Paula: Welcome to Let’s Talk Loyalty, an Industry podcast for loyalty marketing professionals. I’m Paula Thomas, The Founder of Let’s Talk Loyalty. Today’s episode is hosted by Tom Peace, Managing Director of the Loyalty People, a strategic consultancy with a laser focus on loyalty, CRM and customer engagement.
The Loyalty People also runs a free global community for anyone working in the loyalty industry. If you are working in loyalty marketing, make sure to join Let’s Talk Loyalty every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday to hear the latest ideas from loyalty experts around the world.
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Tom: Hi, I’m Tom Peace, Managing Director of the Loyalty People and presenter of Let’s Talk A Little Loyalty. Welcome to this week’s short summary show. In this week’s episode of Let’s Talk A Little Loyalty, I’ll be showcasing the original podcast hosted by Paula Thomas, where she’s joined by Kim Hardaker, Managing Director of the Etihad Guest Program, who shares the latest ideas and insights from one of the travel industry’s leading reward programs.
We all know very well that Etihad Guest is a world leader in airline loyalty, renowned for delivering innovative ideas that delight members and make them feel like royalty. Through this summary show, I’ll provide a summary of what’s included in the proposition to support the airline sustainability goals and a world first idea that celebrated the reopening of Australia’s borders post pandemic.
It’s always a pleasure to discuss a brand that has customer experience at the very heart of their strategy and who really understand that this is a very powerful way to drive long-term loyalty and a strong emotional connection. Kim is clearly very passionate about the brand experience within a loyalty program, and this is often forgotten in many programs where we as managers tend to focus on the data, the rewards, and the personalization.
Etihad Guest also covers all these elements, but the customer experience is also so very good that Etihad stands out against other airlines and drives customer loyalty through the brand identity. Kim talks us through the amazing campaign that Etihad Guest ran to celebrate their reopening of Australian air travel following the pandemic, which also coincided with the 15 year anniversary of Etihad flying to Australia.
Etihad Guest invited their Australian members for a free four night holiday in Abu Dhabi and to enter members had to submit 25 words on why they would like to visit Etihad Guest in their hometown. As Kim says in the original show, the initiative behind this activity was thoughtfulness and around a hundred people and their partners were able to enjoy this hospitality.
I think this is a really wonderful initiative and not only is this an extremely generous offer, but this is also very engaging for the member base and creates a huge brand marketing opportunity for Etihad. Kim also goes on to talk about Etihad push towards ESG considerations through their Conscious Choices program that offers customers 18 ways to reduce their carbon footprint when flying.
Environmental benefits are becoming very prominent parts of loyalty programs and Etihad are right to engage customers, but brands need to be very careful not to greenwash this issue as this can easily backfire. For an airline, this is very tough. The carbon emissions from air travel are extreme, so Etihad need to position this carefully.
The benefits though of even small changes can be very significant, and this is the focus of the Conscious Choices Program, which works really well for flyers. I have really enjoyed reviewing this podcast because I’m a big fan of airline loyalty programs, and Etihad and Kim are really getting it right in my humble opinion.
I had highly recommend listening to the main show, which can be found at www.letstalkloyalty.com, and first aired on the 8th of June, 2022. Episode number 233. Thanks for listening. I hope you enjoyed my summary show all the best, and speak to you soon. Tom.
Paula: This show is sponsored by The Wise Marketer. The world’s most popular source of loyalty marketing news, insights, and research. The Wise Marketer also offers loyalty marketing training through its Loyalty Academy, which is already certified over 500 executives in 38 countries as certified loyalty marketing professionals.
For more information, check out thewisemarketer.com, and loyaltyacademy.org.
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