OpenSparkz appoints Henrik Berglind as Commercial Partnerships Lead to scale up operations

Having emerged from the pandemic with increased momentum, payment linked loyalty and offers platform provider, OpenSparkz today announced a key appointment to its leadership team.

The company has appointed Henrik Berglind to the position of Commercial Partnerships Lead. Berglind joins OpenSparkz after more than 20 years at the world’s leading hospitality group, Accor, where he was most recently the Vice President, Loyalty & Guest Experience for Asia Pacific.

In that role, he co-designed and launched Accor’s global Loyalty Lifestyle program, tailored to regional and cultural needs and involving partners across payment, transport and experiences.

Welcoming Berglind, OpenSparkz Chief Executive Officer, Terry McMullen said: “We have seen a spike in interest in OpenSparkz globally, and Henrik was the ideal choice to help us convert our ever-growing sales pipeline.”

Berglind said he was excited to be joining the company as it entered a significant scaling up period.

“When I was with a global multi-brand corporate, the challenge was always to break down the barriers to seamless customer engagement,” he said. “On top of that, we needed to use data to influence consumer spending behaviours in a way that worked for them. OpenSparkz payment linked loyalty and rewards platform delivers both.

“It enables actual conversion of customers with personalised and permission-based marketing, while using any existing global payment system.”

Berglind said increasing loyalty and digital marketing costs were another issue the OpenSparkz solution addressed. “The beauty is that it works for both the rewards program operator and the merchant doing the marketing, as well as – most importantly – the consumer. What’s not to love about that?”

McMullen said Berglind brought a global perspective and deep knowledge of the domain. “He has an extensive understanding of Asia Pacific markets and brings years of experience running one of the worlds’ largest loyalty programs.”

For the past year, the OpenSparkz technology platform has powered Ayala Malls Zing program in the Philippines. Ayala is one of the leading shopping mall groups in Southeast Asia, with over 30 malls and 2.5 million footfalls each day. “Henrik’s role will be pivotal in leveraging that success in other regional markets, including Australia,” said McMullen.