This month we have an interesting interview on our Q&A update with Mr. Rajiv Agarwal – Head of Marketing Operations at Salarpuria Sattva Group. And what really makes interesting reading here is the idea his team has come up with, linked to a sales promotion offer with RCI.

Along with an apartment in a pre-designated project of theirs, customers are awarded a vacation ownership plan for 21 years – now add to that, an exclusive five year membership with RCI. That’s “happiness” in one word.

Looking at this closely, I find total synergy in this co-branded promotion. The company making the offer and the organization delivering the experience are large trusted brands - there is a logical and meaningful fit in the two names coming together.

This is an idea that might just bring a whole new demographic into play – previously not accessed or reached by vacation ownership developers. It will most certainly accelerate the rate of initial trial and first user experience of vacation ownership products.

While I take a bird’s eye view of this promotion offer, a few thoughts come to mind that would add salience and weightage to the efforts of Salarpuria Sattva and RCI. I would like to share these thoughts for the benefit of this team and other marketing teams that might consider bundling vacation ownership with their own product or service.

I am happy to hear how this promotion is being handled

From my briefings, I am happy to hear that all relevant information on this promotion is made available right through the promotion period. I also hear that support information is being provided to protect the interests of the customer – especially as buyers will not pay a purchase price for the vacation ownership plan.

Another good thing being done by the marketing team is a face-to-face presentation to clear all doubts, and provide information on customer responsibilities and obligations.  Wonderful, that’s how promotions such as this must be handled.

Foot Notes that I would like to share with you

• Serious customers would be keen to understand about long term interests on vacation ownership, and the related benefits of RCI membership.
• They will want to know if further payments need to be made, initially or in the future. (This is a good opportunity to talk about Annual Maintenance Plans and other incidental charges that are invariably applicable.)
• Customers will also be interested to know if they have the same rights and benefits as paid members. This is an important question and needs to be addressed early.
• Finally, one question that strikes me as both useful and relevant:
  What if prospective customers already have a vacation ownership plan in place, with an RCI membership? Can they gift this to a friend or relative – without any hurdles in the transfer process?

As I write this, I see a commercial on TV advertising a ball point pen, FREE, with cooking oil – and I wonder what the connection is. (I am talking about concept harmony out here.)

That’s why this promotion by Salarpuria Sattva and RCI makes sense to me. A whole lot of sense.

B. S. Rathor
Advisor & Member - Executive Committee

Our team at AIRDA would be keen to meet some of the younger customers who are interested in this promotion. This will give us information on prior awareness of vacation ownership or exposure to any of our resorts - as guests, or customers.

Here's a link to the Q&A interview with Rajiv Agarwal.