Effectiveness of Branded Fuel

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Effectiveness of Branding Petrol

What Do Branded Fuels Do?The t e rm branded fue l essen t i a l ly re fers to fue l tha t has

been modified by adding certain multi functional performance

additives. The additives in these branded fuels play the role of detergent for thefuel feed system of a vehicle. In a new vehicle, the carburettor, fuel injectors, fuel

intake valve and ports, and the combustion chamber are free from

deposits . However, overtime, carbon deposits tend to accumulate on theseparts, impeding the vehicles performance. Moreover , as a l l new

gen era t ion car s a re f i t ted with MPF I (M ult i Port Fue l Injectors-

to accurately deliver petrol in the form of fine droplets for clean burning ) ,

MPFI depos i t s a re fo rmed when the eng ine i s tu rned o f f . Th is

i s because the trapped fuel in the injector is exposed to higher temperature for

longer time than the flowing fuel. Because of narrow fuel passages,

injectors become highly sensitive to the smallest amount of deposits in the critical regions,

where the fue l i s metered . Heat degrades the fue l and in i t i a testhe depos i t fo rmat ion . In take va lves and por t s a re sub jec t to

more deposits than fuel injectors, as they operate at higher temperatures.

These deposits can alter the spray pattern and reduce the fuel flow, reducing drivability,

decreasing power and fuel economy, and increasing emission levels. The additives in

branded fuels effectively remove harmful deposits from allcomponents. They clean up fuel injectors, valves and combustion

chambers along wi th the fuel tank and fuel l in es . Th e addi t ives

al so co ns ta nt ly cl ea n deposits and prevent gum formation in theengine. Branded fuel, thus, help restore the original engine performance, ensures

easy start-ups and increase fuel efficiency, leading to lower emissions. Traditionally,

these additives were added separately to the fuel. Branded fuels eliminate theneed for purchasing additive sat the time of every filling.

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Branding PetrolBuilding New Fuel Brands

Having realized the need for brand building, oil companies invested

heavi ly in product develop ment and R & D to c ome o ut wi t h

fue l s tha t would su i t the requirements of Indian roads as well as comply with theemission norms. BPCLsSpeed was blended with multifunction additives sourcedfrom Chevron OroniteCompany LLC, a Cheron Texaco Company.

Commenting on this, S RameshGeneral Manager (Brand Management), BPCL,said, With more cars running onthe MPFI technology, the new variant will help

remove carbon deposits from thefuel tanks and cleanse the engine, therebygiving the consumers better mileageand protection to cars.HPCLs Power was


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also blended with a specially imported multi functionaladditives

package that was formulated to remove deposits from the

engine,thereby, ensuring optimum burning of petrol. While Power

benefited the newgeneration of MPFI engines, it also helped in

getting optimum performance intra dit io nal ca rbu re te d en gin es aswe ll as tw o wh ee le rs . An in te rn at io na ll y accredited fuel testinglaboratory in Gremany ranked power among the worldstop petrol brands.IOCs

Premium was reportedly Indias first and only high octane petrol that

wasreinforced with world class anti knocking additives. Its engine cleansing

qualitiesreportedly improved mileage and lowered emissions .

According to companysources, adding an extra dosage of this additive

over and above the normaldosage helped removed gummy deposits

already formed in the system. Bykeeping the intake system and theinjectors in MPFI engines clean, Premiumensured a proper air fuel mixture

and therefore, better combustion and reducedemission level. IBPs Josh

claimed to have special additives that improved fuelefficiency.NLDIMSR

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Branding PetrolSpeed was initially made available exclusively through 16 Pure for Sure

retailoutlets located in different parts of Delhi.BPCLs retail base was gradually

expanded to cover the rest of the country,emphasizing on penetrations inrural markets and convenience retailing in semiurban markets. IOC also test

marketed its fuel in Delhi for three months in mid2002, and in Hyderabad

(Andhra Pradesh), before launching them on nationallevel.HPCL also decided toretail its fuels from the Club HP outlets. IBP marketed itsfuel in six major cities

at 34 retail outlets. By March 2003, all the companies wereat var ious

s tages o f increas ing the avai l ab i l i ty o f the i r r espect ive b rands

indifferent parts of the country.

Promotional Efforts

The maximum action in the industry was seen on the promotional front. Allthecompanies were adopting various media mix tools to promote their brands.

