier of membership, My Nintendo, is offered to all visitors that provide e-mail and home addresses to the site. Since November, several hundred thousand fans have signed up to participate in surveys, forums and subscribe to e-newsletters.

The second level of membership, NSiders, requires registration of at least one Nintendo product. Access is granted to hidden game content, cheat codes and other rewards. Currently more than 125,000 NSiders have registered over 300,000 products.

Pinnacle status is awarded to NSiders that provide frequent feedback. NSiders may be offered Sage membership, which grants access to premium content, forum moderation and the chance to test new games and initiatives.

“We want to build up our fan base and get information out to them,” says Llewelyn. “This is a great way to expand our marketing effort and is in an initial stage.”

In the future, Nintendo plans to distribute VIP passes and offer exclusive sweeps and contests to My Nintendo members.

The program is currently marketed across the Nintendo.com Web site. New games such as, Mario Party 5 and 1080 Avalanche are being packaged with registration cards complete with PIN numbers directing consumers to the site.
— Lorin Cipolla

PHILADELPHIA EAGLES

In the Fan Zone

The Philadelphia Eagles had a happy problem going into 2002: The NFL team had maxxed out season ticket sales, and yet fans were eager for more. The franchise’s front office realized it had an opportunity to draw its most ardent fans closer, and turned to RealTime Media, a relationship marketing agency based in Wynnewood, PA, for a game plan.

Beginning with the premise that the season ticket holders were a V.I.P. group who deserved special treatment to keep the team top of mind, the agency developed Sunday Game Plan. This e-newsletter, with post-game analyses, exclusive player interviews, commentary by high-profile sports writers and team management, is sent to fans every Thursday. “We wanted to get a jump on the coverage from other sources,” explains John Hopper, CEO of RealTime.

“Our fans are adamant about finding out the latest information on the team as soon as it becomes available; we’ve found that e-mail and Web-based communications allows us to quickly disseminate important news,” agreed Molly Mullady, director of new business development for the Eagles.

Begun with a database of 25,000 ticket holder names, Sunday Game Plan now goes out to some 200,000 fans as the second season of the newsletter wraps up, in part due to a strong friend-tell-a-friend component. Still invitation only, the e-newsletter is not interactive — yet. Hopper says his development team has discussed introducing streaming audio and video elements in the future.

Game Plan has “legs” in the off-season, Hopper says, especially when the team has had a good year.

While building fan loyalty with insider news, the e-newsletter has also become a revenue generator, via licensed team-branded merchandise offers and fan rewards programs. And in 2003, the Pennsylvania Lottery signed on for an undisclosed sum as the title sponsor of Sunday Game Plan. The Lottery promotes the e-newsletter on its own Web site and includes quick links to a subscription form. The relationship was originally exclusive, but additional sponsorships are now under development.
— Kathleen Joyce

UNITED AND SONY

MAKING MUSIC TOGETHER

United Airlines is looking for new ways to bring value to its most loyal customers. Sony Corp. of America is seeking an audience for its new Internet music service, Connect, debuting this spring. It didn’t take long to seal a deal.

Sony gains access to a huge audience, 44 million members enrolled in United’s Mileage Plus loyalty program that will receive promotions about the service through e-mail and member statements.

For United, music downloads add another dimension to its loyalty program, frequented largely by business travelers with lots of kids.

“We believe in the power of this currency to create more everyday redemption options that will make the program more valuable and interesting to our members,” says Dave Keenan, VP-UAL Loyalty Services for UAL Corp. “Music is such a big part of everyone’s life.”

At the Connect Web site, users will be able to purchase and download 500,000 tracks of music from major companies as well as independent labels. Singles will sell for 99 cents and albums can be downloaded for $9.95. Sony will also showcase its devices to store the music, the impetus for launching the business since the sale of downloaded music generates little profits.

Mileage Plus members can either earn or burn miles.

Members earn miles by buying music or Sony products available at the Web site — developed and maintained by Sony — or from the Sony Style online and offline stores. The site will be housed within United’s Mileage Plus Web site, accessible to members only. Sony Connect’s main site resides at www.connect.com.

To burn miles, members redeem miles earned by flying, shopping or using the Mileage Plus Visa card for music tracks and products. Members are expected to get some perks not available to the general public, such as not being required to pay a subscription fee to download music.

Members can also send gifts of music tracks or create “stored value accounts” that can be accessed by children or family and friends.

“Even though the mom or the dad is doing the flying, the benefit can be received by the entire family,” Keenan says.

