ExxonMobil Egypt’s loyalty program – Mobilawy – won Best B2B program at the 2024 International Loyalty Awards conference held in Dubai, U.A.E. The program is designed and managed in collaboration with Dsquares – a tech savvy loyalty solution provider, who have been working on it since its birth in 2020.

Now, with this prestigious award sitting on its shelf a few feet from the marketeers behind Mobilawy at ExxonMobil Egypt Cairo Office, Egypt Oil & Gas sheds light and insights into this program – how it all started, what challenges were overcome, and how both ExxonMobil and Dsquares continue to work together to take ‘loyalty’ to the next level.

An interview with Ahmed Abdeldayem, Africa Middle East Chief Marketing Officer at ExxonMobil Egypt

 What does this award mean to you?

For me, this prestigious international award is a recognition of the program’s ability to foster strong, rewarding relationships with our valued channels and reflects on the hard work, passion, and commitment to exemplifying excellence & innovation for the Mobilawy trade loyalty program after shortlisted with 9 contenders for the B2B category.

Overall, we are very proud of our integrated digital ecosystem that helps us fulfill our brand promise and delivers on ExxonMobil Egypt aspirations… and that’s only the start!

How did it all start?

To answer that, I have to take you back more than 120 years when ExxonMobil Egypt was established. We have been and continue to be a leading provider of lubricants and fuels with almost 400 Mobil Service Stations, 240 Mobil 1 Centers, and Mobil Autocare. We have always worked hard to meet the rising needs of our channels and customers and proudly play a significant role in driving Egypt’s Economic growth, which has been key to our continued success. In 2020, we initiated the Mobilawy loyalty program with the aim of revolutionizing our B2B and consumer experience. Mobilawy – the name inspired by the fact that we wanted our customers to belong, to feel empowered, and to be part of something big that adds value to them and to their business. Starting off with an SMS-based system, we soon afterwards developed an app. on both Appstore and Google Play, and eventually, Mobilawy employed a digital platform that transcended into an evolving and continuously improving powerful tool enabling an overarching eco-system.

How did ExxonMobil become a leader in the digital transformation that led to the success of this unique trade program?

 Our journey towards digital transformation began five years ago with a market-back approach and adopting a customer-centric roadmap for both B2C & B2B channels. The brand consumer experience (BCX) is the foundation of everything we do, tracking the customers’ journey, understanding their needs, and above all, what they expect of the “Mobil” brand. Understanding all of this enabled us to uncover actionable insights to construct a holistic digital strategy.

We have transactional loyalty programs, which have always been key to developing our relationships with consumers, but ‘good’ became ‘better’ when we managed to combine those with non-transactional loyalty programs that develop affinity, attachment, and trust. Since its inception in 2020, “Mobilawy” has been a remarkable success rapidly gaining market penetration by offering rewards on fuels and lubricants. Mobilawy has continually evolved gaining more fulfilling features along the way to enhance usability and transitioning from an SMS system to an enhanced app available on both the AppStore and Google Play.

What were the challenges that Exxonmobil encountered during the digital transformation implementation and how were they addressed?

I can go on for days just to mention a few of the challenges, but if I am to be specific, there were really 3 main ones in the end:

there’s the market dynamics: Critical factors like technological advancements, economic fluctuations, and shifting consumer behaviors lead to the rapid evolution of Markets.  Let’s not forget the unprecedented challenge back then facing the entire world with a global pandemic, and so to be able to maintain customer loyalty, we had to remain resilient, agile, proactive – and more importantly positive – in responding to these changes.

Keeping consumers engaged. We cannot afford to lose their attention nor their interest and involvement. In today’s dynamic landscape, customer disengagement can occur swiftly if they perceive a lack of value proposition. At ExxonMobil, we continuously evolve and strive to stay more than one step ahead anticipating and meeting customer needs before they are even articulated to guarantee loyalty.

And the third but by no means the least, is Resources and Technological capabilities. Companies should cope with the frequent technological advancements and always be ready with the adequate resources needed.

What’s your advice to other companies on the key factors to success if they are looking forward to developing loyalty programs?

You have got to empower your teams and choose the right expertise to get the job done. And let us not forget that when we say terms like B2C and B2B, we are also working with and for “people”.  Always keep an eye out for what is happening around you in the market. What do your customers want? Put yourself in their shoes, because you and I and the next 100 people you interview are customers of some loyalty program or another.

Additionally, you have to ensure that Project Management elements are in place: secure your budget, resources, and technical capabilities. You need to have a solid and robust 3-5 years business plan based on a vision, and to make sure to have the right level of expertise the project needs. Developing loyalty programs is about value. So my simple advice would be – Never stop evolving. Trends change, technology advances and market behaviors shift. And we must always adapt.

What is the future of ExxonMobil’s digital transformation strategy?

Our aim is to pursue a digitally enabled consumer reach. We are working on the next generation of Mobilawy platform, and the future of transactional loyalty, to develop a digital inclusive relationship with consumers, to become the all-new feature set and the go-to digital destination for drivers’ maintenance and fueling needs.

Overall, we are proud of our integrated digital ecosystem that delivers ExxonMobil Egypt’s benefits and secure long-term loyalty. we’re committed to providing industry leading B2B solutions that empower our channels and drive success.

An interview with Sherif Fahmy, Head of Loyalty at ExxonMobil Egypt

How did Mobilawy start and how did it evolve over the years?

ExxonMobil Egypt is a market leader in launching a loyalty program to enhance brand loyalty & increase benefits from the lubricants sales through accumulating points & providing a wide range of merchants for redemptions.

