Sometimes the loyalty marketing program run by Groupe Aeroplan Inc. seems like the institution of marriage: Those who are in it love to complain, yet people still keep joining up.
These are some of the Aeroplan grievances: redemptions are a hassle; you can never get a seat when you want it; if you stop collecting points for a while, they’ll take them away from you forever. Aeroplan says these are misperceptions, which is part of the reason the company is now in the midst of its first mass market advertising campaign in more than three years.
“The last few years, we’ve seen the competitive environment really ramp up,” said David Klein, Aeroplan’s vice-president of marketing planning and program development. The company’s absence from mass media, he believes, has allowed a conversational void to form, “and that void has been filled with our competitors who are making their own competitive claims. It’s one of the reasons we felt strongly why we need to come back and set the record straight.”
There are more competitors than ever. Earlier this month, WestJet Airlines Ltd. finally announced its long-awaited loyalty program, through which travellers can