Conceptualised by Caltex during the 70s and 80s to assure customers of a warm welcome, great service and sparkling restrooms, the long-eared mascot’s comeback was fittingly launched over the Easter period via an integrated marketing campaign designed to create a deeper emotional connection with the brand.

Teresa Booth-Oliveira, General Manager of Products at Chevron, says that research confirms that the Caltex White Rabbit still holds a special place in the hearts of many South Africans.

“In the South African consumer’s minds, Caltex is indisputably associated with the unsurpassed cleaning power of our Techron additives, and we comfortably own the fuels technology platform. In many of our global markets, customers voluntarily pay a premium for these advanced fuels and the South African consumer has come to appreciate this too. We have so many examples passed down through generations of fathers telling their children never to use another fuel in their vehicles if they wish to preserve their engine’s longevity and performance.”

Continues Booth-Oliveira, “We recently undertook some basic research in a drive to ascertain how we could build on this technology or mind space and strengthen the emotional connection to our brand. It was an honour to hear back from our customers that the White Rabbit still resonated so strongly with them today. Our decision to bring him back was really inspired by our consumers and their childhood memories of the Caltex White Rabbit and our friendly welcome. Filling up at a Caltex for the first time in your new car it seems was a rite of passage for many, with the White Rabbit there to keep you company.”

Back to the future
Conceptualised before the decade of disco, the Brady Bunch, Lego and Rubik’s Cube, the White Rabbit is indelible in the mind of the 70’s South African child. Fast forward to the age of Twitter, Facebook and Justin Bieber, and the Caltex White Rabbit is poised to delight today’s generation via an advanced social media campaign driven from the forecourts.

“We’re hoping to create the same memories for the children of today by engaging with them in a relevant and meaningful way. We will be using the Facebook and Twitter mediums to engage our highly valued and loyal customers to ensure that the Caltex brand and all it stands for once again claims a special place in the hearts and minds of our customers - today and into the future,” enthuses Booth-Oliveira.

Fresh is best
The White Rabbit was originally created to assure customers of a warm welcome at Caltex service stations, with great service and clean restrooms. That promise is still intact. As part of its efforts to bring the brand in line with its consumer needs, Caltex is revitalising its forecourts and will have launched Freshstop number 50 by June 2011.

“Our aim is to have our service stations become convenience hubs offering our premium Techron fuel, healthy fresh food from the Freshstop stores designed to appeal to the community’s tastes, and, of course, a warm, White Rabbit welcome,” says Booth-Oliveira.

The Caltex White Rabbit Easter Promotion
Chevron fittingly created an Easter promotion with which to re-launch the White Rabbit while driving traffic to its forecourts. It runs from 21 April to 20 May. The promotion includes a competition to win a significant cash prize of R100 000, alluring give-aways, forecourt activations, national toll road booth activity, radio and online advertising, as well as an advanced digital promotion which leverages the social networking service of the new Caltex Facebook page. Visit www.facebook.com/caltexsa for further information.