Case Study: How Motul Fitness Challenge turned squats into ration for 12 mechanics

With Motul Fitness Challenge, Motul got people to record themselves while doing at least 15 squats with a promise to sponsor ration for a family of a mechanic for every 500 squats they receive.

Due to the lockdown in place because of COVID-19, several industries have been hit. Automobile servicing being one of them. To include people in their CSR activity of sponsoring ration for the families of mechanics that have experienced a financial hit in the lockdown, Motul India asked their followers and community to take part in the Motul Fitness Challenge.

Category Introduction

The demand for lubricants from different sectors is creating numerous opportunities in the Indian industrial lubricants market which had a market size of around 4.68 billion as of 2018. Furthermore, the demand for Indian industrial lubricants will observe a healthy CAGR of around 4.6% during the forecast period of 2019 to 2025. 

Brand Introduction 

Motul is a French company specializing in manufacturing and marketing performance motor products. It has been operating in India since 2003 through a Technology License Agreement with Atlantic Lubricants and Specialities Private Limited (ALSL). Over the last few years, Motul has established itself in India as a performance brand in the Motorcycle Oil, Passenger Car Oil and Motor Care Product segments.

Summary

DViO Digital devised the #MotulFitnessChallenge, where Motul India followers were encouraged to send in videos of them doing squats (minimum of 15), and tag and nominate their friends to take the same challenge. For every 500 squats, the plan was for Motul India to sponsor one mechanic's family (either during the lockdown period or post, depending on the accessibility of each mechanic's home). This campaign was a part of Motul India’s CSR activity.

Problem Statement/Objective

Motul India and DViO Digital wanted to give back to the ever-reliable mechanics & their families, who have been there for motorists 24/7.

Brief

Come up with an altruistic idea that enables Motul to finance families of mechanics during the lockdown when their businesses have taken a hit.

Creative Idea 

An activity that does well on a two-fold basis: Raises awareness and triggers the adoption of families of mechanics when they need it the most and also gets people stuck in the lockdown to get some exercise.

Challenges

Ensuring decent participation for a completely organic activity: Roping in influencers and fans without any spends was a difficult task. The initial participants nominated their friends, who nominated their own friends, creating a chain reaction. 

Getting people to perform squats during the lockdown with no materialistic gratification: People were already suffering during an ongoing pandemic. To ask them to perform a tiring exercise, that too with the gratification “only” being satisfaction in helping others, seemed like a daunting task. Fortunately, Motul followers (nicknamed ‘The Brotherhood’) rallied behind Motul’s call to help mechanic families and displayed an awe-inspiring demonstration of devotion and sportsmanship while participating for a good cause. 

Sticking to brand guidelines: Motul, being an international brand, has stringent guidelines to follow when it comes to organizing a digital campaign. The activity had to be devised taking the brand guidelines into consideration and had to also display some of the key traits associated with the brand.

Execution

Teaser post was put up with the activity narrative a day before the campaign went live. It helped in building hype and anticipation for how Motul followers could make a difference during a challenging time.

The rules post explaining the requirements of the activity and informing people of what’s at stake went live on D-day.

As entries began to drop in Motul India reshared some of them.

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Within two days, the campaign garnered 1500 squats. Counter posts keeping count of the number of posts accumulated went live, encouraging more participants to take the challenge.

Reminder posts went up 4 days after the campaign was launched.

By Day 5 of the activity, 5000 squats were performed in total.

The campaign was closed on Day 7 with a Thank You post.

Photographs of the mechanic families in orange and green zones immediately receiving groceries and other essential supplies thanks to the challenge were showcased on Motul’s India pages to let the deserving participants know that their effort did indeed make a difference.

Results 

Motorists and clubs across the country participated in the campaign and contributed a total of 6372 squats, helping Motul India adopt 12 families.

The campaign was able to garner a Reach of 2,77,759 with 3,01,913 Impressions and 2,359 in terms of Engagement.

A strengthened connection between the customer and the Motul brand was observed. A renewed sense of brotherhood among the community, including bikers and influencers, who came together to aid much deserving mechanic families in a time of need.

“We are incredibly touched by the inspiring devotion brought by the participants to the Motul Fitness Challenge. The campaign was very close to our heart since we reached out to help our valued mechanics. They are our real assets," said Preetam Goswami, Director- Marketing and Business Development, Atlantic Lubricants & Specialties Pvt. Ltd.

Sowmya Iyer, Founder & CEO of DViO Digital added, “The #MotulFitnessChallenge is an innovative initiative which helped Motul India to reach out and help their mechanics. DViO Digital is committed to creating opportunities for brands beyond conventional engagements that are integrated & effective, and help clients at every step of the journey.”