• by Karl Greenberg , July 8, 2009

Royal Dutch Shell has launched a European and Asian ad push, "Get the most out of every drop," via JWT London. The campaign, which uses a watercolor-like creative approach wherein moving images of cars appear to arise from paintings, is intended to tout Shell's V-Power products. The campaign uses regionally customized broadcast spots that were created by N.Y.-based Stardust with JWT London.

Within each country, the campaign has a set of regional broadcast spots that start with a drop of fuel falling onto a piece of paper, through which one sees a range of vehicles driving down different streets. The ads also drive consumers to www.shell.com/everydrop. The first of a juggernaut of 11 such ads started in targeted countries this spring, with the latest raft of six TV spots launching this week.

A voiceover says: "Should an every-day car use a performance fuel? At Shell, we have used what we have learned at the race track with Ferrari to bring a new V Power technology to release more power in any engine. Whatever you drive, fill up with Shell V Power."

Shell's U.S. operations, Houston-based Shell Oil Products U.S., launched the V Power product line in the U.S. in 2004, with one of the company's largest market pushes in two decades, a $25-30 million TV, radio, print, outdoor and interactive campaign touting the fuel as a performance enhancer with "The Power of the V" as a central theme.

This year, the company extended the product line with Shell Nitrogen-Enriched Gasolines, a product designed to dissolve carbon deposits and improve engine longevity. The campaign used Shell's "Passionate Experts" two-year-old campaign as a platform for television, radio, and Internet advertising, as well as point-of-purchase activity.

Shell V Power might be the best-selling premium gasoline brand in the U.S., but Royal Dutch Shell has been hobbled globally from this year's economic woes. The company's first-quarter earnings were $3.3 billion compared to $7.8 billion a year ago. The company said its earnings-per-share decreased by 57% versus the same quarter a year ago, and that cash flow from operating activities for the first quarter 2009 was $7.6 billion.