Valvoline Global’s chief brand officer Michael Kirtman has hit the ground running since he joined the 160 year-old motor oil brand in January.
In less than a few months, Kirtman is leading the brand’s first-ever sponsorship of the World Cup, with a new campaign that honors fans that drive thousands of miles to watch FIFA games.
“There’s no better stage in the World Cup,” says Kirtman. “There is something very powerful about the fan’s journey. As fans go to soccer games (or football games), there is this confidence that Valvoline instills in fans as they get ready to go on that journey to the stadium or to their friend’s house to watch the games.”
“The Original Motor Oil. For the Driven” campaign celebrates the human spirit and the emotional connection felt by fans on the road around the globe traveling to the games in person or to watch parties with friends.
“What we are trying to say is when you use Valvoline, you don’t have to worry about the journey,” Kirtman said. “You’re going to enjoy the game. You’re going to get there safely. And there is a very authentic way our brand is woven through that journey.”
Prior to joining Valvoline, Kirtman spent more than 16 years at Procter & Gamble. Brand Innovators caught up with Kirtman from his office in Lexington, Kentucky to discuss the World Cup, building global brands at the local level and how a career at P&G helped form his understanding of brand building. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
You joined Valvoline a few months ago. Can you talk about what attracted you to the brand?
Very few times in your career are you going to get to work on a brand that’s truly iconic with 160 years of heritage that has so much opportunity to grow globally. Another piece of it is our CEO is a believer in brand building. I’m not coming in trying to justify the investment in a brand. I’m coming in to make sure the investments we make in brand are working the hardest for our business. That combination of the heritage of our brand, a leadership team that really believes in investing in the brand is such an attractive way for me to grow my craft.
I also love the global aspect. I have teams in Singapore, London, China, Australia, the U.S., Mexico, Brazil, all over. Having that breadth with the power of this brand has been so awe-inspiring. The first trip I did was to India. It was very eye-opening for me. It made me realize this is truly a global brand that’s making a difference in markets. In this role, I’m not a figurehead. I’m really getting my hands dirty from global brand building down to brand building down on the streets of India.
Why does it make sense for Valvoline to show up at the World Cup?
There’s so much noise and showing up on a relevant stage at a relevant time breaks through that noise. What’s great about a stage like this is you don’t have to change who your brand is, you just have to put a spotlight on what your brand stands for. That’s really what I love about sports marketing for this 160 year-old motor oil. I’m not tweaking it and forcing it into the World Cup. I’m bringing it to the World Cup to put a spotlight on our brand. That’s the power of partners. People get lost at times where they try to change their message or change their brand to fit into a partnership. But in reality, we’re not changing anything about our tagline.
We are the original motor oil. We are for the driven, which is really about the original oil for the fans journey. What’s powerful about this partnership is it just puts a spotlight on us from a global standpoint. The U.S. is an important market but we also want to go outside of the U.S. Mexico is a very important market. It is where over 80 percent of consumers love the game of football and soccer. You think about China, Europe, all these other regions. The power of partnership is when you have a relevant way to break through the noise, which the World Cup does, it’s going to be a lot of eyeballs.
Can you talk about your approach to building global brands while also telling local stories?
The trap sometimes has two sides. Everything’s done regionally. Good luck and see what happens and that leads to inconsistency in brand building. Then there’s the other side of it, which is you do what I tell you to do because I know best. But then everything comes across as neutral and not regionally relevant.
This World Cup platform really had us flip how to work together. It has not been me in my tower being like, this is what you need to do in India. This is what you need to do in China. It’s been really about, here is our overarching strategy, which is how does Valvoline play a relevant role in the fan’s journey? And then talking with the team in India and the team in China to understand how it looks in each market. In some regions, motorcycles are the main vehicle, not a passenger car. As we created spots, they didn’t feel neutral. They felt regionally relevant, but were still consistent. They still have this theme of the original motor oil and this theme of the fan’s journey.
You were at P&G for more than 15 years. Can you talk about how your past experiences and growing up in such a prestigious organization has helped shape your perspective?
I spent 16 years at P&G and I loved it. It’s an amazing place to set the foundation of brand building. We’re taught brand building isn’t about clicks and views, it’s about the power of brand building to drive the P&L and the importance of brand building as a core bet for the business. P&G really is about understanding brands at that core level.
But I wanted to maximize my global impact, as well as my impact on a marketing culture. That’s what this role has allowed me to do. P&G taught me the brand fundamentals, being disciplined about KPIs, being disciplined about priorities, being disciplined about consistency. All those things are helping me in this role. But I’m also learning more about myself in this role that I didn’t learn at P&G. I’m in a new category. I’m in a truly global business. I’m in countries that I wasn’t as familiar with like India. That wasn’t a core country when I was working in oral care. I’m further accelerating my learning here because of where our brand shows up.
Where do you see the marketing opportunities this year?
I see so much opportunity outside of the U.S. from a global standpoint. I’m looking at marketing, overlaying it with business opportunities. When I look at markets like Europe, Saudi Arabia, China, Thailand, Australia and Mexico, there are so many opportunities to tell relevant regional stories that still bring to light a consistency of the Valvoline brand. The World Cup is a great way to do that. This isn’t just a one-off. The World Cup is going to create a global platform, a global go-to-market strategy.
Are there any marketing challenges keeping you up at night?
It is hard to break through. Sometimes you get in this trap where breaking through takes you off brand. I want to win across digital channels in a way that stays true to our 160-year heritage. I still want to be relevant and that’s a hard balance at times. What keeps me up is how am I staying on my toes and creating the right content, staying on brand and remaining engaged? Because it requires you to evolve so fast. We’re still the same brand but you still have to evolve through the times. What keeps me up is, am I being curious enough?
