Why is this work relevant for Integrated?

CASTROL #StopCarAbuse campaign breaks the category code of Car Oil with an emotional comedic approach of the Car feelings and expression. We translate the campaign into a series of contents from Films, Filters, Podcast, Offline stunts, social conversations, and activations

Background

Castrol wanted to: Make vehicle owners aware that their cars needed better quality lubricants, and that not all lubricants are the same. Educate mechanics intensively about the brand as a whole (Castrol) as well as the product-level brands (Magnatec, Edge and GTX), so that they are able to easily distinguish between the three and have a clear positioning for Castrol as a brand. Our campaign aimed at improving its product awareness and consideration to trial against the market leader Shell and the national brand Pertamina.

Describe the creative idea

Our campaign was built around the idea: Your car has gone through suffering everyday for you. Show some love and give it what it really deserves. We invited people to show love to their vehicle by creating a movement of #StopCarAbuse, where we show that cars can have feelings and they have been through a lot without proper “nutrition” and care from the owners.

Describe the strategy

Our strategy was guided by the necessity of converting a technical and functional product into something that was emotional. When we spoke to commuters, they said: “I love my car... my engine, not so much. Gw ga segitunya paham mesin (I don’t really understand machines).” “Asal bisa tetep jalan dan mobil saya ga rewel buat saya udah cukup aman (As long as you can keep going, and my car is not fussy for me – it’s safe enough).” These conversations helped us zero in on the human truth: Even though I rely on my vehicle for my daily life, I am guilty of often putting it through a lot of hardship.

Describe the execution

Considering that vehicle owners spend as much as 88 hrs engaging with their mobile phones every month, a campaign that leveraged this engagement only seemed apt. #StopCarAbuse kicked off with a digital film and was followed by a stunt that would lead to even bigger conversations. The digital film, which was run on Facebook, Instagram Stories and YouTube, dramatized the uncaring, unknowing attitude of vehicle owners, contrasting it against the pain and suffering which their vehicle engines were going through – ending with the two coming face-to-face and a promise on the part of owners to #StopCarAbuse. In order to get better treatment from its users, a number of cars held demonstrations in various places. They voiced a number of demands, through posters affixed to the cars – which were meant to be clicked on mobile phones and shared on social media. The cars did not hesitate to protest in unison in order to warn their respective owners. They hoped that the owners are aware of the importance of engine oils put into the car for better mobility, and that the value of engine oils should be appreciated more. With many cars parked for days on end during the pandemic, this stunt involved putting a cardboard of car feeling expressions on vehicles. We invited their owners and the general public to tell stories and spark off conversations about it. To amplify the conversation, we created an Instagram filter which vehicle owners could use as they posted their car’s feelings.

List the results

Castrol’s #StopCarAbuse campaign provided ample proof of one of the cardinal rules of effectiveness – category twists must stay true to the brand. For the digital film, as against the objective of 10 million impressions and 2.5 million views, we achieved: 20 million impressions – double the reach 600k engagement 3.7 million total views – nearly 150% higher viewership 42% VTR 26% uplift in engagement On Facebook, as against the reach target of 2 million, we achieved 2.48 million; on YouTube, as against the target of 1.42 million views, we achieved 1.68 million. The stunt achieved what it had intended to do, several times over. The campaign steered the feeling of concern about the state of one’s vehicle engines away from expert mechanics to owners, creating a deeper relationship.