HPCL woos customer loyalty through cooking gas

Thursday, 24 July 2003, 19:30 IST
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NEW DELHI: Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL), India's second largest refiner and petroleum products marketing major, has embarked on a brand building exercise to woo cooking gas consumers with an accident and medical insurance cover. The first such loyalty programme offers enhanced insurance policy covering all consumers and third parties against any injury due to an accident with cooking gas or liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinder, Anil Khurana, the HPCL's deputy general manager for North zone, told reporters here Thursday. "The insurance cover includes compensation of 100,000 in case of demise, 25,000 in case of any property loss and 1.5 towards individual medical expenses in case of injuries due to an accident with an LPG cylinder," said Khurana. To create brand loyalty among its 18 million customers and expand its base, the petroleum major has also launched a scheme allowing the customers a chance to get the cooking gas cylinder weighed at the time of delivery. A research conducted by HPCL last year had revealed that around 33 percent of customers are unsure whether they are getting full capacity cylinders. With India opening up the petroleum marketing to private players last year, the state-owned petroleum majors that had enjoyed monopoly for decades have launched a slew of market-savvy initiatives. Taking off from better managed and value added services being offered at petrol stations, customers are being wooed right at their doorsteps. "A customer loyalty programme is also being launched in Mumbai under which members can purchase a range of household goods at attractive discounts ranging from 40 to 50 percent at the HP Home Bazaar and accumulate loyalty points redeemable against products," said Khurana. The programme is to be rolled out in other cities in phases. In addition to the urban consumers, HPCL is rolling out a community kitchen concept in villages across the country where groups of housewives are able to use common facilities for cooking. "Around 350 community kitchens are currently operational and benefits more than 6,500 families by providing a common cooking platform," said T.S. Sawhney, chief regional manager.
Source: IANS