Firms trade perks for customer loyalty

As we move towards a consumer society that is based more on experiences, on status stories, on the ephemeral - and in which, for many, time is now the only true scarcity - expect perks and privileges to become an integral part of every B2C industry and sector. We have dubbed this trend Perkonomics.

Perkonomics: a new breed of perks and privileges, added to brands' regular offerings, is satisfying consumers' ever-growing desire for novel forms of status and/or convenience, across all industries. The benefits for brands are equally promising: from escaping commoditisation, to showing empathy in turbulent times. If you deliver two major benefits that your customers clearly crave - status and convenience - what is in it for you, as a business professional or as a brand?

Perks bring much-needed love, in upturns and downturns, potentially leading to more "brand love".

Perks help commodity-like industries stand out by conferring a (renewed) sense of uniqueness. Adding perks often requires the ability to partner with other products or services, so brands with the best partnering skills - and therefore access to the best exclusive offers - will win.

Perks, when done well, foster customer loyalty.

Perks can give you the leading edge when it comes to attracting first-time customers.

Perks can make for great if not invaluable PR; customers will tell others - perks are excellent conversation starters - while the media loves a good perk story.

Perks can help make boring companies (insurance, anyone ...?) interesting again and thus, more desirable.

Perks can help cultivate more desirable brand perceptions and associations - think anything from showing you actually care about your customers to showing you care about the environment by offering eco-perks.

So, who is already doing what out there? Here is a global smorgasbord of perkonomics examples that help satisfy consumers' needs for status or convenience or empathy, or all of the above:

Amex cardholders have exclusive access to purchasing the winning dress designed on the episode of "Project Runway" that aired on September 3. The winning dress, judged by Diane von Furstenberg, is currently being sold on DFV.com for US$650 (Bt22,285) and cannot be purchased by non-Amex customers.

When customers of UK mobile-phone provider O2 buy an event ticket through the company's website they can download a Perks Pack which gives them access to specific amenities appropriate to that particular show.

For example, the Diva Package - available at shows by artists like Tina Turner - includes cocktails and a makeover in the O2 Lounge.

The Visa Signature Lounge allowed Visa's preferred customers attending the 2008 Outside Lands Festival in San Francisco access to the VIP experience. Those in possession of a Visa Signature card could use private luxury restrooms - a far cry above the porta-potties provided for the masses - along with a private bar and a free blanket gift for visiting the lounge.

Avis Preferred membership enables car-rental customers to skip lines and paperwork and go straight to their car, at more than 1,400 locations worldwide. Avis keeps preferred travellers' rental preferences on file and automatically books their car accordingly to minimise hassle.

Amsterdam-based private bank Insinger de Beaufort launched a service aimed at saving clients the time and hassle of dealing with the minutiae of their personal finances. Insinger's clients are sent a big shoebox by courier every month, into which they drop anything admin-related: bills, bank statements, receipts, tax returns, speeding tickets and insurance documents, among others.

Chickdowntown.com offers a Preferred Customer Line for shoppers who spend $3,500 or more a year. Preferred Customer status provides advice from a Personal Fashion Specialist and exclusive promotions.

South African health-insurance company Discovery has a wellness programme called Vitality that offers rewards for a healthy lifestyle based on scientific measurement. Members receive points by decreasing risk factors for illness and the higher the points, the higher the status and the greater the access to shopping and travel discounts.

Nokia in the Philippines has installed charging stations for all Nokia users throughout Metro Manila, which Nokia owners can use at no cost.

Business lounges, third spaces, co-working spaces: they are now an intricate part of the (urban) world outside our homes and offices. So, it should not come as a surprise that brands are opening up their own customer-only lounges. Just one example: ABN Amro's Lounge at Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam. Open to Preferred Banking clients from 6am to 10pm, the lounge offers a meeting space, online access, food and beverages and foreign-currency exchange.

There is endless life in perks for female travellers. The Naumi hotel in Singapore, which has set aside an entire floor for women, with designer amenities and female-only staff in order to give the increasing number of women travellers in the Asia-Pacific region a sense of security and privacy in luxurious surroundings.

Introduced in May last year, all IKEA stores in Canada feature Green Parking spaces reserved for drivers of hybrid cars and fuel-efficient vehicles.

Babies"R"Us stores introduced reserved-parking spaces for expectant mothers years ago; the programme now covers 250 stores across the United States.

Brazilian insurance company Porto Seguro is offering free bikes to customers who want to avoid Sao Paulo's heavy traffic. Customers can leave their cars in one of the bank's affiliated parking places and continue to their destination on bikes that are free to use until they return to pick up their car.

Edited and excerpted from www.trendwatching.com, an

independent and opinionated

trend company.