The deal may also help compete against illegal file sharing.

“We’re providing consumers with an alternative to paying for music,” says Jay Samit, general manager of Connect, Santa Monica, CA.

A major consumer launch is planned with TV, print, radio, cross-promotions and events featuring major recording artists.
— Patricia Odell

UPROMISE

Promises to keep

Upromise is now in its fourth year of channeling rebates into college-savings accounts with its loyalty marketing service.

Its membership roster has grown to 4.4 million members from 3.5 million last summer. The number of participating grocery and drug stores continues to rise, as do the number of packaged goods companies — now up to 36, including relative new-comers Pillsbury, Land O’Lakes, Dannon and Energizer. Under the now-well-known formula, members earn “scholar dollars” by making purchases from participating brands, ringing up anywhere from 1% of the retail price on a box of Kellogg’s cereal to up to $3,000 for buying or selling a home through Coldwell Banker.

Whirlpool, which joined as a partner in April 2003, couldn’t be happier with the results it has seen. But do the benefits add up as quickly for members?

About 8,200 major appliances have been purchased from Whirlpool by Upromise members and it has contributed just over $130,000 in scholar dollars to the program. Members can earn $5, $15 or $35 depending on the Whirlpool product they purchase.

“I’m very pleased with [the program], and now you have a pretty high bar set and the hopes only get bigger or better,” says Ericka Wietecha, brand manager of Whirlpool Fabric Care.

Whirlpool, like all partners, pays a fee to participate in the program, handles rebates and commits to a marketing schedule.

The company gets the word out about Upromise via e-mails and displays the Upromise logo and a “register here” button prominently on its Web site’s home page. Whirlpool will conduct its second contest this summer with a $20,000 scholarship prize to be deposited into the winner’s Upromise account. An in-store promotion that starts this month offers cash back on purchases or a cash back equivalent to be put into a Upromise account.

Members who are diligent about buying products offered by participating companies are certain to see their accounts grow, but it can be challenging. At one Stop & Shop supermarket visited by a reporter, store brands were often lower in price than the Upromise partner brands. Several items were out of stock and others weren’t available at that store. Some products could not readily be identified as Upromise brands, while others were flagged with Upromise stickers on shelf liners below the product. Ten items — including Aquafresh toothpaste, Mueller’s spaghetti, Skippy peanut butter, Welch’s grape jelly, Kellogg’s cereal and Glad sandwich bags — totaled $34.89, producing $3.78 in Upromise savings. Upromise refuses to disclose the average value of member accounts.

David Rochon, Upromise’s senior VP, said focus groups did not raise concerns that the money didn’t add up fast enough.

“Whether you’re saving $2,000, $300 or $30, every customer said, ‘It’s money I wouldn’t already have,’” he said.

Last year, Upromise began a program whereby members can contribute their own money to a college savings account and have the rebates rolled in if they so choose.
— Patricia Odell

VISA

FREEBIES FOR ALL

Betting against the fact that nothing in life is free, Visa USA launched its Visa Extras program in January. “Finding Free Stuff’ has been the premise of the new loyalty program that rewards both consumers and small-business owners.

“We are trying to create a rewards program that targets cardholders for everyday spending,” says Lori Teranishi, VP-product development for Visa. “You don’t have to be a big spender or frequent traveler to earn rewards with this program.”

Two sweeps kicked off in February and run through the end of April. The “Your Wishes” sweeps prompts consumers to enroll their current Visa card in Extras to be qualified to win a choice of $2,500 or one million Extras points. Each purchase with an enrolled Visa is an automatic entry in the “Key to the Vault” sweeps to win $25,000.

A TV spot “Finding Free Stuff,” created by BBDO West, San Francisco, debuted in January. The integrated campaign includes TV spots, online and print ads that debut in April.

“The messaging in the marketplace picks up on the notion that you can go about what you’re doing now and you will be rewarded,” says Diane Salmon, VP-marketing services for San Francisco-based Visa.

New and existing cardholders may enroll in the program online at www.visa.com/visaextras, and are rewarded one point for every dollar spent.

The program offers more than 100 rewards from Visa’s brand partners including Amazon.com, Gap, Marriott, Staples and Starbucks. Members may choose to redeem points frequently for everyday rewards or accrue their points and redeem them for higher value rewards.

Visa research indicates that 76% of small business owners are interested in rewards. Extras allows consumers to combine points from their business, personal and check cards with this single rewards program.
— Lorin Cipolla