Dentsu bags creative mandate of MRF

The agency's Chennai branch will help the brand with a new project, which will unveil a new aspect of the brand.

Tyre manufacturer brand MRF has appointed Dentsu Communications to handle its creative duties. The agency's Chennai office will service the account, which it won after a multi-agency pitch process. The account will be led by Ashwin Parthiban, executive creative director, and Suresh Mohankumar, national business head.

It may be noted that the brand already has JWT and Lowe Lintas on board handling different sections of its business. Dentsu will help the brand with a new project, which will unveil a new aspect of the brand. According to the agency, it won the account due to its deep understanding of the automotive segment.

Dentsu will handle the above-the-line creative communication and media duties of the brand. The campaign is expected to come out within two months.

On choosing Dentsu as its creative partner, Koshy Varghese, executive vice-president, marketing, MRF, says, "At MRF, we are looking at further consolidating our leadership position. We have plans to unveil new aspects of our brand to consumers. In this context, we needed a partner who has an understanding of the automotive segment and is in a position to work closely with us to fulfil our objectives. Dentsu Communications met this requirement of ours."

Rohit Ohri, executive chairman, Dentsu India Group, says, "We're delighted with this opportunity to partner with MRF in India. It's not just a dream come true for us, but also an opportunity to rapidly scale up our operation in Chennai." Dentsu Communications and Dentsu Media will work together to provide integrated communication solutions on the business, he adds.

Mohankumar says that the focus will be to maintain the leadership position it enjoys in the tyre category by introducing a new aspect of the brand and strengthen its relationship with its customers.

MRF was set up by K M Mammen Mappillai at Chennai in 1946. Although the company started by making toy-balloons, by 1952 it ventured into manufacturing tread rubber. Today, it is one of the leading tyre making brands in the country. In 1961, the company partnered with US-based Mansfield Tire & Rubber and started manufacturing tyres. The company also set up the Rubber Research Centre in 1963.

The very next year saw the creation of the company's mascot, MRF Muscleman. The mascot was given a new, modern look in the 1980s and in 1996, it became MRF Tyreman, which underwent another round of contemporary makeover in 2008.