Q] Please tell us about the significance of the ‘Rukna Mushkil Hai’ campaign for Shell Advance range of motorcycle oils.
The ‘Rukna Mushkil Hai’ campaign is the beginning of a bigger plan and ambition to drive the growth of lubricants, particularly in the consumer space. Shell is a globally renowned brand, and is popular in certain pockets of India where we have our mobility stations. However, there’s low brand awareness, more so, in the context of the quality and innovation that we bring to our customers. Our consumer research and data points towards such a deficit in the north, west, and east regions.
As the biggest two-wheeler market in the world, India has always been a critical growth market for us. Historically, we have been focused on BTL activation, working with our trade influencers and mechanics. While it is still an important part of our strategy, we want to actively start building the brand. Given this objective, a consumer facing campaign was our best bet at this point to build awareness at a large scale.
Q] Why did you feel the need to onboard a brand ambassador? Also, why Shahid Kapoor?
This is our first celebrity-led ATL brand campaign for the lubricants business in India. We wanted a well-recognised face, and more importantly, someone who is aligned to the attributes and personality of Shell Advance. A passionate biker, Shahid Kapoor is known for his hardworking nature and authenticity. As Shell looks to expand its customer base, it can further leverage his pan-India popularity and youthful energy to foster the brand’s appeal across all age groups.
Q] What is the message in terms of the product benefits and overall brand philosophy that you wanted to convey through the imagery/execution of the campaign?
‘Rukna Mushkil Hai’ basically celebrates the unstoppable spirit of Indian riders, especially the youth that is powered by the passion, hope, and determination to do something good, regardless of the challenges. The campaign portrays how this attitude is the defining characteristic of Indian riders across all walks of life, be it a delivery boy, or a mother who drops her kid to school on a scooter, or an adventurous biker maneuvering the difficult terrains of Ladakh. We want to come across as the ultimate partner that can make riding experience enjoyable and smooth.
We have also ensured that Shell’s commitment to road safety is reflected in the ad through the scene where our brand ambassador is seen fastening a kid’s helmet.
Q] How have you allocated spends across mediums for this campaign?
For this campaign, TV is taking about 60% of our planned investment, and 40% is going towards Digital, including OTT platforms. But even with this 40%, the absolute figure is much higher than what we’ve allocated to the medium in the past. Our Digital media investments have been going up, but we have never invested at this scale for the bikes segment until now.
Q] What are the business objectives that you aim to accomplish with this campaign? As there’s low brand awareness in some regions, are you focusing more on them?
We are prioritising North and West for this campaign, and therefore our media mix - both online and offline - is also skewed towards these regions.
As for the business objectives, we see that among bikes, cars, and trucks, bikes is the biggest category in terms of volume for lubricants. It is also a highly penetrated category. Our long-term objective is to significantly accelerate our business delivery. Our market share in India is not as strong as it is in the global markets, and there’s a lot of headroom for growth, particularly in the consumer space. That is why we have decided to focus on bikes, which is the biggest and the most fragmented category. But it offers us a much higher opportunity to grow by building awareness and love for the brand.
Q] Is there any particular reason why the brand is lagging behind in other regions as compared to the south?
It’s a combination of factors. One, in the south we are present through our mobility fuel stations that give us very good visibility and awareness for the brand. They help us build credibility. In addition to the consumer awareness and pull, we have a strong sales infrastructure in the region to satisfy the demand by virtue of having the right distribution channels. We have been fortunate enough to build a robust distribution network in the south through several loyal, collaborative, and long-standing partnerships with our channel partners.
Q] Apart from the TVC, what are the other elements of the campaign? Are there any supporting on-ground initiatives as well?
This is a 360-degrees campaign. We have TV, Digital, OTT, influencers, etc. However, it is important to note that this category is influenced significantly by the mechanic community or the trade influencers, because they hold the sway when it comes to the choice of lubricants. A significant proportion of consumers don’t really understand how to choose a lubricant. That’s why we have an offline or BTL leg of the campaign that is being kicked off with Shahid Kapoor helming the front-end of our POS communication.
We also ran extensive research with about 8000 mechanics who are enrolled with us under our loyalty programme. The idea was to understand their needs and ambitions, and we could zero-in on four key ones that they prioritise - upgrading of their workshops, enhancing their skill set, financial safety and support for their family, and greater acceptance in the community. Based on these four insights, we launched the ‘Sapne Honge Apne’ campaign. We identify one mechanic every week, whom we can support with some financial aid.
PROFILE
Amit Ghugre is the Chief Marketing & Sales Officer of Shell Lubricants India and has been associated with Shell for five years. He is responsible for driving the sales & marketing strategy of Shell Lubricants India for the automotive portfolio.
ABOUT THE BRAND
Shell Lubricants (India) serves over 50,000 consumers through a network of more than 200 B2C and B2B distributors and operates an end-to-end value chain that spans conceptualization and development, production at a world-class blending plant, and distribution through a network of four regional distribution centres and eight warehouses.
FACTS
Media Agency: EssenceMediacom
PR Agency: Edelman India Pvt. Ltd.
Creative Agency: Dentsu Communications Pvt. Ltd.
BTL/Activation Agency: PMG Sports
