How a focused messaging and communications strategy helped reintroduce a travel loyalty company and clarify its value
In November 2020, after more than two decades in business, International Cruise & Excursions rebranded to become arrivia following the acquisition of SOR Technologies and WMPH Vacations. The name and identity were introduced to reflect the merged company’s position as the world’s largest private-label travel rewards provider and its expansion across travel and into other categories. Among its clients were marquee brands, including American Express and Marriott Vacation Club.
With a goal of delivering value through exclusive pricing, a holistic loyalty solution, and personalized options that inspire customer loyalty, arrivia focused on several verticals—including financial services, membership groups, and hospitality and travel brands—each with distinct needs and engagement challenges.
However, credibly “reintroducing” itself alongside a new brand in a sector dominated by rivals with far greater marketing budgets presented significant challenges. The company needed to clarify and strengthen its messaging and raise its profile, not only as a rewards provider to businesses and their customers but also as a technology leader in travel loyalty.
Meeting these goals called for more than standard PR tactics. It required deep category expertise to guide strategic positioning and a long-term communications plan steeped in market knowledge.
Following the rebrand, arrivia had to reintroduce itself during a time of historic industry upheaval. Emerging from the pandemic, brands across industries and sizes sought new ways to maintain and build loyalty in a climate of uncertainty and low consumer demand. The ensuing period of high inflation added further strain, prompting many to reassess their loyalty strategies and turn to partners who could offer more value and a better customer experience to their members.
As a company backed by five collective decades of experience, arrivia was equipped to meet the moment. Yet, without a cohesive messaging framework to communicate its new unique selling proposition (USP), it faced a paradox. How could it establish itself as a forward-looking venture without alienating its deep roots in the travel and cruise industries? Arrivia’s broad scope as a loyalty provider, delivering solutions for travel inventory management, rewards, booking technology, customer service and marketing, only added to the complexity.
After the merger, arrivia quickly developed a website and materials to tell its story. However, more needed to be done. The company needed a trusted partner who could lead buyer education and deliver sales-driven messaging while understanding the nuances of the travel loyalty space. The company needed a partner who knew the industry, had strong and established relationships with relevant media and other industry stakeholders, and could refine its unique value proposition while positioning its new leadership team as credible subject matter experts on loyalty and rewards programs. In short, arrivia needed a brand-builder.
arrivia approached THINKINK in 2021, following recommendations from several new team members familiar with our work for their former employer. They experienced firsthand the impact of our work on sales, marketing, trade conferences and media. They knew the value of having a partner like THINKINK: travel loyalty experts who could move quickly, think commercially, and operate confidently within arrivia’s target sectors.
arrivia’s leadership also valued our experience across travel, retail and financial services loyalty—all the industries they were targeting. From the outset, we demonstrated a clear understanding of their challenges. We developed a B2B communications and messaging strategy that aligned with their long-term growth goals, encompassing buyer education and demand generation, content marketing, and B2B PR and industry visibility, all framed through a thought leadership lens.
From the outset, we focused on shaping a brand narrative that connected arrivia’s legacy with its future vision, making its purpose clearer to each of its target markets. We analyzed the competitive landscape to pinpoint where arrivia stood apart, then refined the website’s messaging and structure to reflect that positioning and better engage its audiences. Crucially, we moved away from listing features and benefits and instead built a messaging framework around the problems arrivia solves for buyers—making space for stronger, more focused storytelling across all communications.
As the arrivia brand became more established and its role as a technology provider more clearly defined, we stayed anchored to the messaging framework, using it to guide content and PR that reflected market changes and customer priorities. We developed an integrated communications program that spanned the entire business, supporting sales, marketing, events, media relations and brand visibility.
We also developed a nurture strategy to leverage data-driven content—such as original consumer research—to strengthen arrivia’s credibility and increase visibility within target verticals. To maximize ROI, we took a multi-pronged approach: producing thought leadership and brand education across earned, owned, and paid media, delivering targeted B2B PR, securing high-profile industry speaking opportunities, and advising on the company’s conference strategy.
Examples of our research-focused work:
Every communication touchpoint reinforced arrivia’s position as an industry leader, ensuring consistency and clarity across all channels. THINKINK’s method has resulted in a rich content library of evergreen and timely, trend-driven pieces that continue to support arrivia’s presence in the travel loyalty and technology sector.
Going beyond traditional PR, we built an in-house marketing automation infrastructure to support arrivia’s lead generation and nurturing campaigns. This allowed us to capture and organize inbound leads across channels, measure performance in detail and assess ROI across various paid mediums, formats and messages. As a result, we could optimize strategies in real-time and deliver measurable results to stakeholders.
After laying the groundwork in 2021, THINKINK secured consistent coverage for arrivia in 2022 across travel and loyalty media, strengthening the company's brand presence in the North American market. In that year, we saw month-over-month growth in website traffic, time spent on-site, and leads captured, along with a ten-fold increase in media placements compared to 2021. In our first full year with arrivia, we secured mentions in top national business publications, including Forbes, The New York Times and USA Today.
By the end of 2024, arrivia had attained the highest share of voice among competitors, with coverage spanning all its USPs: travel, loyalty, marketing, technology, financial services and customer experience.
We focused our media efforts on trade publications that reached the audiences arrivia cared about most, securing coverage in outlets such as Skift, Loyalty360, The Wise Marketer, Hospitality Technology, Travel Weekly, Total Retail, Credit Union Times, Phocuswire and dozens of other relevant trade media titles. At the same time, we worked to raise the profile of arrivia’s leadership team—most notably Chief Marketing Officer Jeff Zotara.
Over the past four years, our work has yielded tangible results for arrivia, generating thousands of leads through a combination of paid media and content marketing, as well as hundreds of media placements through PR and thought leadership initiatives. These efforts culminated in the successful expansion and visibility that arrivia needed, ultimately leading to its acquisition in early 2025. These efforts have strengthened the company’s market visibility, credibility, and commercial performance. Our ability to adapt alongside arrivia’s growth and needs—and deliver consistent, high-impact B2B PR communications—has cemented THINKINK’s role as travel loyalty experts and a trusted, long-term partner.
Examples of top-tier business and trade media coverage:
Our ability to adapt alongside arrivia’s growth and needs—and deliver consistent, high-impact B2B PR communications—has cemented THINKINK’s role as travel loyalty experts and a trusted, long-term partner.
Rebranding is just the start. With the right expert partner, you can build lasting visibility, credibility, and growth—just like arrivia has. Let’s talk about what’s possible for your B2B company.