Ceat’s annual property – the Cricket Cricket Rating Awards have been running since 1995. Ahead of this year’s awards night, which will be held on 21 August, we caught up with Lakshmi Narayanan B, chief marketing officer, Ceat, to learn more about the event, its associations with sports and how its media buying patterns are changing.

Edited excerpts:

What will be different at this year's Ceat Cricket Rating Awards night - the annual property since 1995?
 
While we continue to grow the property, this year the fundamental difference is that it comes on the back of the Indian team winning the Men’s T20 World Cup and we will be celebrating that. This doesn’t happen often. It has happened only four times in the 49-year history of World Cups – 1983, 2007, 2011, and now.

Since last year, have any more cricketers been added to the roster?

We have sustained the current endorsers and that continues. We haven’t stepped into any new endorsement deals.

Ceat recently entered the football endorsement space by partnering with the German champions Bayer Leverkusen. Given the buzz around the Olympics and some Olympians in India, are you looking to sign any of them as brand ambassadors?

No, we are not looking at signing any Olympians. The partnership with Leverkusen is our only non-cricketing investment. 

How are you looking to leverage this partnership during the season?

At the fundamental level, we have an ambition to grow in Europe. That is central to our partnership with Leverkusen. 

Given our origin in Italy (as Cavi Elettrici e Affini Torino in 1924), we enjoy a fair share of business there. We also have an R&D centre in Germany. We want to extend that growth and build an opportunity in Germany through this association. 

Are you looking at being present on the jersey or in the stadium then?

We are the team’s global tyre partner and are not on the jersey as of now. From an alignment point-of-view, for Leverkusen’s home matches, we will be seen in stadia through LED boards.

The association is led up from ground level. The team bus will be powered by Ceat Tyres. 

 Would you also be looking to bring the players to India?

We are looking to first leverage the association in Germany. In India, we will first reach out to the Bundesliga (German football league) community. There is an audience for it in the country and it's growing. The Bundesliga has also been working on a grassroots level in the country for the last few years. We will expand the partnership to India over time.

In terms of overall marketing spends, how is each category growing. Are you still looking at traditional media like print/TV and radio?

In terms of growth, digital is the fastest-growing category for sure. Having said that, television remains the biggest medium in terms of advertising.

We have a partnership with the Tata IPL, where we are the strategic partner. Through that, our on-air time on TV remains the biggest medium. 

Print, radio and outdoor are used more tactically. It’s market and geography-centric and depends on the communication. It’s more a part of a campaign, rather than a primary approach. 

You joined Ceat in 2022 after a long sting with Asian Paints - how has that worked? 

This is a totally different world. Ceat is a great opportunity to work with a brand that has an ambition to grow internationally. That is a fundamental shift. We can build the brand across different continents. 

The emergence of how Indian consumers are evolving is something we want to see too. That engagement level is only kind of seeing a point of inflection. The next decade is going to be one where we will see more people loving their vehicles and that augurs well for an industry like ours.