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Savsol Lubricants, a flagship brand of Savita Oil Technologies, recently announced a partnership with Bollywood actor Sidharth Malhotra, who will be associated with the company as its brand ambassador. The collaboration with Sidharth also marks Savsol’s journey in lubricants and engine oils, as it unveils Ester Fluid technology under the brand name Savsol Ester 5. Under this alliance, Sidharth will be featured in digital, print and TV campaigns for Savsol, highlighting its diverse product range.

Mohd Kamran Siddiqui, VP Marketing, Savita Oil Technologies Ltd discusses the rationale behind the brand's revamp, partnering with a celerity, collaborating with FCB Interface, and more.


What led to Savsol's brand revamp? Why did the brand choose to partner with Sidharth Malhotra?

Our Research and development was working on this technology for some time and it’s a advanced and robust technology used in lubrication applications where failure is not an option like jet engines. So to bring this cutting else technology in our new range of products and to communicate it effectively to the consumers and influencers alike with a distinctive campaign made us realize the need of the brand revamp as we also wanted to elevate the current brand stature to the next level and do that by having maximum reach and impact in short time.

As we know, India has a high population of youth and we wanted to resonate with the aspirations and attitude of today’s youth, so somebody who has synergies with brand values was a key consideration and perfect fit to be our brand ambassador and we are very happy to announce that Sidharth Malhotra who is a youth icon, loves biking and driving cars and has a passion to excel in his field mirror Savsol’s commitment to delivering superior products and driving experience to its consumers and category influencers like dealers and mechanics.

Take me through the behind-the-scenes and making of the campaign. Who was the creative agency? How did the entire process pan out? What were some of the key learnings here?

As we were coming with a complete brand revamp and a cutting edge technology backed range, We had the challenge of coming up with a campaign which reflects the brands personality and values in true sense. So we came up with a sharp brief and defined our target profile clearly. Today’s youth aspires to bring prosperity to the family and a sense of fulfillment for self for being a self-made success. Taking the aspirations of youth we wanted to create a campaign which could communicate our technology backed benefits effortlessly and be distinctive in the category.

Taking that forward we shot our films with Sidharth Malhotra based on our campaign idea of “ Ab Kaun Rokega”.

FCB Interface is our creative partners in this journey and we co-created the complete Brand Values, Look and feel and brought alive the campaign idea of “Ab Kaun Rokega” which reflects the brands attitude and elevates the status of the brand. As a brand and agency team, it’s been a fulfilling experience working together. The learning is that passionate teams deliver distinctive campaigns which challenge the norm of communication in the category and in most times it pays off.

Can you share some interesting market trends and consumer insights you are observing currently? What's the crux of Savsol's advertising and marketing strategies for this year?

In our category, commoditization is creeping up in the category and hence the importance of distinctive communication & innovation in disseminating the message to consumers and influencers is perhaps the way to create mind space for your brand with consumers/influencers. Crux for now lies in amplification of our campaign “Ab Kaun Rokega” with consumers and Trade (i.e. Dealers and Mechanics).

What's your media mix? 

This is a influencer driven category i.e. mechanics and dealers hold prominence in driving consumer choice, so importance of BTL will continue to be of paramount importance but needs to be complimented with ATL by Young Challenger Brands who are out there to create the required awareness/consideration for the brand. Nett, it will be a combination of ATL and BTL but will be skewed towards BTL due to role of influencers in the value chain.

 
Take me through Savsol's growth trajectory. What's Savsol's market share?

Savsol as a brand has been operational for past 17 years and has grown and acquired the stature of being a key challenger Indian brand in the marketplace. We have some very good OEM partnerships on the B2B side of business and in last few years our Lubricants division is growing much faster than the category growth rate. We intend to accelerate the volume growth in B2C side of business going forward.

Our estimates are that we currently may have a 2.5 percent market share in the Automotive retail segment.

How is Savsol planning to grow and evolve?

Superior Understanding of Consumers and Influencer’s, Bringing Cutting Technology within the reach of everyday commuters and empowering the engines of ambitious young India and communicating it with distinctive campaigns will guide us to grow and evolve. You will see a far more confident, bold and action oriented brand going forward.

Savsol's Mohd Kamran Siddiqui on brand revamp, partnering with Sidharth Malhotra and more

The street culture in India is growing and the fastest growing product is sneakers.

