I find quite a bit of LoyaltyLobby's content to be very "me me me" and ego-stroking, but I tend to agree with a lot of the criticism towards IHG and have some of my own:
- To start, I rather like some of IHG's brands. I grew up looking up to the Regent brand, spent a lot of time in InterContinental and Crowne Plaza hotels around the world due to my family's travels, and I am very attracted to the Kimpton portfolio from the design and offerings perspectives. Heck, even Hotel Indigo is shaping up from a conversion brand into a convincing design-driven upper-upscale product. With the Regent and Six Senses acquisitions, and the tie-up with Mr. and Mrs. Smith, I think IHG can offer a very distinctive premium portfolio to round out their strength in the midscale segment.
- That being said, the loyalty program itself [in my eyes] is weak, unappealing and convoluted:
- Looking comparatively at upper-/top-end statuses across the board, Hyatt Globalist is achieved at 60 nights, Hilton Diamond at 60 and Marriott Platinum/Titanium at 50/75. Spire Elite is typically achieved at 75, which would put you at the top with Hyatt and Hilton, and at Titanium with Marriott... yet you don't qualify for upgrades up to standard suites, get executive lounge access, guaranteed late check-out or breakfast like you do with IHG's competitors.
- The typical structure of Gold/Platinum/Spire is one thing, but then you come up against the Ambassador and Royal Ambassador programs, and Kimpton Inner Circle to boot. I'm all for invitation-only levels or tiers that have specific spend requirements [i.e. Marriott Ambassador] for special benefits, but the fact that IHG doesn't publicize Royal Ambassador or Inner Circle qualifications doesn't do much to build guest confidence as a guest could qualify one year, do things the same the next year and not qualify because the invitations are discretionary and requirements nebulous. IHG is essentially running three loyalty programs that intersect with one another yet have their own requirements, and it's confusing and unnecessary even for the seasoned among us.
- What's going on with Six Senses? We're over two years into the acquisition, and we still don't have full participation or inclusion in the loyalty program, or even a word about if/when that'll happen.
- IHG missed an opportunity to rejigger the program with the relaunch of Rewards Club to IHG Rewards. Instead, all we got was meaningless marketing fluff about "eliminating 'Club' to create a more inclusive and welcoming brand" - yet the program is exactly the same. Which leads me to my next point...
- As a graphic designer and editor, I find IHG's recent rebranding to be half-assed and unforgivably lazy. The lack of attention to detail is astounding: the websites all look the same barring a logo swap, IHG Rewards still has "Rewards Club" mentioned in the website name and across multiple pages, IHG Development still uses the big orange logo and so on. The iPhone app looks/is extremely old and has poor flow, yet the recent update just swapped the old logo out for the new one and kept everything the same. Apple Wallet functionality was removed ages ago. I can't help but feel that when Marriott launched Bonvoy or Hyatt rebranded Gold Passport into World of Hyatt, the swap-over efforts were comprehensive and far-reaching whereby all websites, apps and portals were changed with everything from new colors and fonts to images and layouts to drive the whole thing home.
I know we're in the middle of a pandemic and that there have been huge cuts to budgets and workforces, but IHG is and remains a multinational corporation, and as such I expect more from them. I want to like IHG more than I do, and want them to offer a more compelling product and experience, but it seems like their well-intentioned efforts keep amounting to air balls.
khabah