Anil Mansukhani is the Vice President of Loyalty Marketing, and Traci Mason is the Vice President of Brand Marketing at MGM Resorts. MGM Rewards, the brand’s reimagined loyalty program, was the Platinum Award winner at the 2022 Loyalty360 Awards in the Creative Campaign category.
Mansukhani oversees overall strategic management and operations for the MGM Rewards loyalty program and manages financial and loyalty partnership opportunities for the rewards program, including cobranded credit cards. Mason works in brand marketing to develop and oversee the corporate brand strategy and marketing activation with a key focus on MGM Rewards.
MGM Rewards Creative Strategy Wins Big
MGM Rewards launched earlier this year with a complete rebranding to drive awareness around the entire MGM Resorts portfolio. Most people think of MGM as the big green building on the Las Vegas Strip, but MGM Resorts has a robust collection of over 20 properties across the United States and abroad and the new loyalty brand was designed to build greater clarity around the program and its benefits.
As part of the relaunch, the MGM Rewards Wild Wild Quest sweepstakes sent members on a scavenger hunt to seek out and scan QR codes appearing on displays throughout the company’s Las Vegas resorts. The more codes captured, the more chances members had to win exclusive prizes and rewards.
MGM Takes Bet on Non-Gamers
The previous M Life loyalty rewards program appealed mainly to slot customers and was in place for ten years. While it worked well for the gaming customer base, the non-gaming customers had little incentive to join. In addition to a new name, MGM Rewards sought to appeal to a wider audience, especially luxury travelers, by expanding earning potential to non-gaming spend.
In addition to earning MGM Rewards points for gaming activity, members now earn points for hotel stays and their food and beverage spend. They can redeem those points for entertainment and retail experiences, such as spa treatments. The company actively sought customer feedback on ways to improve the original rewards program and added new benefits for its top tiered members as well as a more enhanced portfolio of benefits and ways to earn.
The tier-based rewards program adds a variety of benefits to the previous program, including rewarding both high-value players and high-value non-gamers. Tier incentives include waived resort fees, free airfare vouchers to fly to Las Vegas, generous dining credits, and other rewards that appeal to gamers and non-gamers.
Creative and Captivating Campaign
As the Platinum Award Winner for Creative Campaign at the 2022 Loyalty Awards, MGM Rewards Resorts Wild Wild Quest campaign was a standout entry. The level of consumer engagement that the brand was able to drive with the campaign really set it apart from others in the category. The team created a fun and rewarding campaign across all MGM Resorts properties that not only amplified the gamification aspect, but made it a truly immersive and engaging experience for customers.
Guests were sent on a quest to scan QR codes at all MGM Resorts properties in Las Vegas for a chance to win “The Wildest, Most Rewarding Vegas Getaway.” The QR code displays were creative and unique to each property, such as a sandcastle installation at Mandalay Bay, a floral arrangement inside the Bellagio Conservatory, a hand-painted graffiti mural at New York-New York and even temporary QR code tattoos on the “Thunder From Down Under” performers at Excalibur. This initiative was not only fun, but also informative, educating consumers that MGM Resorts was much more than just the big green namesake building. Even members who were not in Las Vegas could participate in the fun by capturing QR codes embedded in television commercials.
Guests who successfully captured the QR codes were eligible for exclusive, highly desirable prizes such as tickets to major sporting events or select Las Vegas residency shows, MGM Resorts loyalty points and upgraded Tier status. The grand prize was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience where the winner flew with a guest to Las Vegas in a private jet with entertainment superstar Usher to attend his residency show at Park MGM, as well as a stay at ARIA Sky Suites and a private cooking lesson with celebrity chef Julian Serrano among other amazing prize elements.
But the best part about the campaign wasn’t just the success measured by customer engagement. It was seeing the excitement and collaboration from the entire MGM Resorts organization. “There were so many people across so many areas of our organization who pulled this together,” says Mason. “It was fun to see everyone come together and get excited about the campaign. We really work in a pretty cool space with an amazing team.”