Mobil Oil – Iconic Innovation

Originally developed as an industrial-grade, high-performance lubricant ‘Mobilube 1 SHC’, this blue-coloured grease already boasted superior resistance to water, dirt, and heat. What Jay Flaxman recognised, and acted on brilliantly, was its potential in an entirely different arena: mountain biking.

At a time when cyclists were informally borrowing automotive greases for their rides, Jay created a strategy that allowed Mobil to step in with a product tailor-made (or rather, tailor-branded) for them. By rebranding the existing grease and marketing it directly to a niche but passionate biking community, Mobil created a premium product without the need for new R&D. Drawing inspiration from the edgy worlds of surfing and skateboarding, and in consideration of the products aesthetic, we created ‘SilverGrease’ and BlueGrease’. The simple approach was a return to the effortless minimalism of the work produced for the brand by Chermayeff & Geismar in the 1960s.

‘Easy Application’ packaging was created incorporating contemporary graphics and colouring to maximise shelf-appeal. A series of press adverts pictured the US Olympic team putting their machines through their paces in some extreme conditions, all with the confidence that Mobil’s new product would protect the parts that mattered. The new range would be made available in almost every bike shop across the country.

The vivid blue hue became a visual signature—clean, techy, and instantly recognisable—adding an unexpected layer of brand cool to a typically unsexy category. Combined, the two products sold over 500,000 units in the twelve months that followed their usage by the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Mountain Bike Squad and paved the way for a new category in the mountain bike sundry market that now consists of brands like ‘Rock “N” Roll Extreme’, ‘Chain-L No.5’ and ‘Muc-Off’.