``If we take a budget of Rs 20 crore, we have to look at optimum visibility. We are looking at all things like a slum project that might be visible for 50 years or a cricket match that will give us country wide visibility instantly,'' said BPCL's executive director (lubes) S Krishnamurthy.At present BPCL sponsors the Santosh Trophy, but there are rumours that the company wants to move out of it. It also was a co-sponsor at the Indian Open Golf Tournament organised by Wills Sport and has its own invitational golf tournament that is held any all major metros.

BPCL is a co-sponsor of the upcoming triangular cricket series. However the company is not making a major commitment for theWorld Cup in England this year. Krishnamurthy and BPCL's director (marketing) S Behuria spoke to The Financial Express recently during BPCL Invitational Golf tournament in Calcutta.

``We are concentrating on mass viewed activities. Golf has become widely viewed today and we get a lot of it on television. We have had a lot of prominent golfers working with us in the past and have a tradition of golf in the company,'' said Krishnamurthy.

BPCL has employed golfers like Vivek Bhandari, Jyothi Randhwa, Gaurav Ghei who have since turned professional. They also employ former cricketer Karsan Ghauri and footballer Amit Bhadra.

``We also use the invitational tournaments to get together our clients, customers and suppliers at one place. It often is a good way to discuss business,'' Krishnamurthy added.

``The dynamics of golf also match our slogan of `smoothness' for lubes. Automol and Glide, the brands for cars and two wheelers are being associated with golf in a major way,'' Behuria said.

However, for Mak,the brand for trucks, there is a need for more mass-market advertising and the visibility is ensured through stickers on busses and trucks.

According to Behuria, BPCL's total promotional budget for lubricants for 1998-99 is around Rs 14 crore of which around Rs 1 crore is spent on golf. ``With budgets like these we are out-bid by the private sector majors when it comes to becoming the title sponsor of prestigious tournaments,'' he rued.Krishnamurthy added: ``We are a company with a strong corporate image. In fact it is even stronger than our individual brands and we do not want to lose that. So all advertisements for specific brands always has the BPCL corporate logo. The individual brands are being developed under the BPCL umbrella brand.'' Now, that is a smooth strategy.