Best Western International will make 10 of its Best Western Rewards program members “Loyalty Millionaires” by awarding them 1 million bonus points during a five-week period ending July 14. Two members will be selected each week.
Consumers can sign up for the free program and become eligible for the promotion by registering on the Loyalty Millionaire tab on the brand's Facebook page.
What can 1 million Best Western Rewards points be redeemed for?
Best Western Rewards members will have more than 60 redemption options starting at 8,000 points --including free hotel nights, and retail gift cards like Starbucks, Target, Home Depot and Amazon.
Tammy Lucas, Managing Director, Marketing Programs at Best Western, told Loyalty 360 that the concept of Loyalty Millionaire was created from a question that many Best Western employees pondered about winning the lottery: What would you do with your winnings?
“We thought it would be interesting to open up that question to our social media community to get them thinking and engaged,” Lucas said. “Consumers join loyalty programs like Best Western Rewards to rack up points for future use, and the Loyalty Millionaire concept is a good way to introduce a discussion about the endless possibilities.”
The BWR program has always offered its members options and choices that make the redemption process unique to each member, but communicating the many available redemption opportunities is often challenging, Lucas explained.
“This promotion aims to start conversation and communication to new and existing members about the many available rewards that can be redeemed with points,” Lucas added.
The question of “What would you do with a million points?” has already sparked tremendous conversation among Best Western’s Facebook fans, Lucas said.
“Some fans are steadfast that a million points would buy them a trip of a lifetime, whereas other fans think that redeeming through partner retailers is the way to go,” she said. “The conversation around what trips can be taken or what electronics, gift cards, and/or consumer goods can be redeemed with a million points is an exciting conversation for many of our fans.”
The points do not expire and can be redeemed for more than 60 items, including global FREE room nights, starting as low as 8,000 points, the Best Western Travel Card, gas cards, dining, shopping, and entertainment gift cards, and airline rewards.
Winners can use the points on one item or through various redemption options. For example, one Best Western Rewards member recently converted a large number of points into Sears gift cards, and then used them to buy a tractor, Lucas explained.
“Someone else may want free room nights and a combination of Starbucks and Exxon/Mobile gift cards for an upcoming road trip,” she said. “There is an endless number of options to choose from.”
Feedback from the promotion has been overwhelmingly positive. We are seeing excitement and greater awareness around the rewards program and our fans on Facebook are generally very engaged in the conversation about points. We are also re-engaging with existing BWR members about upcoming redemptions, and through a unique signup process within Facebook, we have been able to bring new customers into the rewards program for the first time.
Lucas said the goals of Loyalty Millionaire are simple, but highly valuable to Best Western Rewards:
· Find a new and exciting way to communicate with customers about redemption.
· Engage current BWR members in a conversation about the exciting rewards available to them.
· Acquire new BWR members into the program with knowledge about redemption and rewards.