Shell Oil Products U.S. credits cash incentives for doubling the number of applications for its Shell-branded credit card.
Shell garnered 130,000 applications in second-quarter 2004, double the number for the same quarter in 2003. Shell dangled a $20 credit offer to applicants with approved cardholders getting a $20 credit on their account after they made four purchases within the first 60 days of activating their new card.
Strong execution by retailers and wholesalers helped boost applications, too. The 20 gas-station operators who generated the most approved applications won trips to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Shell handled the consumer offer in-house with an assist from J. Walter Thompson, Houston, on ad support; Maritz Inc., St. Louis, handled the travel for the operator incentive overlay.
Houston-based Shell now has more than 14 million cardholders, the largest in the petrol business. Cardholders are more profitable customers: They buy an average of 30 gallons more per week than non-cardholders, Shell said.
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