Former Starwood Hotels CEO (and ex-marketing chief at United Airlines and Hyatt) has shared some fundamental points about loyalty programs:
- Loyalty programs will spread to more industries, not contract.
- The basics are Recognize and Reward — he found that was just as true in skiing, cruise lines, and filling sports stadiums as for airlines and hotels.
- Frequent flyer programs replaced expensive, less targeted, and far less nimble forms of marketing.
The basics of recognize and reward make sense across industries. I’ve written about what happens when a blood bank runs a frequent flyer program.
Here’s another example: an on-demand medical marijuana and munchies delivery service has a rewards and referral program.
They offer:
- one point per dollar spent, redeemable from their rewards catalog
- a free eighth for participating in their refer-a-friend program
Text Mary is available throughout Southern California. You need a medical marijuana card to order, but they can help you with that too. It is, after all, a mere formality — landing in Denver this week the Prius I Ubered smelled of pot.
If Text Mary is your primary caregiver, we will happily pay for your recommendation card renewal fee
So, there’s that.
“Reefer a friend”
If you live here you realize that driving around you can smell pot everywhere. There has not been a single trip across town in the past few months that has not smelled like pot. It’s illegal to smoke and drive, but you and I both know how useless laws are at actually preventing crime. Just watch how many people don’t come to a complete stop at a stop sign or red light in Denver. The answer is nearly nobody. I do, though I’ve seen countless people get rear ended by fully stopping at stop signs or red lights. Never saw this phenomenon in several cities in NC and FL.
Seen quite a few stores here in Denver with a loyalty program. Star buds even gives you a card for their higher rewards program.