Bill Wolf Petroleum Hits the Big Screen With inOvationTV

JERICHO, N.Y. -- Since many of Bill Wolf Petroleum's retail sites already offered Gas Station TV (GSTV) programming at the pumps, when approached to participate with inOvationTV, a new program based on a partnership with Wayne and GSTV, the retailer jumped at the chance.

In October, the chain became the first to deploy the program, which is fully funded by inOvation TV, including retrofitting the new system into its existing Wayne Ovation dispensers, maintenance and technical support. "It was a really attractive program," Adam Wolf, vice president of Jericho, N.Y.-based Bill Wolf Petroleum, told CSNews Online. "We've been with Gas Station TV since 2007, and as soon as this new program came out, we jumped on board right away."

Instead of Gas Station TV's standard screen that sits on top of the pump, these screens are part of the Ovation pump, and increase the screen size from the 4-inch standard to 10.4 inches. "It's bigger and easier to handle for transactions, and customers really enjoy that," Wolf noted. "It's not just the screen. It also comes with better buttons, a better display and bigger numbers. What I like most is it's integrated into the pump, so it's more streamlined."

The inOvation TV program is free to qualified retailers with Wayne's Ovation fuel dispensers, and those interested can apply for the program at the inOvation TV website. Retailers who participate with inOvation TV benefit from upgraded payment-processing technology through Wayne's iX Technology Platform, according to Wayne.

Additionally, the GSTV component offers the retailers content and programming, such as sports from ESPN, news and entertainment form HLN, business and personal finance news from Bloomberg TV, local weather from AccuWeather, and GSTV's original social media television show, "Your Neighborhood." It also offers them the ability to incorporate their own marketing videos.

"We are Shell-branded across the board, and part of Shell's requirements is we have to run their ads," Wolf said. "We own the retail locations, but lease them to individuals, so because the product mix is different we only send out uniform messages from Shell."

These messages might promote Shell's Stop and Shop program or its new Nitrogen Fuel program, he said. Wolf contacts his Shell representative when it's time to switch the advertising, and Shell sends the information to the platform.

"Generally, pumping gas is one of the most boring things people have to do, and this is entertaining and informative," Wolf said. "They run news clips, celebrity gossip, car ads or soda ads. Not every site has it, so it makes us different. It's really an amenity to make the customer experience better."

In addition to Bill Wolf Petroleum, Bolla Oil, based in Garden, City, N.Y., announced in November that it would install the inOvation TV program at more than 40 sites.