A new approach brings fresh ideas and perspective 

IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group) and Chase Card Services set out on a mission to deliver a new kind of credit card, one that connected with what their customers really valued in a card. To design this new credit card product, delivering the strongest possible value, they turned to a core group of customers for help.

The Priority Club Select Visa Card was developed through a private online community comprised of members of Priority Club Rewards (IHG’s loyalty program), who are also cardholders of the longstanding Priority Club Rewards Visa credit card from Chase. Partnering with Communispace, IHG and Chase created an “always on” channel, where they could have direct and ongoing conversations with customers in real time, focusing on product development.        

Designed by Frequent Travelers, for Frequent Travelers 

The 300 members of the private community are frequent travelers who belong to Priority Club Rewards, have a Priority Club Rewards Visa Card and regularly earn and redeem Priority Club points. The co-creation relationship established in the community allowed for deep views into members’ lifestyles and travel behaviors — through the use of surveys, discussions and photo galleries, as well as observations of the community’s member-generated dialogues.

Community members helped IHG and Chase understand their needs at every step of the co-creation process. Members voiced their opinions on facets such as reasons for choosing certain credit cards over others, competitor product reviews, features they were willing — or unwilling — to pay an annual fee for, overall perceptions of loyalty programs and reactions to marketing messaging and advertising campaigns. They shared actual experiences of using their current Priority Clubs Rewards Visa Card, and provided rich insight into features they considered most valuable.

A series of ideation activities revealed that customers were not using their current credit card and its benefits to their fullest potential. There was enormous opportunity for IHG and Chase to present compelling benefits that would be more relevant and valuable to members. Members talked about the desire for new features, such as annual free nights good around the world, a unique redemption rebate, no foreign transaction fees, increased point earnings at IHG hotels and on everyday purchases — and what they would be willing to pay for them. Ultimately, members helped determine that these benefits were strong enough values to more than justify the card’s proposed annual fee of $49, thereby helping to price the product appropriately.

The co-creation project, utilizing a proprietary methodology developed by Communispace and conducted over a 12-month period, allowed IHG and Chase to work directly with community members through a four-step process of exploration, ideation, development and testing — and, ultimately, to optimize marketing communications and channel strategy. Since its inception in June 2009, members have made over 30,000 total contributions to the ongoing conversation.

Co-creation process drives loyalty 

These insights and ideas provided to IHG and Chase directly by their customers enabled the two companies to confidently and quickly make adjustments to the new card structure. According to Tony Glover, Senior Vice President, Chase Card Services, using a private online community to develop this particular credit card product, is a first for Chase. Said Glover, “The ability to gather feedback in real time was a tremendous way to create a new product; we were able to incorporate their needs and ideas throughout the process. Customers are our best resource, so we listened to them.”

“Leveraging conversations through our private online community ultimately delivered a product that will be first-in-wallet for our customers. We’re excited by how much our best customers were willing to share with us that helped us create something designed especially for them,” said Lincoln Barrett, Vice President, Guest Marketing and Alliances, IHG.

In June 2010, IHG and Chase launched the new Priority Club Select Visa Card. Working with their core customers, they developed a new credit card that they felt confident would increase cardholder usage and become customers’ card of choice for all purchases. Member reactions to the new program were positive, with sentiments that echoed a “Finally, a rewards credit card I can’t wait to own!” mindset. Many customers, who were previously reluctant to use annual fee-bearing credit cards at all, felt the total value in this card was far greater than the $49 annual fee.

The initial email marketing campaign for the new product delivered an 80% increase in new accounts vs. the previous email campaign featuring the legacy product. In addition, nearly 5,000 existing customers have already requested an upgrade to the new product, which represents a 53% lift in response rate vs. the upgrade campaign for the legacy product. With the new product offering, IHG also expects to enhance the overall value of Priority Club Rewards and thereby increase loyalty to their hotel brands.

Through this customer co-creation approach, the two companies believe they have found a way to grow the credit card portfolio, and more importantly, to engender new and meaningful loyalty with the people who matter most to them.