Page 26 - Fuels & Lubes International 2013 - Q1

managed to break the sound barrier during his
most recent stunt. what does skydiving have to
do with an energy drink? Almost nothing, but
red bull’s sponsorship of baumgartner yielded
them more than 8 million views during their
live broadcast and also broke the record for
concurrent views by topping 500,000. This stunt
served to solidify red bull’s catchphrase that the
drink does indeed “give you wings,” and doing
so is just one of the many ways the company has
built itself up as a lifestyle brand.
however, red bull isn’t the only company
that plays with the idea of lifestyle brand-
ing. According to the company’s CeO, russ
weiner, rockstar has developed its own brand
as the third most popular energy drink with a
minimum amount of advertising. “Its brand has
clearly resonated with consumers, partly due to
the product itself, and partly due to its image:
a sturdy black can with gold and red lettering,
gold star icon and provocative slogan (party like
a rOCkStAr!), not to mention a brand name
suggestive of celebrity, high energy and sex ap-
peal.”
kim bhasin of business Insider added that,
“It’s all about how consumers perceive them-
selves when they’re drinking it, not the taste of
the drink. even the function of the drink (that
energy boost factor) usually outweighs the taste
in this beverage category.”
In a similar vein, wolf Oil has begun
to create its own brand through Champion
Lubes’ sponsorship of a belgian rally team led
by driver Franky boulat. The team has done
well for itself and Champion Lubes, finishing
second in the east belgian rally last September.
Coupled with a strong drive to provide
costumers with a value beyond that of the
product itself, wolf Oil is quickly developing as
a lifestyle brand.
Although such an approach may not seem
applicable with regards to lubricants for the
average consumer, it is almost too obvious for
specialized markets like the pro-racing circuit.
The correct lubricants can be the difference
between first and last place, and in the multi-
million dollar sport, customers are much more
likely to pay close attention to what lubricants
can do for them. This of course is where distinct,
informative and attractive labels can be the dif-
ference between a loyal customer base and being
relegated to the back shelf. In fact, given the
company’s exponential growth over the last few
years, it appears that Claessens goal for wolf to
become the “Vital Lubricant” is not too far off.
Strong customer base in Europe
wolf Oil is a belgian-based, family-owned
company and unsurprisingly its strongest
customer base is in europe. Claessens explained
that the company is expanding, but the task
is not an easy one. each market has its own
very specific needs, whether those are cultural,
linguistic, or technical. take for example the
various needs to be addressed with regards to
something as simple as the average age of a car.
In europe, the number is between six to eight
years, while in Africa it’s at 12 or 15. The u.S.,
on the other hand, has stricter guidelines with
regards to labeling, which presents a problem for
economies of scale. According to Claessens, it’s
difficult enough to produce labels for products
in multiple languages without having to accom-
modate the various rules for labeling.
Claessens explained that the road to
building the brand wasn’t always an easy one.
unlike large multinational corporations, the
让你获得相应的心理满足。品牌咨询公司
Emergence的CEO Kelly O’Keefe说，“现在，如果
你能在一个特殊的市场中建立品牌忠诚度，你就可以
很快地站住脚跟。”
这其中最具代表性的例子就是红牛赞助跳伞运
动员Felix Baumgartner，后者在最近的挑战中突破
了音障。跳伞与能量饮料有何关系？几乎没有，但红
牛的这次赞助收获了实况转播的800万次收视，并以
与第二名50万次的差距创造了同时收看记录。这次活
动巩固了红牛的口号，能量饮料真的“给了你翅膀”，
也正是这种方法使许多公司打造了自己的生活方式
品牌。
但是红牛并不是唯一一家进行生活方式品牌营
销的公司。按公司CEO Russ Weiner所说，Rockstar
也已以少量的广告投入打造了品牌排名第三的能量
饮料。“这个品牌与消费者形成了明确的共鸣：坚固
的黑色饮料罐，金色和红色的字体，金色的星状图标
和令人激情满怀的口号（像ROCKSTAR!一样的聚会）
，更不要说这个品牌名称就代表着明星、高能量和有
吸引力。”
Business Insider 的Kim Bhasin补充说，“这只
关乎消费者在饮用时的自己感受，而不是饮料本身的
口感。在这类饮料中，甚至饮料的功能（增加能量）也
比口感重要得多。”
同样，Wolf Oil已开始通过Champion Lubes赞
助以车手Franky Boulat为队长的比利时拉力车队来
打造自己的品牌。该车队表现出色，在去年九月东比
利时拉力赛中总成绩排名第二。加之，为了向客户提供
除了产品本身以外的价值，Wolf Oil正在快速地树立
其生活方式品牌。
虽然这种方法对一般消费者和润滑油来说不一
定适用，但对于专业市场来说，如赛车，这就变得很
明显了。选择正确的润滑油可能是排名的关键之一，
在一项投入数百万美元的运动中，客户更有可能关注
润滑油可以起什么作用。这时，独特、信息丰富、有吸
引力的标签对建立忠诚的客户当然就有了用武之地。
事实上，鉴于公司在过去几年中的几何级增长，看来
要实现Claessens所设定的让Wolf成为“关键的润滑
油”的目标已为期不远。
强大的欧洲客户群
Wolf Oil是一家设在比利时的家族企业，因此其
主要的客户群自然也在欧洲。Claessens解释说公司
“It’s all about how
consumers perceive
themselves when they’re
drinking it, not the taste
of the drink.”
FUELS & LUBES INTERNATIONAL Quarter One 2013 26