T-Mobile this week rebooted its loyalty program, rebranding it as Magenta Status and offering several new perks to ring in the occasion.
But, according to Mike Katz, president of marketing, strategy, and products, this is just the beginning.
“This is a platform we can continue to bring new deals to customers,” he told Cord Cutters News in an interview after the announcement.
The launch of Magenta Status comes as other companies pull back on their own customer loyalty programs, or introduce new wrinkles or hurdles to obtain higher tiers of status (looking at you, airline industry). AT&T quietly shut down its own loyalty rewards program, AT&T Thanks, in October.
But many of those other programs offer perks that tie directly to their service, like free checked bags for Delta Airlines members. Magenta Status offers a grab bag of deals, which may or may not be useful depending on whether you travel or attend concerts or sporting events. They include a free hotel status upgrade with Hilton Honors, a gas discount from rental services Hertz/Dollar, and discounted tickets from Live Nation. The $5 movie ticket is for designated film, with this month being Bob Marley: One Love, and its appeal depends on whether you intended to actually watch it.
There are more conventionally useful deals like free crazy bread from Little Caesars or discounts with Shell, but these were already available on its T-Mobile Tuesday program, and just expanded so they’re “always on” vs. a weekly deal.
If you don’t like any of the new perks, you may just need to wait a bit. Katz said the platform of deals is “highly curated,” and noted there’s already a roadmap of perks laid out.
When T-Mobile began its T-Mobile Tuesdays program, it had to go to companies and convince them to work with the carrier. But given popularity of the program, which customers still engaging with the app, companies are starting to come to T-Mobile.
T-Mobile, with its base of 118 million people, can drive a lot of business to a potential partner, which is why they’re able to offer these kinds of deals.
The carrier retired its T-Mobile Tuesday app and is in the middle of moving everyone over to a new T-Life app that will include the old rewards program as one facet. Katz said everyone should be switched over by the time Magenta Status launches on February 13.
He added that eventually, every aspect of your interaction with T-Mobile will be incorporated into T-Life, including your ability to pay your bills and check on the status of your account. Customers need to access a separate app for those services.