Kudos Benefits Program
Kudos Corporate Benefits Program
Kudos was an existing corporate benefits program that was purchased by English OK! in 2009. The program served the expat community in Japan (embassy staff , chambers of commerce, international companies) and was revamped to include luxury partners such as 5-star hotels and multiple Michelin-starred restaurants.
Kudos was acquired in 2009 in response to the financial crisis that hit in 2008. The 'Lehman Shock' as it was called in Japan significantly affected English OK's training revenue as hospitality businesses froze hiring and paused training contracts in their bids to wait things out. Since English OK! had relationships with service providers in Japan, the Kudos program provided a product that English OK! could quickly generate revenue from to make up for the lost contracts.
The re-launch of Kudos was an event coordinated with a major sponsor - Grey Goose - and featured Grey Goose’s global ambassador, Dimitri Lezinska, behind the bar.
FirstBenefit.jp - Corporate Benefits Online
Although producing a quarterly benefits magazine was fun, it generated unnecessary waste and wasn't sustainable with the compact operational team at English OK. The benefits program was transitioned online where English OK began testing time-limited and quantity limited online benefits to uncover the types of deals that performed best (knowledge that led to the subsequent venture that followed).