This document outlines a plan to brand Castrol motor oil in the crowded US market. Research found mechanics view oils as equal, while do-it-yourselfers choose based on price, availability, and recommendations. The target audience was identified as male auto parts store customers aged 20-50 who change their own oil. The branding strategy will connect Castrol's history of racing and innovation representing freedom to American values of freedom and individualism. The goal is for customers to perceive Castrol as a brand with similar cultural values and choose it over cheaper options.

1. How to Brand Castrol in the U.S.
by Carol L. Weinfeld

2. Background
 The motor oil industry in the U.S. is a crowded market.
 Motor oil is a parity product, i.e. not very interesting.
 One has to buy it to keep one’s car running well.
 There are so many choices.
 Castrol competes against many brands.
 It is difficult for consumers to choose.
 They focus on what their car manual says they should buy and the oil’s
viscosity.

3. Problem
 What would you do?
 If all oils with the correct viscosity are equally good at meeting your car’s
requirements, how would you choose?
 This is what Castrol is up against in the U.S.

4. Motor Oil Choices
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5. Castrol and Consumers
 We will help consumers choose Castrol.
 We need to find what interests them first.

6. We Decided to:
 Investigate what mechanics and consumers in San Francisco think of Castrol
and motor oil
 Interview 10 mechanics who change motor oil in addition to other car
maintenance
 Interview 7 consumers at garages
 Interview 20 consumers on the street in front of an auto parts store

7. What Did We Learn?
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8. Mechanics
 Many believe all oils are equal.
 “Oil is oil,” they said.
flickr.com/photos/xcbiker

9. Garage Customers
 They are familiar with the Castrol name from advertising.
 They don’t think about changing their oil, and leave it to their mechanics.
 They trust their mechanics implicitly as “gurus” or “doctors.”

10. Auto Parts Store Customers
Who Change Their Own Oil
 They have brand name recognition of Castrol.
 Their purchase reasons are varied: availability, price, if it’s appropriate for
the car, salesperson’s recommendation.
 They are independent, do it yourselfers.
flickr.com/photos/anastaciah

11. Secondary Research: Consumers & Cars
 The top 5 reasons for purchasing a particular type of oil: Brand name 36%,
lowest price 24%, recommendation 16%, performance claim 10%,
coupon/rebate 6% (Aftermarket Business World Consumer Attitude Study,
June 2012).
 The importance of dependability, safety & fuel efficiency is significantly
higher than 5 years ago (Opinion Research Corporation, 9/20/07).

12. Secondary Research: Consumers in Online Motor
Oil Forums/Social Media
 Oil is oil.
 Price is important.
 Castrol has good quality.
 Facebook fans admire Castrol drag car racing
and John Force, Castrol race car driver.
flickr.com/photos/jmr-holdit

13. To Whom Should We Communicate: Our Target
 Auto parts store customers who are knowledgeable about car maintenance
 Males, aged 20-50
 They’re not familiar with brand differences and make purchases based on
price.
 They change their car’s oil.
 They love working on cars.
 They love cars and driving.
 They’re interested in car racing.
 Cars represent freedom to them.

14. Castrol Culture = American Culture

15. Castrol Culture
 Castrol symbolizes freedom through its innovators’ accomplishments.
 From 1906 to the present, many pioneers used Castrol and broke speed
records.
 Castrol sponsors car races in the U.S.
 The company embodies a culture of innovation and exploration.
 That culture reflects U.S. history and car culture.

16. U.S. Car Culture
 “A free American in pursuit of happiness…is mobile…” James Oliver
Robertson
 Cars represent: “Freedom. Choice. Privacy. Individualism. Self-reliance.” Jeff
Jacoby
 “Of the many values Americans identify as their own, freedom may top the
list, and there are few more potent and tangible symbols of freedom than
the car.” Catherine Lutz & Anne Lutz Fernandez

17. Americans and Cars
 There’s nothing more American than freedom.
 It’s in our heritage: “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
 Freedom relates to our love of cars.
 Remember the film: American Graffiti.
 That car culture lives on in our
target.
flickr.com/photos/braintoad/

18. What Do We Want to Communicate?
 With so many reasons to purchase motor oil, why not buy the one similar to
you?
 A brand which represents a love of cars, speed, freedom: Castrol
 Make the decision easy: find a motor oil with similar values
 Explain Castrol’s history of speed records and pioneers
 Connect that history of freedom to the target
 Connect Castrol to American values
 Those values and emotions will help the target pay Castrol’s higher price

19. What Do We Want Them to Feel?
 Highlight the brand’s history of speed and racing
 With all oils appearing equal, they want the one with their values.
 Based on our branding, the target will choose Castrol.

20. Bibliography
 Jacoby, Jeff. “Our Passion for Automobility.” Boston Globe. 10 Aug. 1995.
 Lutz, Catherine, and Lutz Fernandez, Anne. Carjacked: The Culture of the
Automobile and Its Effect on Our Lives. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010.
 Robertson, James Oliver. American Myth, American Reality. New York: Hill &
Way, 1980.

21. Thank You
Carol L. Weinfeld
@clweinfeld