#213: Relaunching The Shangri-La Hotel Rewards Program

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PAULA: Hello and welcome to today’s episode, a show which is all about the relaunch of the loyalty program and proposition from the Shangri-La Group, headquartered in Hong Kong.

PAULA: This premium hotel group is known all over the world as a pioneer of Asian hospitality.

PAULA: And they recently announced some major enhancements to their loyalty program, which many of you will have known in the past as the Golden Circle program.

PAULA: Joining me today to discuss the reasons and rationale for this comprehensive relaunch, as well as some of the innovative solutions that members can now enjoy, is Kevin Siew, Vice President and Head of Shangri-La Circle.

PAULA: So, Kevin, first of all, joining me from Shangri-La in Hong Kong, welcome to Let’s Talk Loyalty.

KEVIN: Thank you, Paula, thank you very much.

PAULA: It’s a wonder to meet you.

PAULA: I have to say, certainly before COVID, Hong Kong was my favorite city in the world, Kevin.

PAULA: So, it’s a great, great place that you’re living.

KEVIN: Yeah, so you’re just gonna wait a little bit before you can visit again.

PAULA: It’s gonna take time, I get it, I get it, absolutely.

PAULA: So, you’re joining us today as head of Shangri-La Circle program, Kevin, and I know there’s been some extraordinary announcements already in terms of the evolution of the program and lots of new exciting developments coming out.

PAULA: So, we’re gonna be super excited to talk everything about the journey you’ve been on with your loyalty program.

PAULA: And even, I guess, talk about the brand maybe a little bit as well, Kevin, because we have a huge audience around the world who might know Shangri-La as well as you and I do.

PAULA: But before we get into all of that, let’s talk first of all, Kevin, about maybe a favorite loyalty program that you’d like to share with us today.

KEVIN: Sure, sure.

KEVIN: I think for me, I actually am members of quite a few loyalty programs, not just the hotel loyalty programs, F&B loyalty programs, but actually the one that I would say is my favorite so far is has got to be my credit card.

KEVIN: I have a Citibank MasterCard, a prestige MasterCard, and I’ve been using it for over 15 years now.

KEVIN: It’s actually quite rare to be using the same card, but it has good perks, instant rebates and points.

KEVIN: It has international concierge that helps set up your travel and gives you access to golf courses that you otherwise wouldn’t be able to access unless you’re a member.

KEVIN: So I mean, that was, I wouldn’t say that is out of the ordinary, but what really got me hooked was because I actually won all expenses pay holiday to New York City one time.

PAULA: Oh my goodness.

KEVIN: On the credit card.

PAULA: Oh my goodness.

KEVIN: So it was one of those dream holidays that you wouldn’t spend your own money on, but MasterCard kind of pulled out all the stops.

KEVIN: Truly a priceless experience.

PAULA: Oh my goodness.

PAULA: Well done MasterCard.

PAULA: We have to acknowledge that.

KEVIN: So that actually taught me something important, right?

KEVIN: I mean, if you can do something really out of the ordinary for your customers, you can really get the loyalty for life.

PAULA: Totally.

PAULA: Oh, you’ll never leave, Kevin.

PAULA: I can tell.

PAULA: It’s amazing.

PAULA: Yeah.

PAULA: And I suppose in an ideal world, Kevin, we’d be giving all of our members and all of our customers the all expenses paid trip to New York.

PAULA: So I guess that’s the challenge is to deliver a portfolio of benefits that we can afford and commit to on a consistent basis.

PAULA: So I’m sure you’ve been facing exactly those challenges now as you go through this.

PAULA: Are you calling it a rebrand or a relaunch of Golden Circle to the new program, Kevin?

KEVIN: Definitely a relaunch.

KEVIN: I mean, the branding is just, I would say hygiene.

KEVIN: I mean, it’s something that we’ve been wanting to do for some time, because it’s just more straightforward, because we’re known as a Shangri-La, a Shangri-La group.

KEVIN: Golden Circle has been around, wow, more than 15 years.

KEVIN: The version of the loyalty program in its current form, 10 years.

KEVIN: So people know Golden Circle, but it’s Golden Circle by Shangri-La, and it just makes sense to rebrand it to Shangri-La Circle.

