ABS-CBN wants to get to know you better.ABS-CBN wants to get to know you better.

For years, avid viewers have helped ABS-CBN maintain supremacy in the ratings war. Now, it wants to repay fans and followers for their support. 

In July, ABS-CBN unwrapped the Kapamilya Thank You (KTNX) customer loyalty program. Developed by the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) division under head Ezer Escolar, KTNX is ABS-CBN’s gift to the countless viewers who have helped it stay on top of the networks heap for so long.

KTNX awards its members with corresponding Thank You points every time they watch Kapamilya shows or patronize the products and services of ABSCBN Group member-companies. The accumulated points may be used to redeem the members’ reward of choice (see related story). But more than just saying thanks, ABS-CBN wants to be able to say “thank you” personally.

‘Kikilalanin ka namin’

“Gusto naming makilala ang bawat Kapamilya on a personal level. Kilala has another meaning in Tagalog, which is ‘Kikilalanin ka namin.’‘ We want to treasure you, we want to cherish you by giving you gifts.’ That’s why our logo is a gift box,” explains Escolar.

By knowing and understanding who their audiences are, Escolar adds, ABS-CBN can offer meaningful gifts and tailor its products and services on a personal level. It will also allow the network to create relevant content and deliver it directly to the target Kapamilya.

For example, a Kapamilya logs on the KTNX website and types the “Showtime” hashtag of the day for one month. This alerts KTNX that the member religiously watches the top-rating noontime show. KTNX is then able to inform him or her directly if there happens to be a new segment in “Showtime” or a movie starring Vice Ganda.

Escolar was recruited chiefly to develop KTNX in 2015. The prospect, to him, was both exciting and overwhelming as KTNX would be “the pioneer in content and multimedia cross-platform loyalty rewards in the Philippines.”

Visionary

“EL3 [ABS-CBN chairman Eugenio Lopez III], being the visionary that he is, has always wanted to launch a loyalty program. This was as early as five years ago,” he reveals.

Before KTNX, the different product groups of ABS-CBN would run tactical promotions to recognize customer loyalty.

“This is the first time that we are attempting it at an enterprise level, allowing our kapamilya to earn and enjoy rewards across the ABS-CBN universe. This allows a customer an opportunity to try other ABS-CBN platforms just by using Thank You points earned in another platform,” Escolar notes.

With no template to model the program after locally, the team looked to Singapore’s Mediacorp.

Tailor-fit for ABS-CBN, PH

“But Mediacorp is just TV, newspaper and radio in a very developed market, unlike ABSCBN which has SKYcable, KidZania, O Shopping and The ABS-CBN Store, among others. We’re a lot more diversified, so we had to tailor-fit the program for ABS-CBN and for the Philippine market,” Escolar points out.

Within two months after receiving his marching orders from ABS-CBN president Carlo L. Katigbak, the plan was approved in quick succession by the ABSCBN executive committee, by EL3 and chief content officer Charo Santos-Concio, and fi

In the interim, the CRM chief also organized his Loyalty team composed of four managers and almost 30 representatives from ABS-CBN LOBs and support groups.

Joint effort

“This was really a joint effort, practically the whole company pulled together. We worked with IT, Digital Media, Research, ABS-CBNmobile, Retail, SKYcable and ABS-CBN TVplus. Integrated News’ Ging Reyes gave us Bernadette Sembrano, while Entertainment under Cory Vidanes gave us the most popular stars like Coco Martin, Vice Ganda, Piolo Pascual, Judy Ann Santos, Daniel Padilla and Kathryn Bernardo, and the ‘momshies’ [Karla Estrada, Jolina Magdangal and Melai Cantiveros],” Escolar recalls.

While putting together KTNX, CRM was also working on Kapamilya Accounts and Kapamilya Tickets.

Engaging the customer

“If I were to sum up the whole strategy of CRM, it starts with identifying who are customers are and then engaging them with the right products and services. Kapamilya Accounts and Kapamilya Tickets are meant to do that. Kapamilya Accounts is our single sign-on initiative which allows every Kapamilya to use one log-in across the different digital properties of ABS-CBN, while Kapamilya Tickets is an online ticketing system,” notes Escolar.

Kapamilya Accounts, which was also the first such initiative of its kind in the Philippines, was launched in December 2016, followed by Kapamilya Tickets in May 2017—two bigticket initiatives that the CRM team juggled with their work on the KTNX program.

Less than a week after launch, KTNX had already gathered almost a million members, putting CRM on track to meet its target of five million members at the end of 2017.

Top priorities

With reports of security breaches becoming commonplace of late, ABS-CBN has made sure to put the proper controls in place. Ensuring customers’ data privacy, safety and security was on top of the list of priorities— alongside premium technological front- and back-end support—in putting KTNX together.

Among other plans, Escolar sees more shows, platforms and services participating in KTNX, such as ABS-CBN Global, KidZania and O Shopping. Additionally, signing up via mobile might soon be a reality, in order to cater to Kapamilya who don’t have internet access.

“Our Kapamilya can look forward to feeling that they’re even more loved by ABS-CBN, that we are thanking them for the love they’ve shown us in a way that they can grasp. I’m very excited about that, their happiness and excitement when they realize, ‘Hey, ABS-CBN knows me by name, and knows exactly what makes me cry, laugh and care,” Escolar says.

The Customer Relationship Management team makes a statement

The team takes a class photo

At a Kapamilya Thank You project team meeting

‘Showtime’ audience members receive Thank You gifts

Kapamilya Thank You gift giving with the ‘momshies’ in ‘Magandang Buhay’