Industrial lubricant manufacturer Mobil has consolidated its line of energy efficient products, Mobil SHC, under a single umbrella with a separate identity and logo. Mobil SHC, the premiere line of synthetic lubricants for industry, was launched in India earlier this year. From among 150 different designs, the company chose two orbital curves with a drop of oil and a simple two-word message ‘energy efficiency’ to be part of the new logo for its high technology line of industrial lubricants.
The idea is to make the new logo a strong representative trademark for the brand so that in due course it becomes a symbol of excellence for lubricants, according to the company. “We introduced the logo for a couple of reasons,” says Ian Davidson, global industrial marketing manager, ExxonMobil Lubricants & Specialties Company, “There is no international industrial standard for energy efficiency. So in the absence of a standard, we decided to introduce our own proprietary symbol to denote those parts of our lubricant product line that offer energy efficiency.”
From the looks of it, the company wants to own the ‘energy efficiency’ platform with its bold and eye-catching logo. “Once we decided we wanted to improve the cost base and become more energy efficient from the environment care point of view, we wanted the logo to be impactful under which Mobil Industrial lubricant sales team could feel proud,” says Davidson.
Though many companies offer energy efficiency products, they do not really go the extra mile to draw a line of distinction between its ordinary and energy efficient products. As Davidson puts it: “We want to represent each of our products to our customers with its specific application. We want to be precise in terms of the benefit we are offering.”
Since the introduction of Mobil 1 energy efficient lubricant way back in the 1970s, the energy efficiency debate has gathered momentum. Davidson says in recent times, energy efficiency has become much more than a buzzword in the industrial lubricant market. Energy efficiency improvements — whether it means adding more miles to a gallon from passenger cars or giving more electrical power efficiency in industrial equipment enabled by lubrication — have just become a key corporate mission for companies in the sector.
Mobil’s new logo for its energy efficient line will appear on all packaging. “We don’t see this as another crazy marketing idea or a new gimmick; we see it as a serious introduction.” Worldwide, Mobil sells 700 products but only 30 of them will have the energy efficiency logo appended to them. These products are at the cutting edge of technology. Though Mobil’s Indian market share is less than its global average share of 10-12 per cent, it has introduced the entire series in India. “As a key leader in the industry this is a big step forward for us in driving the attention of the entire industry towards this key performance dimension,” adds Davidson.