Jeff Zidell is stepping down from his position as Head of Loyalty at Hyatt, a position he has held for nearly nine years. What will this mean for the future of the World of Hyatt?
Zidell presided over the golden years of the Hyatt Gold Passport loyalty program. He was the brainchild behind lucrative promotions like “Faster Free Nights” that may have been expensive at the time but made many the strong Hyatt loyalist I am today, despite the chain’s limited footprint around the world. I certainly include myself in that tally.
Zidell was also very approachable. He responded to emails, answered phone calls, and was one of the most engaging and conscientious leaders in the world of loyalty. I sat next to him one year at the Freddies and had a very nice conversation. When my old UPGRD blog was looking for sponsors, he put me in touch with his contacts. That was the kind of guy he was.
The World of Hyatt was a bitter transition. Not just in the way the program was announced, but in the way it was received. Many have abandoned loyalty to Hyatt and the hotel chain is now desperately offering Globalist status for only 20 stays to try to lure back corporate customers. The program remains valuable to those willing to spend some serious bucks, but is a poor value proposition for most others. It is no wonder the carrier took home no prizes in the Freddies last month.
Will his departure mean a change in policy? Unlikely. In fact, I’d rather have him at the helm than just about anyone else. It is highly unlikely we will see any givebacks at Hyatt as a result of his departure.
CONCLUSION
Zidell will leave a mixed legacy at Hyatt. He was the leader behind building a fair, valuable, customer-friendly hotel loyalty program in Gold Passport. He was also leader while that wonderful program was dismantled into a program that has alienated consumers and repelled long-time loyalists.
Gina Tallarico, Hyatt’s VP of Marketing, Planning, and Implementation, will step in to fill Zidell’s role on an interim basis. I wish her the best in running the program. Most importantly, I wish Zidell the best and thank him again for what he did to make me a Hyatt loyalist.
> Read More: It’s A Small World (of Hyatt) After All
(H/T Lucky)
World of Hyatt was forced from above. Not sure I’d count it part of his legacy other than maybe not managing expectations internally over the years to more slowly adapt the program. But there was a new CMO who came in and my guess that was the driving force of the change, leaving him little choice but to execute.
I found Greg’s comments interesting. I wonder where Jeff will go because service is why I stay at Hyatt’s. If Jeff goes to another hotel then watch out Hyatt because the Globalist World of Hyatt is not the best and it is no wonder than came home empty handed. This will probably continue. I have been the highest status with Hilton and they could have cared less the same thing with Starwood. So, if Jeff goes somewhere else he will change the corporate culture there I am sure! Thanks for everything Jeff!
I am pretty sure Jeff played a big hand in the world of hyatt forming, I highly doubt that everyone else did it and made him be a puppeteer
I am surprised at the accolades you give Mr Zidell . Last month I had WOH issues that required resolution . I approached several conduits into Hyatt to obtain assistance all were dismissive . I finally approached Zidell and his disposition was nothing short of unprofessional and uncaring. As a result I cut my Globalist card in half and moved my business to a hotel group that offers caring service and never been more pleased with the change . Hyatt has deteriorated to unacceptable levels since WOH was imposed on its members and this has been no more obvious than the considerable numbers that have abandoned the program for the opposition.
When did you contact Zidell? (recently?)
I too am surprised at all the credit you give Jeff Zidell for the quality of the Gold Passport program. It had a long history of being a generous program before he took the helm. In fact, he engineered several award chart devaluations before introducing WOH. Faster Free Nights was weaker than earlier promotions such as Nights After Nights which ran for many years. From the inception of the program, the top tier of Diamond membership was always one of the richest of all of the hotel programs and Hyatt led the way in terms of value added services. If you look at the history of Gold Passport, they have actually been slowly hacking away at the program for a few years. The award chart tells the story.
The Jeff Zidell I dealt with was just as Mathew describes: approachable and genuine. I had a problem 4 years ago
and reached out to every Hyatt Executive who ever signed one of my letters. I had reached the top tiers after staying for 25+ years. Only Jeff wrote back. He heard what my situation was, gave me a chance and some good advice which I followed. I wrote him every year after that just to thank him and say Hi. A truly great guy.
Wish you the best, Jeff. You will be missed.