Today I went to grab some oil for my Chevy Silverado Z71. On this particular vehicle I prefer to change my own oil. The truck has plenty of clearance and it only takes me about 10 minutes. I run the vehicle with pure synthetic Valvoline 5W30 oil and change it every 6,000 miles. I do not care which oil filter I get as long as it is a name brand, like Purolator or Fram.

I walked into Advanced Auto Parts and spotted my oil. It is always on sale in combination with a filter and it seems like the filter changes every month. I don’t know why or who controls this sale. Today the sale was Purolator BOSS filters. I walked over to the filter area of the store and looked all over for the BOSS filters and I couldn’t find them anywhere. I finally had to go stand in line and get assistance and the friendly sales rep walked me over to the BOSS filters.

Purolator Oil Filter Packaging and Marketing

I have no formal marketing training other than marketing my own businesses for the last 20 years which has attracted significant international attention. So, I guess I do something right, or I at least have an eye for detail, or something.

Anyways, I immediately notice that the packaging is interesting. It is hexagonal. I wonder to myself: Why is it a hexagon? Apparently some genius over at Purolator thought this was a good idea.

purolator boss filter packaging

I am not a packaging expert, but, the packaging is probably a good idea for several reasons.

  • It is hexagonal in shape. I’m in a car store, and everything in the entire store requires a wrench. I’m looking at this package and wonder if it somehow makes people subconsciously want to buy it because it is shaped like a nut or the top of a bolt. Maybe.
  • It’s a boss. Also, it is called “boss”. It isn’t called the wimpy oil filter, or the water boy filter, it’s a boss.
  • It shows the technology. Then, it shows the inside of the filter. I guess people are supposed to see this and think “well there’s the inside of the filter, and it like, filters stuff”. I bet if I chopped 20 filters in half though, they’d all look the same. Ah, who knows. I’m getting the thing for free anyways.
  • The front of the package has a horizontal line. I know there is a psychological aspect to this. It has something to do with a straight line on a round product. Maybe I’m reading too far into it- who knows. But, it helps even things out. Maybe this is more of a design thing.
  • It’s blue. I’m not a designer but I do know good designers play with colors. The black and blue go well together but blue also instills trust in people. Or something.

Purolator executives may have voted on the packaging

It is probably a normal process- employees / executives voting on packaging.

I ask the people at the counter what’s up with the packaging. It turns out they had a story.

According to the clerk, a Purolator employee had come in and said that he voted against the packaging! He didn’t like it. Apparently, enough people at Purolator DID like the packaging, as it is on store shelves.

The story sort of checks out, as Purolator does indeed have an office up the street from me in Morrisville NC.

Will the packaging result in more sales? Higher prices? Who knows.

I have no idea if this is true or not, but the clerk did tell me that if they recalled correctly, normal square packaging costs 6 cents and the new hexagonal box costs 25 cents.

Keep in mind I’m only buying this filter because the oil is $36.99, but if I get a filter WITH the oil, the price for BOTH becomes $32.99, so it is basically a free filter and the oil is $4 cheaper. I have no idea why they do this- it isn’t like I can just buy a filter and NOT the oil, so I feel like the idea is pretty stupid, but hey, if they want to give me free filters, I’m not exactly going to complain, so whatever. This may have absolutely nothing to do with Purolator and probably does not.

Do auto companies use content or SEO?

I Googled “best oil filter” a moment ago and saw random YouTube and eBay results on the front page of Google. I haven’t looked at Purolator specifically but many large corporations miss the mark when it comes to web content. A company like Purolator doesn’t need to worry a whole lot about SEO issues like links and on-site technical SEO is likely not much of a problem. But, they could absolutely benefit from and increase sales from a variety of well thought out content.

Len
Latest posts by Len (see all)
On March 3, 2016   /   Content Creation   /   2 Comments
2 Comments
  1. NCITGuy
    11:51 pm on June 6, 2016

    Hi Len,

    Sorry, but the Morrisville, NC Purolator facility has no relationship to these filters. The Morrisville facility is an office of Purolator International (Purolator Courier) out of Canada. Many years ago, they were part of the same organization, but have had no affiliation since 1987. The Purolator automotive filter brands are now owned by MANN+HUMMEL, who also own the Wix brand. The MANN+HUMMEL Purolator Filters LLC’s manufacturing facility, is located in Fayetteville, NC, and is arguably the largest automotive filter manufacturing facility in the US.

    Thanks,

    NCITGuy

    Reply
  2. Len
    8:49 am on June 7, 2016

    Thank you NCITGuy for the great insight!

    Reply

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