Starwood was the first loyalty program to tout member benefits like no black out dates and other award program firsts that made it possible for their members to use their points on their own terms.

But pride comes before the fall. Eventually the category caught us getting a bit too comfortable in our Heavenly Beds and our loyal members staged an intervention.

Their demands made clear, we knew we had to rethink, reshape, and rebrand the entire SPG program around the singular notion that the program’s primary reason to exist was to reward its members.

Our strategy was simple: Stars > Asterisks.

We tirelessly worked and reworked the entire SPG program, removing any lingering red tape from existing member benefits while pioneering new ways to deliver value to our members.

Rebranding a company that has fully committed to changing how it behaves in ways that are palpably and beneficially felt by its tribe is the holy grail of branding. And that’s why SPG wasn’t just the best hotel loyalty program, it was the best loyalty program, period.

Don’t be an asterisk.