Featuring: Jeffrey Goh, CEO Gulf Air Group // Benjamin Lipsey, Head of Flying Blue Air France - KLM // Kristi Gole, Head of Strategy, Global Hotel Alliance // Andrea Pinna, Global SVP Loyalty Strategy, Radisson Hotel Group.
GLOJeffrey Goh, CEO of Gulf Air Group, ex-CEO Star Alliance: We have seen various loyalty programmes emerge due to the COVID crisis and we’ve also seen partnerships emerging amongst some of the loyalty programmes. This has set the foundation for what I call the loyalty ecosystem. Perhaps in 2023, we might begin to see greater cooperation between loyalty platforms and loyalty ecosystems, as opposed to single loyalty programmes. We have been experiencing “the loyalty platform” economy for many years now. The loyalty ecosystems are just a different type of loyalty platform in a way that can come together and provide even greater value to consumers and customers. We’re so used in the airline and air travel world, at least in my world, to essentially fly, earn miles, and redeem miles to fly again. But there’s a big world of loyalty out there, where we can look and explore the opportunities of accruing miles or points across different industries and sectors. And then to be able to redeem those miles and points across different sectors and different industries, not necessarily the industries or the sectors from where you’ve in fact accrued the points. This can be a very powerful proposition as to what such a platform or an ecosystem can offer to consumers and customers.
Ben Lipsey, Head of Flying Blue, Air France – KLM: Customer behaviour has changed, and loyalty programmes have to keep up. We have a constantly evolving customer base. I think there’s going to be a bigger focus on data, predictive behaviour, and on ensuring relevant marketing. Again, tapping into those emotional levers using gamification, interests, family accounts, carbon footprint etc. will help us better encompass the consumers’ day-to-day lifestyle, their spending and their purchase behaviours to create a customer-centric offering.
Kristi Gole, Head of Startegy, Global Hotel Alliance: I think the prediction is that people will be loyal again. That’s exciting to me. But also, it ties back to that earlier question. I feel like the biggest prediction is not anything revolutionary. It’s just that we’ve had several years of lack of loyalty and people are completely based on a sale or what you got in your inbox that day. So, recency was more top of mind than relationship. I feel like people have been very transient. I feel what’s exciting is that I think people will want to connect more, they’ll want to be deeper, and they’ll want more of a commitment. Again, going back to the whole aligning with what they are: the programme represents what they would fit with, they align with, then they want to know that they’re a member of that programme and they will be proud to wear it, they’ll be proud to follow it. I think that’s coming back. And for us selfishly I’m really happy because we stand for helping members experience the world. Through our recent research, we found that that’s what they want to do. We need to get the word out to you so you know about that. What we stand for is something that hopefully resonates and then that means if people are starting to be more loyal then we can get that retention back (and we haven’t had that as much in recent years but so has no one else). So, I think my biggest prediction is that people are going to start being more loyal not just because the programmes are intertwined with the business and that’s what they’re responding to, but truly the emotional loyalty, they want to be a part of something and to continue a relationship and to have that more commitment or ownership. The analogy I’ll use is if you’re renting a car, or you buy a car, you’re still using the same car and it still is taking you where you want at the end. And you might spend the same but the idea is when you own a car or perhaps even a house – if you rent or you buy – when you own it, you just feel more pride and a connection to it. You take more care of it. You’re more proud of it. There’s something, there’s an emotional step, a hurdle. And I feel like people are saying that their hotel programmes and other programmes are going to go back to what we were a few years ago where they truly had a handful that they truly always use and it’s not just “I am a member of everything and I do whatever every day”.
Andrea Pinna, Global VP Loyalty Strategy, Radisson Hotels: Rational rewards, such as air miles, points and cashback will still be valuable, but members are now looking for emotional connection. So, we are talking more and more about emotional loyalty. They want to feel that the brand aligns with how they feel about today’s issues and that it can provide money can’t buy experience, particularly in the post-pandemic era the new generation is even more sensitive on this topic. We are going to talk more and more about emotional loyalty in 2023.
