BP makes foray into daily deals
BP has launched its first major daily deals scheme, as the company looks to build consumer insight ahead of offering personalised products and services to its customers.
The aim of the scheme, devised by Bristol agency Rockpool Digital, is to drive footfall and sales across BP’s retail business and UK petrol stations.
It offers discounts from ten FMCG partners, including Coca-Cola, Carlsberg, United Biscuits, Danone, Mars and Walkers. These include discounts on CDs, DVDs, games and car washes.
According to Rockpool digital chief commercial officer Peter Gandy, extending digital presence from desktop PCs to mobile through a mobile-optimised site formed the keystone of the scheme.
“With a mobile-optimised site, rendering to relevant devices, BP can capture data at all touchpoints – in-store, mobile and online – and put this into a unified profile. This will form the basis for a two-way conversation with the customer going forward,” said Gandy.
Users can sign up to daily deals on the BP website, which host the Today’s Offers hub. Vouchers and discounts can be redeemed through print-offs, SMS or email.
“The key drivers for the implementation was to get some initial learning,” said Gandy. “BP’s trying to understand the way that customers prefer using. This is just a first step, a fact finding process. As we bring in mobile, we’ll bring in much more, expanding the digital solution across different services, not just offers.”
He added that although the scheme was only in its third week, SMS had already emerged as the most popular discount-redemption method.
Gandy has claimed that BP’s FMCG partners had expressed interest in how they might use a similar scheme to garner insight on consumers at point of purchase.
“They’re desperate to find out about consumers at the point of purchase,” said Gandy. “If you think about it, they can be in contact with people before they go out but haven’t been able to be in contact with them as they’re out. This scheme has opened their eyes to what might be achieved.”
This story first appeared on New Media Age. For more digital stories and analysis’ from NMA click here now
