HOUSTON -- Phillips 66, which owns gas station brands Phillips 66, 76 and Conoco, has announced several programs and initiatives at its 2013 Marketing Conference & Trade Show. These new programs address the current challenging marketplace by helping drive traffic to sites, reduce costs and improve operating efficiencies.
This year's New Energy, New Possibilities Conference, held from May 21 to 23 in Las Vegas, celebrated the spirit of the new Phillips 66 Co., emphasized the role of branded marketing and shared new opportunities, ideas and ways to support its customers' success.
"With our industry continuing to change at a rapid pace, we're focused on developing programs that help our customers compete in the new world of convenience and petroleum retailing," said Andy Viens, president of global marketing at Phillips 66, Houston.
The company has introduced several new marketing programs which will begin rolling out later this quarter:
- Convenience Store Alliance (CSA): After completing a successful test run, Phillips 66 is unveiling a new program with CSA this month focused on providing national buying power to branded sites. The goal is to help sites lower operating costs, improve margins and better compete in today's challenging marketplace.
- KickBack Points Program's KickBack TV: KickBack Points, Phillips 66's affiliated loyalty offering, announced the addition of KickBack TV, an in-store television network that sells advertising space to companies--most of whose products are available in branded c-stores. The network is designed to provide an additional revenue stream for participating sites and increase consumer and vendor engagement in the store. The program is free for retailers and will begin rolling out in the fourth quarter.
- Phillips 66 Proprietary Card Program: Phillips 66 and GE Capital announced a proprietary card program that provides cardholders with a five-cents-per-gallon discount on all fuel purchases. The program is free to all branded retailers and will be available beginning in first-quarter 2014.
- Brand Image Central (BIC): To simplify and streamline site branding for customers, Phillips 66 is offering a new one-stop-shop process called Brand Image Central. It will be the single point of contact for site imaging and also provides additional technical support. The improved efficiencies from centralization will allow Phillips 66 branded customers to benefit from these enhanced image services without adding cost. The new program will be available in the third quarter. The programs will be complimented by investments in technologies targeted at reducing costs, improving efficiencies and meeting consumer expectations.
- BizLink Mobile Apps: To meet the needs of busy and on-the-go customers, Phillips 66 is bringing its web portal, BizLink, to customers' pockets with mobile apps. The initial use is focused on providing real time pricing information for Apple devices. Additional functionality will be rolled out later this year to include supply information, alerts and Android compatibility.
- Merchant Customer Exchange (MCX): Phillips 66 has joined MCX, a merchant-owned network focused on developing mobile payment solutions that will better serve merchants and consumers. MCX offers unmatched scale, representing merchants with more than 80,000 stores who collectively process $1 trillion in payments each year.
"We know our future success depends on the strength of our customers' businesses, and we're deeply committed to responding to their needs and enhancing our marketing programs," said Viens. "We think these programs are a great first step in strengthening our branded offering and are very excited about the new possibilities they offer to both customers and consumers."
Phillips 66, 76 and Conoco are fuel brands owned by Phillips 66, a wholly owned subsidiary of Phillips 66, and they sell Top Tier detergent gasolines at more than 7,000 U.S. retail fuel sites, collectively. The Phillips 66 fuel brand, with its shield icon, has been serving the needs of the motoring public since 1927. With its iconic red ball, the 76 brand has more than 1,900 retail fuel sites on the West Coast. For more than 100 years, the Conoco brand has been providing high-performance petroleum products which are currently sold at more than 2,400 retail fuel sites.
Members help make our journalism possible. Become a CSP member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.