As one of the key figures in Shell's 'Made to move' campaign, its first global branding push, Sarah Alspach, global retail brand marketing and communications manager for Shell Oil Products, admits it has been a busy 18 months. Traditionally, Shell has tended to focus more on promoting products and services. But an increasingly competitive landscape, rising oil prices and a smarter consumer sparked the need for a revamp in how the global oil giant approached its communications platform.
"The internet has changed the consumer," says Alspach. "If they want to find something out, they have more places they can go to find that information. Can it represent challenges? Absolutely. Can it represent opportunities? Absolutely. You have to embrace them together."
Alspach, who was promoted to the global role after a four-year stint as the company's European retail marketing chief, says 'Made to move' — developed by JWT and MediaCom as an integrated brand platform — has so far been well received. Aiming to reconnect consumers with their love of moving, the initiative shies away from speaking about the technical benefits provided by Shell's products and services.
Alspach says this has provided a critical point of difference in the company's retail strategy, compared with its competitors.
"Shell is passionate and excited about the fuels that we make and the technology that sits behind that, but that's not always something that's very easy for consumers to get passionate and excited about," Alspach points out.
"What they can get passionate and excited about is when they're in their car and they get that extra kick in performance, and in general, moving on the road. That's really what we're trying to tap into. This is something that we're looking at for the long term."
According to Alspach, the initiative's success will ultimately be measured by the return on Shell's investment, a mandate drummed into her from day one in her first job with direct marketing agency Digitas. But she also points out that while ROI metrics form the central plank of any marketer's foundation, equally important is the "big idea, creatively", a notion she learned while at Ogilvy & Mather. "I think it's important for people to have worked on both sides of the fence," says Alspach.
"On the agency side, there's a lot of very interesting thinking that takes place, which doesn't always happen on the client side, because people are so focused on the bottom line. If you have that deeper understanding of the process on the agency side, then it will make you a more understanding client, and you can work with the agency towards a better solution."
It was during her four-year stint at American Express that Alspach really understood what it was to blend creativity with business objectives. Tasked with the UK launch of its Blue Card brand, Alspach was essentially responsible for developing everything from the brand platform to the type of consumers targeted, while ensuring the card remained loyal to American Express' core brand values. She admits it was during this time that she realised that the "starting with a blank sheet" approach was where her future lay. Shell, a brand which was not as clearly defined and formed as American Express, provided the leeway for a more creative approach to marketing and ,ultimately, a logical next step.
Developed over 15 years, Alspach's marketing philosophy has taken on a bespoke form, based on three distinct tiers: emotional engagement with consumers, instilling a belief in those consumers, and the importance of translating that belief into behavioural change. But, as she is quick to point out, it is internal communications with the brand's employees which is fundamental to all three tenets.
"It's absolutely critical and it's probably the one thing that all of us can do better constantly," she notes. "If your own employees are not brand ambassadors, then you shouldn't be surprised if the customers aren't. You don't need market research to tell you that happy staff mean happy customers."
