The Brief

In a market awash with loyalty schemes and loyalty cards, Liquor King – newly rebranded as LK and on a quest to become a destination liquor shop in New Zealand - wanted to boost numbers for its loyalty programme, LK Bar Tab. How could we appeal to LK customers, who generally considered liquor-shopping a functional and rational price-driven experience with no sense of loyalty. How could we make LK’s loyalty card – and LK – stand out from the rest?

Creative Execution

In New Zealand, loyalty cards are everywhere - and wallets are full of them: plastic, ubiquitous, interchangeable. We created a unique card that set LK apart. It showed that LK wasn't just wanting to reward its customers, it also understood them and wanted them to enjoy the liquor-shopping experience – carrying the card helped you build on the feelings of anticipation and excitement when you are thinking ahead to good times and socialising.

Describe the creative solution to the brief/objective.

To stand out, we created a world first: a loyalty card that wouldn’t just buy you a beer, it would open it for you too. A metal bottle opener and credit-card-sized loyalty card in one. Even designed to fit your key ring so you could keep it handy for regular use (and a stylish enough to show it off to your mates too). For every $10 you spent at LK, it would put credit on your LK Bar Tab. When your tab added up – it would shout you a beer, and even open it for you too.

Results

Launched on May 10, 2010, the results were immediate: Within six weeks, LK Bar Tab membership jumped by 21.7% and 30% of existing LK Bar Tab loyalty members had applied for a Metal Card. 93.7% opted in to receive email comms from LK Bar Tab (versus 50% objective) showing how highly engaged they were. (Results as of June 30, 2010) LK Bar Tab Metal Card is just beginning.