KEVIN: But more so than just changing the name, the logo and the brand assets, I think we really wanted to shift the perception of it being more than just a hotel loyalty program.

KEVIN: I think that’s a big push towards helping consumers identify with the group through this platform, meaning that all their interactions, right, whether they’re at the hotel, whether they’re at F&B outlets, whether they’re shopping with us online, they’re interacting with the brand through Shangri-La Circle.

KEVIN: I think that is a big mindset shift with our consumers that we’re pushing with this relaunch.

KEVIN: So it’s the biggest change, I would say, for the group, for the program in the last 10 years.

KEVIN: Definitely right.

PAULA: Yeah, beautiful, yeah.

PAULA: And I of course did a bit of homework as well, Kevin.

PAULA: I went back to look at all of the, just the press releases and publicity about the group.

PAULA: And again, for anyone who doesn’t know, Shangri-La is very much a beautiful, premium five-star positioning as a hotel brand.

PAULA: And 50 years in operation beginning in Singapore, and I think in every major market now, I think 104 hotels, if I’m right, Kevin, yeah?

PAULA: Yeah, yeah, beautiful.

PAULA: And I really do associate that gorgeous concept of Asian hospitality.

PAULA: So I think Shangri-La has captured that and kept it as well, because I was just looking at the simplification, let’s say, of the group name as well, from Shangri-La hotels and resorts back to the simpler form of Shangri-La.

PAULA: So I love this trend of keeping the best of Asia, but making it more accessible globally, I guess, as well.

KEVIN: I think not just for Shangri-La Circle, but as a group, we really had the opportunity to really reflect on what really sets us apart from the competition, right?

KEVIN: I mean, we’re not the biggest chain, right?

PAULA: Yeah, yeah.

KEVIN: Our footprint is definitely more concentrated in Asia, but I think ultimately what we’re really known for and what we continue to build on is our Asian hospitality brand, right?

KEVIN: And I think that’s how we want to take the next 50 years.

KEVIN: I mean, we just celebrated 50 years.

PAULA: Yeah, yeah.

KEVIN: Last year and going forward for the next 50 years, I think that’s really how we see the brand as well.

PAULA: Yeah, yeah.

PAULA: And we’re obviously coming towards the end, let’s say, please God, of the global pandemic.

PAULA: I know Hong Kong and China are still going through their own versions of coping.

PAULA: And again, I think your financial report described it as two different approaches, I suppose, two tiers and two different worlds in terms of a zero tolerance policy.

PAULA: So I think it’s still quite difficult for you guys and want to acknowledge the incredible work your colleagues are doing.

PAULA: It’s actually extraordinary, what 44,000 people working for the group, isn’t it?

KEVIN: Thereabouts, yeah.

PAULA: Yeah, yeah, incredible.

PAULA: Yeah, I was looking at some of the numbers in your annual report.

PAULA: So putting you on the spot now, expecting you to know everything off the top of your head, Kevin.

PAULA: But no, I suppose the reason I was bringing it up, Kevin, was just to maybe get a sense of, I suppose, first of all, the scale of the program in terms of your membership numbers.

PAULA: As you’ve said, you’re not the biggest hotel brand in the world.

PAULA: But I would love to just get a sense of the scale of the membership of, let’s just continue with the new name, I guess, Shangri-La Circle.

PAULA: So I’d love if you could share that with the audience.

KEVIN: Sure.

KEVIN: So we have over 11 million members in the program.

KEVIN: Of which around 25% would say are pretty active members.

KEVIN: So in comparison with the industry that I would say on par, it’s not slightly better, but of course something we’re working on definitely improving.

PAULA: Constantly, yeah, yeah, absolutely, yeah.

PAULA: No, it’s an ongoing challenge, and clearly hotels are super competitive sector for loyalty.

PAULA: I always think hotels, sorry, I always think airlines invented it, and hotels caught up very quickly and really just took everything to a whole new level.

PAULA: So this current relaunch then that we’re literally starting to see coming through, I’ve seen it already on your website, for example, with the new brand name.

PAULA: And I know there’s lots of communications coming out, so it’s literally hot off the presses.

