National Promotion

Client  Chevron

Challenges
Launch the new 25th anniversary toy car to help raise Techron awareness and invigorate the Chevron brand.

The much-loved Chevron Cars have been gone for years, fading their association with Techron and their overall popularity.

Insight
Chevron Cars brought emotion to an emotionless category.

Idea
Reignite Passion

Solution
What started out as a simple assignment to design a toy car and new packaging to commemorate Techron’s, Chevron’s gas additive, 25th Anniversary became a bigger opportunity to help reinvigorate the brand.

Formed the idea of reigniting the passion with past Chevron Toy Car collectors, who now have families, and to create new relationships with today’s kids. All to resurrect what was once a much-loved Toy Car program that started in 1996. With new technology and how today’s kids are commonly immersed in it every day, developed a way to appeal and generate excitement for all and take the familiar to the next level.

Led a small team where I’ve also jumped in to help develop options for the new member of the Chevron Toy Car family and created a year-long program. The clients ended up selecting my concept and design. I’ve collaborated with the client on the toy car design as well as with Aardman Animation (known for creating Wallace & Gromit, Chicken Run, and Flushed Away movies) on the package design, who brought to life the Chevron Cars in the past.

Trent Techron (began as Lana Lane before starting endless rounds of names!) became this sleek, silver sports car with a magnetic personality who loved spending time with family and learning from his family roots but has a love for new adventures. We designed unique packaging leveraging special printing and embossing techniques to place Trent Techron in a modern garage setting as his home with his Chevron family. The simple Owner’s Manual became a mini-foldout poster of Trent Techron while containing an exclusive AR trading card, starting with himself. The AR trading cards would begin an online community for virtual collecting and trading of Chevron Cars, new and old, as well as a virtual entry into the Chevron World. The new packaging can also be scanned to give a glimpse of this world in 3D on a smartphone while seeing Trent Techron whizzing through as if giving a tour of his homeland.

For support, Chevron locations not only will have POP but AR trading cards exclusive to their region to drive in-store traffic and collectibility. Locations would be encouraged to participate in promoting the 25th Anniversary and product where the location that sold the most wins $25 gift cards for all its employees. To generate awareness, besides producing online banners and video, Chevron would partner with local auto shows where the 25th anniversary celebration would be announced and fans, for a limited time only, can personalize online their Trent Techron and receive 2 free tickets to the auto show to pick up their special Trent Techron in a unique wall displaying “mini garages”.

So what started out as a design assignment for a car toy and its packaging became a unique opportunity to help people, young or old, feel something for Chevron again.