O2’s Priority Moments has cracked it

O2’s relaunch of its Priority service, to include location-based high street deals, will have its competitors rallying their ideas people to quickly draft up a counterpart. O2 has beaten the market to provide a service that could make all of its 22 million customers feel like exclusive VIPs.

Priority Moments expands O2’s existing loyalty offer that gives its customers early access to tickets for the Academy venues it sponsors.

The new loyalty programme includes a partnership with 30 high street brands to bring location-based, voucher-like offers straight to O2 customers’ smartphones. The company claims the service has the potential to save each of its customers £105 a month.

Priority Moments also benefits brands that will now have marketing access to O2’s vast database.

Zizzi’s head of communications, Rose Brunt, told Marketing Week’s sister title New Media Age that the geo-targeting aspect is also a real “plus point” for the restaurant chain.

She says: “For instance, if we are launching a new restaurant, we could invite one hundred or so Priority Moments customers to raise awareness. We could also use Priority Moments to invite customers to test new dishes we’re trialling.”

O2’s hook up with Odeon is particularly a poke in the eye to Orange. There used to be a particular smugness amongst Orange users when they turned up at the cinema on a Wednesday, but now O2 customers can grin like Cheshire cats at the movies from Sunday to Thursday.

Orange assures me that the deal will not have a negative effect on Orange Wednesdays and was quick to point out that the deal between O2 and Odeon is only short term (four months)…for now.

Of course, there are other voucher-type services available on mobile phones, like Vouchercloud, which is exclusive to Orange customers, but Priority Moments trumps its counterparts by offering unique offers that go beyond vouchers, such as: free tote bags, free booze and first access to special sales.

Priority Moments is not without its teething problems. There is not yet a catalogue of deals for customers to browse, or push notifications, so – like Facebook Places Deals – users of Priority Moments need to proactively open the app at participating outlets.

O2 will be hoping that its £6m marketing campaign for the relaunch is enough to inform customers about where they can redeem their “Moments”.

Despite the need for some updates, O2 has created a loyalty service that actually rewards every customer and fits their specific needs, rather than simply promoting sponsorships. Priority Moments gives mobile phone users an actual reason to want to switch to O2, which has grabbed the trend for discounting by the lapels at just the right moment.