Title	GASOLINE OF THE FUTURE
Brand	PREEM
Product/Service	GASOLINE OF THE FUTURE
Category	A05. MEDIA RELATIONS
Entrant Company	FORSMAN & BODENFORS Gothenburg, SWEDEN
Advertising Agency	FORSMAN & BODENFORS Gothenburg, SWEDEN
Media Agency	SCREAM MEDIABYRA Stockholm, SWEDEN
PR Agency	DIPLOMAT PR Stockholm, SWEDEN
Production Company	CAMP DAVID Stockholm, SWEDEN

Name	Company	Position
Ulrika Karlberg	Forsman/Bodenfors	Copywriter
Annika Frankel/John Bergdahl	Forsman/Bodenfors	Art Director
Anders Härneman	Forsman/Bodenfors	Account Supervisor
Johanna Bringefält	Forsman/Bodenfors	Account Manager
Åsa Hammar	Forsman Bodenfors	Agency Producer
Niklas Lindström	Forsman/Bodenfors	Digital Producer
Viktor Brittsjö	Forsman/Bodenfors
Forsman/Bodenfors/Designer Ass. Johan Fredriksson	Forsman/Bodenfors	Production Behind/The/Scene/Film
Oskar Wrangö	Camp David	Director
Kristina Wibom	Camp David	Executiv Producer
Per Welén	Camp David	Producer
Mattias Andersson	Camp David	D.o.p
Mattias Petersson	Camp David	Composer
Frost/Stopp	Frost/Stopp	Post Production

The Campaign

Sweden’s biggest petroleum company, Preem, has invented a revolutionary new gasoline. It is made out of residues from the forest industry, Sweden’s most important industry. It cuts carbon emissions by 30-35 % and works in every gasoline driven car. This product could hence be the solution to one of our time’s biggest environmental issues, carbon emissions from fossil fuel transports. But Preem can’t launch it yet, as this is a new type of bio-fuel, and just like other bio-fuels, it needs to be subsidized to be able to compete on the market. For that to happen, Preem is dependent on politicians to make the right decisions and discover the product’s potential. Instead of just lobbying, we decided to use an even stronger force; everyone who drives a car. The idea was to give away the new product for free, in return, you had to help us spread the message. We collaborated with web-based publicists to create an initial spark and then used traditional PR, targeting influential environmental journalist, bloggers and opinion makers in the field. In the end, Preem met up with all the important journalists and politicians at the annual “politicians week” in Almedalen, Sweden, and used the campaign, the buzz it created and the collected litres, to convince politicians and journalists that there is a demand for this type of product, and that it is up to them to make it happen. The campaign was so successful, they now plan for a launch in 2017.

The Brief

The object of the campaign was to get our politicians attention, with the public as our megaphone, and make them realize the potential in this new, revolutionary, type of bio-fuel. The end goal would be for them to take measures that make it economically possible for Preem to produce and market what we call The Gasoline of the future.

Results

Preem participated in 10 public debates and seminars, and monitored 25 more, during Almedalen Week. The campaign got great attention and Preem was named as a role model. Their initiative was acknowledged by the Swedish Trades Union Confederation, the then Minister of Energy, parliament members, NGOs, Sveaskog (a competitor), scientists, the automobile industry, and many more. The campaign’s effect is judged by the interactions between Preem and its primary target group, not formal measurements. We therefore refer to the results above. Because of political sensitivity, we cannot mention the excellent political results in our public case film. The government plan to give this type of bio-fuel–“the gasoline of the future” – a 100% tax relief. The opposition said they will spend billions developing it. There were 330 tweets, 20,000 engagements and 298,000 impressions on Twitter, and 860 interactions on social media. 266,000 saw the film, 54% watching all of it.

Execution

At first, the film was spread through a handful of handpicked ambassadors, with a big following, in the environmental or auto communities. It was sent to journalists, opinion formers and environmental activists. It was followed up by an extensive print-campaign in Sweden’s biggest newspapers. At Sweden’s annual “politicians’ week” in Almedalen, Sweden, Preem used all the collected litres and media buzz to show a tight group of some 30 politicians and influential opinion makers that there really is a demand for this type of product; people are interested in green gasoline that works in every gasoline driven car.

The Situation

As a petroleum company, Preem has a huge responsibility to make their products as environmentally friendly as possible. The petroleum industry is heavily regulated by the government and they need to keep good relationships with our official representatives. Bio-fuels are more expensive to produce than regular fuels and therefore needs to be subsidized on a governmental level to be able to compete on the market. The fastest way to a politicians heart, we figured, would be to attract the attention of regular people, the voters, and create a buzz that would force them to take a stand.

The Strategy

The message was presented in a film that was distributed through digital channels to facilitate sharing. The film was developed partly to break the norm on how fuel-companies normally communicate, partly to present our argumentation with the help of intriguing pictures and an understandable argumentation. So instead of charts and bars, we chose visual metaphors connected to the forest, where Preems amazing innovation originate. The film pointed viewers directly to the campaign site where they could collect their free gas and learn more about the product and the challenges that Preem are facing. An extensive press kit was developed, with the film, background footage and specific texts created for the specific target groups within the target group; specific environmental journalists and advocates that would like to spread our message. We focused on opinion makers with own channels in both the auto and environmental fields.