Octalysis Increased La Quinta’s Loyalty Revenue by 132%
La Quinta Inns & Suites serves middle-income travelers across the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Honduras. The chain focuses on value-driven stays for business and leisure guests. Loyalty programs in hospitality often struggle to drive repeat visits amid fierce competition.
The Octalysis Group partnered with La Quinta to redesign their Play & Stay initiative, applying the Octalysis Framework to blend behavioral science with engaging mechanics. This turned routine point earning into a fun and valuable experience that boosted bookings and retention.
The Challenge
How to achieve high sales and loyalty in the hospitality industry.
Hospitality brands face constant pressure to fill rooms while building lasting customer ties. Generic rewards like points or discounts rarely spark excitement, leading to low engagement and sporadic visits.
La Quinta needed to amplify their loyalty program without overhauling the core system. The goal: create a campaign that felt rewarding and effortless, encouraging daily check-ins and shares while tying directly to real-world bookings.
Success required measurable lifts in sales, frequency, and viral spread, all within a limited-service model where margins stay tight.
Gamification in Hospitality
Fun for the guest and profitable for the host.
A truly remarkable loyalty experience that set a new world standard for loyalty metrics.
Agile and at the same time deeply impactful.
The Solution
We integrated Octalysis Gamification into the Play & Stay app, balancing scarcity with accomplishment to foster habits. Users earned tokens for actions, unlocked boosters through brand interactions, and watched points accumulate seamlessly.
At its core sat a familiar spin mechanic. click to play, win points or collectibles—powered by virtual tokens that recharged over time.
A secondary wheel offered extra plays, while rare grand prizes like 10 free nights added thrill.
Boosters doubled scores for quick trivia on La Quinta perks or friend referrals, weaving education and social ties into the flow. General loyalty points built in the background, ensuring every spin advanced real value without extra effort.
Tokens created controlled access: earn them through stays or dailies, spend wisely to maximize wins. The design mixed predictable progress with surprise elements, keeping sessions short yet compelling—perfect for travelers on the go.
Gamification and rewards
Mechanics aligned with Octalysis Core Drives to sustain motivation:
- Core Drive 2: Development and Accomplishment. Each spin filled progress toward tiers, with points stacking for redemptions. Trivia boosters let users accelerate gains, turning knowledge of La Quinta locations into immediate score lifts.
- Core Drive 4: Ownership and Possession. Collectibles from spins formed a personal gallery, while accumulated points felt like a growing asset. Referrals granted bonus tokens, expanding users’ in-game portfolio through networks.
- Core Drive 6: Scarcity and Impatience. Token timers built anticipation: recharge every few hours, or spin the wheel for more. Grand prize odds (like free nights) sparked urgency without frustration, as baseline points always flowed.
Social shares unlocked extras and creative inputs like custom spin strategies fed Core Drive 3. Rewards spanned digital badges to tangible stays, bridging fun with utility.
The Impact
The Play & Stay rollout delivered clear, attributable gains from the Octalysis redesign:
- Viral coefficient reached 530%, spreading adoption organically.
- Daily active users hit 34% return rate, far above industry norms.
- Sales climbed 132%, with bookings per user up 206%.
- Incremental revenue per user rose $157, directly from heightened engagement.
Coefficient
Revenue per user