pounds 20m drive to fix Shell image

Shell International will this month kick off a pounds 20m corporate

communications campaign in a bid to restore its tarnished global

image.

The massive through-the-line push, which breaks on March 22, will focus

on environmental and social issues, and encourage debate and response

from the public. Use of the internet, on which Shell has been regularly

slated, will be a key part of the campaign.

The aim is to boost the company’s reputation following several PR

disasters.

These included the row over its proposed sinking of the Brent Spar oil

platform in 1995 and the Nigerian government’s execution of Ken

Saro-Wiwa in the same year, after he had objected to the oil company’s

activities in his country. As a result the company has faced consumer

boycotts of its products.

The integrated drive will be managed by J Walter Thompson and PR company

Fishburn Hedges, which were appointed last July. Both agencies have been

working closely with new media agency Traffic Interactive, which has

been appointed to work on an internet campaign.

Although PR-led, the campaign will include press advertising from the

start, and could be extended to TV advertising later on. There will also

be direct marketing activity.

Banner ads on the internet will link to a Shell discussion forum which

will encourage online debate on environmental issues such as renewable

energy. The site goes live on March 15.

While the day-to-day running of the campaign is being handled by a team

within Shell’s External Affairs department, Shell International’s

marketing director Raoul Pinnell is understood to have been closely

involved in the marketing strategy behind it.

This article was first published on Marketing