On the B2B side, lube oil shops can enroll in the program and have a wallet linked to their mobile number, following a series of verification steps. Utilizing a pack-based solution, traders begin accumulating points by sending numerical code on the back of the side label. As they progress through various tiers, traders receive automated vouchers redeemable at a diverse array of merchants spanning sectors such as F&B, electronics, fashion, etc.

On the B2C side, the end consumer enrolls in the program by sending the numerical code on front label of the lubes pack and automatically a wallet is created holding the assigned points balance. To redeem points, consumers simply provide their mobile number at designated merchants, where they receive a one-time password (OTP) for security purposes and then the points balance is adjusted accordingly to reflect the redeemed item’s value.

Furthermore, Mobilawy offers a unique advantage where consumers can accumulate points not only through lubes transactions but also by fueling their vehicles with “Mobil Super Plus 95”. This integrated approach allows for the seamless accumulation of points across both fuels and lubes transactions.

In 2023, building upon Mobilawy’s foundation, we launched a mobile application for B2B & B2C to enhance the consumer experience of points accumulation. Through an extensive above-the-line (ATL) campaign, we achieved remarkable traction, evidenced by thousands of new downloads/registrations across both lubes and fuels wallets. Leveraging the transactional data, our focus shifted towards building a comprehensive database to extract insights and refine our strategies as we continue to scale with Mobilawy.

How did Mobilawy become industry leading loyalty program?

Mobilawy is the first loyalty program in Egypt in the downstream business of fuels & lubes, offering a lucrative pointing system with a competitive value proposition to both B2B & B2C sectors. The recognition of Mobilawy can be attributed to several key factors. First, its success is underpinned by the established brand legacy of Mobil in the Egyptian market for fuels & lubes. By seamlessly transitioning from a B2B perspective to engaging the B2C consumers, Mobilawy capitalized on the brand equity, enhancing its credibility and resonance in the market. Additionally, Mobilawy’s approach ensured the engagement of lube oil shops, creating a rewarding system tailored to their needs and fostering strong collaboration across the channel.

What is your reward strategy for Mobilawy Traders?

Initially, our business model at Exxonmobil Egypt was solely focused on rewarding our wholesalers while lube oil shop program was not on the table. Rewarding the lube oil shop was traditionally dependent on the wholesale network.

Mobilawy emerged as our first door opener for the B2B model directly with the lube oil shop. With consumption translating into points, and subsequently into rewards, Mobilawy introduced a lucrative pointing system with a competitive value proposition. So, when a customer goes for an oil change in a lube oil shop, the shop owner can promote Mobil engine oil instead of any other brand to earn more, offering ExxonMobil Egypt a competitive edge in the market.

 What kind of challenges did you face while implementing the program throughout its different phases?

We’ve encountered a spectrum of challenges such as launching amidst the uncertainties of the COVID pandemic in 2020. However, we were able to overcome it year after year and achieve great results. With an expansive network of 40,000 lube shops in Egypt, reaching our target lube shops required a meticulous approach. We were able to leverage dedicated merchandisers who verified, and geo tagged the locations to ensure their validity for points accumulation. Moreover, raising awareness among both B2B & B2C consumers necessitated strategic communication campaigns that hammered on the loyalty benefits and created the right brand association. Additionally, transitioning lube oil shops to digital engagement was a big challenge. However, by initially employing simple SMS interactions and progressively advancing to application and web portal, we were able to successfully engage the B2B consumers.

How were you able to measure the success of Mobilawy over the years?

Our main KPI is the penetration rate which serves as a barometer of the correlation between the sales-in and sales-out and we are consistently surpassing our targets year after year. Having a high redemption rate underscores our program’s effectiveness signaling deep engagement among our B2B &B2C consumers.

On the B2B side, Mobilawy has witnessed significant traction, thousands of traders, and lube oil shops in the market – constituting 90% of Egypt traders were successfully registered and engaged in the program.

While on the B2C side, our KPIs are let by the number of application downloads, registrations, followed by the number of active customers and the mix between fuels and lubes wallets. Crossing the milestone of 1 million users stands as a momentous achievement. A very exciting and promising milestone in the Egyptian fuels and lubes sector.

What’s the future of Mobilawy?

Since Mobilawy plays a pivotal role in ExxonMobil Egypt’s short- and long-term marketing activities and is the core digital platform in the Egyptian market, we’ve laid out a clear digital roadmap for our loyalty journeys. This road map includes various engaging activities, strategic tactics, and promotional campaigns planned for the next few years to increase user engagement and meet customer needs. As consumers are the heart of everything we do, we will continue to adapt and refine our program to meet their expectations and preferences by leveraging the right expertise “Dsquares” a tech-savvy loyalty house in the loyalty industry, who is an important catalyst for the success of the program.

An interview with Marwan Kenawy, CEO and Co-founder of Dsquares

How do you reflect on your journey with Mobilawy?

Mobilawy, ExxonMobil Egypt’s B2B loyalty program, is a testament to the power of data-driven loyalty solutions.

Working with ExxonMobil Egypt, we dove deep into understanding the unique motivations of traders, uncovering what drives their preferences to promote Mobil lubricants. These insights fueled our decision-making, allowing us to choose the right rewards and build redemption experiences that truly resonated with this target audience.

Through a combination of cutting-edge technology and a deep understanding of consumer behavior, Mobilawy became an essential lifestyle app for traders across Egypt and a revolution in the Oil & Gas industry.

We’re incredibly proud that this success has been recognized by the industry, with Mobilawy winning the prestigious award for the leading B2B loyalty application at the International Loyalty Awards