As a loyalty management consultant I join every loyalty program I can to study the design, the lifecycle marketing approach, and the value provided. It is always a learning experience.

I’ve been a member of Oporto’s Flame Rewards program for about 18 months. I’ve identified Oporto have everything in place to run an effective engagement program, but generally felt they just aren’t trying hard enough. Some of the benefits I’ve accessed include meal size upgrades, free churros and of course, reward points redeemed for a free meal, but the offers are sporadic and rare. Objectively it seems there is much more they could do with the program to drive deeper member engagement.

Turning a year older this month, I received an email from Oporto with quite a generous offer:

There’s just one small problem. I’m vegetarian. So not only is the gift not attractive, it’s actually offensive. Worst of all, this could have been avoided. How?

Oporto is failing at the most basic of loyalty program ambitions; member profiling. By taking even a cursory glance at my transaction history since becoming a member, they would have quickly seen I only ever purchased Veggie Burger Meal Deals (chilli sauce on the burger, chips and Vanilla Coke on the side ).

So why offer me a gift of chicken? I don’t eat chickens. I like chickens.

Oporto have invested in developing, launching and running a program which is designed to capture my demographic and transactional data over a long-enough period of time to be able to tailor rewards which speak to me as an individual. They have a responsibility to use this data in a way which enhances my member experience when I choose to engage with their brand. To not do so is sloppy and lazy, and in this instance has achieved the exact opposite of what they set out to do.

Unhappy Birthday to me.

Philip Shelper es un consultor de gestión de la fidelización afincado en Sídney, Australia, obsesionado con todo lo relacionado con la fidelización y las recompensas. Su empresa Loyalty & Reward Co es una consultora líder en gestión de la fidelización.

Conectemos! https://au.linkedin.com/in/philipshelper