Air Miles to Help Others Manage Loyalty Programs
Posted by Ajay Kelkar on Sun, Apr 26, 2009
Airmiles, the rewards program owned by British Airways, is launching a new company devoted to managing white label loyalty programs for other businesses.
It is interesting to see how the core proposition of a Loyalty program,which is to enable "profitable growth from loyal customers" can get quickly re directed to an entirely new business model. Why would a business transfer its core strategic diffrentiator on a platform and make it available to others?
The Mileage Company, which went public this week, will run the existing Airmiles program and British Airways' frequent flier program, BA Miles. Andrew Swaffield, managing director of The Mileage Company feels that since the recession has really started to bite around the world, loyalty points are more valuable to customers, and loyalty schemes are more valuable to businesses who are looking for ways of keeping customers loyal and ensuring they don't lose them to the competition.
The Mileage Company will use some major lessons gleaned from 20 years in the business to drive strategy for its new clients. It will stick to the tenets that successful reward schemes must be simple and consistent, with rewards that are attainable. The Mileage Company will use its particular expertise in the travel arena to woo new clients from that industry. Retailers and service providers also have shown interest in working with the company, Swaffield said, particularly those with higher-income customers. Airmiles' recent success could help encourage new clients to climb aboard with The Mileage Company.
See what Lauren Bell has to say about ‘Airmiles to help others manage loyalty programs'.
http://www.dmnews.com/Airmiles-to-help-others-manage-loyalty-programs/article/130696/