SPEED: BRAND REVIVAL

STRATEGIES
23rd Khandelwal Case Study

Shailesh J. Mehta School Of management, iit bombay

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Veerendranadh Munduri
, 9959792751
VISHNU PRASAD V
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Introduction
BPCLs Speed is Indias leading branded fuel boosted with new generation multifunctional
additives known as friction busters that prevents combustion chamber deposits. Speed is
custom designed to deliver higher mileage, more power, and better pick up, faster acceleration,
enhanced engine cleanliness and lower emissions. Speed is a sought after fuel among
discerning customers who own new generation, high-performance cars who have endorsed its
unmatched performance.
BPCLs portfolio of Premium fuel includes Speed, Hi Speed Diesel and Speed97.

Competitors in the Market:

Today the marketing of petrol has changed from being an undifferentiated commodity to a
branded product. BPCL is the pioneer of the premium branded fuel market. It launched
Speed in July 2002 and most of the other companies followed the suit of launching a branded
fuel under its portfolio. They came up with a similar kind of product offerings to mention IOC's
XtraPremium petrol and HPCL's Power are the major competitors for Speed in this particular
domain. In premium diesel segment, IOC's Xtramile and HPCL's Turbojet are the key
competitors.

Current Strategy:
The current strategy of BPCL is analyzed through surveys on industry experts and secondary
research. Secondary data sources majorly from the internet articles, journals and case studies on
the related subject.
Speed is proud to partner with the Fastest Indian, Indias first Formula 1 Racer, Narain
Karthikeyan as brand ambassador. Hiring sports personalities as the brand ambassadors have
become norm among the petroleum industry. BPCL hired Mahendra Singh Dhoni, likewise
HPCL and IOCL roped in Sania Mirza and Yuvraj singh respectively.
Speed has also taken up promotional programmes like Speed 60 seconds to fame, Speed IQ
as a part of SPEED @ BAJA SAE 2016.
Speed has introduced GoKarting Championships, Amateur Motor Racing, Speed Run Indias first
drag race format, sponsoring young engineers for designing race cars and meet & greet events with
brand ambassador. Speed also introduced Indias First Motor Sports Quiz, Speed I Quiz in
partnership with a leading Media House.

As the market is getting more competitive with the entry of private players brand management
became a necessity. Though differentiation remains the key, it may become obsolete in course of
time. Every player will have a brand building and marketing to grow in the market place.

Market Research:
Two phases of market research has been done, the first phase includes interactions with the petrol
pump owners and the second phase of market research includes the in depth interviews of the
customers of the premium fuels.
1. Market Research has been conducted in Rural, Towns and urban Areas. The sample considered
for this is 12 petrol pumps from rural areas, 8 petrol pumps from towns and 14 petrol pumps
from urban areas.
In depth interviews are conducted to the petrol pump owners and the data is collected regarding
the holding and availability of Premium petrol in their pumps and the data recorded is as follows

The percentage of sales of normal petrol vs. premium fuel are recorded as follows

2. Another research was conducted with a sample of 94 participants, about their preferences in
opting for a petrol. All the participants are from urban localities.

When asked for the reasons for them to choose one brand over the other participants response
was they usually go to the near-by pump.
Out of the 94 participants 55 of them used premium petrol more than 5 times. The satisfaction
survey conducted on them observed the following details

It is understood that the customers are well informed about the benefits of the premium fuel but
most of them are still skeptical about the genuineness of the promised benefits.

Analyzing the data from Market Research:

From the two phases of market research conducted on two different stake holders of the premium
fuels the below observations can be made
1. The penetration of SPEED or any other premium fuel is very limited in to the rural areas.
When asked about the possible reasons, lack of demand and moreover required
infrastructure to contain premium fuel was stated as the reason by most of the owners.
2. Even though the premium petrol is available in some of the rural markets but the
awareness of the price difference and additional benefits are very minimum, some
consumers claim that they dont have clear idea about the premium fuels other than the
price difference.
Considering these two points it is evident that if we can come up with a clear cut strategy to cater
the rural markets there would be huge scope for expansion.
3.

The market share of the BPCL premium fuels is slightly less compared to the other
competitors in the market. When asked the participants the criterion n which they select
one brand over the other most of them replied they prefer to go to the near-by pump. India
has 51,870 petrol pumps with Indian Oil Corp (IOC) being the market leader with 23,993 outlets,
followed by Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) with 12,869 pumps and Bharat Petroleum
Corp Ltd (BPCL) with 12,123 outlets. The main reason for which BPCL is losing its share to

its competitors is the less ease of access to BPCL petrol pumps, when compared to IOCL
BPCL has approximately half of them.
4. Even though the participants of the survey are well aware of the benefits of the premium
fuels, they are not 100% convinced by the real life performance of the claimed attributes.
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If we could derive a strategy to win the confidence of the customers, a huge market share
can be captured.

