Gulf Oil is part of Hinduja Group, amongst the largest diversified groups globally. Internationally, Gulf is a cult brand built on a strong Motor sport legacy. Gulf Oil in India, is the pioneer of products that deliver exceptional performance and ensure excellent customer satisfaction.
With their latest campaign, Gulf Oil wanted to launch the new pack of Gulf Pride 4T Plus. Also, the intent was to raise the imagery of the brand up to global standards while establishing a stronger connect with the youth.
“We are the fastest growing lubricants brand. We are also constantly innovating with new product technologies and communication strategies. In the new TVC, we have put our consumers at the heart of the communication ensuring that their desire of performance via pick-up is delivered through superior quality products,” said Ravi Chawla, Managing Director, Gulf Oil Lubricants India Limited.
Objective
To position Gulf Pride 4T Plus as a superior bike engine oil which keeps your bike responsive.
Challenge
The challenge was to create a relevance with the biking community while showcasing the product.
Idea
Since the brand sought to create a connect with the bikers and establish the product as an aid to keep the bikes ready and responsive, the agency crafted an idea- Pick up your ride. Through this idea, the agency intended to convey that the product enables the motorcycles to accelerate as and when needed and gives the bikers an ‘Insta pickup’- power at a single tap.
Execution
The idea was translated as a 2-minute ad film which has a commendable star-cast including brand ambassador, cricketer and avid biker Mahendra Singh Dhoni along with Gulshan Grover, Dino Morea, Harshwardhan Rane and Anushka Manchanda. Dhoni’s gang also includes renowned director- Tigmanshu Dhulia and Bollywood hulk Nikitin Dheer. This is the first time that such a large ensemble of celebrities have come together for an ad film.
Shot in black and white, the film opens to Dhoni, Morea and Grover riding their classic cruiser bikes as part of a riding club. They are seen enjoying the ride in each other’s company. A background score sung by Anushka Manchanda talks about them being ‘uncaged’ and free. Dhoni‘s voice over cuts in to talk about being a fan of speed. Hearing a siren behind them, the riders decide to act. They ride forward, navigate the traffic ahead of them, making a trucker pull to one side, to allow the ambulance to pass. The film ends as they stop at a Gulf Oil garage with Dhoni pouring Gulf 4T Plus oil into his bike, and a brief of the product’s benefits, while the super says “Pick up your ride.”
With a compelling storyline woven around the importance of insta pick-up in daily life, the campaign is being publicised across platforms using outdoor, digital and television medium. The brand is hosted on a micro site where fans can read about MSD and his biker gang. Till now, the ad film has scored close to 600,000 views on YouTube alone.
“We started by deciding that we wouldn’t be talking to those who just own a bike, instead we would be talking to those who live to bike. Because only they would truly appreciate the superior quality of the product and what it does to your ride. But for them to embrace you as a brand, you need to embrace all that they stand for. From there was born the idea of a biking manifesto. Even though Dhoni is a very passionate rider himself, we didn’t want it to become just about his passion. So we put together an ensemble for him to ride with – the kind you would pay good money to ride with. We used them to bring to life our manifesto and belief for biking. And for the brand,” said Rahul Mathew, Creative Head, DDB Mudra West.
Agency Credits
Chairman and Chief Creative Officer: Sonal Dabral
President: Rajiv Sabnis
National Planning Head: Aditya Kanthy
Creative Team: Rahul Mathew, Keegan Pinto, Manish Darji, Sharmad Khambekar, Mayuresh Wagle, Saurabh Sankpal, Amol Annaldas, Pankaj Nihalani, Prasad Kamtekar, Fazal Syed Hussain, Rahul Gate
Account Management Team: Anurag Tandon, Rakesh Varma, Aaron D’souza, Rewis Dsouza
Account Planning: Mou Roy, Pritish Mukherjee, Deboleena Chatterjee
Agency Executive Producers: Achyutanand Dwivedi, Vishal Agarwala
Production House: Rising Sun Films
Director: Amit Roy
