For any cricket enthusiast, it would have been near impossible to have missed the ongoing customer engagement campaign, #MRFSuperFan undertaken by the tyre manufacturer major. The campaign - started during the Asia Cup and is ongoing during the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup - encourages fans to tell their personal story with MRF and be crowned as the #MRFSuperFan, with an opportunity to witness Team Blue in action during the World Cup.
Building an Iconic Legacy
MRF has built its brand salience with top-of-mind brand recall, on the back of traditional media advertising for over 60 years. However, a challenge the brand faced was that beyond the MRF brand name, consumers were not aware of any of the benefits/features that the tyre offers to the user or the sub-brands in the portfolio amongst others. Another focus area for MRF was to make the brand relevant to new-gen consumers and make them aware of the reasons to buy (RTBs).
Purpose of the Campaign
The objective of the campaign #MRFSuperFan was to create a mass-scale interactive contest, which forces consumers to think beyond just the MRF brand name and instead focus on the benefits/features the tyres offer them. The brand utilized social media platforms to spread the message and create virality and leveraged its sponsorship of the major cricket tournaments, Asia Cup and World Cup to amplify the contest. With cricketer Virat Kohli as the MRF brand ambassador, and with partners’ Star Sports and Hotstar, MRF created video and static promotions asking viewers of the Asia Cup to share their favourite experience with MRF Tyres on their social media pages - Facebook, Insta or X - using the hashtag #MRFSuperFan.
The consumer entries were tactically used to create four testimonial features that are being run during the World Cup. The winners' back-stories and reasons for loving MRF have been packaged into feature videos, including their journey to watch the World Cup match, and these feature videos are being run during the World Cup as well as on social media.
Traditional TV meets Digital
An innovative strategy adopted by the legacy brand for its campaign was to integrate traditional, linear TV with an interactive digital activation. This was achieved by linking the TV campaign to a social media-based Call-To-Action. The results have been overwhelming for MRF with customers sending in stories of how MRF tyres have helped them in their driving/riding lives with the testimonials of four fans running on Hotstar during the World Cup.
Meet the #MRFSuperFan
The heartwarming testimonials of the #MRFSuperFan include offroading enthusiast Ramesh Krishnamoorthy who says that. “even on the trickiest of roads we never lose our grip”; passionate biker Prathamesh Avachare who says that MRF Tyres’ helped conquer his nerves of offroading on a bike and with a “great grip and no skidding.. now I zoom around the hills on my Harley tension free.” For MRF Loyalist Dhruv Majethia, MRF has been part of his family for generations and as the tyres “are so durable and comfortable and they make my family trip a breeze,” while for ESG and Sustainability Consultant, Moni Bajaj it was MRF Tyres’ eco-friendly credentials that made her a loyalist. She says, “After I learnt that MRF is a responsible company that offers eco-friendly options, I decided I will go only for MRF.”
Winner - Ramesh Krishnamoorthy
Winner - Dhruv Majethia
Winner - Moni Bajaj
Winner - Prathamesh Avachare
