"Our management measures our success based on our brand’s performance as shown in the monthly AAIM reports. That is the best way we can measure our own and our competitors’ marketplace performance."

Matt DiPaulo, BP Lubricants USA, Inc.

BP Lubricants USA, Inc. (formerly Castrol), has a diverse range of products: passenger car motor oils, heavy-duty engine oils, transmission fluids, automotive gear oils, hydraulic oils, greases and a host of other lubricants. BP Lubricants USA Inc., Customer Knowledge Manager – Retail Auto Parts, Matt DiPaulo, considers NPD consumer and retail information “the cost of entry” into his company’s competitive market.

“To be a leader, you need to have as much information as possible and know what to do with it,” he said. “Knowledge is invaluable, and turning insights into action is the single most important way to establish a great working relationship with customers. Not having NPD’s marketing information services puts the manufacturer and retailer at a competitive disadvantage in this market.”

NPD information is widely used across BP Lubricants USA Inc. Some groups develop quarterly industry recaps based on the data; others use it to gain knowledge about specific categories, segments and competitive brands. BP’s senior management reviews our Category Management reports. In particular, DiPaulo said, his company’s management relies on NPD’s Automotive Aftermarket Industry Monitor (AAIM) data, since it comes directly from the retailers with which BP wants to maintain strong relationships. “Actual point-of-sale information is one of the most valuable pieces of information we can have, and our accounts expect us to fully understand the intricacies of it. Our management measures our success based on our brand’s performance as shown in the monthly AAIM reports. That is the best way we can measure our own and our competitors’ marketplace performance.”

The BP Lubricants USA, Inc. marketing group uses NPD for insights on consumer trends, market dynamics and a general understanding of consumers’ changing behavior. “It is useful in benchmarking our brands across the different segments to see how we perform against competitors – we use it to monitor dollar and quart shares very closely,” DiPaulo said. “Based on what the trends indicate, we would determine whether there were opportunities for us to manufacture a new product or line extension. For example, we saw a huge opportunity with larger pack sizes, and the marketing group went after that by creating a larger pack offering.”

In this case, BP Lubricants USA, Inc. identified that purchasing motor oil by the gallon was a growing trend. After creating the new pack size, BP  had to convince retailers that adding this pack size to their assortments would increase their sales and profits. With NPD’s consumer and point-of-sale information behind them, the BP team made its case effectively: CSK, AutoZone and O’Reilly began offering the gallon pack of the BP product as an everyday sku.

“Innovation is always a challenge in a mature category that continues to decline. High mileage products were unfamiliar to many – it wasn’t even a segment – when a competitor launched its first high mileage product in 2000. Some of our retail accounts were confused and unsure about the validity of this product launch and what it meant for them,” said DiPaulo. “NPD’s market information showed us how these items were performing and gaining momentum in the marketplace. We were able to track firsthand how this item was doing, review with consumer data, and from that develop and create the successful launch of our own high mileage product. The NPD information validated why it was important for us to have a high mileage product out in the marketplace.”

He continued, “The average age of vehicles in the U.S. is about 9.5 years, and about 75,000 miles. Consumers are holding on to their vehicles longer, and cars are manufactured better every year. These factors have made the high mileage segment the market’s fastest-growing segment, with unprecedented growth year-over-year. We have been the strong #2 brand and are closing the gap vs. the top brand in the segment. Had we not seen how competition was doing in the marketplace via the NPD information, we may have delayed our launch within this rapidly growing segment.”