TOTAL LUBRICANTS

From no awareness to becoming a brand of choice!

Navdeep Ojha, Marketing Director of Total Lubricants in India sat at the Sports Bar
watching the Spanish Grand Prix with his friends. While his favorite, Lewis Hamilton, was leading
the grid, his brand, Total Lubricants, was nowhere on the grid when it came to the engine oil
market in India.

Things had reached a stage where the Global Board at Total was reconsidering their
decision to stay invested in India as a market. Two decades of presence and investments, half a
dozen OEM tie-ups, global equity and size of being the 4th largest brand, best-in-class products
had collectively amounted to naught with the market share being less than 3%.

As he sat back and sipped on his beer, the words of Tom Smith, the Global Business
Director, resonated strongly in his head “Either we turn the trajectory of growth on this brand in
India or we divert these investments into another market that is showing growth momentum.”

The India CEO had asked Navdeep to put together a ‘Communication Strategy Plan’ to
present to the Global Board when they meet next month in Paris for the Annual Conference. Given
the stagnant turnover on the brand, the budgets were tight and limited. The CEO asked Navdeep
to put down his thoughts on how he would like to deploy them to maximize the results. Which
product range to advertise and promote? Which segment to focus the communication on? What
should be the core of the messaging? Navdeep was paying the bill and leaving as this mounting
list of questions made him want to get back home and start focusing on what could be his last
race!

THE ENGINE OIL CATEGORY IN INDIA

The Indian lubricant market was estimated at 1.9 million tonnes with automotive oils
constituting almost 60%. Within the automative segment, 60% of the contribution came from the
after-sales segment (the oil that consumers replace on their own post purchasing a vehicle) which
was sourced from the channels of gas stations and bazaar trade in the ratio of 25% and 75%
respectively. In fact, over the years bazaar trade had become the largest channel leaving behind
gas stations, OEMs, OEM Workshops and Franchisee Workshops.

With the automotive industry expected to continue growing at a CAGR of 8-10%, the
growth for the lubricant market was also expected to be healthy at around 5-6% CAGR from 2015-
2020. The industry was divided into 3 segments – MCO (Motorcycle Oil), PCMO (Petrol Engine
Oil) and DEO (Diesel Engine Oil) with contributions of 65%, 30% and 5% respectively in terms of
both volume and value.

In terms of consumer perception, the brands were divided into 3 clusters – PSU Group
(IOC, BPCL, HPCL), Performer Group (Castrol), Price Warriors (Shell, Valvoline, Gulf). Total,
given the low levels of awareness, was not placed in any of the clusters by the consumers.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Copyright 2020 82.5 Communications. This case is only written for class discussion for the students of NMIMS. It is not intended to
serve as an endorsement, source of primary data or illustration of effective or ineffective management. No part of this case may be
reproduced, referred or published in any form without the permission of 82.5 Communications.
MCO – THE FACE OF CATEGORY COMMUNICATION

The lubricant communication in India was led by the MCO segment with 52% spends
followed by DEO at 24% and PCMO at 13%. Given the high vehicle population of two-wheelers,
the fastest rate of growth, the high frequency of purchase and the relatively higher levels of
involvement, most brands believed that having a positioning that resonated with the MCO
segment would hold the brand in good stead both in terms of market share and mind share.
However, in a sharp contrast to industry practice, spends for Total in the last 3 years had been
100% on the PCMO segment. Shell and Mobil were the only other 2 players which had maximized
their spends on PCMO but unlike Total, they had invested in the other two segments as well.

In terms of the media mix for the category, TV was the lead vehicle enjoying 52% of the
investments followed by print at 27%, radio at 11% and the balance 10% on mediums such on
digital, on-ground and offers. In this regard as well, the Total strategy deviated from the industry
approach. The brand invested all its resources behind only two mediums with TV enjoying a
whopping 95% of the spends followed by 5% on radio.

THE BRAND IN INDIA

In line with its global strategy of offering differentiated products for different segments, the
brand operated in India with 3 segment brands – Total Quartz (PCMO Segment), Total Ultra (DEO
Segment) and Total Hi-Perf (MCO Segment). However, given that the communication was entirely
focused on the PCMO segment, the brand for consumers till date was Total Quartz.

In terms of distribution and availability, the brand was way ahead of its share of market.
With 300 Distributors who in turn serviced 30000 Retailers, Total had a distribution network across
the length and breadth of the country. While the margin to the channel was competitive with the
industry, the stagnant volumes were making the brand less and less exciting for them. While other
brands had multiple points of contact with the dealers in terms of programs, trainings, incentives
and recognition, Total given its obsession with TV & Radio was not spending beyond providing
the required margins.

The biggest challenge for the brand remained awareness. With a low spontaneous
awareness of 15% and a top of mind awareness of 0%, the brand for most was not even in the
consideration set when thinking of engine oil. To give a benchmark, Castrol, the market leader,
enjoyed a spontaneous awareness of 96% with a top of mind awareness of 65%.

This in turn reflected on the imagery of the brand as well. From quality to performance,
recommendation to engine protection, the brand had very low share of endorsements on all the
relevant parameters. Given that most brands in the category had not managed to go beyond
awareness, Castrol owned all the imagery attributes in the category making it important for a
challenger to be angular in its approach.

Decision making in the category was based on 3 key factors – OEM recommendation,
Brand Awareness & Mechanic Recommendation. While Total was well placed when it came to
the first, it was lagging behind on account of the next two. While the decision-making was joint
between consumer & mechanic, the role of the consumer was dominant for MCO & DEO while
the mechanic dominated when it came to PCMO.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Copyright 2020 82.5 Communications. This case is only written for class discussion for the students of NMIMS. It is not intended to
serve as an endorsement, source of primary data or illustration of effective or ineffective management. No part of this case may be
reproduced, referred or published in any form without the permission of 82.5 Communications.
KEY QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

1. Given the limited ability to invest behind communication, which should be the focus segment
for the brand (MCO, PCMO or DEO)?

2. While the identified segment would involve a diffused set of ‘Consumption Target Group’, what
should be the sharply defined ‘Communication Target Group’ for the campaign? What would
be the lead dimension we would use to segregate and identify the bulls eye audience
(demographic, geographic, psychographic, lifestyle or behavioral)?

3. What should be the ‘Role of Communication’ in driving growth for the brand? What would be
the defined objectives against which we would measure the success of the campaign?

4. What would be the ‘Message Strategy’ for the brand (functional, emotional or symbolic)? What
would be the key message for the campaign?

5. What would be the tone & personality in terms of execution? Should the brand consider using
a celebrity? What should be the executional style & appeal of the campaign?

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Copyright 2020 82.5 Communications. This case is only written for class discussion for the students of NMIMS. It is not intended to
serve as an endorsement, source of primary data or illustration of effective or ineffective management. No part of this case may be
reproduced, referred or published in any form without the permission of 82.5 Communications.