As the customer loyalty space develops, many brands struggle with finding innovative ways to engage customers with a program. For every “new” idea, there are likely dozens of offerings that give consumers the same experience elsewhere. Burger Kings in Russia, however, may actually be the very first to implement their latest plan: introducing cryptocurrency into the world of customer loyalty.
The overseas fast food locations have issued a total of one billion WhopperCoins. Customers will earn one of these WhopperCoins for every ruble spent. For perspective, a ruble is worth 0.017 U.S. dollars, equating to about 60 WhopperCoins per dollar spent. Besides the novelty of owning something called a WhopperCoin, Russian fast food lovers have the benefit of trading 1,700 WhopperCoins (again, about 30 dollars) for a Whopper sandwich. Get points, earn food. So far, standard stuff.
Here’s where it gets interesting: these WhopperCoins are fully transferrable and tradable via an online platform and an upcoming app. The result is a loyalty program that doubles as a brand-specific pseudo currency, with users potentially earning money back by selling earned WhopperCoins. The blockchain program is hosted by Waves Platform, and the accompanying app will be available on both the iOS and Google Play stores beginning next month.
“Now Whopper is not the only burger that people in 90 different countries love – it’s an investment tool as well. According to the forecasts, crypto-currency will increase exponentially in value. Eating Whoppers now is a strategy for financial prosperity tomorrow,” comments Ivan Shestov, Head of External Communications at Burger King Russia.
While its highly unlikely that we'll be seeing the world's first WhopperCoin millionaire anytime soon, the Russian brand's idea to turn its loyalty program into a bonafide economy might be just the spark needed to set the initiative apart from others in the space.