Campaign
When we needed to reimagine Enjoy The Journey during lockdown, so we turned the biggest social entertainment platform in Asia -TikTok into a virtual car that millions could hop onto.
With an original music track celebrating the brand, TikTok was the most relevant social platform to release a virtual in-car singing experience that let drivers create their own music video using custom TikTok branded effects.
#CaltexUnstoppableStar is 1.3B views and counting, turning phones into vehicles, and TikTok into a stage to showcase how you can enjoy the journey even if you’re not driving for real.
Background
The oil and gas industry experienced its third price collapse in 12 years, with prices touching 30-year lows. Two main factors: the onset of COVID-19 driving a substantial decrease in demand by at least 20%, and an increase in oil supply, triggering a significant drop in oil prices.
While petrol filling stations were able to remain open as the Government deemed them ‘essential retail’, travel restrictions meant a significant reduction in traffic volumes on the roads during the lockdown.
As Caltex stayed resilient and navigated the crisis in wait for the reopening of economy, it has to ensure the brand stayed relevant and top-of-mind when drivers see little need for the product - the risk of being ‘out of sight, out of mind’. We need to communicate and reinforce that Caltex’s fuel gives unbeatable mileage allowing drivers to drive further and remind people they can still ‘enjoy the journey’.
Creative idea
We launched #CaltexUnstoppableStar and reimagined Enjoy The Journey during lockdown in collaboration with DefJam Asia and TikTok.
Instead of telling people how great our fuel mileage is, we let them rap about it instead. Turning millions of people into brand ambassadors, and even overnight stars. Our campaign allowed people to feel get much relief through entertainment and made them feel unstoppable even if they can’t drive.
With Def Jam Recordings Southeast Asia, we wrote a rap song that people could not stop singing to and plugged it into a custom-made interactive filter on TikTok that let you feel like you were driving, no matter where you were. Our message was creatively weaved into the lyrics of the song and in the design of the filter, which reached billions. Each of the hundreds of thousand music video creations became a unique expression of brand love.
Strategy
While premium brands such as Shell targets drivers with higher spending power, we decided to focus on the segments who will be seeking better fuel economy, savings and more value for money. This group comprises of 45% of the market which we believe Caltex with Unbeatable Mileage can provide a believable proposition for. We need them to remember the FUEL ECONOMY benefit Caltex with Techron provides is the best way to get long term value which is established through our claim of Unbeatable Mileage.
But during COVID, it’s hard to relate to functional messages when drivers cannot be on the road. We needed to engage them emotionally to get their attention and create memorability through their desires for new entertainment and other vices online. We needed our audience to Enjoy The Journey even when they can’t drive.
Execution
The campaign kicked off with 3 of Asia’s hottest Def Jam rap artists, Joe Flizzow, Daboyway, Matthaios and the highly-awarded producer SonaOne inviting people to join the #Caltexunstoppablestar on TikTok.
This rap-along of an original 60-sec song, which gets faster every 15sec is part of a custom-made interactive filter. Special gestures trigger hidden motion graphics that users can use to enhance their virtual in-car music video. Drivers and future drivers, young and young-at-heart got into the act, showcasing their vocal talent as well as their creativity.
The campaign launched on February 2022 in the Philippines, Malaysia, and Thailand and amplified by 11 influencers across the markets till March.
Participants’ video creations were reposted and celebrated on Caltex owned channels.
Even Caltex own staff got into the act and showed their networks what the brand stood for.
Results
Within the 1st day of launch, our hashtag challenge page had already garnered more than 300k views and quickly escalated in the coming weeks…
1.3billion+ HTC Video Views
153million+ HTC audience reached
1.8million+ HTC Pageviews
113million+ HTC Engagement
Despite difficulty in the challenge, engagement rates surpassed expectations:
· 464k+ HTC video creation: The number of videos using this # in caption
· 3million+ BE Plays: The number of times of users who experienced Branded Effects (includes clicks on the BE icon on panel and other resources like HTC page, music page and effect page)
· 34sec Avg. Unique Play Time: The average amount of time (in seconds) unique users spent playing with the effect with exposure to keywords and message such as “Caltex” and “Unbeatable Mileage”.
Achieved PR impressions: Earned media of more than SGD $1.3bn from
· Publications such as auto-related sites
· Press
· User-generated TikTok videos that was subsequently shared by their creators