BrainTrust Query: How will consumers respond to BP's Gutsy New Marketing Campaign?
By Laura Davis-Taylor, Founder and Principal, Retail Media Consulting
Last week, BP unveiled a $36 million marketing campaign dubbed "Helios Power" focused on going back to its roots and making drivers' gas station experience 'a little better." It's a vast departure from anything seen from traditional oil company marketing, particularly considering that BP has not advertised their retail sites in over a decade.
Rather than traditional awareness marketing, BP hopes to renew their commitment to their customers by making a promise for a better site experience. They hope this goal will be believed - and achieved - by creating an emotional connection with their customers. According to BP, this is done by showcasing concepts such as 'bold,' 'green' and 'real' - bold in its creative execution, green for its focus on environmental and real because the promise comes to life with the BP gas station experience.
Helios Power targets married/single 22- to 44-year-olds, with 60 percent having at least one child living at home. With this in mind, they bypassed actors and created hard-to-resist animated characters, each unique in name, personality and background. This cast includes Beeps, which are lean, mean cleaning machines for the BP site, as well as Jackson, a veteran show biz dog that was supposed to host his own late night show but the network chickened out and hired a human! Sal is a baby with a thirst for life, the road and bass guitar, while Burt and the Lighthouse Family are happy BP customers delighted that their day was made 'a little better' due to their experience at BP.
The campaign launched in Times Square with 35-story high billboard as well as with the creation of the website, www.alittlebettergasstation.com. The site brings the cast of characters together by featuring them in engaging interactives and stories. This includes downloadable ring tones, "webisodes," a Gas Mania video game and sweepstakes, screen savers, computer wallpapers and even "baby mail", where you can send an email to a friend with a message from one of the baby characters.
Careful focus was put on the store, where point-of-purchase includes monthly in-store giveaways such as packets of sunflower seeds bearing the message, "Plant a sunflower and make the world a little brighter" in April, trading cards featuring the BP characters and a trading card wallet giveaways in May, and children's travel activity books featuring the animated characters in June.
"With the 'Helios Power' campaign, we hope to further connect with consumers and encourage them to turn into a BP retail site, where we're trying to make things 'a little better,'" Linda Bartman, BP's marketing communications manager, told Convenience Store News.
Discussion Questions: After not advertising for their retail sites for 10 years, how will BP's new campaign play with consumers? What does this say about gas station advertising? What does this say about integrated marketing campaigns in general?
I admire this effort greatly, as the commitment and belief in the "making things better" goal for this campaign are evident. It could not have been easy to convince the powers that be to make such a bold brand statement with this endeavor. Nor could it have been easy to get all internal (and external!) teams to play nice together and bring it to life in every channel. It's fun, creative, engaging, integrated and, most of all, meaningful to the customer because it promises something not easy to deliver - we care.
I know we are going to get comments about last year's PR disaster, but looking at their eco efforts at www.thegreencurve.com, at least they're trying. The "Helios House," a living lab that uses green, eco-friendly innovation to create a better gas station, showcases this effort. They don't claim to have the answers, but they do say they aim to keep at it and "it reflects our belief that small steps in the right direction can make a difference."
In my mind, this campaign and the associated elements ring true in their authenticity. They also show us that it is possible to break through the old school norms and connect with people by empathetically trying to make a difference rather than just a buck. Yes, we now have to watch and see if the promises will be delivered. But, as they state, their small steps towards change are worth being acknowledged!