After a successful relaunch of its mobile loyalty program, Regal Cinemas is celebrating by offering exclusive rewards for those who have joined and an incentive for those who have not yet.

The cinema chain relaunched its Crown Club loyalty program in 2016 and has seen success with it. Now, Regal is hoping to give back to those customers to keep them on board and attract new ones.

“Our members and fans have voted overwhelmingly that the Regal Crown Club is the preferred loyalty program in our industry,”said Ken Thewes, chief marketing officer at Regal Entertainment Group. “With approximately 12-million active members, no other loyalty program in our industry comes close to our size and scope.

“The Crown Club has been a true success since the relaunch in early 2016, giving our members more choices and more rewards. We are excited to start 2017 by thanking and recognizing our most loyal fans and will continue to look for innovative ways to reward all of our loyal moviegoers throughout the year.”

Regal Cinemas
An old piece of marketing wisdom says that returning customers are always worth more than new customers.

That wisdom has held true into the mobile age, as brands have made use of mobile loyalty programs to keep consumers coming back for more.

Mobile loyalty programs offer consumers proven ways to earn rewards for consistent shopping, increasing their value to the brand and the brand’s value to them.

It is a symbiotic relationship that smart marketers and brands have made use of for years.

Regal Cinemas has been one of the most diligent about rewarding its loyalty members with exclusive rewards and screenings, just for them.

Last year, the brand relaunched its Crown Club loyalty program with a focus on mobile engagement.

The primary method of interaction for consumers to use their loyalty membership shifted from a card to a mobile application.

Since then, the brand has seen success with a number of high-profile campaigns targeted at its consumers.

To celebrate this success, Regal Cinemas is offering its loyalty members one free popcorn for every month in 2017.

This move is an attempt to continue the brand’s strategy of offering exclusive, timed rewards that encourage frequent and recurring patronage of the theater.

Crown Club
Regal Cinemas has made a concerted effort not only to host unique events in the theater that encourage consumers to come see movies on the big screen and not just at home on Netflix, but also to make sure that those events include a specific incentive for mobile users to attend as well.

Some of those events have taken the form of film festivals that Regal has hosted, open to all but with special offers for loyalty members.

Regal is currently on track to host a ten-day festival with every Best Picture Oscar nominee back in theaters, with an exclusive set of rewards for Crown Club members (see story).

The brand was also hosting a classic film festival with a similar incentive for loyalty members (see story).

As time goes on, more and more brands and retailers who have not already done so will likely turn to mobile for the majority of their loyalty programs.

Regal Cinemas is hoping to be ahead of the curve and get more customers engaged on mobile.

“Through the Regal Crown Club, the industry-leading loyalty program, we continue to look for new ways to recognize our top members,” said Kelly Hawkins, vice president of loyalty at Regal Entertainment Group. “After a successful 2016, we wanted to reward those top Crown Club members who make Regal their home theatre choice for moviegoing.”