PAULA: So let’s, yeah, I’d love to just understand.

PAULA: So, you know, the previous Golden Circle program focused obviously on the classic rewards, I’d probably call them.

PAULA: So room nights, even some charity donations for example, and I think you’ve instant redemption also in your restaurant and bars already.

PAULA: Is that correct?

PAULA: Yeah, that’s correct.

PAULA: I love that.

PAULA: Yeah, love that.

PAULA: Cool.

PAULA: Okay.

PAULA: So what’s the shift?

PAULA: What’s the relaunch and what are you changing?

KEVIN: Sure.

KEVIN: So Golden Circle was really set up for Road Warriors.

KEVIN: Right.

KEVIN: If you think about it, you know, it was a traditional hotel loyalty program, earn and burn, you know, it rewards you for the number of nights or stays you have with the brand.

KEVIN: And you could really pretty much benefit if you were a corporate traveler, you travel, you know, 30, 40 nights a year with us, you know, you get status upgrades, you know, you would get benefits and so on.

KEVIN: So that was great.

KEVIN: And actually, really, that was really where the business was.

KEVIN: That’s where the opportunity was.

KEVIN: And that’s why the program was set up in that way to serve that customer.

KEVIN: But then we also realized that we have another huge opportunity, right?

KEVIN: I think in Asia, especially, we see that in the coming years, leisure travel is going to outpace business travel.

KEVIN: I mean, this was even before COVID, but I think COVID kind of accelerated that trend.

KEVIN: And as a group, we want to pivot towards having service, not just our core, we call them the current core of business or corporate travelers, but we have a huge opportunity in leisure travel as well.

KEVIN: Families, especially, occasionally a leisure traveler who comes once a year, twice a year.

KEVIN: I mean, what do they see, or what do they want to see in a loyalty program?

KEVIN: Or what do they want to see in a program that really understands and benefits them as well?

KEVIN: The entire shift from Golden Circle to Shangri-La Circle was really having this in mind, how to be more leisure customer focused, more family customer focused.

KEVIN: And so you can see the way we design it in terms of the program economics, the way we’ve simplified the earning proposition, all the changes that we’ve made by removing blackout dates.

KEVIN: But really it was with a lot of these leisure customers in mind, without obviously alienating our current core.

PAULA: Of course.

PAULA: So for example, I’ve seen the lovely family product, Kevin, from a hotel perspective.

PAULA: So I think you’ve got things like family floors.

PAULA: And again, for anyone traveling with children, that’s obviously a lovely concept.

PAULA: And I’m sure the room experience is very different.

PAULA: But just talk us through because I haven’t seen the new program as yet in terms of how can a leisure customer start to enjoy the benefits of your loyalty program?

PAULA: Because I think that the usual criticism, which I’m guessing is driving all of your changes, is if I only come maybe once a year or twice a year with my family, then there’s not enough in it for you or for us in order to earn something.

PAULA: So how are you addressing that, Kevin?

KEVIN: So that’s a good question.

KEVIN: And actually at the most fundamental level, we’re removing, for example, in terms of status upgrades, the whole idea where you need to come X number of times to our hotel in order to be, for example, a Jade or Diamond member.

KEVIN: We’re moving that as the only requirement.

KEVIN: We’re adding basically a spend requirement.

KEVIN: Basically, if you spend with us, we don’t mind you spend on stay, you can spend on F&B, you can spend on our e-commerce platform, you can buy mooncakes from us, and you can still qualify.

KEVIN: So even if you don’t even travel, even if you stay in your home city, we welcome you to come to our hotels, and we are in all the key takeaway cities, particularly in New York.

KEVIN: And you can qualify just based on that, right?

KEVIN: And in terms of redemption options, right?

KEVIN: I mean, we’ve also made it a lot more flexible to redeem your points.

KEVIN: So another criticism that we as your customers are saying, you know, I may not necessarily accumulate enough points in order to redeem my flight and so on.

KEVIN: So we’re saying, okay, you know, we have, you know, cash and point options, which are going to be implemented across all our hotels.

KEVIN: It’s currently in China only.

PAULA: Great, great, yeah, yeah.

