Soccer fever will now go beyond Kerala and West Bengal. Castrol is one of the first brands to jump on the bandwagon of the FIFA 2010 World Cup to be held in South Africa in June this year. Its communication campaign, the TVC of which is already on air, is geared to rein in even the uninitiated Castrol user.
Castrol became the official FIFA World Cup Sponsor in 2008 and introduced tools such as the Castrol Index which analyses moves on the field to let fans monitor the performance of any player from the 32 teams that will take part, and the Castrol Rankings, a 12-month ranking of footballers from across Europe’s top five leagues. Castrol is also the sponsor for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil and the official UEFA EURO 2012 sponsor. While Castrol worldwide has brand ambassadors like Cristiano Ronaldo, in India it has brought its Indian brand ambassador, actor John Abraham, for the Indian leg of promotions.
The ad begins by reiterating the popular associations with South Africa as a destination — jungle safaris, native tribes et al — and then ties up with the FIFA World Cup. Two young men get drawn in to a well of experience when they jump into a giant Castrol bottle only to surface amidst lions, then atop a cauldron during a tribal meal and finally in the middle of a soccer field as Abraham is about to kick off the football. The youths are hauled up by Abraham to become a part of the frenzied audience.
“We wanted to bring alive the excitement of being in South Africa and for the FIFA world cup,” says Ogilvy & Mather National Creative Director Abhijit Avasthi, who led the team working on the campaign. “Given that Castrol’s association with football on the global stage has been relatively recent, this promotion and the TVC are an attempt to firmly establish Castrol’s enduring association with a mass performance sport like football in the minds of our customers,” adds Castrol India Vice-president (marketing) Giriraj Bagri.
The campaign is centred around a contest to travel to South Africa, and the chance to watch some of the stars of world soccer such as Ronaldo, Messi and Rooney in action. Owners of cars, bikes, commercial vehicles and even tractors at farms all form the audience. Harish Bijoor Consults Inc CEO Harish Bijoor says, “Branding for Castrol is a lot like branding the blood in your body. For vehicle owners a lubricant is an important component but at the same time it is not top of their mind. Given the high commoditisation in the market with knock-offs and local permutations, strong branding will create a brand recall in the long term. Associating with world class sporting events would address the aspirations of Castrol’s users and add to its premium image.”
The domestic lubricant market clocks 1.6 billion litre a year of which 950 million litre is consumed by the automotive segment (retail consumers). Castrol claims a market share of 27 per cent of the market.
The brand will play the TVC during the IPL matches. Forty per cent of the budget has been set aside for below the line promotions that will involve reaching out to consumers across thousands of stores and increasing the in-store visibility. The trade, especially opinion influencers such as mechanics, is also involved to spread the campaign among commercial vehicle owners at workshops, Truck Transport Nagars.