The millennial and gen z audience is changing the way sneakers are worn. From weddings to board rooms, there’s sneaker heads everywhere. As per Statista, in 2023, the sneaker segment in India is expected to generate a revenue of $2.63billion. It is expected to grow annually by 6.18 percent. Thanks to this growth, companies in the sector are also growing.

SoleSearch founded by Param Minhas, Prabal Baghla and Rannvijay Singh, an Indian street culture brand has secured Rs 6 crore in their debut funding round from Venture Catalyst, Anthill Ventures, Cornerstone Sports LLP, and other marquee individuals.

In a chat with Storyboard18, Rannvijay Singh discussed the company's recent funding round, its plans for expansion, and its vision for the future of street culture in India.

Excerpts.

Can you tell us more about SoleSearch's debut funding round and how you plan to allocate the funds raised?


We are thrilled to have received support from some incredible venture capitalists and marquee individuals who share our vision and are joining us on our journey. Until a few years ago, the Indian street industry was a niche subculture, but today we are one of the fastest-growing countries in the sneaker and street culture space. This funding not only serves as a catalyst for our growth but also helps us gauge the potential of this industry and how fast it is booming.

From day one, we have been clear about strengthening our technology, opening stores and expanding our team to serve the world's largest gen z and millennial population. We will be launching a mobile application with a shopping experience unlike any before this month and will be opening stores in Hyderabad and Mumbai next month further spreading this message.

With the Indian sneaker market projected to grow by 20.5% in 2023, how does SoleSearch plan to stay ahead of its competitors?

SoleSearch has established a highly robust customer and vendor network that helps keep up with demand and supply. Our verification process for the products are of international standard. By doing so, we have created a network that is stronger than what is typically seen in the market. We plan to take advantage of this strength by offering products and services at competitive pricing that sets us apart from our competitors. 

Where do you see the sneaker culture heading? What’s the next big thing we can expect in the space?

As a long-time sneaker enthusiast with over 20 years of collecting experience, I've witnessed the tremendous growth of the market, fueled by entry and expansion of international brands, celebrity collaborations and endorsements. Sneakers are now considered collectibles, with a passionate following among Gen Z and millennials. Our audience has an average age of 25 and is willing to spend over Rs20000 on a single pair of sneakers. This trend extends to other collectibles like watches, T-shirts, and merchandise that evoke a sense of nostalgia or connect with a specific icon or memory.

The emotion of nostalgia has played a key role in driving this trend, and it hasn't gone unnoticed by some of the world's largest fashion houses. Luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton and Gucci are now embracing street culture and incorporating it into their designs.

What role do physical stores play in the overall strategy of SoleSearch and how do they complement the company's online presence? 

As we are expanding our product offerings and where customers can find them, we believe that it is critical to have on-ground presence for customers to be able to come experience our brand first hand. Our physical spaces would become a point of community building and activations where like minded consumers can come together and celebrate street culture as we know, besides just participating in the commerce part of it.

With the rapid growth of e-commerce in India, how is SoleSearch leveraging technology to improve its online platform and offer a seamless shopping experience to customers?

We’re doing this by creating state-of-the-art digital experiences, be it in terms of a web marketplace or our upcoming mobile application that will change the way Indians shop today. Besides having a wide collection of product categories and products, we’re also gamifying the entire commerce experience by allowing people to earn rewards when they buy from us or engage with our application. These rewards can further be utilised for exclusive in-app releases, drops, giveaways and other cool engagements. The idea is to make shopping fun, interactive and not just a mere transaction.

Can you discuss SoleSearch's marketing spends and how the company plans to allocate its marketing budget in the coming months?

Over the coming months our marketing spends are going to be spread across scaling the overall business via performance and growth marketing. We will be investing significantly into scaling the reach of our mobile application once it releases. Besides our core e-commerce business, some budgets will be allocated to the promotion of our on-ground retail spaces to drive footfall. Finally, we will also continue investing into our robust events division which allows us to interact with our community pan-India through our flagship live-event IPs.

Sneakers are now considered collectibles, with a passionate following among Gen Z and millennials: Rannvijay Singha

IKEA India announced its new brand positioning – Ghar Aa Jao, Come home to IKEA, with an integrated campaign across markets. The new positioning is aimed at creating a deeper sense of emotional and rational connect with the customers.

In an exclusive conversation with Storyboard18’s Shibani Gharat, Anna Ohlin, country marketing manager, IKEA India, spoke more on the campaign. Listen in.

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In conversation with IKEA India’s Anna Ohlin

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