Question:
Why did two of the largest energy companies in the world choose to retain the services of our agency for well over 10 years to function as their primary marketing communications firm in the U.S.?
Answer:
It's all about what we bring to the table in terms of marketing communications expertise and solid business knowledge. We provided ongoing marketing communications & PR support to create an array of marketing communication tools and support programs aimed at growing their network of nearly 25,000 retail outlets. Our unique qualifications were of critical value when launching major marketing initiatives that required the full participation of everyone in their far-flung organization including field reps and local gas station operators.
Background:
In 1993 Texaco was searching for a vendor to become an integral part of their marketing team. They were looking for a smaller firm, more of a "boutique" firm, as opposed to their mega- ad agency that handled media advertising. The hope was that the smaller firm would be more flexible and able to deliver at the fast pace Texaco was looking for. In short, Texaco wanted to find a marketing and communications partner to help them manage and grow their brand.
Capabilities they were seeking included:
Texaco was a large organization with a sizable network of employees, channel partners and vendors. Texaco wanted a vendor that could quickly grasp corporate needs and understand the company's infrastructure and network of intermediaries, as well as supplier/customer relationships.
By 1998, after retaining our firm for five years as Texaco's primary marketing and communications agency, Shell and Texaco formed a joint venture to merge their U.S. refining and marketing operations. Following the merger a study of both brands business practices was conducted and Texaco emerged as the more evolved of the two.
Our firm was selected as the primary marketing agency for both brands and we spent the next five+ years focusing on both brands, requiring a rigorous Brand Asset Management program. The other challenge involved assisting the Shell brand by updating its marketing practices.
We were instrumental in taking these two behemoths into the digital age by developing several useful business and marketing solutions including the world's first digital system to allow each individual outlet the ability to create their own marketing materials online customized for their exact retail offering such as co-branded sites featuring a quick service restaurant (QSR). The system also combined print orders at tremendous savings and contained a data base that handled distribution.
Below is a small sampling of a few of the programs we developed and helped implement:
