Do Loyalty Reward Programs Work?
I’ve always been a fan of gamer loyalty programs. Being that I’ve always collected games, programs like Club Nintendo, Capcom Fighter’s Edge, and Sega Sonic Club, have always excited me the way I imagine kids used to get sending in boxtops for decoder rings. You know the drill; you send in an insert, register a serial number, or in Capcom’s case, cut up your fucking manual, and in turn for sending them proof you bought their stuff, they let you pick your prize ranging from a poster or calendar to a keychain or soundtrack disc. Basically they let you choose from what mostly has now become pre-order fodder. I just received the Square-Enix Member Rewards package for 2009/ 2010 and it seems the bar has been raised.
Despite the efforts of many of my favorite companies and my appreciation for the concept, I’ve become increasingly underwhelmed with the “reward” factor for being a devoted fan. I always play ball and register my titles, just in case they offer DLC or something mildly useful at some point, but I’ve learned to expect very little from these programs over the years.
Capcom‘s highest tier prize, a Capcom letterman’s jacket, was 850 points. That’s 850 points you need to accumulate at a rate of 20 points per console game, plus $29.95 shipping. They canceled the program without notice a few years in, leaving many members with hundreds of accumulated points with no way to redeem them. The only thing I ever got was a Mega-Man desktop clock which arrived broken and cost me 400 points plus shipping. No refunds, no exchanges.
Sega only once offered a physical reward, a four-disc Phantasy Star Online soundtrack, and it sold out the day it became available. Hell, they somehow even “sold out” of their downloadable Phantasy Star Online calendar/screen saver combo they conjured up to ease the disappointment of the people who wanted the soundtrack. I bought literally every U.S. released Dreamcast game and never managed to get a single item from their rewards program before it was dissolved.
Nintendo gave away what was basically a $10 WiiWare game as their free Platinum Reward last year. Jorge and I thoroughly enjoyed Doc Louis Punch Out!! for a minute or two and went back to playing NSMB. Platinum status costs $600+/year at MSRP. The upper tier items, Game & Watch three game compilations for DS, cost 800 points which are earned at a rate of basically $1/pt. This year they are offering a 4 inch by 3 inch figurine, and honestly I would have preferred another WiiWare wannabe instead.
So today I received my Ultimate Rewards package from Square-Enix, thanking me for being an “Ultimate” member in 2009 / 2010. Ultimate members maintain their status for the next year as well, and the Members blog hints that the planned reward next year is estimated at a $600 value. Like Club Nintendo, this reward doesn’t cost any of my accumulated points which I should be able to spend when their new Members Store opens. Unlike Club Nintendo, Square-Enix doesn’t penalize you by only giving you the prize from your level. Ultimate members get their rewards, along with those of Platinum, Gold, Silver, and Bronze level members.
The package, made of high quality black gloss paperboard and appointed with a brilliant gold coin and ribbon, contains a “desk calendar” in the form of a series of postcards, three additional actual postcards, a soundtrack sampler of the most popular tracks from Square-Enix games in 2009 / 2010, and an 8GB iPod Touch preloaded with Crystal Defenders and Chaos Rings. Personally I find this to be a pretty refreshing approach to instilling (or bribing) consumer loyalty. Square-Enix already has a massively loyal fan-base, so to see them give something back on this scale seems almost unnecessary, but welcome nonetheless. Needless to say, I’m going to keep a closer eye on Square-Enix releases than Nintendo when considering loyalty benefits.
One thing I noticed in their changes for the upcoming membership year was a bonus for games registered within a week of launch date. Games like Mass Effect 2, The Saboteur, UFC Undisputed 2010, and Darksiders had moderately substantial benefits, such as free DLC or the ability to play multiplayer, for purchasing them new and at launch. The response and efficacy, however, is difficult to measure because a majority of people who purchased these games at launch would have bought them at launch regardless of the incentive.
The trend however got me thinking that the need for loyalty programs may be on the rise for games that don’t have midnight launches or an abundance of pre-orders. Do you think these programs really have the potential to compel average consumers to purchase more specific titles at full price or do you think they only appeal to the already loyal fan-base? What would a publisher have to do to make you go out of your way to buy a few more of their titles per year on their release dates?
