Background

Dual incomes, the desire for more free time and the resulting explosion of 10 minute jiffy lubes had stripped away much of Quaker State's traditional “do it yourself” market. Combined with increasingly trouble-free car engines and with a decade of limited product innovation or differentiation, motor oil had become a low interest but crowded category, relegated by retailers to “loss leader” status.

Challenges

Facing declining category volume and price point pressure at retail, #2 Quaker State was looking to protect its user franchise and steal share. The brand needed to shatter the category's “selection set” mentality (where consumers were content to choose from two or three acceptable products at retail, often purchasing whatever was on deal).

Our goal: to shift consumer purchases to premium-priced skus and create real brand preference, despite being historically outspent 3-to-1 by both the category leader (Pennzoil) and the most aggressive category competitor (Castrol).

Insights

Through segmentation work, we identified Quaker State's best prospects for long term growth: automotive enthusiasts. With unbridled passion for their vehicle and a strong desire to share their knowledge (and preferences) with others, automotive enthusiasts could become brand champions, not only using but recommending Quaker State to others. Through ethnography, we gained insights about their automotive activities and product motivations.

Connections

Our search for product differentiation led to conversations with “expert consumers”—we probed the benefits of different motor oil formulations with racing teams and identified the promise of reducing friction to meet the auto enthusiast's desire for more horsepower. Quaker State now had a powerful combination: brand advocates with compelling product point-of-difference.

Using scrappy Denis Leary, our “Power to Reduce Friction” campaign tells it like it is, breaks through and persuades. It is highly confrontational, but uses Denis' brand of humor to soften the blows. He's like your best friend who tells you when you've done something dumb, but rather than getting upset, you believe him and appreciate “getting straightened out.”

Denis and the simplicity of the message resonate with the auto enthusiast.

Results

Year-to-date brand share has increased over 10%.