Brand Revival Strategy:

The present day scenario the companies and brands are trying to develop an emotional connect
with the customers. Whatever may be the channel of communication brands are trying to prove
that they are not just brands but trying to portray themselves as something animate.
As it is known that the key attributes of SPEED are
Improved Performance and Efficiency
Better Drivability
Reduced Emissions
Lower Maintenance Cost
We propose two brand revival strategies:
1. We can capitalize on all these attributes and can build a strategy around them, we are
repositioning SPEED to be an environmental friendly fuel. Earlier only the performance of the
engine and the delivery were used for publicity and brand building. Now we can make use of the
environmental friendliness factor as low emissions is one of the attributes. The Brand
communication will be as

Faster. Smoother. Greener

Faster rides, Smoother journeys, Greener planet
The communication can be done or shown in form of a ripple effect

Happy Family -> Speed-> engine health-> efficiency-> longer rides-> reduced emissions->
greener planet -> Happy Family
Television commercials and Print ads can be designed based on this ripple effect of a Happy
family using Speed fuel help themselves in return and it could be the brand communication.
2. Second Brand revival strategy is also based on the same theme of capitalizing on the
environmental friendly characteristic of SPEED.
Here we are concentrating more on the travel or journey part. In olden days, people used horses
for transport which are faster mode of transport in those days. If those horses have had wings
their journeys would have been smoother and that journey is zero carbon emitting. So we can
build a communication strategy on this concept.

FASTER RIDES

SMOOTHER JOURNEYS

GREENER PLANET
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Apart from these two strategies, brand awareness programs can be held in rural areas like
Tractor Racing and some other educational programs which can take the brand closer
to the consumers.
To win the confidence of the existing and prospective customers, a series of explanation
videos or the testimonials from existing happy customers can be released to make them
believe that Speed has been offering what it has promised to.

Brand popularity can be improved by:

a) Customer Loyalty programs: To be inline with the green initiative taken by BPCL
Speed, the loyals of Speed shall be given an opportunity to take part and work with an
NGO working on a Green initiative.
b) Brand association with premium auto manufacturers
The premium automobile market is an increasing segment in the Indian market. Brand
association of Speed along with the automobile brands in the premium segment in ads, trade
shows etc will attract the consumers who are purchasing the brands and also the people who
aspire to purchase the brand.
c) Speed App to view the fuel availability, efficiency and instant help
An app to check the fuel availability and the fuel efficiency which is updated in every refill and
the location and motion sensors calculating the speed and the distance travelled thereby
projecting the fuel availability and efficiency and the app can be used for SOS calls, repair in the
journey and other connection utilities. Carbon footprint can also be calculated by fuel
consumption and the carbon reduction data can be portrayed.
d) Association with the auto racing in India
BPCL can associate itself with the auto racing in India like TATA prima truck racing etc., so that
they can attract the automobile enthusiasts who are associated with the racing in India
e) Environmental friendly campaign
BPCL can start a car on the bad effects of the unbranded fuel which causes a serious damage to
the environment the campaign #stopthecarbon #savethefuture can be launched to create an
awareness about the sensitive audience who are focused on the environmental effects of
emissions
f) Association with Pro-Kabaddi league
The Pro-Kabaddi league which is uniquely portrays the speed and strength can be used for the
brand association for the fuel. The increasing audience for this game in which Speed can easily
associate its values can be used to attract younger generation towards the fuel.

Promotional Strategies
a) Instant gift redemption : This program is for customers who purchase branded products
above Rs. 1000 and they would be given coupons which are free of redemption in the
retail store available in the in-house retail store
b) Safe ride program
BPCL bunks can be used as the resting place for the regular customers with the BPCL
smart card who are involved in longer rides i.e., the truck drivers who are in need of 1 or
2 hours of rest. A recreational room for the drivers can be set up in outlets at the distance
of 250 kms
c) Discount on the repairs
The discounts on the repair of the automobiles can be done with the association with the
automobile manufacturers and this will increase the customer conversion in the premium
oil segment.

Conclusion
As BPCL itself is an established brand, the product line extension product SPEED can recapture
its earlier dominance and market share in the market by applying the brand reviving strategies
discussed. Also with the growing awareness and advancement of technology in rural areas, they
would be the huge scope for market expansion which should be seriously considered for the
well-being of the company.

References:
1. Euromonitor
2. Trout J, Rivkin S. 2000. In Differentiate or Die. India. East West Books
3. Indian Petrol Industry Towards Branded Fuels. 2003. ICFAI Center of Management
Research. Available: http://www.icmr.icfai.org/casestudies/catalogue/marketing/MKTG059.htm
4. http://www.iocl.com/ourcompany_cohistory.aspx
5. Indias Petrol Retail Sector Set for Fast Expansion. Available:
www.Indiaresource.org/issues
6. https://bharatpetroleum.com/
7. www.Google.com
8. www.youtube.com
9. Essentials of Marketing Research - Naresh K. Malhotra

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