The carrier is joining forces with American Express, ExxonMobil, Macy's, Nationwide, Ride Aid, Direct Energy and Hulu to launch a loyalty program for their customers.

Sarah Thomas, Director, Women in Comms

March 18, 2015

2 Min Read
AT&T & Friends Form Rewards Program

AT&T is teaming up with American Express and a number of major brands to form a US-based loyalty program in which the participating companies will reward customers for their patronage.

At launch, the joint venture, dubbed Plenti, includes AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T), American Express Company , Macy's, ExxonMobil, Nationwide, Rite Aid, Direct Energy and Hulu LLC . American Express, through its US Loyalty division, is managing the initiative and plans to add more companies, but wanted to start with a smattering of places where it sees US consumers spending their time.

Unlike most credit card programs, Plenti isn't dependent on consumers using their AmEx. It rewards them with points for shopping at any of the stores involved that customers can then redeem -- 1,000 points is equivalent to around $10 -- for rewards at the participating retailers. At AT&T, points are rewarded for actions like signing up for qualifying wireless services or for eligible charges on your wireless bill.

Read more about carrier's customer retention strategies on the customer experience management content channel here on Light Reading.

Why this matters
Loyalty programs are not a new concept in the wireless industry -- C Spire has had a successful Percs rewards program in place since 2011, and Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile US Inc. offer their own variations, for example. But AT&T is taking a different approach to loyalty by teaming up with this larger, cross-industry group. Both C Spire and Verizon only offer rewards for actions related to their own services, such as paying bills online, whereas AT&T rewards can be redeemed with points earned at any participating brand.

The impetus for the carriers to get involved in this kind of service is both to create more loyal customers and to get more data on customers by knowing their purchase history, location and other details. Verizon, for one, requires its customers to participate in Verizon Selects, part of a program to sell aggregated customer data to marketers, in order to be rewarded.

In Plenti, however, American Express holds the customer data, not AT&T, so it's unclear what data the carrier is getting in return, if any. The group says more details on the program will be announced before it launches in May.

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— Sarah Thomas, Circle me on Google+ Follow me on TwitterVisit my LinkedIn profile, Editorial Operations Director, Light Reading

About the Author(s)

Sarah Thomas

Director, Women in Comms

Sarah Thomas's love affair with communications began in 2003 when she bought her first cellphone, a pink RAZR, which she duly "bedazzled" with the help of superglue and her dad.

She joined the editorial staff at Light Reading in 2010 and has been covering mobile technologies ever since. Sarah got her start covering telecom in 2007 at Telephony, later Connected Planet, may it rest in peace. Her non-telecom work experience includes a brief foray into public relations at Fleishman-Hillard (her cussin' upset the clients) and a hodge-podge of internships, including spells at Ingram's (Kansas City's business magazine), American Spa magazine (where she was Chief Hot-Tub Correspondent), and the tweens' quiz bible, QuizFest, in NYC.

As Editorial Operations Director, a role she took on in January 2015, Sarah is responsible for the day-to-day management of the non-news content elements on Light Reading.

Sarah received her Bachelor's in Journalism from the University of Missouri-Columbia. She lives in Chicago with her 3DTV, her iPad and a drawer full of smartphone cords.

Away from the world of telecom journalism, Sarah likes to dabble in monster truck racing, becoming part of Team Bigfoot in 2009.

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