Fuel company Astron Energy has launched a national marketing blitz to welcome consumers to its vibrant new brand which is being rolled out across service station forecourts across South Africa.
On July 17, the company marked the rebrand of its 100th service station as part of the mammoth project to rebrand its network of 850 sites from Caltex to Astron Energy.
The century milestone was the trigger to launch the company’s national marketing campaign which it believes will bring its new brand into people’s homes and hearts.
General Manager Retail Sales and Marketing for Astron Energy, Farouk Farista, said: “We spent the latter half of 2022 and the first six months of this year building up momentum on our rebranding programme in order to achieve scale as quickly and safely as possible.
“Now that we have 100-plus sites, with a presence in every province and a healthy mix of urban and rural, the time is right to really elevate our brand into the public consciousness.”
According to Farista, the marketing campaign is focused on high performing media channels that will “launch the brand to the South African market with impact and stature”, and includes:
- 30” and 60” TVCs across 32 TV channels
- Brand integration and placement into top local tv shows
- Ads across top national and regional radio stations, including Metro FM, East Coast Radio, KFM and Umhlobo Wenene
- A national Out of Home campaign reaching all key provinces
- Iconic static and 3D digital billboards for high visibility and talkability
- A high impact social media campaign across multiple channels including Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Display and SEO
Astron Energy is the place where we want everyone to feel welcome.
Astron Energy’s campaign is focused on the new brand introducing itself to South Africa, by saying WELCOME!
“The Welcome campaign is about resonating with as many South Africans as possible, it’s about feeling connected, and the ads convey a strong sense of inclusivity,” he added.
Illè Potgieter, Managing Director of M&C Saatchi Abel who were responsible for the creative campaign and bringing the vibrant new brand to life, said: “Introducing a new fuel and forecourt brand to South Africa is no easy task. And standing out from a category long established in cliché fuel puns is even harder.
“To launch Astron Energy, we did it with one simple thought based on a human truth of the forecourt: ‘A place where everyone is welcome’.
“We launched across multiple touchpoints to invite all South Africans to be a part of the journey, whilst at the same time making sure we met our objectives of building mass awareness, trust and impact for the brand.”
Potgieter said as a new entrant to the market without preconceived ideas attached to its name, “we had the freedom to reimagine and challenge the status quo”.
She added: “To introduce Astron Energy to South Africa, we knew that we needed to instil immediate confidence and trust in the brand. We identified the need for a singular and significant proof-point that would leave no doubt about the stature and scale of this new venture. Enter our 850+ forecourt network, the country’s second-largest existing network, acquired from Chevron. This large footprint served as a testament to our brand’s capability and immediately established us as a formidable player in the market.”
Farista said that in line with the new brand colours which are unlike any other local fuel brand, the marketing campaign was also engineered to be differentiated and disruptive.
“The rebranding from Caltex to Astron Energy is the biggest change in the South African fuel industry for 30 years,” he said. “To mark this, we also went for a marketing campaign which stands out from the rest.”
This included the roadblock media placement of the new 60” tv ad across more than 30 mainstream channels at roughly the same time at 8pm on Sunday 23 July.
“If you were tuned into any of those channels which covered terrestrial as well as satellite, you would have been welcomed to Astron Energy’s new brand,” Farista said.
With over 850 forecourts, Astron Energy is the second largest petroleum retail network in South Africa. Visit the Astron Energy website at astronenergy.co.za to explore the interactive map showing new Astron Energy sites which have been rebranded.
