In one of the first significant applications of transpromo techniques in the business-to-business arena, Sinclair Oil Corp. has chosen InfoPrint Solution Co.‘s transpromo software to drive usage of a fuel and expense card for truckers and other drivers.
“This is significant to see relevant content being used in this way move into the b-to-b space,” said Lee Gallagher, manager of direct marketing solutions at InfoPrint, which is a joint venture of Ricoh and IBM.
Transpromo is the use of variable data software and a marketer’s customer database to print relevant up-sell, cross-sell and promotional marketing messages on transactional documents such as bills and statements. It has been gaining momentum in the business-to-consumer segment, but to date there has been very little adoption on the b-to-b side due to the complexity of the relationships in this space, said Gallagher.
Sinclair Oil Corp. is an oil company that needs to move gasoline to gasoline stations, some times with its own trucks and some times via another distributor’s fleet. Fleet Track is Sinclair’s commercial fleet management solution. The target audience for the program is truckers and smaller vehicle organizations such as cities, counties, plumbers and oil rigs. Distributors who sign up provide their truckers with a Fleet Track card that they can use for fuel and other expenses. This enables the distributor to manage each driver’s expenses.
Under the new arrangement with InfoPrint, all the Fleet Track statements will be converted to Mapping Suite, a transpromo software platform. This will enable Sinclair to co-brand each statement with the appropriate distributor’s logo as well as provide information that will help them manage and reduce their expenses. Sinclair is hoping this will drive uptake of the Fleet Track program.
“For the driver, it will be easier to manage expenses and optimize their day while the company can reduce costs” under the new arrangement, said Gallagher.
For example, the statements will provide information about where a recipient bought gas and if there was a less expensive place to fill up nearby.
“Many companies are looking at transpromo as a way to promote something, but it can also be used for managing costs,” Gallagher continued, adding that the Sinclair platform is a good example of the latter application.
