2011 COLLOQUY Loyalty Awards
InterContinental Hotels Group 
Award: Loyalty Innovation in Travel/Hospitality (International)
Initiative: Elite Diamond Club Marketing Relationship Program
When InterContinental Hotels Group decided to polish and perfect their Elite Diamond Club Loyalty Program in Latin America, they did it with one person in mind. The Executive Assistant (EA) - gatekeeper to more profitable B2B executives.
It started with a makeover of their online presence to improve ease of use, to align website content with information every EA would want to know, and prompted a more personal approach and show of respect for the EA by arranging one-on-one time with hotel sales coordinators. An excellent opportunity to gain a better understanding of the EA's needs and wants, and to articulate the rewards and benefits which the Elite Diamond Club Loyalty Program could offer.
New technologies were developed to allow EAs to monitor their loyalty points online, view relevant promotions and messages targeted to their profile, and more. Community engagement was encouraged too, resulting in nearly 3,000 users actively accessing the online community per month with rich comments that helped spread the word about InterContinental's programs and services.
Results: Refinements made to the Elite Diamond Club Loyalty Program in 2010 contributed to an increase in sales, additional consumption in services, and a record number of customer visits to the website. To quantify, sales have increased by 320% with 28% from catering and 262% from room nights.
See InterContinental Hotels Group's award entry.
See COLLOQUY's September 2011 issue for more on 2011 COLLOQUY Loyalty Award winners and finalists.
