IPL's return was a much-needed marketing support for us: Sandeep Kalia of Valvoline

The Indian Premier League (IPL) is undoubtedly one of the most popular sporting events in the country, and lubricant brand Valvoline’s choice of IPL as a platform to actively engage with consumers stems from this association.

The brand has a full-fledged amplification plan to ensure maximum engagement in this tenure as it has extended its partnership with Sunrisers Hyderabad this year.

Sandeep Kalia, MD of Valvoline Cummins, told BestMediaInfo.com, “The return of IPL was a much-needed marketing support and we have plans to make the best of it to garner maximum consumer engagement. A number of exciting content is already running on our social media platforms, bringing together the fandom of SRH and the cricket enthusiasts at large together.”

A digital film showcasing Valvoline’s association with Sunrisers Hyderabad, along with an array of other marketing initiatives for IPL, aims at creating a resounding messaging for its target audience.

Agreeing that it is a huge risk to invest in IPL, especially during the pandemic, Kalia said, “I would like to assure you that this risk from our end is very calculative. I agree that this time IPL is different as people will not be able to witness the actions from a stadium but is still expected to engross millions of people binging on the game either on their television screens or other streaming platforms. The game has already been successful in taking the social media by storm and helping us with huge consumer engagement. We have high expectations from IPL and I firmly believe that it would be a profitable investment for us.”

Leo Burnett is handling its creative and digital mandate on the IPL campaign.

The IPL campaign:

Having been very cautious with its marketing spends amid the pandemic, the brand is majorly focusing on digital media.

“Search, social media and video display along with e-commerce now involve comparatively larger expenditure from our end, stemming from the drastically changed media consumption pattern of our target consumers. We are now focused on building strong e-commerce relationships and platforms for our consumers that represent varied demographics,” he said.

Kalia said that keeping the consumer continuously engaged through cost-effective digital and social media strategies will be the other significant learning that the brand would now be imbibing in its future plans as well.

“We have plans to invest majorly in digital media for communication purposes. Covid and the lockdown accelerated digital media consumption in comparison to traditional media and our endeavour will always be to delve into insights that drive people, build trust and engage with them at that very level,” he added.

As of now, it doesn’t have any major marketing initiatives in mind especially targeting the festive season. It has all of its investments and communication strategies in line taking into consideration the current market dynamics.

Though it had advertisements with brand ambassador Virat Kohli that were launched and aired earlier this year, currently it has no such strategies to push for on-air advertising at the moment. 

Kalia said its associations with popular sporting events like IPL and with team Sevilla FC representing football is a natural extension of the brand ethos.

“We have plans to invest in other marquee properties to widen our reach but all of it is still in its very early phase,” he said.

He believes that the new normal has pushed the brand in strategizing differently and adapting newer ways that would help in creating a profitable curve for the next quarter.

The first quarter for Valvoline was relatively soft, as the business was severely affected during the pandemic. It had witnessed a similar trend in the demographics where the rural markets surpassed the urban cities. But after the reopening, the other markets are recovering and showing positive results.

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