Effectiveness of Loyalty Programs in Brand Management: A Case Study of Sofitel Sydney Wentworth

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Loyalty programs are cohesive to brand management strategies of marketing actions
which aims in making member consumers more loyal while building a strong brand
reputation to retain customers. Individual programs may pose multiple forms, the overall
theme of loyalty program considers attracting more customers along with retaining the
existing ones by means of benefits that are both tangible and intangible in nature
( Demirciftci & Kızılırmak, 2016). This report examines loyalty programs in the context of
brand management strategies to analyse and evaluate the consequences of a loyalty program
strategy of Sofitel Sydney Wentworth (Accor Hotels) which is used by the firm to establish
and foster consumer’s loyalty and retention within hospitality competitive industry.
Loyalty within hospitality industry can be best defined as a deeply held assurance to
support and rebuy a preferred service or product consistently in future years despite facing
situational influences ( Demirciftci & Kızılırmak, 2016). The effectiveness seen in loyalty
programs remains highly variable and subjective dimension within a hotel industry as many
firm’s utilise enrolment and membership sizes measuring their success where such measures
does not consider profitability or producing repeated patronage (Charania, 2011).
Nevertheless, the significance of branding and loyalty program and how it is used in a
hospitality industry can be explored based on the case examination of Sofitel Sydney
Wentworth to find out how the firm uses a loyalty program effectively.
Accor has many brands in hospitality sector targeting diversified segments. Sofitel
Sydney leads in digital hospitality where few of the most strategic programs were initiated by
Accor Groups in the year 2014. These loyalty programs helped Accor groups increase their
guest satisfaction while generating more income through online channels (Sofitel, 2017). The
company introduced guests’ analytic programs named as ‘Le Club’ that helped the company