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Sunday, Oct. 4, 1998
Motor oils rev up marketing to improve sales performance
Analysts say top brands are all about equally good, so most potential sales increases depend on advertising
By MARK BABINECK
Associated PressTHE WOODLANDS -- Nestled in a forested tract north of Houston, Pennzoil researchers toil to figure out how to make motor oils better than the next guy.
They say you can't do any better for your car. But so do the folks at Castrol, Exxon, Texaco, Quaker State, Valvoline and other companies.
``There is all sorts of advertising hype and stuff like that trying to sort out which is better,'' said Ed Hackett, a self-described ``motorhead'' and a chemist for the Nevada-based Desert Research Institute.
``In practical terms with any name-brand oil, a consumer is not going to see a real difference,'' said Hackett, who compares and contrasts motor oil in his spare time.
His analysis of the major oil brands backs up a 1996 Consumer Reports study. Using 75 hard-driven New York City cabs as a lab, the magazine ran several brands through the paces, then dismantled the engines after about 60,000 miles over 10 months.
``If you've been loyal to one brand, you may be surprised to learn that every oil we tested was good at doing what motor oil is supposed to do,'' the magazine reported. Their testing found that expensive synthetics, which even Hackett said provide better protection, didn't fare particularly better than regular oil.
So, you can't taste it, it all pretty much looks and feels the same and objective studies have determined the name brands all work well to lubricate automobile engines. How do you market it, then?
``Market share is really tough to come by,'' said Tom Mueller, marketing manager for Texaco Havoline's automotive products. ``It's not a rapidly growing business like other industries, so it is extremely competitive. We try to be very customer-focused in terms of having the proper grades available and ancillary products.''
All the brands brag about how their oils handle the toughest conditions inside engines, where automakers are demanding more and more performance from oils and the various additive packages each brand has devised.
Crude-based motor oil is comprised of about 85 percent oil and 15 percent additives, chemicals that neutralize acids, keep debris from building up, reduce wear, prevent oxidation of hot air or oil and inhibit foam.
Pennzoil's recent advances have concentrated on improving the actual oil, running it through a new refining process that removes almost all the impurities from the oil, said Dewey Szemenyei, director of product development and technology.
``We heat the oil up to 700 degrees in the presence of a recently developed catalyst to convert bad things into good oil, almost like a big strainer,'' he said. Essentially, waxes naturally present in oil that used to be removed are now processed and kept in the product, he said.
Taking out as much sulfur, nitrogen and other contaminants as possible should improve oil performance, Hackett said. But any oil meeting current industry standards should work well as long as its changed regularly.
Quaker State marketing manager Bill Tucker notes that many owner's manuals suggest an oil change at up every 7,500 miles unless the driver has put the car through severe conditions, when the traditional 3,000-mile standard is recommended.
The definition of ``severe conditions,'' however, is short-haul drives, stop-and-go city travel and repeatedly starting a cold engine after it hasn't been used for hours.
``What they're saying is simple,'' Tucker said. ``We all drive under those severe conditions.''
While the price of motor oil hasn't changed much over the last decade, companies have injected millions of dollars to keep meeting ever more stringent requirements set by automakers, who count on improved oils to help them reduce emissions, increase mileage and improve performance.
``People just don't realize it, but every few years the oils have to be upgraded to meet the new demands of the new engines Ford, General Motors and the others are building,'' said Thom Smith, technical director of Valvoline's brands.
Five brands each control about 12 to 20 percent of the market, but that's going to change when industry leaders Pennzoil and Quaker State complete their merger and gobble 35 percent of the market.
Decades of brand loyalty dictate that both names will still sit on shelves side-by-side, even if proceeds from their sales go to the same place.
``We'll have brands that compete, but they'll do it very smartly,'' Quaker State's Tucker said. ``If I were the other guys, I'd be pretty concerned.''Post your comments about local news eventsFront Page || Main Index || News || Business || Texas || South Texas Outdoors || Birdwatching || Sports || Entertainment || Selena || Education || South Texas Attractions || World Wide Web