On Tuesday, June 30, Shell Lubricants hosted more than 90 customers from the Detroit metropolitan area at the first event of their new local-market customer appreciation tour.  

The tour, currently scheduled for three markets including Detroit, Dallas and New York, is designed to support loyal installers and engage them in a campaign to promote quality brand-name motor oils and combat the use of lower quality off-brand or out-of-specification lubricants.

The Detroit tour stop also served as the launch of a new consumer website, www.MotorOilMatters.org, and the kick-off of a local market consumer publicity program designed to help educate consumers on the value and benefits of quality branded motor oils.
 
“As the world’s leading lubricants supplier, we devote considerable resources to developing and distributing top-quality motor oils. Our comprehensive marketing programs are designed to help our valued customers attract and retain loyal consumers who will know that they are getting high value for every dollar that they spend,” said Luis Guimaraes, general manager of marketing, North America, for Shell Lubricants.

“Educating consumers so that they understand the value quality branded motor oils provide and protecting the trust consumers place in them is important for our industry and for Shell’s lubricants business.”

At the Detroit event, Shell Lubricants representatives outlined new certification and inspection programs. Shell Lubricants representatives also detailed their latest steps to prevent dishonest installers from substituting off-brand motor oil for the quality brands that they advertise, and provided installers with tools for educating vehicle owners about the importance of using quality motor oils.  
 
Detroit will be the first market to implement the new Product Quality Program, through which samples will be taken from Pennzoil, Quaker State and FormulaShell installers and tested at a third-party independent laboratory to confirm they are indeed the branded motor oils.

A new Certified Installer Program, to be launched later this year, will highlight participants in the installer locators on both the Pennzoil and Quaker State web sites and will promote them with a seal of approval program that will help consumers identify Shell Lubricants certified installers.  
 
The Detroit-area installers were also the first to be introduced to the new web site, www.MotorOilMatters.org, which was created to educate consumers about the impact that lower-quality off-brand motor oil can have on their engines, their finances and the environment. The site will also identify and help drive consumers to installers participating in the Certified Installer Program.

In addition, Shell representatives outlined sign procedures aimed at reducing consumer confusion regarding what products are available at the installer locations.

“The programs and initiatives Shell Lubricants unveiled today ring particularly true to my brother and me, as the third generation of a family that built its business on their brands’ reputations. The legacy of our company has been passed on from our grandfather to our father, and onto my brother and me,” said Keith Rowley, president of Rowley Brothers, Bay City, MI.

“In today’s economic climate, offering quality products and great service is a must, but to really serve the best interest of consumers, we also need to make certain that they understand why the quality of motor oil matters, to their car and to their pocketbook. I’d encourage every installer to join in this important education campaign.”
 
The next stops on the Motor Oil Matters tour will be the Dallas/Ft. Worth and New York metropolitan areas.