Online campaigns

CASE: SHELL ATTEMPTS TO RETURN TO PREMIERE STATUS

The Shell Oil Company, which began about 1912, had been for decades a household name as a quality oil company in the United States. However, by the late 1970s much of its prestige as a premiere company had disappeared. How could Shell regain its high status?
In the 1990s, Shell undertook an extensive research effort to find out what it needed to do to improve its image. As a first step, Shell hired Responsive Research and the Opinion Research Corporation to conduct a series of focus groups and personal interviews among various segments of the population. Included in these were youths, legislators, academics, and present and past employees of Shell. The researchers learned that people believe that top companies are integral parts of the communities in which the companies are located rather than separate entities. These studies and others led to the development of materials that Shell used to explain their core values to the general public.
Next, PERT Survey Research ran a large quantitative study to determine which values were best received by the target audience. Social issues emerged as the theme with the most support. During the next few months, the advertising agency of Ogilvy & Mather, hired by Shell, developed several campaigns with social themes. Two market research companies were hired to evaluate the receptiveness of the various campaigns. The result was the “Count on Shell” campaign, which featured safety messages with useful information about what to do in various dangerous situations.
A public “Count on Shell” campaign was launched in February 1998 and met with considerable success: the ability to recall Shell advertising jumped from 20% to 32% among opinion influencer’s; more than 1million copies of Shell’s free safety brochures were distributed and activity on Shell’s Internet “Count on Shell” site remains extremely strong. By promoting itself as a reliable company that cares, Shell seems to be regaining its premiere status.
Today, Shell continues its efforts to be “community friendly.” United Way of America announced Shell Oil Company as one of its three Spirit of America Summit Award winners for 2002 and commended the company for its outstanding volunteer and corporate contributions programs. Several Shell employees were recognized by the Houston Minority Business Council for their continued efforts to provide windows of opportunity for minority business owners and strengthen Shell’s commitment to supplier diversity. Shell employees and retires give back to their communities through such Shell-sponsored activities as America’s WETLAND campaign, Shell’s Workforce Development Initiative, and other community/quality of life and environmental projects. Shell is also a strong supporter of the Points of Light Foundation, which strives to engage people more effectively in volunteer community service.

Discussion:
1. Suppose you were asked to develop a sampling plan to determine what a “premiere company” is to the general public. What sampling plan would you use? What is the target population? What would you use for a frame? Which of the four types of random sampling discussed in this chapter would you use? Could you use a combination of two or more of the types (two-stage-sampling)? If so, how?

2. It appears that at least one of the research companies hired by Shell used some stratification in their sampling. What are some of the variables on which they are stratified? If you were truly interested in ascertaining opinions from a variety of segments of the population which regard to opinions on “premiere” companies or about Shell, what strata might make sense? Name at least five and justify why you would include them.