Engen celebrates 10th consecutive year as SA’s favourite petrol station

South Africans have voted Engen as their favourite petrol station for the 10th consecutive year in the 2020 Sunday Times Top Brands, validating Engen’s customer-centric strategy, marketing focus and commitment to keeping South Africans safe during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Engen was named Favourite Petrol Station in November in the 2020 Sunday Times Top Brands awards supplement, which recognised brands that have a sustained history of top consumer sentiment in SA.

“At Engen, our brand promise ‘With us you are number one’ drives every action we take and decision we make to ensure we continually surprise and delight our customers,” says Yusa’ Hassan, Engen MD and CEO.

With many South Africans affected by the pandemic and the national lockdown for a large part of 2020, Engen stepped up to help the vulnerable.

This included a R1.25m contribution to the National Solidarity Fund; R2.5m worth of fuel and medical testing equipment given to Gift of the Givers to boost their humanitarian relief work; R1m in fuel directed to the health department to power the emergency response vehicles of SA’s brave front-line health workers; and R1m in fuel to Food Forward SA to help power their food aid vehicles that are distributing nutritious food across all nine provinces.

Over the course of the national lockdown, Engen also provided food relief to the south Durban community, distributing 5,000 food hampers in the area where the Engen refinery is located, and 7,000 food parcels in Diepsloot, Tembisa and Alexandra in Gauteng.

“Engen hopes to help raise awareness about the plight of the marginalised and vulnerable in SA and acknowledge that everyone has a role to play,” says Hassan.  

For a company that excites motorists and shoppers on their forecourts by offering them top-quality fuels (Engen Primax with Pro-Drive and Engen Dynamic Diesel with pro-Drive), alongside partner brands such as Clicks ClubCard, eBucks, Woolworths Foodstop, Wimpy, Debonairs, Steers and world-famous doughnut brand Krispy Kreme, the Sunday Times Top Brands award affirms the special place Engen occupies in the hearts and minds of South Africans.

Engen continues to have the largest retail footprint in SA, operating more than 1,000 service stations. But Engen’s general manager of retail, Seelan Naidoo, says it is the company’s commitment to progress and focus on customer service that places it at the forefront of brand recognition and loyalty across all audiences.

“Innovation is a key driver for us, which is why we are extremely excited to launch Quickshop & Co, our private label range, which is authentically South African and offers exceptional value and convenience. The range of proudly SA products are available at participating Engen Quickshops, including a braai range, which many South Africans have already enjoyed with the start of summer.

“The launch of our groundbreaking Engen 1app earlier this year, which conveniently offers motorists a contactless way to pay, has also been very well received as it provides a safer customer service experience, as there is no touching of devices, cards or cash required,” says Naidoo.

To remain a compelling, top-of-mind destination for fuel and convenience needs, Engen maintains a firm focus on consistently invigorating the Engen brand and its associated offerings.

“It’s about never standing still, and continually seeking relevant and innovative ways to meaningfully affect our customers’ lives,” says Naidoo.

While pumping over one in every four litres of petrol purchased in SA, and with more than 149-million customer visits to their forecourts in 2019, Engen is also continuing to woo customers by increasing its industry-leading service station footprint and continually growing its share of the local fuels and convenience market.  

For Hassan, it is this spirit of constant innovation that has catapulted Engen to the forefront of SA motorists’ imagination, explaining Engen’s enduring success in the Sunday Top Brands (2011-2020) and the Sunday Times Generation Next, where the youth have voted Engen the country’s Coolest Petroleum Brand for 11 consecutive years (2010-2020).

“We are honoured and humbled to once again be named SA’s favourite petrol station in the Sunday Top Brands and thank our customers for choosing Engen,” says Hassan.

“SA motorists and consumers are assured that Engen is passionate about progress and will continue to shake up the local petroleum market and move with the times, while always providing them with the best service, the best value and the best convenience offerings.”  

* Sunday Times Top Brands Awards is commissioned by Arena Holdings and conducted by Kantar

This article was paid for by Engen.