Research Brief

Client Brand/Variant: Date : Campaign Start Date: Associaetd Motorways (Pvt)Ltd Marathon Hi-Miler 23 July,2010

Market/Business/Competitive Context: Market background / competitive position:

Tyre retreading market is a Rs.5bln and currently growing at 20%. Arpidag, the market leader has a market share of more than 55% hence aggressive marketing activities. Arpidag dominates Dealers end with 1,500 Dealers. As a challenger brand in the category, MARATHON has less than 20% market share and the rest is shared by more than 15 small players in the industry.

Marathon Hi-Miler History

50 years of experience and excellence combined with modern technology for superior performance and customer satisfaction. Established in 1949, Associated Motorways Ltd. (AMW) is a pioneer in Sri Lankas tyre retreading industry. Over the years, AMW has expanded into a group of companies maintaining transport related manufacturing and trading as it core business.AMW strongly believes in and is committed to continuous product and service developments for increased customer satisfaction. AMW is the 1st tyre retreading company in Sri Lanka that obtained ISO 9001:2000 Quality System Certification for all four tyre retreading methods: Hot Process, Pre-cure Process, and Vacu Lug Process and Die Hard Process. AWMs global partnership include joint ventures with CEAT Tyres of india , Autoways BHD of Malaysia and Universal Polymer & Rubber of USA,to manufacture automotive tyre,precure retreading an moulded Product respectively. Superior quality ingredients (high grade natural and synthetic rubbers and superior carbon blacks), the latest manufacturing technology and stringent ISO 9001:2000 international quality standards give MARATHON Hi-Miler the right combination of strength properties for optimum performances. Therefore, MARATHON Hi-Miler can boldly claim the following as its key features: Low rolling resistance Low heat build up in service Good resistance to wear, cracking and chipping In order to meet the service requirement of customers, MARATHON Hi-Miler is manufactured in a range of tread patterns and sizes for every conceivable need. From the smallest passenger car to the giant earthmover MARATHON does not do any advertising at the moment and is limited in their marketing activities compared to Arpidag.

Brand dynamics: Research has shown that;

Strengthening the brand under one brand umbrella Re-look at the branding of Marathon Strengthen the corporate links in the dealer- customer relationship Fast track of the collection & delivery process Investing in the dealer relationship Communication & dealer promotions Invest on a young and energetic sales force It is recommended that the brand be re-launched reinforcing its present strength, while simultaneously inculcating new values so that the perceived gaps in brand image are reduced considerably-especially in the case of the relatively more important attributes. The fact that presently lager proportions of target consumers do not process a detailed knowledge of the brand offers scope for this strategy.

Current sales and marketing situation:

Average sales volume 10,000 tyres per month. Less than 500 dealer network Smaller number of dealer board in selected dealer points Conducting dealer meeting with town storming sessions Crawler campaign on cricket matches

Creative Advertising and Communications Task

Who are we talking to? User profile

Dealers End consumer User of the tyre Vehicle / Fleet owners - Lorries - Busses - Commercial vehicles Masses

Role of communication Direct approach to convincing the dealers. Highlight the quality of the product to fleet owners and dealers mileage more than 20,000kms, #1 dag in the market , Communicate product and service quality of the Brand Highlight this from AMW Pioneer in the retread industry Highlight that we have more than a dag we have other automobile brands a total solution Arpidag users are extremely brand loyal and they are resistant to change.

Whats the barrier to overcome