China Southern signs up Carlson Marketing China for FFP expertise

China Southern Airlines has awarded Carlson Marketing China a consulting assignment to renovate their existing frequent flyer programme (FFP), The Sky Pearl Club.

The official mandate for Carlson Marketing is to “elevate China Southern’s Sky Pearl Club into the best frequent flyer programme in China”.

The consultancy assignment will last for six months, during which Carlson Marketing will be scanning the entire frequent flyer programme, working across everything from program design to systems, data and operations. Carlson will also provide consultative support during the implementation phase of the projects.

As part of its approach to the China Southern Airlines programme, the Carlson Marketing team based in  Shanghai, is seeking to achieve a paradigm shift from a product centric approach to a customer driven one.

Gabi Kool, Carlson Marketing executive vice president, Asia Pacific and Managing Director China, said: "At the moment, most frequent flyer programmes -- and loyalty programs in general -- are still product driven, stipulating onerous rules and conditions customers must comply with. Our work will not simply be about program design but will also involve mapping out the current customer experience at every touch point with the airline and identifying opportunities for improvement, while providing the change management expertise necessary to create a switch in mentality across all business processes.”

The Sky Pearl Club FFP programme has more than 3.1 million members and growing at a pace of more than 800 new members daily.