Tyres ride cars to cash in on brands

Tuesday, June 10 1997

Tyres ride cars to cash in on brands

M Anand

CHENNAI, June 9: Cars ride on tyres, yes. But in the topsy-turvy world of Indian automobiles, tyres are trying to ride on cars. Tyre manufacturers, to be precise, are attempting to cash in on the brand equity of global auto brands storming the local market.

Even the market leader MRF Ltd, which enjoys a strong brand image of its own, has no qualms in using the big names Ford and Opel prominently in both its print and television campaigns.

The print advertisement with snaps of the Ford Escort, Opel Astra and Fiat Uno accompanied by the line: ``These cars ride only on MRF radials'' has been flooding television channels and mainline dailies for quite some time now.

GoodYear India Ltd's recently-launched campaign seems to be straight out of MRF's book. ``Upholstery for Opel, Feather bed for Ford, Pillow for Maruti,'' screams a GoodYear bottom-strip ad in a local daily.

An advertising industry source categorised this as a `me-too' campaign. More than the similarity in the campaigns, it is the veracity of Goodyear's campaign that raises eyebrows.

Goodyear India Ltd's campaign, at a first glance, conveys the impression that it is an OEM supplier to Opel, Ford and Maruti. GoodYear does not supply to Opel and Ford in the country, but its parent company is an OEM supplier to these cars, company officials said when contacted. They also clarify that the ad refers only to replacement market sales. Has Goodyear India erred in not making a distinction between itself and its parent?And what about Maruti? Well, Goodyear is presently not an OEM supplier to Maruti, but plans to become one in the future! The official added that the company already manufactures tyres to Maruti specifications for sale in the replacement market.

JK Tyre in its ad campaigns has also tried to derive mileage out of another big name. Its ad makes a passing reference to it being the sole supplier of tyres to Mercedes Benz India.An interesting sidelight here is the fact that the car featured in the JK ad bears an insigna that closely resembles Ford!