Background

Despite being the biggest and most well known loyalty program in Australia, with 1 in 3 Australians part of their membership base, Flybuys were facing a cliff of ambivalence about the program, making the future of the program look dire. Not only were two thirds of our base completely dormant, having not redeemed a single point in the last year, but also, in comparison to other loyalty programs we were attracting fewer new and younger members. As they saw the brand as boring, outdated and ‘pointless’. So we were set the challenge of making Flybuys relevant to the next generation of shoppers; those under 35. By reframing savvy as the new sexy. A program that could help more Aussies thrive instead of simply survive paycheck to paycheck. An ambition reflected in the goal of increasing sign-ups.

Describe the creative idea

At a time when people didn’t give a F%^K about Flybuys. We launched ‘Give a Flybuys. Take more’. A 3-minute music video, with an original composition - that gave Flybuys a younger voice, an ownable attitude and an anthem to savviness. Voiced by frontman Blake Scott from the Peep Tempel, his unapologetic, gravelly sound embodied the new Flybuys. And was mirrored in the performance of each character - who all mimed in time to Scott’s Aussie drawl. This cast of characters however, weren’t simply fictitious. But invented from a wealth of real shopping data. Giving Flybuys a short-cut into the real Australia. With characters, lyrics and Australian references that people could relate to. Because if these characters could sign-up and take more every day - they could too.

Describe the strategy

So how do you get people to engage in a loyalty program they think is outdated and boring? We created an invitation, an attitude in one simple statement; Give a Flybuys, take more. Flybuys was no longer simply about getting discounts, it was a statement about the pride in points collecting, being savvy and hacking life. This was an attitude that transcends age, gender, income and postcode. Launching this new attitude couldn’t just be a message in an ad, it needed to be felt. So we created a music video, an anthem to celebrate the everyday legends winning at their finances with Flybuys. Gaming life and taking what they’ve earned. It was cleverly crafted to be a modular film, launched on TV and supported across digital channels, with each character reflecting a different flybuys benefit.

Describe the execution

Although on the surface this idea appears to seemingly be a 3-minute film. Underneath it’s a carefully constructed and strategic data play. With a cast of characters, or rather six personas, all invented from a wealth of shopper data. Each of which also reflect a different Flybuys benefit and partner. We brought the campaign to life in TV, social media and online. All of our character’s stories were also seamlessly cutdown for behavioral targeting on social, digital and YouTube.

Describe the outcome

If we were boring, outdated and irrelevant before, what were we after? Innovative, engaging, exciting and generous. After seeing the campaign, people were increasingly seeing Flybuys as personally relevant (from 43% to 45%) and started seeing Flybuys as a ‘smarter way to shop’ from 31% to 33%. In the first 4 months of the brand repositioning we saw a 25% increase in sign-ups, which translates to 113k new members. Of our new savvy members, 39% of them were under 34 year olds, a complete turnaround in audience base. And this group was actually using the program; we saw a 10% increase in offers activated (which is a signal for intent) since the campaign launched.Flybuys does not track ROI as a measure of success. Engagement with the product and the ability to gather unique consumer data as a way to recruit and service more partners is their core KPI.