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Shell Oil Co.

David Bunch, global vice president of Marketing for Shell Retail and chairman of Shell Brands International

Jordan Blum

Reporter- Houston Business Journal

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With its iconic red-and-yellow logo, Royal Dutch Shell PLC (NYSE: RDS) didn't become one of the energy "supermajors" by making a lot of risky branding choices.

But Shell is currently shaping its brand by combining the global oil and gas company's built-up trust with  aggressive digital and social media audience engagement, said David Bunch, the global vice president of marketing for Shell Retail and chairman of Shell Brands International.

Bunch, who is based out of London, leads a global team in 70 countries that is responsible for the development of all the brand, products, sponsorships, convenience stores and loyalty programs in Shell's 43,000 locations. He is the keynote speaker at the AMA Houston's Marketer of the Year event, which is being held March 3 at the Alley Theatre.

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Bunch said Shell's key tenets are "trust, innovation and quality." For a long time, the company was focused on carefully crafting its image and values based on those tenets through a largely one-way dialogue with its audience. That has changed, he said, with the rapidly evolving advent and advancement of the Internet and social media through Facebook, Twitter and much more.

"What technology has done is provide a unique ... way to enable a two-way conversation," Bunch said. "It's real-time."

While there are challenges with impatient people who want "immediate gratification," Bunch said.

"I think the pros clearly outweigh the cons (of the new era)," he said.

Still, oil and gas companies like Shell can also find themselves facing branding attacks online from environmental groups like Greenpeace. In 2012, Greenpeace launched an "Arctic Ready" website using Shell's logo and its "Let's Go" campaign to call attention to endangered species and climate change issues. The fake Shell website featured multiple pictures of arctic environments, such as a picture of a baby snow fox with the line, "You can't run your SUV on 'cute.' Let's Go."

Bunch said there will always be people who disagree with Shell and that "social media is a platform that you can't control," adding that it is critical to "allow people to express their opinions."

As such, he said, Shell is at the forefront of product innovation, audience engagement and technological innovation.

"Our approach is one of transparency, education and engagement," Bunch said, adding that being part of a giant, integrated energy company is a stabilizing force and "helpful in terms of riding out economic cycles."

"We have a strong brand amongst our peer groups but also a strong brand amongst global brands," he said. "The thing about brand building is it takes time and consistency and effort," he added, all of which he said Shell has achieved.

And Shell has avoided the kinds of giant environmental disasters that BP, for instance, is still recovering from after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon tragedy in the Gulf of Mexico.

Bunch declined to comment specifically on BP or other competitors. But, he said the key is to avoid such instances and prioritize security and the environment around Shell's projects.

The Shell Oil Co.  is the 16th-largest Houston-area energy employer with about 3,000 workers in the region, according to Houston Business Journal research.

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Jordan Blum covers energy for the Houston Business Journal. Read the top Texas energy news in our free weekly newsletter, Energy Inc. Click here to subscribe to the Energy Inc. newsletter.