Design focus: The science of design

Design aesthetics are but a small part of what commercially minded forecourt specialists need to consider in planning effective roadside retail designs.

What are you driving at Parallel?

The Ukranian filling station operator Parallel, one of the country's major fuel retailers, is steering an unconventional course with this online marketing campaign. Sitting on a blank background (or invisible car seat) the seductive gaze leaves you thinking: "What is Parallel's real point?"

European roadside sector to target mobile workers

A co-venture project between Regus and Shell will see a network of new business lounges opening at Shell petrol forecourts on motorways across Europe. If you are a mobile worker like me, this scheme could be of real benefit.

Little chef, big mischief

The chirpy British roadside restaurant chain Little Chef has been in decline in recent times but with help from TV chef Heston Bluementhal and a big media campaign (Big Chef takes on Little Chef) the brand is looking to bounce back. Take a look at the re-designed interior and branding.

Omni-channel retail gathers pace

While Mary Porter, the Queen of Shops, tries to save the British Street, we see savvy retailers advancing their 360-degree views of customer relationships, with omnichannel 'click and mortar'
strategies that look set to revolutionise the way we shop in 2012 and beyond.

Great name poor design

New Zealand’s channel 3 aptly describes Greenstone’s $695 million acquisition of Shell’s 226 strong retail network as ‘Audacious’. To dump the probably the world’s most prestigious energy brand and create your own makes slightly more sense when you realise Greenstone will avoid having to pay Shell $10 million a year licensing fees…..(once of course the rebranding fees in excess of $35 million are paid plus say $3 -$5 million in annual advertising support.

If you've got it – flaunt it!

In my childhood in the 1950s and 1960s the oil companies were among the most visible brand advertisers – especially on the new medium of television. Challenge a baby boomer today to sing for you “The Esso sign means happy motoring” or “You’re going well you’re going Shell” and most will be able to oblige. But the quadrupling of oil prices in the early 1970s put a stop to all that and whilst there have been occasional flurries of brand advertising in this sector since there has rarely been a period of determined product differentiation advertising. So how should we see Shell’s current UK campaign to promote a new fuel, Shell FuelSave which offers drivers improved fuel efficiency of “Up to one litre per tank” – you can see the TV Commercial here?

Reputation Management

The maintenance of a good corporate reputation in today's febrile multimedia age is no easy task - not least because the needs of a company's various stakeholders are all too often contradictory. Investors may seek cost efficiencies which boost earnings and dividends whilst employees seek job security. The need to boost the resource base, especially for oil and gas companies, will often conflict with the needs of local communities and environmentalists. And in some industries, like tobacco, the very nature of the business activity itself can be hard to defend and virtually incapable of being painted in a positive light. So does that mean that there are no firm guidelines that can be established to help companies manage their reputation - is it all too difficult? This article will argue that the reverse is the case - so long as companies understand that brand management and reputation management are the same thing - and so long as they have an imperative to integrate what they say with what they do - and then tell the truth. And as long as they have the confidence not to have their reputation management decisions taken by lawyers!

Solar Energy Review

Italy
Agip’s part solar PhotoVoltaic (PV) powered petrol station is a particularly attractive green energy proposition since Italy has moderately high solar radiation but also high energy prices where conventional energy source prices and solar energy prices are roughly equal per kW/hour.

Spain

The Repsol car wash outside Madrid airport features flat plate solar thermal panels which preheat the water used for washing cars. Using this relatively low tech, low cost solar thermal energy collecting device, Repsol are able to save the cost of heating the water by conventional means (electric or gas) and therefore also reduce carbon emissions and as a bonus gain a valuable PR advantage. How simple and effective but also quite obvious for a nation famous for its sunny climate.

Spain have also invested heavily in solar PV as illustrated above with a sophisticated solar tracking device on a Galp petrol station.

Sir Terry Leahy's Environmental Credentials

Sir Terry Leahy, environmentalist extraordinaire or tough CEO of a global fortune 500 company driven by increasing shareholder value? Listen to Sir Terry's speech at the Politics of Climate Change Conference ahead of the Copenhagen Earth summit in Nov 09 you may think the former option. Look at Sir Terry's track record at managing cost at Tesco you would think the second.

Brand Audits

Ask any oil company or other chain store regarding the state of their network and you would be surprised to hear how little they really know especially when the network in question spreads across different continents and will include many decades of acquisitions, sales, re-brands, refurbishments further complicated by dealer owned sites, company owned sites and co branded sites.For this reason brand auditing is a necessary activity if a brand is to be effectively managed.

E-Commerce and Virtual Oil Companies

Futurologists would have us believe that "virtual oil companies" will soon be serious competition for established, traditional oil companies, adding to competition already established in many regions from supermarkets. Internet enabled motorists will soon be dialing up "Friendlyfueller.com", their internet based virtual oil company, whilst on the move. This e-company will have secured bulk fuel purchases and will be able to offer a reduced price at the filling station. On the screen of our mobile phone will be a map of the area, displaying the locations of the Friendlyfueller / host brand site as well as the fuel prices. Consumers will have the choice between "Friendlyfueller.com" and the existing host brand. Whether oil companies would be complacent enough to allow such a practice from a "virtual oil company" remains to be seen.It is true that oil companies are already adding a virtual element to their own businesses. Products can be purchased from some companies on-line and picked up on site.

How to Design a Successful Petrol Station

This is the ninth book from Marcello Minale, but his first to cover the subject of forecourt design. Minale passion for petrol stations is reflected in this, his latest book.

Heralded by The Times newspaper as a true force in the design world, his insight and wisdom developed by years of designing for the energy sector is second to none and his observations and comments offer a pertinent view of the opportunities and pitfalls involved. He uses as examples only the best in forecourt design, both in terms of aesthetics and function, and the design story for each project is carefully explained and extensively illustrated with technical drawings, development concepts and final design solutions. The importance of branding is also discussed, being in Minale's view the key factor to differentiate the players in what is, in essence, a commodity industry.

Petrol Station in the UK is the best road to bankruptcy

According to Don Kinnersley at Price Waterhouse Coopers, auditors to the oil industry, owning a Petrol Station in the UK is the best road to bankruptcy. With the government taking around three-quarters in tax, only a profit margin of between 2 and 5 percent can be expected form selling fuel. With supermarkets now the biggest seller of fuel in the UK offering fuel as a loss leader to attract customers to the store the option to increase prices is not a real one. Price cutting proved suicidal for the "Save" chain of service stations in the UK and whilst Esso's "Pricewatch" cost matching scheme succeeded in gaining more turnover, it has cost the company Billions.