Adgully Exclusive | Aiming for market leadership in key consumer segments: CEAT's Vinod Kumar

CEAT Ltd recently launched a campaign for Bike Tyres. The brand added new products in its Bike Tyres category and was seen promoting core benefit of superior grip for this range of tyres which gives better brake control for the rider.

The new communication tried to convey that our roads are filled with "idiots'- who do not follow road discipline and which can lead to fatal accidents. Since one cannot identify a careless pedestrian or driver, the new CEAT Bike Tyres is the answer for an unexpected crisis situation. As the tyres have a superior grip to enable a biker to stop at will and avoid an accident.

The company also launched a 360 degree marketing campaign to promote Bike Tyres category. As a part of the promotional activities the company undertook an initiative to to spread awareness about good road etiquettes. To do this, the company launched a website called www.beidiotsafe.com.

Moroever for this campaign, the brand has created five different TVCs and which have been aired over a period of 8 months. The campaign has also been supported by a strong social media campaign (www.facebook.com/beidiotsafe). The brand also, had tied up with CCD to promote the campaign through their outlets. CEAT was associated with various programs like Roadies on MTV to integrate the campaign idea, while contests were run through all the media to engage consumers and give away interesting merchandize.

Adgully caught up with Vinod Kumar, GM, Marketing, CEAT Ltd, to know more about the new campaign and the brand's plans for the year.

Talking about the brand-idea behind the "idiot-free campaign", Kumar says, "Tyre is a highly uninvolved category and tyre purchase for the most consumer is a distress purchase. In such a scenario, it is extremely challenging to make the product look relevant and get noticed. Chaotic Indian roads put biker's life at a great risk and the product addressing this issue was too strong a proposition for anyone to ignore specially when the commercial talks in consumer's language. We knew that the campaign was hit even before it took off."

Adding further about their two wheeler category, he adds, "CEAT has been present in the 2 wheeler segment for a long time and is a preferred choice among bike and scooter owners. The challenge now is to grow exponentially to attain market leadership in a very short time. We are building our capacities, at the same time increasing our product portfolio and our visibility in media."

About 65% of CEAT's sales comes from commercial segment and the balance from passenger segment.

With the tyre industry in India being over Rs.25000 crs p.a., talking about the most important challenge to the brand and opportunities for the brand, Kumar says, "Tremendous growth of auto industry in India offers a huge opportunity to CEAT, specially because it would generate repeat demand on a regular basis for few years to come. Spiraling rubber prices pose a big challenge to tyre industry as it constitutes 50% of raw material which has adversely affected margins."

Talking about some of the recent trends in the Tyre industry, Kumar adds, "Radialisation in truck segment is happening fast. Consumer is also looking for service and willing to pay a premium. This is leading to the establishment of many modern tyre retail outlets across the country."

He further points out that the compeition is intense for the tyre brands and adds, " But Indian tyre companies are very well placed in terms of capacity and technology to address the present and emerging needs of Indian consumers and OEMs."

So how essential is the strength of a sales team in the smooth sale of the end product in this industry?

While signing off Kumar says, " We have very ambitious targets set for the brand in this year. We are aiming for market leadership in key consumer segments." | By Prabha Hegde [prabha(at)adgully.com]

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