Cricket and Lubricants
Cricket is more than a sport in India, it’s a religion. A religion where cricketers are more than just players, they are Gods and every victory is a festival. The lubricants market is a largely fragmented space with more than 2,000 players, including national as well as multinational oil companies.
It is obvious that the top lubricant brands would strive to rope the cricketers in for grandscale product endorsements and huge mass reach. The passion of cricket has a long lasting impact on customers. Keeping this in mind lubricant brands like Valvoline, Gulf Oil, GS Caltex, IPOL Lubricants and many more brands leverage this passion to their products.
IPL has been the most celebrated sport event in India ever since it started back in 2008. The tournament involves domestic Indian teams which include players from all over the world. Over the years, Indians have been satisfying their entertainment quotient through the IPL every summer.
The 2019 IPL season began with excitement at its peak and ended up with Mumbai Indians holding the trophy of this season. Being the champions of the last season, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) continued leading the IPL chart with their consistent and outstanding performance this season as well. To keep the momentum going, Gulf Oil Lubricants India Ltd, part of the Hinduja Group and one of the oldest partners of CSK, have launched ‘Dum Andar’ campaign. ‘Dum Andar’ is a first digital campaign, which revolves around the idea of inner strength. Gulf Oil approached Bravo to create a peppy rap song that articulated the spirit of Dum Andar along with his team-mates Ravindra Jadeja, Shane Watson, Harbhajan Singh and M S Dhoni, who is also Gulf Oil India’s brand ambassador and represented Gulf Oil since 2011. Cricketer Hardik Pandya also signed an endorsement deal with Gulf Oil Lubricants India Ltd.
Gulf Oil recently launched an exciting contest for the cricket fans. Participants are asked to share a slogan for cheering Team India. The slogan must contain word “pride”. The participant with best slogan will get a ticket to England to witness the ICC World Cup 2019 featuring the Men in Blue. The lubricant brand has also released a commercial video with its brand ambassadors MS Dhoni and Hardik Pandya to promote the contest.
GS Caltex India, a 100% owned subsidiary of GS Caltex Corporation, South Korea had signed cricketer Shikhar Dhawan as a brand ambassador in a strategic move to establish itself as a major player in the premium lubricants category in the country. As part of the association, Shikhar Dhawan became the face of GS Caltex India for the company’s premium lubricants range & new business initiatives.
On the field, Virat Kohli breaks every batting record and on the commercial pitch, he is batting at level where no one ever has. Valvoline Cummins India had signed up Captain Virat Kohli as its ambassador. As part of the association, Kohli became the face of Valvoline engine oils and lubricants range.
An eminent Indian cricketer Suresh Raina was approached by GP Petroleums Ltd, a leading lubricant maker and part of UAE-based Gulf Petrochem Group as the brand ambassador for IPOL Lubricants, the signature brand of the company into the industrial lubricants segment.
Castrol India has two social communities; one of them is Ca strol Cricket. They create special contents for these communities. Castrol is also associated with sporting properties.
Indian Cricketer’s endorsement market has vastly evolved. Cricketers have enormous commercial appeal. It is believed that social media influence of cricketers is increasingly becoming a major factor in their selection as brand ambassadors. It will be great to see Cricket and Lubricants exciting innings together in future.
