Colloquy announces 2010 Loyalty Award winners
A number of major US-based brands in finance, retail and travel, including Citi, Godiva, U.S. Bank, RecycleBank and Hyatt, have been named winners of the first Colloquy Loyalty Awards which were created to honour the most effective and customer-focused loyalty initiatives in North America.
The awards were voted upon by the publication's subscribers, with winners being selected from a group of three finalists in four loyalty categories.
A fifth category recognised the 'Master of Enterprise Loyalty': the company whose corporate-wide loyalty strategy most improved both financial and customer performance.
The winners were:
- Master of Enterprise Loyalty Award Citi, for its ThankYou Network. Voters chose Citi for the robustness of its loyalty strategy. The ThankYou Network rewards customers for doing what they normally do, like paying bills online, using their credit card or having direct deposit. The programme spans the entire Citi enterprise, allowing customers to earn points on credit card use, by shopping at Citi's online mall, or through a Morgan Stanley Smith Barney account. Members can redeem rewards for cash, gift cards or at such sites as Amazon, they can donate their points to charity, or they can use them toward mortgage payments. ThankYou membership rose to 12 million from 5 million in 2004.
- Loyalty Innovation in Financial Services Award US Bank and its US Bank FlexPerks Visa card. US Bank was selected for its pioneering approach to overcoming the challenge of losing significant membership to an industry merger. US Bank launched FlexPerks after its carrier partner, Northwest Airlines, merged with Delta Air Lines and moved its credit card business to American Express. US Bank designed a suite of FlexPerks Visa products that would answer the unmet needs of credit card customers, with features ranging from no blackout dates to baggage fee allowances. Under the plan, US Bank exceeded its retention rate goal by more than 50%. It also beat its email penetration rate goal by 46%.
- Loyalty Innovation in Retail Award Members picked Godiva for creating a sensible loyalty initiative (the Godiva Chocolate Rewards Club) that is integrated and highly data driven - yet simple and straightforward. The programme was developed to track customers no matter which channel they shop, while also training employees on programme benefits. The rewards are sweet indeed: More than 2 million shoppers have signed up for Godiva's Chocolate Rewards Club since May 2009, and more than half of its sales are associated with the loyalty account. Best of all, the average loyalty sales transaction is 20% higher than non-loyalty transactions.
- Loyalty Innovation in Travel/Hospitality Award Hyatt Hotels and Resorts won with Hyatt Gold Passport's 'The Big Welcome Back'. Voters applauded Hyatt's creativity in crafting a loyalty programme that put member rewards into the hands of its staff, and during a down economy. Hyatt anchored its Hyatt Gold Passport in one key idea: Offer big generosity at a time when guests needed it most. This ranged from free Internet service to suite upgrades. But Hyatt took it a step further and empowered employees to lavish guests with complimentary services such as dinner, laundry or a massage. Members checked it out and then they checked in: Overnight visits among Diamond members rose 41% in 2009 over 2008.
- Innovation in Loyalty Marketing Award Social responsibility was the key for voters choosing RecycleBank. The programme is designed to encourage people to recycle by awarding points redeemable at more than 2,600 retailers, restaurants, grocers, and more. Participants simply put tracking devices on their recycle bins and trucks retrofitted with RecycleBank technology collect the waste. The weight of those recyclables is converted into RecycleBank Points. Since 2005, participating communities have salvaged almost 300,000 tons of material, helping to save close to 131 million litres of oil and 4.2 million trees. Municipalities participating in the programme have saved millions of dollars in landfill diversion fees.
"Attaining enterprise loyalty means unlocking the potential of a company's greatest asset: its customer data. It represents an evolution from viewing loyalty as a narrow functional task for the marketing department into a pursuit throughout the entire enterprise to transform the consumer experience," said Colloquy managing partner Kelly Hlavinka.
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