Uncarrier Kicks Off Unconventional 'Loyalty' Program and Stock Giveaway

Advertising Age Player //--> T-Mobile today announced its latest offering in the Uncarrier series of events, the eleventh installment, called #GetThanked, and it's enlisting DJ Khaled and Snapchat to do a lot of the digital heavy lifting. The carrier took the wraps off three initiatives in an effort to thank its customers for their loyalty. "Most companies thank you with loyalty programs and bullshit points that count for nothing," said T-Mobile CEO John Legere at an event on Monday. "Loyalty programs are broken and backwards and people hate them." Instead, the company is launching T-Mobile Tuesdays, a promotion that involves customers downloading an app to get free products from marketers like Domino's, Wendy's and Lyft. Mr. Legere said that customers will also be able to claim an upcoming ticket for "Warcraft." Each week, T-Mobile will be giving customers a free takeout pizza from Domino's, a Wendy's Frosty and a movie rental from Vudu, Walmart's video on-demand service. There will be larger prizes up for grabs as well, including trips to Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas or an expedition along the Inca Trail. To win the bigger prizes, customers will have to play a brief game in the app. Other partners involved in T-Mobile Tuesdays include Buffalo Wild Wings, Condé Nast, Fandango, Gilt, HotelTonight, Legendary Pictures and Universal Pictures, Major League Baseball, MGM Resorts International, Samsung Electronics America, Shell and StubHub. DJ Khaled, who has appeared in other T-Mobile marketing recently, will be promoting the T-Mobile Tuesdays program through a variety of digital channels. Andrew Sherrard, T-Mobile's chief marketing officer, said that the company wanted to work with him because he exudes positivity. His demeanor, combined with T-Mobile's desire to show its customers gratitude matched well, he said. "If there's ever a time we can marry these two together, this is it." One of the bigger efforts will be what T-Mobile said was the first Snapchat talk show in the form of paid ad formats. Mr. Sherrard referred to them as "snapisodes," and they'll be vignettes in which DJ Khaled will talk with people related to the programs, starting with Mr. Legere. So far there are eight episodes lined up, and though the company declined to say what other guests will appear in the ads, the subject matter will be related to partners working with T-Mobile on the giveaways. The "snapisodes" will appear on Snapchat discover channels including BuzzFeed, Daily Mail, Comedy Central and MTV each Tuesday. TV ads will also air promoting the programs, but they will not include DJ Khaled. Last time T-Mobile had an Uncarrier event in November, it unveiled its Binge On program, which lets certain customers some of the wireless carrier's customers stream video from 24 services including Netflix, Hulu and HBO without sapping their wireless data plans. T-Mobile also announced on Monday "Stock Up," which gives primary account holders a share of T-Mobile common stock. They can earn up to 100 shares in a year by referring people to T-Mobile. Mr. Legere said that people who have been customers for five years or more will get years two full shares of T-Mobile stock for each recommendation until 2017. T-Mobile stock is currently trading around $43.50. Customers will have to claim their shares and set up a brokerage account through T-Mobile's brokerage partner, LOYAL3. The company's third giveaway to its customers was for free Gogo WiFi on smartphones for an hour on domestic flights. T-Mobile already allows customers to text for free during Gogo-enabled domestic flights. Droga5 is the agency on the campaign, which is its first big push for T-Mobile.

Uncarrier Kicks Off Unconventional 'Loyalty' Program and Stock Giveaway

Featured Stories