Ceat Tyres: Be 'Idiot proof'

O&M unveils two new TVCs in support of ongoing campaign for its bike tyres; watch the TVCs here.

Neha Saraiya | Delhi | September 6, 2011

After a gap of almost 12 years, Ceat Tyres rolled out its product campaign in November last year. At that time, two TVCs – 'Crossing' and 'Phone' – were launched as part of its 'Idiotsafe' campaign. Taking the communication further, the company has again come up with two new TVCs that are on-air at present.

The new commercials portray the protagonist biker in a much stronger and logical manner. Like in the 'Shopping' ad where kid are seen slipping away on to the road. In such people generally tend to sympathise with kids, not realising that often the real culprits are the parents for their lack of vigilance. Similarly, the second TVC, 'Manhole', shows the lethargy of a worker who fails to put up the 'work in progress' signboard on the open manhole. The two commercials showcase how idiotic behaviour on the part of some proves to be dangerous to the bikers.

Anup Chitnis, Executive Creative Director - South Asia, Ogilvy & Mather, said, “The tension that a biker goes through every day due to such callous behaviour was unattended for long and the product seemed to fill that gap. The brief was to showcase the product feature (grip) as a solution to a biker's problem and establish the product as the most relevant tyre brand for bikers.”

The ads that were shot in the Fort area and Chembur in Mumbai, took two days to complete. The entire process, from brief to beta, was completed in eight weeks. The master version of the TVC is of 30 seconds, followed by an edit form of 20 seconds.

Commenting on the campaign approach, Arnab Banerjee, Executive Director, Ceat, said, “Tyres constitute a highly uninvolved category and their purchase is mostly distress buying. In such a scenario, it is extremely challenging to make the product look relevant and get noticed. Chaotic Indian roads put a biker's life at great risk and the product addressing this issue is a strong proposition. We knew that the campaign was a hit even before it took off.”

Besides TV, the brand has also leveraged other mediums. The company has already spent around Rs 30 crore on the entire campaign so far. It has developed a strong foothold on the digital platform with the website www.beidiotsafe.com that spreads awareness about bad traffic sense. Besides, the company has not only integrated the campaign on MTV Roadies but also established a tie-up with Cafe Coffee Day to promote the campaign through their outlets.

Chitnis also informed BestMediaInfo.com about the next move of the communication. “We are working on a plan to take forward this idea to empower people further which would help them come out and speak openly about problems that concern their life,” he said.

Neha@BestMediaInfo.com

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