Global Shell campaign shows truckers' 'Real destination' isn't the end of the road

Title: 'Real destinations'

Client: Shell Rimula

Agencies:  J. Walter Thompson (ATL), Mediacom (paid media), Edelman (PR), Iris (BTL) and Wunderman (Digital)

Scope: Online campaign hub, public relations, digital (YouTube and YouKu), point of sale promotions

Details:

The campaign for the brand of heavy-duty diesel engine oil, set to run in 17 countries, has kicked off with two films in which real truckers from China (see above) and Russia (see below) reveal their personal motivations and goals in life, and how Shell Rimula is helping to reach them. The truckers and their families are also featured in press, outdoor and in-store collateral. 

The slogan “Shell Rimula, the engine oil that works as hard as you” says it all, and builds on the brand's previous global campaign in 2012 'Shell Rimula Hardworking'.

Selected markets will be activating a call-to-action to invite local truckers and fleet managers to engage with the brand by submitting their own real-life stories. Key markets include USA, Canada, Turkey, Brazil, Malaysia, South Africa, South Korea, Thailand, Colombia, Pakistan, Egypt, India, Indonesia and Vietnam.

Valerie Cheng, chief creative officer at J. Walter Thompson Singapore and Global ECD for Shell Lubricants, led the work, collaborating with teams in London, Shanghai and Houston for global and local relevance. Shooting took place in China (Beijing), Russia (Moscow and Murmansk), India (Delhi) and the USA (Phoenix and Flagstaff, Arizona). Film production was led by Collider in Sydney, working with production houses in each market. Songzu, which is also based in Sydney, composed an original track for the campaign. 

Quotes:

Roger Moulding, vice president of Shell Lubricants Global Marketing:

For many of our customers, trucking is the cornerstone of their life: a job that sees them work long hours, over long periods, often many kilometres away from home, but ultimately provides for their family and loved ones. Engine oil plays a vital role in keeping their trucks and business moving, yet despite this it remains a traditionally low-interest purchase.

Valerie Cheng:

Authenticity was key to the successful delivery of this campaign, and it couldn’t get more genuine than working with real truckers and their family members. Their lives, cultures, values and diversity brought so much depth and character into 'Real destinations'. This campaign is a tribute to every trucker around the world who works so hard for their dreams and the ones they love.

Campaign Asia-Pacific's comments:

The immediate benefits of engine oil, backed by lubricant science, are lower maintenance costs, longer equipment life and reduced energy consumption. But these factors don't get truckers or the fleet managers who support them out of bed to work in the morning. But here we see bashful pride in Sun Guangyoung, the Chinese trucker featured in the campaign, as he talks about self-sustenance and putting his children through university. And for once, we actually get emotional about oil.

The emotional marketing approach is a first for the B2B brand, and the documentary-style films showcase Shell Rimula’s understanding of a real trucker’s life on those long, dusty, winding roads. Lubricant puns seem to be in order and not out of place here, as the brand eases the journeys of the truckers, both literally and figuratively, toward their destinations.