Public relations campaign for Shell FuelSave Essay

Public relations campaign for Shell FuelSave - Essay Example Shell is present in more than 90 countries worldwide, has 93,000 full-time employees, and maintains a fuel retail network of around 43,000 service stations Royal Dutch Shell C (2001). In 2010, Shell was able to produce 3.3 million barrels of oil equivalent per day while it generated earnings of $20.5 billion Royal Dutch Shell C (2001). It spent $23.7 billion on net capital investment while it spent over $1.0 billion on research and development (R&D). The business operations of Shell are classified under three major categories—upstream, downstream, and projects and technology. Firstly, Shell Upstream is involved in the search and recovery of oil and natural gas; and the extraction of heavy oil from oil sands for conversion into synthetic crudes Royal Dutch Shell C (2001). Secondly, Shell Downstream is involved in the manufacturing, supplying, and marketing of oil products and chemicals worldwide. Businesses under manufacturing and supply include â€Å"refineries, chemical plan ts, and the supply and distribution of feedstocks and other products†. ... II. The Launch of FuelSave Maingrade Fuels With the company’s emphasis on bringing innovation into its fuel products, Shell launched its maingrade unleaded and diesel fuels under the name FuelSave. According to Royal Dutch Shell C (2001), the primary attributes of the product banked on a highly unique feature called the â€Å"Advanced Efficiency Improver† which was designed to improve the fuel economy of every car by lubricating areas in the engine where normal engine oils cannot reach, as stated by Royal Dutch Shell D (2011). Through this, FuelSave Unleaded and FuelSave Diesel promised to help its drivers â€Å"Save up to one liter per tank†. By bolstering the idea of fuel saving, Shell intended to contribute its important share in solving the worldwide problem on ballooning fuel demand. Although the big idea of saving seemed appealing to any vehicle driver, FuelSave caters to a specific and well-defined target market. Defined by their practicality and a mindset that is driven by wanting to get the maximum benefit in all the products they use, these fuel customers are commonly called Smart Drivers. They are customers who are very sensitive to changes in price, but critically analyze the value in the products they buy, as concluded by IBM Business Consulting Services (2005). To them, fuel is slowly becoming a luxury more than a necessity due to the continued increase in price. Since abandoning their car and taking the public transportation is not an option, the only choice for them is to shoulder the hiking fuel prices. However, they may become occasional switchers especially when they do not get the value they expect from their fuel purchase, as summarized by Manzano (2005). In this light, it can be said that although these