At the heart of our approach was a seven minute docudrama telling the true story of the development of GTL fuel in a way that people would find engaging and enlightening. It brought to life the vision and the human struggle to produce a fuel with lower emissions and the creative problem-solving that made that possible. It acknowledged that Shell’s approach isn’t universally admired. And it communicated GTL fuel’s benefit of lower emissions. It engaged consumers in a way that advertising cannot. It felt real and it allowed people to share Shell’s passion.TV advertising sold the benefit of lower emissions and trailed the deeper content of the docudrama available in a variety of other media.The consumer’s need for in depth, accessible and transparent information to back up this engaging content was satisfied by informative, clearly presented facts in print, interactive TV and online.

The approach broke down the barriers of suspicion. More than a million people have spent over seven minutes viewing Shell docudramas. 10% of those exposed to the DVD viewed it. Brand preference has been measurably affected by a greater amount than ever achieved with conventional corporate advertising.