Castrol, the official ‘performance' partner of ICC, expects to pump in Rs 60 crore on marketing activities around the 2011 cricket World Cup.
“With 50-60 million new vehicle users said to enter the market in the next five years, we wanted to capture a bulk of the population and what better way to do that than with cricket — the pulse of the nation. We have signed a 5-year contract with the International Cricket Council and the first of the ICC events is happening right in our backyard,” says Mr Giriraj Bagri, Vice-President – Marketing, Castrol India.
Castrol on Friday announced the signing of Australian pacer Brett Lee as its brand ambassador. The brand already has Sachin Tendulkar, Shakib Al Hasan (all-rounder from Bangladesh), Harsha Bhogle and Ravi Shastri as its ambassadors.
“With so much of cricket happening everywhere, it becomes a blur. Hence, it is important to be absolutely different and relevant in the offerings. It is also essential to be contemporary and engage the consumer all along,” says Mr Bagri.
‘Castrol Index'
Castrol's World Cup activation also includes ‘Castrol Index' — an analytical tool that assesses the performance of players and teams (the results of the index will appear on the stadium replay screens during crucial stages of the game).
Brett Lee and his music band have composed a signature tune for the Castrol Index which will be played live in the stadia when the Index is shown. Castrol has also come up with a ‘World Cup Ka Hero' contest wherein winners get a chance to watch the games in style with specially designed luxurious couch and other freebies thrown in. A World Cup TVC is already on air and one more commercial featuring Tendulkar will hit the screens soon.