Cementing a tie-up with the CSK brand

MS Dhoni and Stephen Fleming sure know a thing about team building. After all, as captain and coach respectively of the iconic Chennai Super Kings IPL team, the duo has steered CSK to four IPL titles and made it to nine finals. So, when Fleming asked the India Cements marketing team to send across ten bags of cement for a team-building exercise to the hotel in Mumbai, they responded with alacrity and sent sackfuls of its new CSK cement — Conkrete Super King.

The video on YouTube — which has garnered over 3.6 lakh views on the CSK channel — shows Dhoni and the team in groups, all barefoot and in shorts, putting up small brick structures, liberally using the CSK cement. There’s a lot of laughter and merriment around. Fleming signs off at the end with a huge smile, saying, see, team building!

R Parthasarathy, Chief Marketing Officer, India Cements

It’s been just about a month since CSK cement was launched and R Parthasarathy, Chief Marketing Officer, India Cements, says the brand will be leveraging both team CSK and Dhoni and social media in myriad ways.

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A promo video made by FCB Ulka will be released on social media soon. “We are not in TV or print media as yet; we are waiting for the IPL to get over as it’s too expensive to advertise on TV now,” says Parthasarathy. The brand has taken hoardings across six locations in Tamil Nadu for the CSK promo and has also placed its ad on the rear of 150 metropolitan buses in Chennai.

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Ads were placed on the rear of 150 metropolitan buses in Chennai

The promo will be released on Facebook and YouTube, for digitally-savvy consumers, Parthasarathy says, while in Tier 2 and 3 towns — where local cable TV operators screen movies through the day — CSK will be releasing ads on these channels. It’s important, he says, that the mason community comes to know of this new cement, which is a special grade concrete cement filled with pure silicates that enhances strength.

An obvious question to ask the CMO is why India Cements, a principal sponsor of Team CSK, did not leverage the CSK brand earlier for its cement, considering the IPL has been around since 2008. ICL’s existing cement brands are Sankar, Coromandel and Raasi — the latter two being acquired brands. “It was always at the back of our minds about how to use this powerful brand, but there’s a time for everything. We just couldn’t launch the same cement in a different brand. Nor was it that since we had the CSK brand, we developed a product around it. Product development was going on for the past several months. It was a natural evolution that we had a versatile product for which we could use the CSK brand,” explains Parthasarathy.

The product development was also in response to what competition was doing, when they differentiated their cement on its application and use. Being a later entrant, Parthasarathy says ICL studied the market, talked to masons and contractors, understood their problems and needs and worked on the product. “The product has been value engineered with a few additives, including imported silicates,” he says.

A premium cement

The cost input has been high and CSK cement sells at a premium of ₹25 to its other cement brands — ₹475 to ₹500 for a 50 kg bag. The product’s USP is to the ‘power of 7’ (Dhoni’s jersey number); attributes the cement makes claim to: high durable strength, smooth finish, easy workability, quick setting time, no seepage, corrosion resistant and all weather proof.

CSK cement has been distributed in the major markets where ICL operates in. Five of its eight factories are producing the CSK cement, which requires a more elaborate process. “The grinding level time has to be more to make it a little finer and we use some imported silicates in it to get the characteristics,” explains Parthasarathy. Along with CSK, the company also launched Halo Super King, a cement exclusively for pre-cast hollow blocks.

We want to build a brand around the architecture of ‘Super King’. We don’t want to confuse people with different names. The primary target is the mason community and a simple brand name has to register with them. R Parthasarathy CMO, India Cements

However, as Shashank Singh, Marketing Head, points out, in the long run, its key target is the end consumer. Right now it’s the mason or contractor who holds sway over what brand of cement is used for construction. “How do we get into an end consumer’s consideration set? It may take years, but we have to make a start,” he says. The packaging for CSK too is more premium and in the colours of Team CSK. He points out that today, many steel companies are advertising and home buyers are asking for steel by the brand. “From home designs to fittings, people are evolving; consumer pull is happening and this will increase over time. We are also focussing on consumers, but a continuous follow up is needed. It’s a long-term game,” he explains.

Ask Parthasarathy, if like in the case of brand ambassadors whose shenanigans may disrupt brand endorsements, will CSK’s exploits on the cricket field impact CSK cement too? Parthasarathy smiles. “A brand is not built in a day or erased in a day; it takes time to build,” he says. After all, Team CSK also has the moniker of comeback super kings — in 2021 after doing badly in the first leg in India, it swept to the IPL title in the second leg in the UAE. In 2010, when it won the title for the first time, it had lost four matches in a row. Whatever happens, the Dhoni rub-off on CSK cement will be strong. Parthasarathy mentions ICL’s TN State head says in some markets like Tiruchi, masons are asking for Dhoni cement! CSK or Dhoni, if they ask for the cement by either ‘brand’, ICL is the winner.