Client: Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide (White Plains, NY)
Client: Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide (White Plains, NY)
PR Team: McKay Public Relations (Boston)
Campaign: Starwood Preferred Guest loyalty program launch
Time Frame: November 1998 - June 1999
Budget: dollars 500,000
What good is a hotel loyalty program if no one understands how it works?
And aren’t they all the same?
These were some of the issues Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide faced
when it developed a loyalty program for its six brands - St. Re-gis
Luxury Collection, Four Points, Caesars, W Hotels, Westin and
Sheraton.
Through research, Starwood discovered that 70% of frequent guest program
members never redeem points for a hotel stay because they feel it is
time-consuming and restrictive. In addition, more than 33% aren’t
working toward any specific award because they don’t know how the
program works and they are often unaware that points can be swapped for
frequent flyer miles.
Strategy
McKay Public Relations was charged with differentiating Starwood’s
loyalty program from those created by Marriott, Hilton and Hyatt. All
messages had to drive home its benefits and position it as the most
generous, accessible and rewarding loyalty program in the lodging
industry. Starwood also wanted to reduce cynicism about hotel loyalty
programs and to enroll 175,000 new members in its first quarter. As part
of the effort, McKay dreamed up a Starwood Preferred Guest Celebrity
Suitcase Auction.
Tactics
Starwood developed a Preferred Guest press kit, which was translated
into 13 languages, and compared how its program stacked up against
competitors in areas such as the number of properties owned, ’fastest
way to a free night’ and ’easiest way to a free flight.’ Starwood topped
competitors in 90% of the categories, according to Colleen Turner,
director of account services for McKay.
The agency pitched an exclusive to The Wall Street Journal, focusing on
the idea that this program is upping the stakes of the loyalty program
game.
On February 3, the company held a press conference for the travel and
business press to announce the program. In the following three months,
more than 120 similar ’launch’ events took place at Starwood cities such
as Sydney, Tokyo and Cairo.
But the highlight of the campaign was the Celebrity Suitcase Auction,
held at the W Hotel in New York on June 16. McKay solicited autographed
travel bags from celebrities and landed 38 items, including a fanny pack
from Ricky Martin and a make-up bag from Madonna. The auction would
benefit Starwood’s new StarGift charity, which provides travel and
lodging assistance to nonprofit groups such as UNICEF.
Results
The day before the launch, an advanced story ran on the cover of the
Marketplace section of The Wall Street Journal. More than 100 reporters
attended the press conference, contributing to the more than 6.5 billion
media impressions that Starwood Preferred Guest has generated. USA Today
named the Starwood program the number one loyalty program in the
country.
Total enrollment averages 50% above anticipated figures, topping one
million new members worldwide in its first four months.
The Celebrity Suitcase Auction drew about 500 attendees and 250 bidders
live, phone, absentee and online (through eBay). All items sold, raising
more than dollars 20,000 in less than one hour, and garnering more than
350 million global media impressions.
Due to the PR campaign, ’more press has been given to hotel loyalty
programs this year than in the past five years combined,’ says Hoyt
Harper, Starwood’s SVP of business development and marketing
programs.
Future
Harper says Starwood will continue to draw direct comparisons between
its loyalty program and its competitors’. He also says it will continue
to develop the charitable aspect of the program to ensure that Starwood
remains a ’good corporate citizen.’
