Case Study: How CEAT utilised content marketing for Friendship Day and garnered 7M+ reach

This case study explores how CEAT encouraged people to reach out and reconnect with their friends, even if it meant going off the usual path with a new short film along with animated reels and illustrations, to tiny tales and swipe-able lists, various popular storytelling formats on social media.

Category Introduction

India stands as the world's fourth-largest tyre market, following China, Europe, and the United States. Within India, the market is presently influenced by the growing adoption of radial tyres, particularly in the bus and truck sectors. Furthermore, the tire industry serves a broad spectrum of consumers, spanning various vehicle categories, such as passenger cars, buses, military vehicles, motorcycles, and trucks. 

The tyre industry in India saw a size of 188.9 million units in 2022. In the future, it is projected to expand to 225.6 million units by 2028, displaying a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3% between 2022 and 2028.

The demand for tyres primarily emanates from two key sectors: original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and the replacement market. At present, the replacement market holds the lion's share of the tire industry, accounting for the majority of total sales. 

Brand Introduction 

CEAT, the flagship company of RPG Enterprises, was established in 1958. Today, CEAT is one of India’s leading tyre manufacturers and produces more than 41 million tyres, catering to various segments.

CEAT believes in the power of social media to massively influence businesses. However, social media marketing is not easy for a low-involvement category like tyres. CEAT adopts the following strategy to engage its audiences on social media – know your audience, quality and consistency.

The company leverages moment marketing to draw a better connect and relevance with the TG and actively looks out for topical events to create engaging content and garner more visibility and engagement. It is active across major social media channels and believes that each platform has its own USP and the brand leverages that through a differentiated content strategy for each. 

The brand’s key differentiator has been that it always stood for safety and it is the consistency in communication around ‘Safety’, and in its commitment to providing safe and smart mobility to Indians.

Summary

Yaar Waala Pyaar S2 was TTT’s dedicated IP for Friendship Day that was a heartfelt tribute to the profound bonds of friendship, urging everyone to reconnect with cherished memories from the past and forge new, enduring moments with friends who hold significance in our lives, even if it means taking the road less traveled. The season encapsulated the very spirit of friendship with a series of priceless moments that touch the heart and soul.

Brief

Ceat Tyres wanted to own conversations around friendship day and encourage people to reach out and reconnect with their friends, even if it meant going off the usual path.

Creative Idea

Yaar Waala Pyaar is TTT’s dedicated friendship day IP. In collaboration with Ceat for Season 2, TTT brought to life interesting stories about friendship, specifically by highlighting stories of people who explore the world and their relationships with friends. From the friends you meet every day to the group that hasn’t seen each other's faces for years, everyone was featured in the campaign. We reached out to TTT’s 5 mn+ community for inspiration and ideas, and they kept us supplied with a constant stream of insights.

Execution

The highlight of the campaign is a 7 min short film called Long Drive, directed by Ritesh Menon and featuring Anshuman Malhotra, Shray Rai Tiwari and Akshay Bindra, that was released on TTT’s YouTube page. The narrative revolves around three college best friends whose once-tight bond has been stretched by the complexities of personal and professional life, who find themselves stranded on a rainy day, in the middle of an off-roading trip. The short film touches on different facets of the beautiful bond of friendship with an emotional, heartwarming, quirky, and light-hearted banter amongst them.

The film is supported by a high-octane campaign on TTT’s social pages. From animated reels and illustrations, to tiny tales and swipe-able lists, various popular storytelling formats on TTT page have been leveraged for this campaign.

Results

The total reach of the campaign is 7M (7080540)

The total impressions of the campaign are 8.3M (8365034)

The total engagement of the campaign is 400K (413704)

The total views of the campaign are 2.1M

These numbers don’t include the views of the film on YouTube and Instagram which are 1M (1042342) and 393K (393388), respectively.

Sadaf Khan, Head of Brand Partnerships - TTT was quoted as saying, “Friendship and road trips have been synonymous for generations thanks to Bollywood. With the second season of Yaar Wala Pyaar, we took the opportunity to tap into this eternal and relatable insight with CEAT tyres who understand the nuances of travel, terrain, experience, safety, and all the other aspects that create a memorable journey much like in friendship. 

Long Drive, our short film on Youtube for this season, is the story of three friends on a road trip that depicts a range of emotions like nostalgia, celebration, togetherness and human connections. With a narrative that evokes memories of your fondest moments with friends, the film compels you to reach out to your friends, and that's what we wanted to achieve with this season. Through moving storytelling and engaging content around #Yaar Wala Pyaar S2 on TTT's social platforms, the response has been overwhelming but the success of our campaign lies not just in metrics but in the smiles we bring to friends, both old and new, as they engage and resonate with our heartfelt message in the digital realm.”

Lakshmi Narayanan B, Chief Marketing Officer, CEAT Ltd was quoted as saying, “Long Drives often build connections with fellow travelers. This friendship day we wanted to reach out to our consumers with this heartwarming message to ignite conversations that rekindle friendships. Sometimes it is necessary to go “off road” to bring your relationship “on track”. This film by TTT depicts how our tyres carry us through different adventures on the road just like steadfast friends who help us navigate through life’s adventures.” 

S1 of Yaar Wala Pyar friendship's day campaign was a success too. Additionally, TTT has been highlighting its campaign Yaar Wala Pyar S2 through a string of endearing and catchy social media pieces, that revolve around soulful reunions and carefree road trips with your school friends, buddies, college friends and office colleagues, that makes your heart feel happy and full again. It's time to take that road trip and strengthen that bond again!