Shell
Project title: Defining a pan European retail proposition for Shell International
The brief
Shell’s European forecourts operate in 15 different markets, each in a very different stage of maturity, and at very diverse levels operationally, culturally and in terms of consumer needs and sophistication.
Our task was to create a unifying central European brand positioning for the retail offer - one wich was differentiating, true to the Shell brand essence and able to straddle the very different market and customer scenarios.
The solution
Through an extensive phase of desk research, competitor analysis, site visits, internal auditing and creative workshops with representatives of Shell’s marketing and operations staff in all their markets, we developed a raft of future-proof European positioning options.
These were tested both internally and in a pan European qualitative research programme, from which three possible brand positionings have been defined which are currently being tested and modelled through a series of feasibility studies and financial models.
The results
Our work has helped to create a future focus for the retail European business and has raised the importance of retail’s role as a flagship ‘brand billboard’ amongst Shell’s European management. As a result of this project, we are now working with Shells International Brand team to develop a new future-focused positioning for the corporate brand.