To subvert the disappointing industry trend of lackluster and complex hotel loyalty programs, the Wyndham Hotel Group has just announced a revolutionary new program that is easy to understand, provides valuable and attainable rewards, and is accessible to everyone. It’s the new Wyndham Rewards, and on May 11, 2015, it will be launching with the tagline, “You’ve Earned ThisTM.”
Loyalty360 was excited to get an inside look into the new Wyndham Rewards by discussing the details with Noah Brodsky, VP of Worldwide Loyalty and Engagement for Wyndham Hotel Group.
What makes Wyndham Rewards so exciting?
Brodsky: We heard, just over and over again from our guests, that most loyalty programs are just so complicated, that they don’t get it, and when they do think they get it, the program’s changed and devalued so quickly. So we are coming out with a program that is revolutionary in its simplicity.
What can you tell us about the details of the program?
Brodsky: There are three components. The first, and most important, is what we call the “Go Free” award. For 15,000 points you get a free night at any Wyndham Rewards hotel in the world. No blackouts. No restrictions. That’s over 7,500 hotels within 15 brands and 70 countries. It’s a free night for one single, simple, understandable redemption rate.
The second part is on the earnings side. It’s still 10 points per dollar, but now we guarantee a 1,000-point minimum per stay. So you know exactly what you are going to get. You can do the math really quickly to figure out how many stays it’s going to take to get that free night anywhere.
The third component is called “Go Fast” and that’s for people who want to use their points even more quickly. “Go Fast” only requires 3,000 points plus some cash for a reward night. So if you have a bunch of points and you want to extend your trip longer, you can use it. We’ve focused our points plus cash program to make all of our hotels, especially those on the value-oriented side, much more accessible.
Beyond the great value proposition, what makes Wyndham Rewards so unique?
Brodsky: What’s so incredible is that as you drive across the country, or on a family trip, you can stay at our brands all up and down the interstates of America, and all across the world. Then you can redeem those points at any of our amazing resorts, any time of the year. And that’s where we think this is such a game changer. Everyone else is making their upscale products and their peak times the most expensive and the most unattainable. We are doing the exact opposite.
So now you can easily redeem at our resorts in Puerto Rico or Orlando, or popular hotels in New York or Chicago, with stays at our great value-oriented properties, such as Super 8 and Days Inn.
Considering the difficulties in the marketing landscape today, how do you create such profound customer engagement?
Brodsky: This is a program built for the masses. It really does democratize loyalty. Because even if you aren’t a heavy traveler, you still get this incredible benefit, which is easy access to our upscale properties across the world. Nobody else does that. Others have made it so that you have to be a super user to earn enough points to actually redeem for something valuable.
How do you think your competitors will react? Often when one changes something, it creates kind of a landslide of others following along.
Brodsky: We looked at this trend of point devaluation and we decided that we couldn’t do that if we wanted to differentiate ourselves. In the past, we knew that we weren’t the strongest program out there. But we want to be. And in order to be a real game-changing program, we wanted to do something that is incredibly innovative and, frankly, very difficult to copy. We have a really unique portfolio, we have the most hotels in the world, very broad distributions, and a great mix of value-oriented brands and upscale resorts in major cities. So we have a product that we think no one else can match and a really powerful value proposition.
There is so much data now and it is very tough to create simplicity. How do you respond to customer feedback in such a complex industry?
Brodsky: Some of the people in our focus group said, “There are just so many tricks.” And we really latched onto that phrase. We have been determined to create a program that has no tricks, that is transparent and straight forward, and has a very clear value proposition. It can be explained in a couple of seconds, whether it’s with a guest at the front desk or even with your friends. We believe that is the cornerstone of making a great loyalty program and that is what the consumers are looking for.
About the Author: Mark Johnson
Mark is CEO & CMO of Loyalty360. He has significant experience in selling, designing and administering prepaid, loyalty/CRM programs, as well as data-driven marketing communication programs.