Leyland builds a bridge with stakeholders, through Dhoni

Ashok Leyland has released a TVC featuring its newly appointed brand ambassador, cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

The film shows a fleet owner, a mechanic and a truck driver in a dhaaba (roadside eatery). The three of them have ordered a glass of lassi each (a yogurt-based drink). Of the three glasses brought to their table, only one is full.

Each of them makes a case for claiming the full glass. Enter Dhoni, as an employee of Ashok Leyland.

He calls for a fourth glass and solves the problem by evenly distributing the drink among the four, underlining the equal importance of the fleet owner, mechanic and driver.

Commenting on the campaign, Alok Saraogi, head, branding and marketing communications, Ashok Leyland, said, "When we signed Contract a year ago, we told them that we want to become a lot more world-facing than we are. We wanted to get rid of the myth of being a South Indian company. We are a company based out of the South but not a South Indian company. We've been doing a lot of work in the past and we want the world to know about it. So we wanted a television campaign to show that."

He added, “When we look at our customer base, the language that the manufacturer speaks is always at a variance with the brand. When the manufacturer speaks, we have always spoken about KMPL (mileage), crank-shaft and gear box. But the customer always speaks a different language. He's thinking about being a logistics manager and educating his children and taking care of his parents and other personal needs, through his work. We wanted to bridge the gap and humanise the business. We want to be seen as the empathetic brand that we are and truly acknowledge the contribution the fraternity makes."

Rohit Srivastava, national head, planning, Contract Advertising, said, “If you look at Leyland over the past years, their products and services had a desire to be taken out and brought into the public domain. What was fascinating was, Leyland did not want us to focus on the brand, but focus on their customers. The brand insisted that their customers (fleet owners, drivers and mechanics) ran the show. So we went about creating this film.”

On the reason for picking Dhoni as brand ambassador, Vinod K Dasari, managing director, Ashok Leyland, said, “Dhoni’s choice was almost automatic for I cannot think of another person befitting the values of brand Ashok Leyland so well. A true son-of-the-soil, a leader who is focused, straight-thinking, passionate and, most of all, humble, he will lead the numerous initiatives that are on the anvil."

Dasari outlined the recent and forthcoming launches from the company. Among vehicles to be launched is the 'Jan Bus', a single-step, front-engine, flat-floor bus, he said.

"We have also been aggressively expanding our market reach. We believe that all these efforts will help enhance customer profitability to a new level,” added Dasari.

The television commercial went on air on 15 May. While television is the lead medium, print and outdoor media will also be used for the  campaign.

Credits

Creative: Raj Nair, Kaushik Roy, Satish Ambewadikar, Vikas Dubey, Omkar Amrite and Farhan Shaikh
Planning: Rohit Srivastava and Chetan Mane
Account management: Kumar Subramaniam, Ayesha Ghosh, Kasturi Sengupta and Kavin Joukani
Films: Ketaki Guhagarkar
Film director: Shivendra Singh Dungarpur and Dungarpur Films