Ceat Tyres grips a higher position, says ‘Know where to stop’

After last year's ‘The roads are full of idiots’ series, Ceat Tyres has taken a higher ground in its new campaign to communicate the strong grip of its tyres.

In two films created by Ogilvy & Mather, the brand has woven in social messages. The films drive home the point that just like one would know when to stop from doing the wrong thing in life, Ceat Tyres know where to stop and avoid an accident.

One of the films shows a man trying to get his daughter, who hasn't finished her secondary education, has squint eyes, and is of short height, married to a boy from a greedy family. At first he doesn't realise he is making a mistake, but when the family starts negotiating dowry, he recalls how he was about to fall into a big crater on the road the same morning - but his Ceat Tyres saved him at the right time. He tells the family that he knows where to stop, and puts an end to the proposal.

Watch the second film here (the story continues below)

The second film shows a politician approaching a veterinary doctor asking him to sign a false document stating that he has done vasectomy of nine lakh stray dogs. He offers Dr Brijwasi half the amount made. The doctor does not recall the essays on honesty taught in school, or the thrashing he got from his father on erring as a child. He thinks instead of his encounter with a donkey in the middle of the road while driving, and how his Ceat Tyres helped him stop at the right time. He imagines the donkey's face on the politician's head and refuses him, saying he knows where to stop.

Anup Chitnis, executive creative director (South Asia), Ogilvy & Mather, said, "With this new proposition we have tried to bring in a social angle to our communication. Just like in life, you might go off road at times but you know where to put a leash onto yourself. Similarly, Ceat Tyres know when and where to stop to avoid any accidents that you may regret forever."

The campaign will be led by TV, while digital is in the pipeline. There will also be some print ads targeting the trade.

Unplugged moments

Chitnis said that the two films were shot in Mumbai and Pune over a course of three days. In the TVC that involved a donkey, the worry was that the donkey might move and spoil the shoot. "But the donkey didn't move at all, funnily," said Chitnis. "We were thinking of using a statue or a mannequin of a donkey, or put a leash on it, but thankfully it didn't move at all when the car came storming at it," he added.

Credits:

Client: CEAT
Agency: Ogilvy & Mather
Executive creative director: Anup Chitnis
Creative (copy): Rohit Dubey
Creative (art): Mangesh Someshwar
Planning: Kawal Shoor, Aditya Jaishankar
Account management: Navin Talreja, Ajay Menon, Sabyasachi Bhattacharya, Disha Dhami
Media agency: Madison Media