Driving Loyalty and App Downloads Through Targeted Direct Mail for Johnny’s Markets
When Johnny’s Markets—known for 60+ convenience stores across Michigan alongside Shell fuel stations—launched their new mobile app and rewards program, J+ Club, they saw an opportunity. They wanted to convert existing Shell Fuel Rewards® (FR) users and attract new customers into a loyalty experience that was uniquely Johnny’s.
The Johnny’s team was already encouraging customers to try the new app through in-store suggestive selling, email, and social. But like many brands building a new loyalty ecosystem, they were looking for a way to spark deeper engagement and drive more downloads. Johnny’s already has a loyal following, with tremendous opportunity inside their existing customer base, including current FR users, but turning that loyalty into action was the real hurdle. That’s where Brightformat came in.
The Opportunity
Johnny’s Markets asked us to help build a Direct Mail strategy that would do two things at once:
Introduce the new Johnny’s app
Drive measurable growth in J+ Club membership
Brightformat partnered closely with the Johnny’s team to identify ten stores with the most potential, five with the lowest FR saturation and five with the highest. That gave us a clear view of two different customer behaviors and the chance to test how far Direct Mail could move the needle in both.
The Approach
We crafted a hyper-local mailing list targeting households within a five-mile radius of each store. From there, Johnny’s produced a bold and friendly 11" x 6" postcard that carried their message front and center: “All the benefits of Shell Fuel Rewards® plus J+ Club Exclusive Deals.”
Johnny’s design partner, Square One, designed the postcard. One side promoted the new app. The other spotlighted a photo of the recipient’s nearest Johnny’s location, a familiar visual to drive instant recognition.
Meanwhile, Brightformat handled the full production lift:
List acquisition
Data processing (including adding intelligent mail barcodes and following USPS guidelines for deepest postage discounts)
Variable data production
Verification and delivery to USPS
In total, we sent 52,003 postcards across the ten locations.
The Results
We love when data tells a clear story, and this one speaks loudly:
121% Lift in New J+ Club Members
That’s across all ten stores—high-saturation and low-saturation locations alike.
716% Return on Investment
A massive win that validated Direct Mail as a high-value channel for loyalty growth.
A New Ongoing Test Program
The success of this initial send sparked a longer-term commitment: Johnny’s is continuing to test Direct Mail to drive more app downloads and J+ Club membership. And we’re right beside them, helping identify targeted demographics and refine future campaigns.
Why It Worked
This campaign blended three ingredients we believe in:
Local Relevance
A postcard featuring your neighborhood Johnny’s? That’s personal. And personal works. We also included small touches, including “To our neighbor" in the address line to align with Johnny’s core value of “Be Neighborly”.
Message Clarity
Customers knew exactly what they’d gain: the full power of Shell Fuel Rewards® plus something new and uniquely rewarding.
Strategic Targeting
We didn’t just send mail. We sent the right mail to the right neighborhoods.
Moving Forward
We’re excited to keep exploring how Direct Mail can accelerate Johnny’s loyalty growth. They bring the curiosity, we bring the craft, and together we get to figure out what’s possible next. Because when a good challenge shows up, we band together, dig deeper, and make something great happen.
Want to learn more about how we can help reach your goals with Direct Mail?