KEVIN: And you can do it on merchandise as well, right?

KEVIN: So you can redeem it on our Shangri-La boutique, right?

KEVIN: For F&B products, for example.

KEVIN: And we’ve also added a lot more redemption options for infrequent travelers as well.

KEVIN: So these include like Amazon vultures, Apple products, more alliances and partnerships with airlines, right?

KEVIN: To swap out your miles.

KEVIN: So we’re making the value proposition a lot more attractive for infrequent customers, both on the earning proposition as well as the burning proposition.

PAULA: Wonderful, yeah.

PAULA: And I want to comment on both sides actually, Kevin, because you’ve reminded me, I was due to go to a particular hotel.

PAULA: Now it wasn’t a Shangri-La, forgive me.

PAULA: It was in the Seychelles.

PAULA: I don’t think you’ve got a property in the Seychelles.

PAULA: Well, when I was booking to go, I distinctly remember I was due to stay early December two years ago.

PAULA: So again, kind of COVID times, and there wasn’t a lot of travel obviously going on.

PAULA: But when I was confirming the hotel, they told me, I’m sorry, the whole hotel has been booked out with a family who arrived in July, and they’re taking exclusive use of our property for the foreseeable future.

PAULA: So I’m just thinking, I’m sure you wish you had that customer as every hotel would, but I think it just proves the importance of spend rather than frequency, because that was literally a family.

PAULA: And I think it was from the Middle East region, but literally they took over a whole hotel on the Seychelles for six months.

PAULA: It was unbelievable.

KEVIN: Yeah, I think it’s just a logical approach.

KEVIN: I mean, a lot of leisure customers, they may come once, but they stay a whole week.

KEVIN: Yeah.

KEVIN: And they’re more willing to, because it’s their annual family vacation, they upgrade the family streets or they look multiple streets, connecting rooms.

KEVIN: And they’re-

PAULA: Super valuable.

PAULA: Yeah.

KEVIN: Exactly.

KEVIN: And there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be recognizing and rewarding them, encouraging them to come back more often.

PAULA: Yeah.

PAULA: It really is, it really is.

PAULA: And you mentioned already, obviously COVID did accelerate all of your transformation with this relaunch.

PAULA: Was this thinking already underway, would you say, Kevin?

PAULA: Or was it something that you literally said, now that we have some thinking time, I suppose, was it triggered by COVID, would you say?

KEVIN: No, no, I wouldn’t say that.

KEVIN: I think the plans, the direction towards what we call focusing on customer lifetime value was definitely in place, I would say, 2018.

KEVIN: Okay, great, yeah.

KEVIN: And I think COVID just kind of accelerated that thinking, right?

KEVIN: Basically, a lot of projects were put on hold, expansion was obviously a lot more difficult, right, in new markets.

KEVIN: And so, as a group, we really had to take a step back to say, okay, then how can we maximize the relationship we have with our existing customers, you know?

KEVIN: People who already are familiar with the brand, people who might have covered funds, but how can we get them to come back more often?

KEVIN: How can we build a more sticky relationship with them?

KEVIN: So, if you think about, you know, the average customer, if you’re not a real warrior, you might stay at a Shangri-La or stay at a hotel, maybe once or twice, of course.

KEVIN: But if you think of it as, for example, every, if you have good content, right?

KEVIN: If you have good content, you have good reasons to follow you on social, open your app, to check out what’s trending, then maybe they’ll check up, they’ll check, they’ll basically interact with you maybe once every two weeks.

KEVIN: And then if you think about, you know, F&B products and e-commerce, right?

KEVIN: Maybe they’ll interact with you once a month, right?

PAULA: Yeah.

KEVIN: Then you think about special occasions, you know, and you have good F&B, they might come interact with you once a quarter, right?

KEVIN: So, there’s actually a lot of opportunity in the entire customer journey, right?

KEVIN: To build up the relationship, to build a much more sticky relationship with them on a bi-weekly basis, monthly basis, quarterly basis, and then builds up to that, you know, big annual stay with us, right?

KEVIN: Once or twice a year, right?

KEVIN: It could be a weekend, couples get away, and then maybe the family trip, you know, at the year end.

