Hoteliers Trade Barbs on Miles, Freebies

Brandweek, March 27, 2000 by Mike Beirne

Hotel loyalty programs are getting a higher profile in the battle for travelers with Marriott International and Hilton launching spring ad campaigns, Hyatt looking to be more aggressive with Golden Passport and Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide contemplating a guerrilla effort for Starwood Preferred Guest.

Marriott is rolling a print campaign from Lowe Lintas & Partners, N.Y., on a Daily Double promotion for 12 million member Marriott Rewards, which stretches across nine brands. It offers double points to members paying with Visa starting with their second stay to June 30. Buys include major newspapers, weeklies and monthlies, with spending likely under $5 million.

Hilton's $16 million effort via FCB Worldwide, Costa Mesa, Calif., prominently features the ampersand in "Points & Miles" to tout HHonor's unique Double Dip feature--earning hotel and airline freebies for the same stay. Hilton wants to double its roughly 2 million program now that former Promus brands Doubletree, Embassy Suites, Homewood Suites and Hampton Inn have joined in (Brandweek, Jan. 31).

Hyatt's new vp-marketing, Bruce Mainzer, is jumping on marching orders "to turn up the volume" on ads and branding efforts. Among his first projects: develop a Golden Passport strategy to raise awareness among non-members. Starwood, parent of Sheraton and Westin, is mulling street marketing to boost its year-old Preferred Guest plan, growing at 4.5 million members.

The loyalty skirmishes are intensifying since Marriott in February began comparing its Rewards with Starwood after the latter's Preferred Guest won five of nine awards for top hotel program from InsideFlyer magazine.

But the battles may be for naught, cautioned one expert.

"The hotel programs are all the same," said Rick Barlow, chairman of Frequency Marketing, Cincinnati. "No one has developed a compelling membership benefit in the last 12 years."

The breakout program, he contends, will issue customized offers to members rather than generics. "Just ask. The fact that I go to L.A. and attended seven film festivals should tell a marketer a lot about me," he said.