Norwegian and Strawberry have officially launched a joint platform for their extensive loyalty programs, Norwegian Reward and Strawberry, which together serve over 10 million members. Following the initial announcement in June of last year, the agreement has now been fully finalized, and the jointly owned company is operational.
The value proposition for both members and partners has been enhanced beyond the original vision. The structure of the joint venture has been adjusted so that the majority of the loyalty program value remains within Norwegian and Strawberry, respectively. Consequently, Norwegian will not recognize the previously announced initial accounting gain. Under the new arrangement, Norwegian and Strawberry will each hold a 50 percent stake in the joint company from the outset. The final closing of the transaction occurred today, with a market launch aimed for the second half of 2024. The agreement with financial service partner Avida will also be revised to align with the joint venture’s structure.
“I am very pleased that we have reached this agreement with Strawberry, to the benefit of our more than 10 million Norwegian Reward and Strawberry members. Our partnership will be a loyalty game changer, with the world’s first multi-partner rewards points ecosystem with a single loyalty currency. This will give members the opportunity to earn and use a shared loyalty currency across participating programs and their partners. I am truly excited to share this exciting news with our members, and not least to welcome new partner companies in the time to come,” said Geir Karlsen, CEO of Norwegian.
“The deal marks an important part of history for our two Nordic companies, which both have a legacy of challenging our own industries. Norwegian shares our desire to develop innovative and better solutions for our guests and members, and our partnership is a strategic and cultural fit that will create enormous synergies for our members and partners. From the beginning, our clear ambition has been to create a shared loyalty currency and platform which will turbocharge Norwegian and Strawberry’s membership programs, as well as to attract new and valuable partners to the ecosystem. When we enter the market with the Nordics’ new loyalty currency, all our members will have access to endless possibilities of travel, spa, restaurants, hotels, and much more, and the journey has just begun,” said Petter A. Stordalen, founder and owner of Strawberry.
This collaboration is set to revolutionize the loyalty landscape by offering a unified loyalty currency that can be earned and spent across various programs and partners, providing members with unprecedented flexibility and value.