KEVIN: So, then you have six, seven points of interaction with the customer throughout the year, rather than just…

KEVIN: So, the whole idea of Shangri-La Circle really is with that concept in mind, right?

KEVIN: Just bringing everything to one platform, you know, social media, e-commerce, right?

KEVIN: And not just the program.

KEVIN: So, that is the direction that we’re headed in.

PAULA: And when you say e-commerce, Kevin, is that the bookings directly with the properties, or is it for the redemption side that you were talking about for the program?

KEVIN: Sorry, yeah, when I meant for e-commerce, actually it’s both, I mean, e-direct for sure.

KEVIN: I think we’re pushing e-direct in a big way.

KEVIN: That’s why all the platforms will be, we planned at the Shangri-La Circle.

PAULA: Yeah.

KEVIN: When you go to shangrila.com, you’ll see a refreshed website.

KEVIN: We go to our app, it will be another Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts app, a Shangri-La Circle app.

KEVIN: And similarly, we check the mini program.

KEVIN: So e-direct is definitely a big push, but we also are pushing our products and experiences, for you to take a piece of that home with you.

KEVIN: So this includes the F&B products I mentioned, our festive goodies, our seasonal goodies, things that you would not necessarily have to go to the hotel to physically experience, things that you can actually bring to your home as well.

KEVIN: So if you go to, say, a Marriott site, they sell mostly bedsheets, beddings, scents and things like that.

KEVIN: But fortunately at Shangri-La, we are known for F&B and we have a much stronger stronger F&B options, right?

PAULA: Proposition.

PAULA: Yeah.

KEVIN: Exactly.

PAULA: Yeah.

KEVIN: So that’s what we’re pushing as well.

PAULA: Yeah.

PAULA: I think I saw some Michelin stars mentioned as well, I think for your hotel in Paris.

PAULA: Am I right?

KEVIN: That’s right.

KEVIN: That’s right.

KEVIN: We just, our Chinese restaurant there just received every commission.

KEVIN: I think five years in a row or something.

PAULA: I forget what it was, but.

PAULA: It was actually 10 years in a row.

PAULA: I just remember.

PAULA: So again, yes.

PAULA: Yeah.

PAULA: Extraordinary because again, I mean, who doesn’t want to go and stay in the Shangri-La in Paris?

PAULA: My goodness.

PAULA: And then a Michelin star restaurant for 10 years in a row is unbelievable.

PAULA: And I love the focus, Kevin, on content.

PAULA: Is that, and actually, sorry, also wanted to compliment you because the Dubai Hotel, I was just looking at your website here in my home city.

PAULA: And there was just a lot of them talk about being an Instagrammable property.

PAULA: And that is exactly what people want when they come to Dubai.

PAULA: It’s amazing, you know?

KEVIN: Yes, it has a beautiful view of the Burj Khalifa.

PAULA: Yes, absolutely, exactly, exactly.

PAULA: So is that a strategy, then, the content piece?

PAULA: I guess it’s all about inspiring people to travel.

PAULA: Is it within the Shangri-La Circle?

KEVIN: Absolutely, absolutely.

KEVIN: So we are investing heavily in building up our own original content team, right?

KEVIN: That means less reliant on UBC and third-party content, but to really put up really good, solid, original content that really adds value to our followers and our members alike.

KEVIN: So the idea is that you can create a community from people who may or may not have stayed with you yet, but at least this is a mind-share play, right?

KEVIN: We start with the mind-share.

KEVIN: It’s really a funnel, we start with the mind-share, and then eventually move to time-share and wallet-share.

KEVIN: So just down the funnel, but for a start, just really investing in that.

PAULA: Love that.

PAULA: Yeah.

PAULA: So connecting by the sounds of it, then people who literally have a love of travel, again, leisure-focused by the sounds of it, and allowing them to have a community together so that they, I suppose, inspire each other to travel as much as your own content team.

KEVIN: Absolutely.

PAULA: Absolutely.

KEVIN: And specifically focus on, I think, Asian travel, right?

KEVIN: So focusing on Asian travel destinations and places where we may have more properties, like, for example, in Shanghai, we have six properties, four hotels, and some other non-hotel properties as well.

