How to drive positive change via core values and brand communications
Parked along hundreds of the UK’s roads, Shell was perfectly positioned to reinvent the food-to-go category.
With Jamie Oliver on board, steering the refresh of food options, our jobs were to drive awareness of the new Jamie Oliver deli by Shell offering and deliver sales by getting motorists to reappraise service station food.
Knowledge
Consumer research and insights showed motorists generally considered service station food to be of low quality with high prices and a limited choice.
Shell believed that food-to-go represented an area for growth within their retail service stations but they needed to overturn the public’s poor perceptions of forecourt offerings. Our insight helped shape the perfect recipe for a partnership campaign that would freshen up forecourt food and stir up shoppers’ perceptions of it.
Judgement
Shell partnered with Jamie Oliver: arguably the #1 name synonymous with fresh, delicious and healthy food that’s accessible to all. The new range and menu would appeal to a wide range of motorists, with choices from classic sandwiches to healthy salads, as well as options for throughout the day. As perfect as the partnership was, we needed to get the campaign cooking on gas by making the connection between the brands clear across a variety of media.
Understanding
Our pragmatic approach to retail told us that visual appeal was only part of the recipe for the partnership’s success. And so, while Jamie Oliver’s familiar face coupled with mouth-watering food photography would play a pivotal role, our retail experts knew we must be sympathetic to current customers who wouldn’t want their favourites ‘messed with’. Recognising their tastes too would only make Shell’s partnership stronger. We brought everything and everyone together under one name: Jamie Oliver deli by Shell, before rolling it out for new and familiar audiences alike.
Action
To launch the Jamie Oliver deli by Shell partnership, we created the Food That Moves the Nation campaign. Building shortcuts to quality is key in this breed of retail activation. So, we put Jamie Oliver at the forefront of brand communications to reinforce his association with the new and improved range of sandwiches, salads, snacks and more – some of which became instant bestsellers. Just the fuel we needed for our subsequent campaign: Eat What You Love. This eye-catching campaign drew on recipe-book cues, and reassured even the most stalwart motorists that they could still find their favourites in the range. Facebook carousels, Google ads, Instagram polls, Waze ads, large-format POS, animated at-pump ads, at-fixture menus and more. A motorist really couldn’t travel far without hearing about Jamie Oliver deli by Shell.
Learning
By mixing the familiar with the fresh, our strategic approach has let the nation know that no matter their taste, there’s something they’ll love in the Jamie Oliver deli by Shell range. So much so that we continue to guide its creative and brand communication 3 years on.
