 Welcome back. Now over the past year the Indian Tire industry has grown by 10 to 12%. It's expected to grow by 4 to 8% over the next three years as well. While MRF leads the pack as it was, SEAT Tires of course is looking at playing the catch up game. In fact, it's recently released an ad campaign which is aimed at making it the preferred choice for SUV owners when it comes to replacement. To talk about this strategy, Nithish Bajaj, the Vice President of Marketing at SEAT Tires is joining us on our show today. Great to have you with us, Nithish. You know I remember the time when there was volatility in the truck tyre business. You turn to the two wheeler segment, so obviously there was this huge shift in strategy and the brand communication had to be really strong. So I remember you went with the on-road grip factor to push forth that change in perception as it were. You came up with a tyre, the design of which looked like a rope set on the tread. If you can take us back in time to the thought process then and how you effected that shift in strategy as it were. Yeah so the shift was done around 2010-11 time and that time if you look at was not so profitable time for tyre industry per se. But clearly when we looked at our business and dissected it we found that profitability was much better in the passenger segments than in the commercial segments which were more competitive and also more price sensitive. So as a business we took call that we will stay and put more investments behind the passenger business and that's how the genesis of investments on two wheeler and also in the passenger car and especially in the SUV segment. So that was a transition call we took in 2010 and since then the journey has been quite good for C8 as a business. One by clearly putting a focus behind these categories we got the entire business, organization, sales function, marketing function. All the organization focus clearly was behind the key priority which is the passenger segment. Also we got through quite a few breakthrough communications from the creative agency. So we got our Idiot safe campaign which was the first campaign we rolled out behind the two wheeler category. It also helped help us stand out from rest of the people who were quite diffused in the communication and also were talking a mix of fashionable statement in riding a two wheeler, a mix of more zip zaps room kind of communication. So it helped us stand out from rest of the players and that distinctive imagery rooted in the core benefit of safety for the consumer helped us gain quite a bit on the market share in the two wheeler category and also helped the brand take an imagery of a thought leader. So that was the transition which worked well for the brand. And of course you've got Irfan Khan as your brand ambassador. I remember in the film Pico where he plays a central character, the owner of a taxi fleet. He went with brand integration in that film. He also features in your SUV tyres campaign apart from all the safety and durability ones as well. So tell us what the real benefits are in your association with Irfan Khan. Yes, Irfan Khan was not necessarily a choice of us because of his Bollywood association. Irfan Khan was actually a central character to our film story. Our film was all about the superstitions which we have, which we believe keep us safe. And we really wanted to break those myths genuinely and not too aggressively. And Irfan Khan is actually a genuine character in that sense who comes out and calls us paid a spade. So his entire aura, perception, imagery in the minds of our target audience was well suited for us to communicate that message. And that's the reason why Irfan Khan was chosen. And clearly he did bring in a lot of benefit. The ad was distinctive. It stood out. The brand recalls really went up. The message recall, the story recall also was very, very strong. And our business really gained, grew almost like in again strong double digits. We had growths and our market shares stood out quite well in the passenger segment after the campaign. And Nitish, tell us about your latest ad campaign. What was the thought process over there in launching this campaign? Yeah, so clearly one key driver for this is contemporarizing and making the brand more premium. Second is we have stood out for the safety as a domain. But when you talk of SUV as an audience, now SUV audience is actually wanting to use the SUV because they want to explore the unchartered territory. And in that exploration or that urge or need to show off the people whom they really talk to about their exploits is their family and friends. And that's where we have picked up this insight of a father taking his child out on a journey. And how child really experiences the terrain which are in a way not familiar to him, not a part of his regular domain, and how he adds his bit of imagination. So in a way it's a surreal journey for a child he adds his imagination, takes it to the next level. And all this becomes possible because a CIA tire lets you really go out and explore the unchartered territory. That's the entire campaign about. But there's cricket to speak off as well because Seattle now has a three year strategic time out sponsorship with the BCCI. It's for