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The Strategy
FlyBuys is the leading shopping rewards program in Australia and the fifth largest
coalition loyalty program in the world. With over 10 million Australian cardholders,
FlyBuys was looking to use social media and digital marketing to connect with their
members, reinvigorate the program and encourage community action.
FlyBuys approached the agency to help develop a social media strategy for ongoing
public engagement, and encourage FlyBuys members to become brand advocates with
amplified word-of-mouth referral. They wanted to prove the value of FlyBuys points
and rewards, and improve the reach of FlyBuys campaigns, offers and promotions.
Other key objectives included building a loyal online community, providing a new
communication channel, and promoting social sharing.
The agency worked with FlyBuys to develop a strategy, investigating opportunities
for engagement with their current pool of members by drawing on FlyBuys’ member
research. A ‘social giving’ campaign was proposed, as we felt that it would clearly
demonstrate the value of FlyBuys points and help members use their spare points
for a positive purpose.
The target audience specified for this campaign is younger than the average member
– we wanted to capture those who were more socially connected online and would gamely
support charities and causes. A campaign ‘bullseye’ age of 35 years was identified,
with about 75% of the target audience comprising of females. Further research had
also showed that a large proportion of FlyBuys members were active on social media,
with the majority frequently using Facebook.
In response to the brief, the agency helped FlyBuys develop its largest charity
campaign that was launched in partnership with Cancer Council Australia – the ‘Points
for Purpose’ initiative. The campaign encouraged FlyBuys members to donate their
loyalty points to help raise an ambitious target of 25 million – the equivalent
of AU$200,000 – for the national cancer control organisation. FlyBuys kick-started
the campaign with a significant donation and continued to contribute as consumers
reached collective targets.
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Execution & Use of Media
Moving FlyBuys into the world of Facebook, the ‘Points for Purpose’ campaign called on its 10 million cardholders to donate their spare points to Cancer Council Australia and assist in cancer research and support services.
We developed a Facebook Page and Facebook Application that allows users, once logged in with their FlyBuys accounts, to donate points within the social networking site. Users were encouraged to leave messages of support on the Facebook page, allowing them to directly interact with each other. Additionally, to further encourage donors to spread word about their giving, we embedded social features like Sharing and Liking in the donation process as well, generating more exposure for the cause.
Third-party apps and tools were also created for charity partners to co-brand and embed on their own Facebook pages or Web sites to further encourage giving.
In our approach to the design, we wanted to focus on how the campaign rewards grassroots donations. Therefore we followed a more casual, community feel, reinforcing the idea that each member can make a difference. Utilising bright and bold colours and playful typefaces, the overall visual language of the charity campaign was kept light-hearted and fun, appealing to those who may not usually give at all.
For each 5 million points donated, FlyBuys would contribute an additional million points to help reach the set target of 25 million. With that in mind, we also created low donation amounts of $5 and $10 to allow a large proportion of the member base to join in the giving. This was the first time FlyBuys had allowed these small points redemptions.
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Results & ROI
‘Points for Purpose’ received fantastic feedback and support with over 15,000 members supporting the initiative through donations. The set target of 25 million points was met in just 30 days and more than AU$200,000 was donated to Cancer Council Australia.
Having clocked in over 7,400 Likes and over 230,000 post views over the short span of the campaign, the numbers on FlyBuys’ new Facebook page demonstrate the excellent brand engagement achieved with the ‘Points for Purpose’ initiative, providing the organisation abundant opportunities to grow their online community and interact directly with their cardholders.
‘Points for Purpose’ is now a core element of FlyBuys’ social strategy and continues to be an active platform for giving, currently sitting at over 28 million point donations and growing daily.
