TVS pits Dhoni against the new ‘Star’ City+

TVS Motor Company has launched a marketing campaign for its Star City+ motorcycle, which it has repositioned on the platform ‘Style ka naya Star’ (The new star of style). The campaign straddling TV, print, OOH and digital features Indian cricket captain MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli, and has been conceptualised by McCann Erickson Bengaluru.

An ad film (above) features Dhoni in various situations getting overshadowed by a new ‘star’. Irked having to play second fiddle to the new ‘star’ in conversations with a range of people from a restaurant manager to his own chauffeur, he shows his mettle on the cricket pitch, finishing a game in characteristic style to emerge ‘Star of the Series’. While receiving his cheque, he is surprised to know that the new ‘Star’ everyone is talking about is the prize for his success: the new Star City+ bike.

Arun Siddharth, GM and head, TVS Motorcycles, said, "StaR City+ is the latest all new version of the biggest motorcycle franchise of TVS with more than 4.5 million vehicles on road. 2014 StaR City+ is a class leader in terms of technology; featurisation and more than anything else style quotient. Hence the idea of ‘New StaR is Born’. Mccann has done a good job of bringing it to life through this campaign with StaR Power of India's biggest cricket stars - MS Dhoni and ViratKohli. I'm sure it will give the brand traction in the launch phase."

Prasoon Joshi, executive chairman and CEO, McCann Worldgroup India, and president - South Asia, said, “The partnership between TVS and McCann goes back over two decades. The launch of the all-new StaR City+  is a testimony not only to the continuous product innovations from TVS but also their keen understanding of the needs of the changing Indian consumer. We look forward to a successful launch of StaR City+ that positively impacts both mindshare and marketshare for TVS.”

Vijay Jacob, SVP and GM, McCann, Bengaluru, added, “After seeing the new StaR City+,  we as a team  thought it was only fitting that two of the India’s most stylish cricketing icons Dhoni and Kohli come together to launch this stylish bike. We are now eagerly waiting to see how the new StaR City+ bike and the campaign is received by the market.”

Anil Thomas, regional creative director, McCann South, said, “The brief from TVS was simple. Announce the fact that the new StaR City+ in its new avatar is better than ever before. So we felt we could play with the 'new star' angle. And just as when any new star arrives on the block, the current star begins to feel insecure. Especially if there is hype around the arrival. The existing star in this case was Dhoni. So we played up the insecurity card as an idea. And Dhoni was a good sport when we shared the idea and agreed. Throwing in Virat Kohli in the mix was an icing.”

Credits

Client: TVS Motor Company

Brand: TVS Star City+

Creative agency: McCann Erickson Bengaluru

Production house: Tubelight Films

Director (film): Prashant Issar