the IPL since last year, which means you cover season eight, nine and 10. So each IPL match has four time out sessions of two and a half minutes each. I want to understand how this really helps you. What has led to the decision to go with this? Yeah, so if you look at our investment on cricket, Seattle was in a way the pioneer when it came to cricketing association. So we were the first ones to really create the concept of Seattle cricket rating. However, as the journey on the cricket progressed, the space became more and more cluttered. Also more and more advertisers came in. And hence, investment levels required to maintain a saliency in cricket also kept going up. And that's a constant challenge, a brand, a challenger brand like Seattle always face of how do we make sure that we distinctly really stand out and yet maintain a maintain an efficient investment. We felt strategic time out is a great fit because one it gives you a presence on TV. Second, it is not a passive association just like a TV branding, it's an active association. In a way, there's a break where a viewer is heavily engaged into watching a TV the IPL and then comes a break. In a way, it's a clear stand out association, which consumer gets to see and also gets to experience the brand at that point of time. And that's not where you're cricketing partnerships in you into three bat endorsement deal with cricketer Rohit Sharma, you had already Suresh Rena in the past and you've got a former Australian international cricket legend Brett Leon board as your digital brand ambassador for the Seattle cricket ratings. You of course said that the cricketing world as it was getting more and more cluttered when you talk about sponsorship deals, but your footing there seems to be getting deeper and deeper. So tell us what's driving it. Yeah, we are getting see cricket we were always there. In fact, I would say somewhere we had become a bit weaker on the cricket and we are now coming back with an increased and much more renewed vigor behind cricket. Cricket clearly is the standout sport for the country. So clearly the masses are there on cricket and see it as a brand wants to talk to a mass youth. So clearly from our perspective, the match is very strong in favor of investing on cricket. And hence we are upping the ante. If I remember correctly, since 2011, Seattle has been spending around 40 to 45 crore rupees every year on marketing in which one third is spent on above the line and the rest is spent below the line. So tell us where it stands today. How is the brand's ad spends changed over the years when it comes to this split? And are you spending more for the digital medium now? So yes, we will stay focused behind investing big on TV. We would also invest a lot in the digital frame as well because our audience is gradually shifting to that as a strong medium of usage, strong touch point for us from a consumer connect point of view. So associations like when we were talked about endorsement from Rana and Rohit Sharma, clearly we are also got into a endeavor with where their own Facebook and Twitter pages will have these endorsers talking about their experience with the CET bad. That's also our digital association will highlight their successes. So clearly we are looking at using these endorsements also in the digital space. Nitesh from the Be Idiot Safe campaign to Nimbumir to the Monsoon Smart campaigns. It seems like safety is the big foundation of your marketing message. And we understand this has been drawn from deep consumer insight as well. If you can walk us through it and tell us if it's likely to change going ahead, what's your overarching marketing strategy? At least for the next few years. Yes, so insight actually is if you look at safety is a hygiene for consumer when it comes to automobile. It's it's only thing is tires are not naturally associated with safety. If you ask the consumer about what drives a safety in a passenger car, he does not naturally associated with that with the tire he associates it with the possibility an airbag, the overall vehicle stability etc. But when it comes to two wheeler there clearly tire is that one of the key privates on which he associates safety and he clearly verbalizes that it has grip of the tire. So that was the starting point for us because we did our journey with two wheeler that was our starting point where we where we said our tires give you better grip and hence a safer driving experience. And before I let you go Nitesh, perhaps you can share a tip for our upcoming marketers. So my message to upcoming marketers will be to actually keep finding those insights which are very strong and relevant for the consumer. Pick up those insights, look at how these insights fit in your core communication core and rooted to these as these in various communications you develop because if you keep putting multiple messages and are not ready to single philosophy, consumers do not recall it and also your own investment efforts be it behind product, be it behind brand building, do not add value. In fact, they get fizzled out if you're not rooted to a core cause or a core message. Alright, Nitesh, great to have you with us on our show from logo to impact. I hope you have a smooth ride in 2016.