BPCLlaunched a promotional scheme for Speed, under which anyone

buying fuelworth Rs. 600 or more got a free BPCL PetroCard. The company

also gave itsdealers better incentives to sell the new fuel. A survey

conducted by BPCLrevealed that 44% of customers were influenced bypeople at the petrol pumps,who convinced them to use Speed. Keeping the importance of

the dealers role inpromoting the product, the company gave a significantly higher

commission of around 80 paise per liter against the usual norm of 45 paise per

liter for normalpetrol.To promote Speed, BPCL also entered into anassociation with the website,www.hungama.com.A website (speed.hungama.com)
http://www.hungama.com/http://www.hungama.com/http://www.hungama.com/


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was launched that focusedon motor racing event held in January 2003.

BPCL also associated the brandwith latest James Bond movie, Die

Another Day by becoming a market partner.

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Branding Petrol

The company pa id Rs . 7 .5 mn fo r th i s dea l , which invo lved a

movie re la ted television campaign and various promotional activities at

petrol pumps. Winnerswere given movie tickets.I OC earmar ked an

adver t i s ing expend i tu re o f a round Rs . 50-70 mn fo r

thepromotion and brand building of these fuels. The company even planned a

set of logos for these fuels. In order to create a synergy between product

branding andco rpo ra te bra nd ing , i t u se d i ts hou se co lou rs, blu ean d or an ge . Th is wa s expected to enhance the recall value of the

IOC mother brand and create agreater association of the new products with the

company.Unlike the high profile marketing campaigns of these

companies IBP did notaggre ssiv ely prom ote i ts prod uct s and

s erv ices . The comp any l imi t ed i t s promotion only to those outlets where theproducts were available.On the pricing front, all the companies seemed to be

following a uniform policy;the prices had to be kept comparatively higher to

drive home the point that thefuels were technically superior to normal petrol.However, it was also necessarynot to let the per liter price differential be very high,

keeping in mind the novelty of the products as well as the price -

consciousness of Indian consumers. Thus,Speed was priced only at Rs. 1.25 perliter more than the conventional fuel.The company felt this was justified, since

customers using packaged additiveswere incurring a cost of around Rs.

1.25 per liter for petrol. The players alsoadopted a similar strategy of

pricing the branded fuel marginally higher than theconventional fuels. To

respond to th is similar price move of the competito rs,BPCL reduced

the price of the Speed, making it around 30 paise cheaper thanthe branded petrol ofIOC and HPCL.

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--------------------------------------------------------------------Effectiveness ofBranding Petrol

Speed

Speed is new high performance petrol from Bharat Petroleum that

enhancesoverall engine performance and ensures smoother drive ability. Speed isblendedwith multi-functional additives that have been sourced from


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Chevron OroniteCompan y LL C, a Che vron Texa co c ompa ny,

which comp l i es wi th EPA 97 (Environment Protection Agency, USA)

requirements.

Why one should use Speed?

In a new vehicle, the fuel injectors, carburetor, fuel intake valves and ports,andthe combustion chamber are free from deposits. However,

overtime, carbond e p o s i t s t e n d t o a c c u m u l a t e o n t h e a b o v e

p a r t s , i m p e d i n g t h e v e h i c l e performance. Use of Speed helps in restoring

the original engine performance byremoving existing deposits and further preventing the

formation of new deposits.Al l new genera t ion ca rs a re f i t ted wi th

Mult i -Po r t Fuel In jec to rs (MPFI) to accurately deliver petrol in the form of

fine droplets for clean burning. Because of the narrow fuel passages, injectors are highly

sensitive to the smallest amount of deposi ts in the cri tical regions where the

fuel is metered and atomised. Thesedeposits can alter the spray pattern and reduce

the fuel flow, affecting driveability,decreasing power & fuel economy, and

increasing emission levels. Simi lar problems can occur in the case of carburetedengines too.MPFI deposits are formed when the engine is turned off, as the

trapped fuel inthe injector is exposed to higher temperature for a longer time

than the flowingfuel. The heat degrades the fuel and initiates deposit formation. Vehicles

used for short trips are more prone to this problem.Intake valves and ports are subject to

more deposits than fuel injectors as theyoperate at higher temperatures. Thesedeposits reduce maximum engine power because they restrict airflow.

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Effectiveness of Branded Fuel