FINDLAY, Ohio -- Marathon Petroleum Corp. (MPC) has announced plans to officially deploy Cents Off Marathon, an instant cents-off-per-gallon discount program on fuel purchases throughout its Marathon-branded marketing network.
Nearly 80% of Marathon's independent jobbers and dealers have enrolled in the program, which uses technology developed by Drop Tank. The program will be made available throughout the deployment and installation, which will occur over the next 12 months.
"We're excited about this program and what it offers our customers," said MPC brand marketing director Bill McCleave. "This unique discount program is a step beyond the traditional gift card as it will instantly discount the price at the pump. In addition to attracting more customers to Marathon-brand locations, these instant discounts and the platform that makes it possible will present unique opportunities for strategic third-party partnerships."
An enhancement to traditional gift cards, Cents Off Marathon uses Drop Tank's proprietary technology to enable instant price discounts at the pump via prepaid cards. The Cents Off Marathon cards will be available in a variety of cents-off-per-gallon denominations and will discount a total of 100 gallons over multiple fueling transactions. In addition, Cents Off Marathon promotional cards provide similar cents-off-per-gallon discounts for use on a single fillup of up to 20 gallons.
The Cents Off Marathon cards can also be co-branded with logos from other organizations and businesses that are able to leverage this program's cents-off currency as part of their own customer loyalty or rewards programs.
Marathon Petroleum announced the availability of the program in April, saying that deployment was scheduled to begin following the voluntary enrollment of a majority of the company's branded marketing network, made up of approximately 5,400 independently owned and operated locations.
Through the partnership with Drop Tank, Marathon Petroleum is the first anchor company in Drop Tank's own discount program, Cents Off America, which will soon be available nationwide. With the combined deployment of these programs, participating Marathon-brand locations can redeem both Cents Off Marathon and Cents Off America discounts.
Burr Ridge, Ill.-based Drop Tank specializes in cents-off-per-gallon technology and products, helping to create redemption networks for cards and codes that drop the price instantly at the pump.
Findlay, Ohio-based MPC is the nation's fourth-largest refiner, with a crude oil refining capacity of approximately 1.7 million barrels per calendar day in its seven-refinery system. Approximately 5,400 independently owned gas stations across 19 states sell Marathon-branded fuel. MPC also owns, leases or has ownership interests in approximately 8,300 miles of pipeline. Through subsidiaries, MPC owns the general partner of MPLX LP, a midstream master limited partnership (MLP). MPC's fully integrated system provides operational flexibility to move crude oil, feedstocks and petroleum-related products efficiently through the company's distribution network in the Midwest, Southeast and Gulf Coast regions.
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