KEVIN: In Beijing, we have four hotels.

KEVIN: So we have some critical mass in some key Asian cities, and then we do have insider access and knowledge of some of these locations where our members and our community can benefit from.

PAULA: Yes, exactly.

PAULA: And I saw one of your lovely brands as well, the Jen Brands of Hotel, talking about co-working as well in places like the Maldives.

PAULA: So I was like, again, wow, it’s another winning combination.

KEVIN: Yeah, so yes, yes, so I actually run the Jen Brands as well, and we are positioning that obviously it’s not a luxury product, it is an upscale product for a slightly younger demographic.

PAULA: Yeah.

KEVIN: I think it’s meant to be a lot more culturally and practically relevant to a younger audience.

KEVIN: So co-working our gyms, having a lot more content, a lot more classes, a lot more interactions, and it has to be often obviously be different as well.

PAULA: And you mentioned classes, Kevin, what’s that?

PAULA: Oh, you mean gym classes and wellness, is it?

PAULA: Okay.

PAULA: Yes, yes, yes.

PAULA: Yeah, very important.

PAULA: Wonderful.

PAULA: And I also love the idea of WeChat, Kevin, is that part of your relaunch or do you already have that WeChat proposition for a while or I’d love to just learn a bit about that side?

KEVIN: Yeah, so we already have a pretty active WeChat official account.

KEVIN: Most of our Chinese hotels, well, all Chinese hotels have their own WeChat accounts.

KEVIN: We have a WeChat mini program that allows for bookings, sale of product vouchers on the WeChat mini program.

KEVIN: So it’s been a pretty active strategy for the last, I would say, three years.

KEVIN: But with the relaunch of Shangri-La Circle, we’re taking it to the next level by basically not just brand to Shangri-La Circle, but really pushing the growth and the features and functionality of the WeChat mini program.

KEVIN: To make sure that we use it as a tool for acquisition, because we know that the Chinese consumers are very, very comfortable.

PAULA: Word of mouth.

KEVIN: Exactly.

PAULA: Yes, yes, they trust each other a lot more than they trust anyone outside.

KEVIN: And social commerce is a big focus, I would say, for our China marketing team, right, in terms of acquisition and engagement, right.

KEVIN: So definitely invest a lot in the platform.

PAULA: And for anyone who hasn’t studied it and may be listening today, Kevin, my own understanding of WeChat, it’s almost like all of the social media platforms that we might use in Western markets, but all in one place in China.

PAULA: So you never have to leave one app to go to another one for a different, you know, part of your life or something else you need.

PAULA: Everything is in WeChat.

PAULA: It’s quite extraordinary how it’s been built.

KEVIN: Yeah, absolutely.

KEVIN: It’s incredible.

KEVIN: I mean, I used to travel to China quite a bit.

KEVIN: And honestly, it’s pretty impossible to get around if you don’t use WeChat.

KEVIN: Payments, orderings, you know, taking cabs, just everything.

PAULA: Yeah.

PAULA: It’s an essential part of life.

PAULA: Absolutely.

PAULA: Yeah.

PAULA: I saw even, you know, that most people don’t even carry cash anymore in China.

PAULA: It’s very much a case of WeChat is the payment mechanic for absolutely everywhere.

PAULA: And that included, for example, I saw somebody make a donation to somebody begging on the street and using at least a QR code, maybe not WeChat, but just the level of digital sophistication means it just blows my mind.

PAULA: So I love to hear about your work in China.

PAULA: So very exciting times all around, Kevin.

PAULA: And is there anything else in terms of the relaunch that I haven’t asked you about that you think is relevant and exciting for our audience listening?

KEVIN: I think one one thing that I’ve learned from this whole process, and I’ve been running this Shangri-La Circle for just over a year now, we started really from like a blank sheet of paper.

KEVIN: And I realized the biggest lesson I learned to make this a success is really it had to be win, win, win, triple, three wins, not win, win, but win, win, win.

KEVIN: Because we really had three important stakeholders in this process.

KEVIN: One was the hotels, they needed to see the true benefit of the program, bringing repeat customers to them.

