Apollo Tyres makes a song and dance over Sachin Tendulkar to take on rivals

From celebrity endorsers to brand anthem by A R Rahman and big marketing spends, the tyre company is pulling out all stops to narrow its gap with MRF and Ceat in two-wheeler tyre segment

When Apollo Tyres signed up Sachin Tendulkar, who had spent the better part of his cricketing career as the face of rival tyre brand MRF, it was widely perceived as an industry coup. It was also remarkably uncharacteristic. For a brand that had never signed a celebrity before and plays second or third fiddle across the segments it competes in, it marked a big shift in terms of positioning and also marketing budgets. While the company says this is part of a conscious effort to build high recall and mass recognition for the brand, experts spot a challenger brand finally