Human Centric Group - Pump Fiction

Pump Fiction

When every litre is the same, everything else matters

You never taste petrol. Your car does.

Of all the things consumers buy, motor fuel may be the product least experienced through the human senses. It has a smell, certainly (sharp and unmistakable) but nobody has ever chosen a filling station because they preferred the bouquet of its unleaded.

People stop because the tank is low. Or because a sign by the roadside promises fuel a few cents cheaper than the one across the street.

Economists have a name for products like this: commodities. Petrol may be the purest example.

That purity has become increasingly uncomfortable for fuel retailers. As oil prices fluctuate, competition intensifies, and electric vehicles reshape driving habits, selling fuel has become a business with little room for differentiation. One litre is much like another. If the only reason a customer chooses you is price, a competitor can take them away tomorrow.

The challenge facing fuel retailers is therefore larger than fuel itself. It is the same challenge confronting airlines, banks, telecom operators, and utilities: what happens when the product becomes impossible to distinguish?

The answer, increasingly, is to stop competing on the product.

For years, the industry’s response has been straightforward. Sell more than petrol.

The modern forecourt has evolved into something resembling a miniature high street. Coffee shops, convenience stores, parcel lockers, car washes and food-to-go now contribute a growing share of profits. The rise of electric vehicles has accelerated the trend. A stop that once lasted five minutes may soon take twenty. Customers have time to browse, eat and spend.

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Yet a better sandwich does not solve the underlying problem. It merely adds another product to the transaction.

The more interesting question is different: who exactly is stopping at the station?

For decades, fuel retailers viewed motorists as anonymous drivers united by a common need. Today, the most successful operators increasingly see them as collections of communities, lifestyles and passions.

Some arrive with a bicycle rack on the roof and spend their weekends exploring mountain trails. Others travel hundreds of kilometres every week for work. Some are devoted football supporters. Others are pet owners, gamers or young families.

All buy the same fuel. They do not buy the same meaning.

This becomes particularly evident in retail loyalty, where many operators continue to fight yesterday’s battle. The typical rewards catalogue offers fuel discounts, generic vouchers or cashback. Such rewards appear generous, but they suffer from a fatal weakness: they are forgettable: a voucher for everything stands for nothing.

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The alternative is not to reward customers as account holders but as members of communities. The objective is to understand people well enough to offer something that feels designed for them rather than for everyone.

The principle has already proven successful far beyond the fuel industry.

In New Zealand, Z Energy’s Sharetank allows families and groups to purchase fuel at a fixed price and store it digitally, transforming a volatile commodity into a shared household asset. Elsewhere, retail loyalty programmes built around health, sports, entertainment and hobbies have demonstrated that customers become remarkably loyal when brands reflect their identity rather than merely their transactions.

Italy has its own best practice: two decades ago, Esso launched a loyalty campaign whose headline reward was a limited edition green mountain bike designed by Pininfarina. The bicycle itself was hardly revolutionary. Yet millions of Italians still remember it.

Very few can recall what fuel cost that year. That is the difference between a discount and a symbol. A discount disappears the moment it is redeemed. A symbol remains in memory because it becomes part of a person’s story.

The lesson extends beyond loyalty schemes. The most valuable data in modern retail is no longer demographic. Age, income and postcode reveal surprisingly little about why people choose one brand over another. Behaviour, passions and aspirations often explain far more.

Two motorists of identical age and income may pull up at the same pump and purchase the same quantity of fuel. One sees driving as freedom, status and performance. The other sees it simply as transport. Treat them identically and both receive a generic experience. Understand the difference and the conversation changes.

There remains one final source of differentiation, and it is perhaps the oldest: People.

In an age increasingly dominated by apps, automation and self-service, the person behind the counter may represent the only human interaction a customer has with the brand.

That moment matters more than many companies realise.

The late Jan Carlzon, who transformed Scandinavian Airlines in the 1980s, popularised the idea of the “moment of truth”: every interaction shapes a customer’s perception of a company. Most last only seconds. Yet those seconds accumulate into reputation, trust and loyalty.

The same principle applies to the forecourt.

A friendly greeting, a helpful recommendation or simply being recognised as a regular customer can create value that no discount can replicate. Relationships remain one of the few competitive advantages that cannot be copied overnight.

None of this changes the fundamental reality that petrol is petrol.

The liquid itself will remain largely indistinguishable. It will continue to be purchased in a hurry by motorists watching prices. But value rarely resides in the product alone. As more industries become commoditised, competitive advantage increasingly migrates elsewhere: into identity, belonging, experience, and human connection.

The future of fuel retailing may therefore have surprisingly little to do with fuel. The companies that thrive will not necessarily be those that sell a better litre of petrol. They will be those who better understand the person buying it.

About The Author

Matteo Rinaldi is a Senior Marketing Strategy Consultant and Co-Founder of Human Centric Group, with global experience driving double-digit growth for brands like Danone, Carlsberg, Revlon, PepsiCo, and Visa. Having worked across multiple continents, he specializes in leveraging cultural insights for impactful brand strategies. A passionate educator, Matteo teaches marketing worldwide, shaping future industry leaders. Previously, he worked with L’Oréal and Coca-Cola HBC. He is also a best-selling author in marketing.