Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Cars Crave Clean, According to Exxon Mobil

While gassing up at an Exxon Mobil station near my house, I've noticed they've been promoting a new website with the slogans "Engines Adore Clean," and "Cars Crave Clean." When you go the site, you're offered a tour to take, a journey through your car. It tells you, "Exxon and Mobil have engineered gasoline on the molecular level to help clean up intake valves so it can perform at its best." When you click for the next screen, you're taken through an epic, beautiful view of gasoline flowing downstream with a very spiffy music soundtrack backing it up.

Then you go to a screen with three choices for the tour -- Fuel Injector, Intake Valves, and Combustion Chamber. You find out how its gasoline provides benefits to vital engine parts. So if you click through Fuel Injector, you learn how about, in a few milleseconds, dirty air can enter the picture and create a mess that Exxon Mobil's fuel can clean up for you.

My thoughts on the marketing campaign:

1. Prominent use of the word "clean," which is now the word to use to improve image for environmental impact, oil spills, advanced technology, space age progress, etc.

2. It taps into our love of cars and engines -- "Cars Crave Clean".... "Engines Adore Clean" As if your car is like having a dog or cat -- you're crazy about them and want to take good care of them.

3. Oil companies are taking on marketing promotions that are pretty new for them in this age of social media and online marketing. Like many companies out there. I would say their motivation is driven by the Gulf oil spill, the spiking cost of gasoline, and resentment toward oil companies for various reasons.

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