Please read the information below and answer the question in 300 words: Does the Wyndham By Request initiative create a competitive advantage? If so, how? Is the advantage it creates significant?

Wyndham ByRequest

At the heart of Wyndhams new strategic positioning was a novel guest-recognition program named Wyndham ByRequest. Introducing Wyndham ByRequest, Jordan defined the program as a guest-service philosophy that is the heart and soul of the brand. He added, We said, OK, we are going to reinvent the Wyndham brand. We are going to say: We are all about personalized service. We are going to say: We are the brand who really recognizes that guests are individuals, we know you have specific needs, quirksyou tell us about them one time and we are going to remember them.

More than just a guest-recognition program, ByRequest was a strategic initiative that defined the Wyndham brand. The centrality of the ByRequest initiative was apparent in subsequent letters to shareholders. In March 1999, Wyndham first briefly introduced its use of information systems to enhance guest recognition: We have established four priorities that we believe will drive shareholder value. . . . Our second priority is to develop greater equity in our core brands. . . . We are working to be able to reward customers with real-time recognition through enhanced information systems.

Prefacing the 1999 annual report, in March 2000, the letter to shareholders formally introduced Wyndham ByRequest:

Technology, which has helped the industry to improve operating efficiency, is also redefining what customers expect from a hotel. . . . Our investment in technology allowed Wyndham Hotels & Resorts to introduce a new customer loyalty program that differs from the competition because of its high level of personalization. Wyndham ByRequest provides popular perks, including virtually registration-free check-in, room upgrades, late check-out, free telecom services, and complimentary productsall to the guests preferences.

The 2000 annual report featured the ByRequest initiative on its very first page, asking the familiar question Whats your request? and further explaining: Built on individual customization and a technology foundation, Wyndham ByRequest is the vehicle to create a comfortable and memorable guest experience. The letter to shareholders, cosigned in March 2001 by Kleisner and Teng, reported early success: Wyndham ByRequest, our new, unique guest recognition program, is energizing the Wyndham brand. The first program of its kind for an upscale chain, Wyndham ByRequest is a brand-wide focus on providing customers with the highest level of customization available during their stay.

While Wyndham ByRequest offered perks similar to those of many other recognition programs, such as airline miles with the major carriers, the program was fundamentally different. The most important component of the program was that it allowed guests to convey exactly what they wanted in their hotel stay, while also empowering managers at the property to take better care of the guest and allowing the company to implement the initiative chainwide. As Kathi Kulesza, vice president of Wyndham ByRequest, put it: With delays and inconveniences, traveling can be stressful. It makes a difference when you can come to a Wyndham and find the comforts of your home, from your favorite bottle of wine or a pair of your favorite slippers.14 Executives also felt that ByRequest continued Wyndhamss tradition of innovation. Kleisner explained: Through the years, we have led the charge to respond to the needs of our guests, from being the first to offer in-room hair dryers and irons to standards such as high-speed Internet access in every room. Wyndham ByRequest continues this tradition of innovation while truly raising the bar for the entire category.15

The essential characteristic differentiating Wyndham ByRequest from other reward-and- recognition programs was its focus on customization rather than points. Wyndham promised its guests that they could expect to find a room that would fit the preferences they stated in their profile. The program required prospective members to complete a comprehensive profile of their travel and stay preferences by providing substantial informationincluding recurrent booking information, preferred room configuration and location, preferred welcome snack and drinks, newspaper, and so on (see Exhibit 8). ByRequest members received many free amenities, including automatic upgrades based on availability, free Internet access, and free complimentary snacks, drinks, and reading material according to their profile. Providing guests who stayed more often with more complimentary amenities and choices and refreshing those amenities more often during their visit served to reward a guests loyalty. Additionally, ByRequest allowed Wyndham to be responsive to customers changing preferences. Wamre explained: In the profile we have options and other fields. We analyzed the profiles of all guests who filled the other field, and when we found that so many people wanted a certain amenity, we added it. Things like reading material, later checkouts, guaranteed room availability are examples of perks we added because our guests asked for them.