JUAN CARLOS PEREZ – Global Account Manager, Shell

Which would you say is more important in connecting with your audience, tie-ups with organisations or with individuals?
We’ve had our fair share of disappointments when in the old days Shell linked its brand too closely with an individual, and that individual can let you down. At the end of the day things can change over night and if your brand is associated with the wrong individual, it can harm your brand.

Therefore, we now focus more on working with teams, such as Ducati and Ferrari. I think we have made an exception with Michael Schumacher who has been a brand ambassador for Shell, but he came as part of the package with Ferrari and of course he decided to move onto a different team and his ambassadorial role with us ended.

But going forward I don’t see Shell changing this policy. We would prefer to sponsor a brand or company over an individual.

When you’re sponsoring something like the Olympics, or a Formula One team for example, how much does what happens on the track affect what you do and what you get out of it?
The Formula One arena is very much our laboratory to develop fuel and lubricant technologies. In the last few years we have been able to use these laboratory developments to bring to the market products like Shell V Power and Shell Helix Ultra.

We first tested those products in the more demanding conditions of Formula One, and that made us certain that they were more than suitable for the day to day user. It’s what we call ‘from the track to the road’.

And I can imagine that if you don’t have that link, it would be more difficult to really connect the sponsorship to the consumer and I have many examples where in the past we have been sponsoring activities that were more focused towards the corporate affairs arena as opposed to the business arena.

What do you think it is that has made Shell and Ferrari work so successfully together for so long now?
It is a very specific case because even when Enzo Ferrari started his career as a driver for Alfa Romero in the 1930s, Shell Italy, at the time, was the local sponsor, and of course when he created his own team, Shell was the first supplier.

The relationship continued through the 50s and 60s until 1973 when there was the first big oil crisis, and the oil industry as a whole decided to exit marketing and sponsorship activities, and so we stopped our relationship with Ferrari.

When we came back to the sponsorship arena, Ferrari was already committed to one of our competitors in Italy, so we teamed up with McLaren from 1984 to 1994. We had some very successful years with them, and then we rejoined Ferrari in 1996.

And now our partnership with them has been renewed by five years until 2015, and is becoming the longest partnership in the history of motorsport. Shell is probably one of the few brands that has been consistent present in motorsport over the years.

I have to say also that sponsorships are all about long-term gains. What I say all the time is that one-year sponsorship deals don’t make any sense and are a waste of time and money. You need long standing partnerships to make sure the consumer is aware of them, understands them and reacts with them. You only get this through long-term partnerships.

At the same time, Ferrari has clearly never let us down. Even in the years when they were not winning, Ferrari’s never give up and keep on going attitude was very powerful.

What was Shell’s thinking in coming back to NASCAR after nine years away?
I was heavily involved in that process. We had in North America, prior to NASCAR, an involvement in Indy Racing. That was short-lived as it didn’t have the results that we were expecting. And then we worked with Formula One when it came to North America. Unfortunately it was not as popular among American consumers.

So we had to go away and look at what other motorsports would be popular in the North American market and NASCAR came out top being such a powerful platform and with so many brands involved, it had already expanded its scope all around North America.

A lot of analysis went into what team would be the best fit for the Shell brand and at the time we decided to move towards Richard Childress and car 29.

But we also made an assessment to the B2B arena, and now we have decided to move to move to Penske for the 2011 season.

Penske is a good fit for us because it also allows us to expand our relationship with Chrysler.

Again, this shows how much business-to-business is in our thoughts when we make these decisions.

How important for Shell is it to develop its brand in South East Asia and was that a reason for you sponsoring the Malaysian MotoGP?
Yes, Shell now has a strategy to move from West to East. Most of our opportunities for growth are now in the East.

But I have to also say that we have a partnership with Ducati as it is associated with a younger audience. When we teamed up with Ducati, Formula One was ageing, now it has begun to attract a second generation, but at the time we signed with Ducati, F1 was seen as for the fathers, and MotoGp was for the children.

And although MotoGP doesn’t have the same level of viewers worldwide as Formula One, it is growing and is becoming big in the Eastern market as well as our traditional European markets too.

What is your favourite sports team and who is your favourite sports star?
Ferrari and Michael Schumacher.

What is your most memorable sporting event?
Michael Schumacher winning the 100th victory for Shell and Ferrari at the 2002 Belgian Grand Prix.

Juan Carlos Perez’s

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