CEAT: Into the monasteries

The tyre brand has partnered Mahindra Adventure to launch a campaign for SUV owners and offroading enthusiasts.

As the trend of offroading grows in India, more and more brands are catching on. Tyre manufacturer, CEAT, the flagship company of RPG Enterprises, has partnered with Mahindra Adventure to launch 'Monastery Escape', a campaign that is also a contest for travel enthusiasts.

It will take two winners to Leh and Kashmir, starting from the valleys of Srinagar to the high mountain pass of Zojila. Contestants will share stories of their expedition with pictures and videos. The road trip starts from Srinagar on August 9 will witness its last chapter in Delhi on August 18.

The two chosen winners will spend a few days in Leh while also experiencing Pangong Tso and Nubra valley. They then get to camp at Sarchu, before continuing their journey to Jispa. After crossing over to Solang Valley and Rohtang Pass, the winners reach Manali. The final leg will end at Delhi.

Travel enthusiasts and off-roaders can send in their entries at the dedicated campaign microsite. Contestants need to register by entering their name and contact details and describe what they would do if chosen for the CEAT Monastery Escape in not more than 100 words, and upload images or YouTube videos of their previous expeditions.

One has to follow the Ceat Tyres Twitter handle @CEAT_TyresIndia (https://twitter.com/CEAT_TYRESINDIA) and the Ceat Tyres Facebook page ( to be eligible. The action can be discovered using #CEATadventure (https://twitter.com/hashtag/ceatadventure). The entries will be open for public voting, following which the top 10 entries will be selected, based on maximum votes and will advance to be reviewed by a special jury. The final two will be selected by CEAT. Launched on July 30, the campaign has received 150 entries thus far.

Gripping engagement

Speaking to afaqs! about the objective behind the campaign, Nitish Bajaj, VP, marketing, CEAT, says, "The company has been focusing on SUVs and the offroading category a lot and since the users of this segment are very active on social media, we had to strengthen our digital angle."

Digital agency Hungama, which worked on this campaign, has integrated social media in such a way that it almost becomes a social road trip. Ceat has also involved influential travel blogger Shivya Nath, who blogs at the-shooting-star.com, has also been roped for spreading the word.

Bajaj explains that the campaign brings in two sets of benefits to CEAT. One is that of engaging with the right audience on the right medium. The second is about showcasing the advantages of CEAT's SUV tyres. While the tyre brand can actually demonstrate how well its tyres stand up to the challenging terrain, the campaign also ensures that the brand's social media properties get more followers. Currently, CEAT's Twitter page has got 1000+ followers and on Facebook, 241,329 fans follow the brand.

Tyres, according to Bajaj, are a low involvement category and the perception of the product is much different from that in western markets. "Consumers there understand what patterns of tyres suit which terrains. In India, most consumers don't bother much about the kind of tyres they are driving their cars on," he adds.

CEAT had recently rolled out a TV campaign promoting its 'Superior Grip' SUV tyres starring Irrfan Khan which drives home the message - 'trust tyres, not superstition'. The campaign was developed after months of research and is founded on relevant consumer insight, reveals Bajaj. The Monastery Escape campaign just extends the same thought on digital media.

For Bajaj, SUV is their vision category where CEAT wants to have leadership share. "After establishing success in the bike segment, Ceat is keen on repeating the performance in the SUV segment," he adds. In 2013-14, CEAT's revenue rose 10 per cent to Rs 5,508 crore.