Cocreating a new B2B business model for a frequent-flyer loyalty program

Research and client workshop sessions resulted in the creation of Pegponto: an app to collect points in stores

Year: 2017

Role: Service designer

Discipline: Service design

Industry: Loyalty program, Retail

Background

The client was a Brazilian former frequent-flyer loyalty program company, by that time linked to LATAM Airlines. The program consisted in collecting points that later could be exchanged for rewards.

Goal

The client's goal was to develop new business models for offline and online retail partners (B2B), aiming competitive advantages for end-consumers when compared to other loyalty programs available in the market.

Methods

The project was divided in 3 main phases:

- Immersion: we conducted 14 interviews with client stakeholders and retail partners. Moreover, I prepared a desk research on new business trends for fidelity programs to support the team with more information.

- Analysis: we analyzed all information from the Immersion phase and prepared a diagnose to present during cocriation workshops.

- Prototyping: we had 3 workshop sessions to make client stakeholders aware of the diagnose and generate ideas for new B2B retail solutions. We used methods like brainwriting, business model canvas and rapid prototyping to develop low fidelity prototypes.

Outcomes

Among all prototype ideas, we prioritized them with the client based on what was relevant for the business and its potential users. One of them was chosen to go ahead: Pegponto.

I designed a medium fidelity prototype for Pegponto, a service that offered coupons for program members who wanted to buy clothes in physical stores as a new way to collect points of the program. The app also offered special benefits for the most engaged users.

After two weeks of tests with members of the loyalty program company as well as stores that could possibly be future partners of the program, the prototype evolved and ended up being a whole new way of using the program. By the end of the project, we delivered the prototype, a report and guidelines for implementation.