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ISSUE:
Quaker State and Coyne PR geared up to raise consumer awareness of the wear protection claims of Quaker State products versus their competitors. The campaign needed to put an end to the confusing claims conversation and position Quaker State as the industry leader.
IDEA:
The team rolled out the perfect program to bring clarity to the wear protection issue: the Wear Wars. The campaign was officially announced in a challenge issued to Mobil 1, Valvoline and Castrol to drive home the message that no leading full synthetic SAE 5W-30 motor oil provides better wear protection in the ASTM Sequence IVA test than Quaker State Q HorsePower Full Synthetic. A letter was sent from Steve Harman, President of Shell Americas, to executives responsible for Mobil 1, Valvoline and Castrol, and a reprint of the letter was published in a full-page advertisement in USA Today to make the public aware of the challenge.
The challenge consisted of a respected third-party testing facility conducting a one-time, independent test of each motor oil. If the challenge was accepted, the firm would test products purchased randomly off of the shelf of a major national retailer. The products, marked as blind samples for the test, would be run with the results published at a 95 percent confidence level. News of the challenge was distributed via wire release to national print, broadcast, trade/industry and local Houston media, and competitors were given a deadline to respond.
As the deadline quickly rolled past with no response from competitors, the team at Coyne PR distributed a national wire release to declare the winner of the Wear Wars: the consumers, who were presented with a $10 coupon to try the official industry leader. A second advertisement was placed in USA Today to make consumers aware that Quaker State was unanswered and unchallenged in wear protection. To mark the end of the Wear Wars, Quaker State reintroduced their full synthetic motor oil as Quaker State Ultimate Durability full synthetic motor oil – a new name, but the same unsurpassed wear protection.
IMPACT:
The Quaker State Wear Wars was a resounding success with the media. President Steve Harman appeared on FOX Business’ “Money For Breakfast” to discuss the challenge – which also saw coverage from some of the industry’s top publications including Automobile and Motor Trend magazines. Overall, the Wear Wars campaign amounted to 664 stories, resulting in more than 212 million impressions. Web traffic to QuakerState.com increased from 3,000 visitors per month to 21,000 visitors in the month of March and according to BlogPulse.com, online buzz increased 200 percent on the day the challenge was released to competitors and remained high through the weeks following the challenge. |
Automotive Case Studies
