PARIS — Along with its 2018 results, Accor has unveiled a new loyalty program, as well as a new logo and name change.
In opening the company’s full-year 2018 results presentations, Sébastien Bazin, chairman and CEO of Accor, introduced a sleek new logo for the company and announced that it would be dropping the “Hotels” from its name — once again becoming Accor.
“Even though it was my decision to add the ‘Hotels’ to the Accor name, we’re actually making the exact reverse decision, not because I regret what we decided three-and-a-half years ago, but because it was meant at the time to put enormous emphasis on [the fact that] Accor was a hotel group,” Bazin explained. “And now we’re dropping ‘hotels’ because we’re so much more than hotels…We’re getting slowly, but deeply into ‘augmented hospitality.’”
The company’s new visual identity will see the company and its new loyalty platform ALL (Accor Live Limitless) share the same “iconic A” monogram, which fuses the letter A with the bernache — the historical emblem of the group.
ALL marks a shift to a fully integrated global platform, integrating rewards, services and experiences across Accor’s entire portfolio. The platform — delivered through a new app and website — is touted as a “lifestyle loyalty program” offering “money-can’t-buy” experiences.
“It’s an ecosystem,” said Ian di Tullio, SVP of Guest Services. “It’s about connecting all the touchpoints, it’s about frequency, it’s about making our way into people’s everyday lives. It’s not a marketing concept, it’s not a digital concept, it’s not a loyalty concept, it’s a customer experience concept. It’s a concept that connects with customers; takes them beyond the transactional to the frequency, to the experiential. It goes from a structural loyalty program to a relational program, to an emotional program. It connects the dots of augmented hospitality.”
Maud Bailly, Accor’s Chief Digital Officer, noted that the shift is being made to better meet customers’ changing expectations, which now include simplicity and immediacy, seamlessness, personalization and an all-in-one ecosystem. “It’s not about the core, initial business, it’s about a bunch of enriched services to offer more and more experiences to the loyalty members to better retain them, because people are going to interact more and more with [loyalty programs] by diversifying, multiplying the touchpoints and getting into their daily life as a true life companion,” she explained. “And, all of it [is designed to] create true inspiration.”
ALL’s new guest promise will address four strategic stakes:
- introducing new premium status to reward Accor’s most loyal members
- offering enriched benefits according to its augmented-hospitality strategy
- creating a worldwide connected experience where members can earn and burn points across the broadest range of brands in the industry
- leveraging partnerships and experiences to anchor ALL in member’s daily lives
An extensive study revealed three main passion points that resonate with the company’s loyalty members — entertainment, dining/culinary and sport. And, along with the unveiling of ALL, Accor also announced three key partnerships to align with these passion points. The company has extended its partnership with AEG, a leading sports- and live-entertainment company, to offer tickets and private suites at premium venues in Latin America, Asia and Europe. The group has also signed a new partnership with IMG, which will unlock access to chef masterclasses and culinary encounters for loyalty members. Finally, Accor announced a global multi-year partnership agreement with Paris Saint-Germain that will see ALL become the principal partner and official jersey sponsor of the football club.
