InterContinental Hotels Group launched its ?2016 Trends Report:?Meaningful Membership: Transforming Membership in The Age of I??at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
The report challenges brands to engage with consumers in a way that builds Membership Communities, a powerful asset for brands in today?s dynamic consumer landscape.
Fuelled by the growth of social media channels, there is increasing demand from consumers to belong to a like-minded community, sharing opinions and insights as they connect around their experience of a brand. In doing so they also want to maintain their individuality, amounting to what is being termed the ?The Age of I??? a desire from consumers to maximise both inclusiveness and individuality.
IHG?s 2016 Trends Report?highlights how brands can manage this challenge and make membership meaningful for consumers by creating Membership Communities. To do this, brands need to recognise the universal need of the community as well as, through personalisation, what resonates with individual members ? their likes and dislikes, what they need and when they need it.
The report identifies a new set of rules ??The Essentials for building Membership Communities ??to follow?in order to create and build meaningful Membership Communities.
These include?ensuring brands humanise interaction with their customers. Dialogue is increasingly digital in today?s world, so trust grows when communications with Membership Communities are given a human face. Also important is encouraging members of their loyalty programmes to move up the ?loyalty ladder?.
Richard?Solomons, chief executive officer,?IHG, said:??The relationship between consumers and brands requires a new mind-set. In today?s digital age, an organisation?s interaction with the outside world is more than transactional ? it needs an emotional engagement to succeed, stay relevant and most importantly, maintain trust.
?For IHG, we believe that understanding this interplay is key to generating value for our guests and our business.?Our 2016 Trends Report identifies?how to begin to unlock this value by creating Meaningful Membership.?It represents our commitment to building and maintaining guest loyalty, which we do through the world?s biggest and fastest growing hotel loyalty programme,?IHG Rewards Club?and our portfolio of brands across more than 5,000 hotels worldwide.?
IHG launches 2016 Trends Report
