Cultivating Dis-loyalty

How Ennismore’s innovative membership is rebelling against the tired travel loyalty landscape.

Over the coming weeks, our Hellen team is excited to spotlight brands that inspire us by reimagining loyalty through emotional connections and a deeper sense of belonging. This week we’re exploring Dis-loyalty, a travel and food membership program from Ennismore that actively discourages loyalty.

Many of the loyalty strategies we see brands using today come from the travel industry. For decades, airlines and hotel brands have been incentivizing guests to stick with what they know, becoming increasingly loyal to their brands over time. As in many categories, most of these programs are at parity today, all offering travelers similar benefits built on points, status and credit card partnerships.

One brand that has stood out recently is Ennismore, a lifestyle hospitality company that comprises 14 brands, curating and operating hundreds of hotels, resorts, venues, restaurants and bars. In order to break through in a crowded category, they launched the Dis-loyalty program (which they often style as DisLoyalty). Rewarding members for branching out and trying new things, Dis-loyalty connects to a specific type of premium traveler: one that is spontaneous, adventurous, and leads an aspirational lifestyle. According to Ennismore, since the Dis-loyalty launch last year, members are booking for longer times, further in advance, and with a higher average booking value.

A few things that stand out for us with Dis-loyalty:

↔️ It shows that loyalty works both ways

Dis-loyalty’s creative is refreshing and disruptive for the category, helping underscore the idea that the hospitality business needs to show guests how loyal brands are to them vs. obsessing over how loyal members are to the brand.

🕵🏽‍♂️ It’s transparent and direct

It’s extremely clear and easy to understand what the program is, how it works and what the benefits are. There’s no need to hunt down additional information or do the math yourself.

🤪 It encourages spontaneity

Dis-loyalty is finding ways to keep the experience fresh with ongoing drops that give members access to exclusive experiences and LTOs inspired by the adventurous nature of the brand.

💰 You get what you pay for

Paid memberships are becoming more common—and while we all probably have more subscriptions than we’d like to admit, it’s clear that consumers are willing to pay a premium for better service, exclusive access, and other benefits.

We predict that we’ll be seeing a lot more brands challenging the traditional approach to loyalty with new ideas like Dis-loyalty, combining disruptive offerings with creative positioning that’s a clear extension of the brand.