In a maneuver designed to curry customer loyalty and reduce churn, Charter Communications has sent 150,000 subscribers in Reno, Nev. gift cards that are loaded every month with more than $250 worth of credit redeemable at more than 100 businesses in the region.
The Charter Rewards program, called VIPspree, was devised by Complete Access, the same company which has assembled a network of regional merchants who use the cards as pay-on-performance advertising vehicles.
Charter lets its Reno subscribers know the monthly merchant-by-merchant value stored on their cards and highlights new participating merchants through bill statements and promotional collateral.
Complete Access also offers Charter’s subscribers support by phone and online through a branded Web interface created by Complete Access where customers can track their usage, view participating merchants and the amount of credit they’ve posted for the month.