Loyalty marketing program Upromise, Inc., yesterday announced at PROMO Expo a venture with Vanguard Group to introduce a college savings plan in December that extends Upromise’s flagship program, which lets consumers earn money for college tuition when they buy participating brands. The partnership between Upromise, Vanguard, and the state of Nevada lets Upromise members channel brands’ contributions into investments run by Valley Forge, VA-based Vanguard. The Vanguard 529 College Savings Plan will offer 18 stock, bond, balanced, and market portfolios for Needham, MA-based Upromise members to build savings accounts.
“This allows us to take a major step forward in the college savings crisis,” said Jeff Bussgang, co-founder and executive vp, Upromise, at the PROMO Expo keynote speech on Tuesday. “We are the only non-investment manager to win a state mandate to run this program.”
Among Upromise’s more than 140 partners are Coca-Cola Co. and Kellogg Co., both of which had representatives on hand at the keynote. “Consumers are seeking brands that have values that match their own,” said Mike Jones, managing director of national consumer programming at Atlanta-based Coke.
“This model has program benefits that go far beyond the products we sell,” said Bruce Grieve, senior vp-business development at Kellogg USA.
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