Pennzoil was launching a first-of-its-kind motor oil made from natural gas and challenged us to help explain the benefits and shift brand perceptions from old and conventional to cutting-edge and technology focused.

Objectives:

· Launch Pennzoil’s new technology in a way that’s just as innovative as the product itself.

· Have major cultural influencers outside of the automotive world write about Pennzoil’s revolutionary technology.

· Create buzz around Pennzoil and get people talking about motor oil, something they normally wouldn’t think twice about.

· Get people to experience first-hand the complete protection benefits of motor oil made from natural gas.

We teamed up with Nintendo at SXSW Interactive and created Mario Karting Reimagined, a live activation and brand experience that let people experience Mario Kart in the real word complete with real life Pennzoil Power-Ups.

To replicate the gaming experience we outfitted each Mario Kart with RFID technology sensors. This enabled the karts to communicate with the real life power-ups on the track, which slowed your kart down or sped it up based on the power-ups collected. Collect all 5 Pennzoil Power-ups and your kart would increase in performance, making it easy to understand the benefits of Pennzoil’s new technology.

Pennzoil Mario Karting Reimagined generated over 1-billion earned media impressions. With 90% of major cultural influencers writing about Pennzoil for the first time, creating more than $2-million in Comparative Advertising Value and more than $5-million in PR Value. The story made it to the front page of Yahoo.com and was featured on the late night show Jimmy Kimmel Live!

We also got people actively talking about motor oil, generating over 53-million Twitter impressions. Pennzoil's volume within the SXSW conversation was also 72% higher than the next highest competitor leading to one of the most successful product launches in SXSW history.