KEVIN: I think a lot of times, programs top down initiatives from the corporate headquarters and a lot of hotels can pay lip service to supporting it, but they don’t see the value in it.

PAULA: It often happens.

PAULA: Yeah.

KEVIN: The second group is obviously our members, our customers, they really need to find value.

KEVIN: So like I said, we’re providing a lot of value for corporate customers, but not a lot of value for leisure customers.

KEVIN: So how to make it successful.

KEVIN: And then thirdly, the third stakeholder was the program itself, just making sure that it was sustainable.

KEVIN: Because a lot of times, you have to make trade-offs around financial viability, is it a marketing cost, is it like a cost center for the group, or is it meant to generate revenue, right?

KEVIN: So a lot of times, I think programs don’t take off or they don’t succeed really because they don’t create a win-win-win environment for all three stakeholders.

PAULA: I love it.

PAULA: I love it.

PAULA: It’s a great mindset, actually, Kevin.

PAULA: And I remember when I worked in partnerships in the start of my loyalty career, it was exactly the same, there’s no point me being delighted and even the consumer if the partner themselves aren’t happy.

PAULA: So if any one of those is not seeing it, it just doesn’t work long term and you might set something up and then it just doesn’t follow through in terms of the proposition.

PAULA: So I think that’s a really good mindset for anybody in loyalty marketing to have as a way to the ultimate success.

PAULA: So sounds like you’re well on your way.

PAULA: What other plans have you got for launch week then, Kevin?

PAULA: Just given that, you know, it’s literally happening now in the next, I guess, week or so.

KEVIN: So actually, launch week is just a start, right?

KEVIN: So we’re not putting all the activities all on the 20th of April, which is when we go live.

KEVIN: We’re actually using this as a start to obviously firstly communicate to our members that all these changes are actually going live.

KEVIN: These are the things that you can look out for, but really this is a start, right?

KEVIN: And we have it planned in broadly three phases, the first phase being in April, right?

KEVIN: Which is mostly around member communications.

KEVIN: And then moving on to June is where, May and June is where we start doing a lot of summer offers, member specific offers, member stays, member’s rates, right?

KEVIN: Just to get this hype and this enthusiasm around why it’s attractive to be a member.

KEVIN: And then the third phase is really pushing out to around August or September, right?

KEVIN: So this is around more in terms of branding and mindshare.

KEVIN: So this is where we’re letting people know that it’s not just a rewards program, it’s not just a loyalty program, there’s a lot more to offer around it, right?

KEVIN: Around the brand, the content, around celebrity endorsements, around lifestyle offerings, right?

KEVIN: So this is a larger branding conversation for the second half of the year.

PAULA: Well, I feel like we’ll have to plan another follow up conversation maybe next year, Kevin, when you’ve got a year under your belt, because I think it’s an extraordinary, I suppose, career opportunity for you.

PAULA: And I loved, by the way, Justin, passing your background in terms of having a full military career before you moved into the business world.

PAULA: So do you think that helps with your focus, I guess, in terms of delivering on this?

KEVIN: I think the first six years of my career in the military definitely helped to, it just helped me to to execute, I guess, that was really what I needed in this time.

KEVIN: There was a lot of moving parts.

KEVIN: And so I really appreciated that early in life experience.

PAULA: Absolutely.

PAULA: Yes.

PAULA: Yeah, I can imagine the training must have been extraordinary.

PAULA: So listen, Kevin, I just want to say it’s been a really fascinating conversation.

PAULA: I’m very excited for the launch of Shangri-La Circle.

PAULA: So just want to say Kevin Siew, Vice President and Head of Shangri-La Circle.

PAULA: Thank you so much from Let’s Talk Loyalty.

KEVIN: Thank you, Paula.

KEVIN: Thank you very much.

PAULA: This show is sponsored by The Wise Marketeer, the world’s most popular source of loyalty marketing news, insights and research.

PAULA: The Wise Marketeer also offers loyalty marketing training through its Loyalty Academy, which has already certified over 245 executives in 27 countries as certified loyalty marketing professionals.

PAULA: For more information, check out thewisemarketeer.com and loyaltyacademy.org.

PAULA: Thank you so much for listening to this episode of Let’s Talk Loyalty.

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