CITGO to Showcase New Programs via Marketer Roundtables

HOUSTON -- CITGO Petroleum Corp. plans to send a strong message of growth this year through 18 marketer roundtable meetings it has scheduled for 2012. These events will allow the CITGO team to directly educate marketers on the company's new programs and plans designed to help them and their retailers achieve more consumer visits, more purchases and higher fuel sales.

"No doubt the highlight of 2011 was the continued excitement regarding our new image, as about 1,500 locations adopted the new, vibrant look," said Gustavo Velásquez, CITGO's vice president of supply and marketing. "At the same time, we added 445 new CITGO locations and welcomed 13 new marketers to the CITGO family. Our goal in 2012 is to build on this great momentum and keep our marketers and retailers energized and excited about the future of the CITGO brand."

New CITGO programs available to marketers and retailers this year include:

• A rewards system designed to increase store traffic, volume and sales that uses Visa's real-time messaging platform and is easy to implement;
• Trimark of Excellence, a mystery shop program that provides new rewards for compliance and imposes new penalty fines for non-compliance;
• A microsite myCITGOStore.com, which provides information on the enhanced mystery shop program to retailers and enters registrants into monthly drawings for a tablet and the grand prize of a $2,500 Visa gift card;
• An enhanced, customizable loyalty program with exclusive connections;
• Continued adoption of the dynamic Centennial Image, a new way to attract new customers and improve sales; and
• Continued participation in Fueling Good, the charitable giving campaign that rewards those who make a difference in their communities.

"We know that our most important asset at CITGO is the human connection, which provides our marketers with a keen focus on their business, flexibility and transparency in all CITGO programs, and an accessible management team. That is why these roundtable meetings, which allow our marketers to provide input and ask questions, are so important to us," said Velásquez. "Many of these new programs and enhancements to existing programs came from their valuable feedback, working on the front lines every day as the true face of CITGO."

Marketers are encouraged to attend their local roundtable meeting or contact their local CITGO representative if unable to attend.