Gulf Oil and Mahendra Singh Dhoni (MSD) have announced a slew of new marketing initiatives as the company celebrates its achievement of being India’s fastest growing brand in the lubricants sector for 2011-12 and also for the last two years before that on a CAGR basis.
The Gulf brand has grown consistently at a multiple of industry growth due to a consistent strategy, clear focus and aggressive ATL and BTL programmes fuelled by the association with teams in the Indian Premier League (IPL), Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and MSD.
Mr. Sanjay Hinduja, Chairman, Gulf Oil International, who was visiting India, and Mr. Ravi Chawla, President & CEO, Gulf Oil India, along with MS Dhoni, announced on May 1 the launch of a range of limited edition ‘Signature MSD packs’ and two new advertising campaigns featuring MSD. These campaigns would be supported by new retail signages as well as new packaging featuring MSD.
Gulf would be partnering the MSD Charitable Foundation to promote young talent who don’t get adequate opportunities, training and infrastructure and pursue their passion to become successful sportspersons. Gulf Oil will sponsor talent in this grassroot initiative by providing scholarships through the MSD Charitable Foundation for a select number of such sportspersons every year. Gulf will also play an integral part in organizing grassroot level cricket tournaments that the Foundation conducts across 15-18 cities in India.
Mr. Hinduja observed: “Gulf & MS Dhoni coming together will strengthen the Gulf leadership position in India further. Gulf Oil International – across geographies – is guided in its endeavors by the five defining values – ‘Endurance, Inspiration, Courage, Youth and Care’. These form the cornerstone of our communication and business practices worldwide. The Gulf-MSD Scholarships are a reflection of these values, and we hope they will play a part in the growth of the sport at the grassroot level as well as discovery of promising sporting talent in hitherto unexplored geographies / social classes”
Dhoni said: “The Gulf brand’s values and the promise of ‘lubricants that last longer’ make them very unique and relevant in today’s times. I am sure that these new marketing programmes will fuel their growth momentum further. I am especially excited about the Gulf-MSD Scholarships which will help to bridge the gap between potential and performance which exists in our vast country. The talent will be identified by Rhiti Sports through their wide network of on-ground presence. This talent will then be provided with financial support for a period of one year, so that they can focus on the sport to the exclusion of all else”.
Dhoni has been associated with Gulf Oil as its Brand Ambassador for a little less than an year. Gulf has already run an intensive multimedia campaign featuring MSD in January-March 2012 to good effect and unveiled plans to ramp up the association to the next level.
Added Mr. Ravi Chawla, President & CEO – Lubricants Business, Gulf Oil: “With its USP of “long drain” products across product segments, Gulf stands for “Endurance” and so does “MSD”. The Gulf brand has benefitted from MSD’s credibility across various demographics and geographies. He is a youth icon – confident, result-oriented and in tune with the times. Among other things, this association has helped us to communicate and connect with our customers, trade & team. MSD’s partnership has enabled us to grow faster than the industry, making us today the fastest growing lubes brand in the country. The new marketing initiatives planned with MSD will help us in maintaining this growth momentum. We would also be exploring a lot of other initiatives with the MSD Charitable Foundation to promote sports at the grassroot level. The Gulf-MSD Scholarship is the first of many such initiatives”.