Presented at Revolution in Fueling, Case Study Competition by HPCL at IIM A. Presenters: Vipul V Singh & Yash Saxena

1. HPCL Revolution in Fuelling
Presented at HPCL case Study Competition Finals at IIM-A
Team Name : OwlCity
Members
Vipul Vikram Singh
Yash Saxena
IIFT Delhi

2. Value Proposition Premium Paid
INR 1.75 Diesel , INR 2.00 Petrol
Mileage
At Earlier Lower Premium
Driving Experience
Brand Experience
Premium Paid
Reduced Emission
Current Scenario
Unexplained
Commercial Users
Premium Paid
Value Above Premium
Personal Users
Premium Paid
Time Premium
What this tells us : Personal Users are the ones who are can pay a premium

3. Commercial Consumer Perception: Value perception
Additional features of branded fuels
Driving Mileage Lower Brand
Convenience emission Experience
53% 16% 5% 0%
0 0.5 1 0 0.5 1 0 0.5 1 0 0.5 1
Consumer Optimism
City goods carriers
30% 5% ~ 0% 0% Interstate Carriers
?
* Figures Based on our survey
with Urban Commercial
transport drivers/operators

4. Where is the value in ( mileage benefit ) lost?
Fleet
Drivers
Owners
Given lack of
Will tend to pay for normal Decision consumer confidence
fuel as: Makers about mileage; will
1.Absence of performance avoid risk over new
metric for branded fuel fuel.
2.Risk of false reporting about
performance from Drivers
1. Consistent Mileage
Performance Metrics or
2. Performance feedback by ‘Word
of Mouth’
Urban commercial &
Performance Mileage or Hence for the moment it will
individual users, Interstate
Feedback will take time to be advisable to capitalise the
carriers operating in difficult
emerge over the prevalent convenience factor which has
terrain are more likely to
market sentiment more user confidence
value convenience

5. User Types >
Never Switchers Always No Longer
Sees no Finds value delivered almost equal to Finds value for No longer finds value
value premium paid. Hence finds normal & the premium delivered for premium
branded fuel a no loss no gain deal. paid paid
Driving Mileage Lower Brand
Convenience emission Experience
Maximum Premium consumer may pay for the above factors
City goods carrier: Rs 1 City goods carrier: Rs 2.5 Rs. ~0 Rs. ~0
Interstate carriers: Rs 0.3 Interstate carriers: Rs 4
Value Perception (for a feature) = Consumer Optimism x Max. Premium consumer is
willing to pay for the feature
City goods Rs 0.5 Rs 0.4 Rs ~0 Rs ~0 Rs 0.9
carriers
Interstate Rs 0.1 Rs 0.2 Rs ~0 Rs ~0 Rs 0.3
carriers
1. Users are unable to find actual evidence of higher mileage or see only a small benefit
2. Consumer Insights: Old vs New vehicles & Kerosene to fight off winters.

6. TurboJet – High Mileage or High Power ???
Keep Distance
Power
Brand tries to be two different
polarities, with Mass Media Communication
Economy
Style
Brand failed to create a connect , reason for
low scores of HPCL
Mileage
“Jyada Mileage wala Diesel”
Also an analysis of the advertisements gives the feel of
“over intellectualization” for the target audience
An communication strategy recommended has to include this aspect of a
uniform message, with variants at very constricted and differentiated mediums.

7. TurboJet –High Power so “Keep Distance”
Power
TurboJet Keep Distance
Economy
Style
As per suggested strategy, only personal users to be targeted
through the mass media.
Mileage Thus brand to be specifically positioned to indicate
“high power” & “high style”
What about commercial users of Turbojet ???
Commercial Users are found, unaffected by the mileage positioning, due to inconsistent results. Thus
the communication is ineffective.
1. Most truck drivers and taxi operators spend time at the highway ‘Dhabas’. These places can be a
very vital point to connect with the drivers.
2. Advertising at these Highway ‘Dhabas’ is low cost
“Keep Distance” Positioning kept intact.

8. Segmentation/Target strategy:
1. Commercial Vehicles: (Mainly diesel driven)- Have shown a lower conversion
rate at 13.2% & 9.2%
against the petrol consumers at 20% & 23.8 %
2. Commercial user will pay no premium for branded fuel experience as against 1. Try to tap only a small
a individual consumer cross-section that can
pay premium for
convenient driving.
Short Distance Long Distance 2. Mileage performance
Short Distance
Passenger Goods/Passenger improvement is long
Goods Transport
Transport Transport term view to further
expand.
Mid Segment/
Entry Segment Entry level Luxury-
Bike Drivers
Car Drivers Luxury Car Chauffeur Driven
Drivers
1. Driving Experience is important
2. Will pay for ‘Time Premium’
3. Less cost elasticity

9. Adding a new value proposition:
The Time Premium & Green Positioning
1. The new stations will be positioned
as lower emissions –
Environmentally friendly fuel so as
to score with consumers on greater
environmental credentials.
1. Adding/Re-allocating new dedicated fuel dispensers or one side of dispensers for
branded fuel that will run during peak rush times.
2. These new stations will service with the customers at priority so as to attend the office
goers, short on time urban consumers faster. This faster service will add a new value to
the customer justifying some additional cost.
3. These additional dispensers can be attended by part time service men or perhaps switch
between branded or normal fuel at off peak hours to save running costs.

10. Time Premium Advt. Cap does not
mandate use
How to leverage Time Premium ???
Communicate the Value Let Consumers Publicize
Mass Communication Word of Mouth
Outdoor Communication Vehicles as Display Units
Direct Marketing ( Mailers ) Managing Forums
Recommendations
Word of Mouth to be encouraged through differentiated service – “ I don’t
have to wait in lines “ feeling
Vehicles as display/identifiers . “ I don’t wait in lines “ stickers
Outdoor Communication @ Petrol Outlets Example “ You saved X minutes
by using Power / Turbojet “
I don’t Wait in lines
Direct Mailers to be informative like “ Average time spent by a “Power” user
is 10 mins less than normal fuel user “ What would you do with that time ?

11. Time Premium Legend
How to achieve Time Premium ??? Branded Fuel Serve Point
Normal Fuel Serve Point
Outlet Layout Branded Fuel Users
Time Premium
The proposed
layout
philosophy is
to allow for
segregated
paths for the
No differentiation for branded fuel users branded fuels
To be implemented across all outlets Explicitly time premium made visible to all customers
Output Remains the same in terms of number of service points
Service Personnel

12. Personal Users
Buying Decision Process
Influencers
Limited Search
Influencers are the
Attitude of Others
Choice Mechanics and the
automotive OEMS
Situational Factors
Limited Evaluation
These are the ones to
The customers look for be targeted, primed to
validation to their Peer Groups be a HPCL product
choice with peers & supporter
No discussions on the
mechanics
type of Petrol/Diesel
used.
What we need to do ? This needs to be
Mechanic Training
developed to promote
Increase peer discussion about brand Program
the brand image
, through secondary identification. “ Similar to what IOCL
through Peer approval
Powered by poWer “ Emblems on vehicles has achieved, a HPCL
Influencers i.e. Mechanics & Automotive poWer – trained
OEMs are the ones to be trained to program should be
promote and validate HPCL brand use. concieved where the
participants will be
given engine training
Powered by poWer etc. and demonstrated
strickers etc. to mark a the +ve effect of
poWer user. branded fuels.

13. End