MADRAS RUBBER FACTORY (MRF)

A BRAND HISTORY
BY ANUJ KAUL 507

BRANDING: MRF

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MRF: A TRUSTED BRAND

INTRODUCTION
In 1946 a young entrepreneur, K. M. Mammen Mappillai, opened a small toy balloon manufacturing unit in a shed at Tiruvottiyur, Madras (now Chennai). Although the factory was just a small shed without any machines, a variety of products, ranging from balloons and latex-cast squeaking toys to industrial gloves and contraceptives, were produced. During this time, MRF established its first office at 334, Thambu Chetty Street, Madras (now Chennai), Tamil Nadu, India. In 1952, MRF treaded into the domain of making of tread rubber which would later catapult MRF to be one of the largest tyre companies in the world. Since the days of the inception of brand MRF, superior quality was synonymous with the brand. The power of the brand was so large and respected that by the close of 1956, MRF had become the market leader with a 50% share of the tread-rubber market in India and with that a number of MNCs operating in India had to shut down business operations. After its association with Mansfield tyres (Ohio), MRF was pegged to compete internationally. As a result of which MRF began expanding its operations and setting up various plants across the country.

BRANDING: MRF

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BRANDING STRATEGY
MRF was associated with words like superior quality, durability and strength. And it maintained this image throughout history through its products that never compromised on quality. MRF was primarily into B2B selling and thus the regular channels of B2C advertising were not its first option. However what built its brand was a series of firsts it pioneered and was a part of.

FIRST 1
MRF was the first companies to manufacture and market nylon passenger tyres commercially which were majorly used in another iconic vehicle donning the Indian roads in the 1960s- THE AMBASSADOR which still is a preferred choice of all politicians and is their hologram and symbol. In succession it also developed MRF superlug-78 for trucks which later on went to surpass all its other brands and helped create an identity for MRF which is discussed later.

FIRST 2
In the 1980s a revolutionary product was released in the Indian market- MARUTI 800 and MRF were the first tyres that were associated with the product. MARUTI 800 went on to become the car of the country and this helped MRF to build a brand alongside Maruti and its brand equity.

BRANDING: MRF

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BRAND IDENTITY THE MUSCLE MAN

MRF introduced its logo for the first time. The concept of this logo as explained by Alquee Padamsee (the creator), I was handling MRF at that time, which was known as the Madras Rubber Factory. We thought that it was a rather weak name for a tyre company, so we rechristened it as MRF. We were doing a campaign for truck tyres. We went to Koliwada in Mumbai, where we met the truck drivers' conglomerate and asked them what they wanted from a tyre. Almost every one of them flexed their muscles and said mazboot hone chahiye, takat chahiye. So, from them itself, we got the visual of the 'MRF Muscle

BRANDING: MRF

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Man'. I wrote the line 'The Tyre with Muscle', which still defines MRF even after 45 years. This logo gave MRF a symbol and an image for the strength its product embodied and further strengthened its brand image. However MRF recently in 2008 gave the muscle man a modern look that symbolized its attitude towards changing with the times.

MRF LOGO IN 1960

THE MODERN AVATAAR IN 2008 AS QUOTED BY THE COMPANY: A SILENT TESTIMONY TO THE GROUPSS INDOMITABLE STRENGTH

BRANDING: MRF

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BRAND BUILDING ACTIVITIES

MRF has for long now branded its brand through various associations with either certain personalities or by creating numerous institutions that reflect its core ideology of STRENGTH. 1. In 1999, MRF signed on Sachin Tendulkar as its brand ambassador and agreed to be its bat sponsor. This association strengthened the core philosophy of MRF as Sachin in 1999, was the pillar of the Indian cricket team and its strength.

2. MRF entered into a technical collaboration with NASA for the development of NASAS space shuttles tyres and internally starting an exercise in quality improvement and new product development. 3. Subsequently many other automobile companies also associated themselves with MRF such as FORD with its Escort model, FIAT With its Uno model and OPEL with Astra.

BRANDING: MRF

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FIAT UNO

OPEL ASTRA

4.

FORD ESCORT

MRF launched an academy to train fast bowlers that had immense talent in the art of fast bowling. Many of these players went onto become players of the Indian cricket team. Fast bowling is an`` art in which the bowler is require to show and maintain a high level of strength, stamina and resilience. These three Hall of fame:
Indian bowlers Zaheer Khan, S.Sreesanth, Irfan Pathan and R.P.Singh among others International bowlers Mitchell Johnson, Chaminda Vaas, Brett Lee

attributes were what MRF as a brand stands for.

5. Another branding activity that MRF carried out was to sponsor major events such as motocross and rally driving which essentially test the power of the car and the driver and a main component of the
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BRANDING: MRF

car are the tyres. However gradually MRF started participating in such events and have been winning these events for a long time now hence further deepening the association of vehicles and MRF. These cars and bikes are painted with the MRF logo which provides the brand with a high visibility thus helping it create a brand image linked with vehicles. And in this case, vehicles that OUTPERFORM other Vehicles.

BRANDING: MRF

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This advertisement signifies how their initiatives in promoting and participating in such events helps MRF build its brands image.
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6. SMILE CAMPAIGN This is a campaign that MRF pioneered and was aimed to spread awareness regarding safe driving and spreading SMILES on roads. This kind of promotion helps reinforce MRFs image as a company committed to ensure the safety of its users through its products.

KAPFERERS BRAND PRISM

SELF IMAGE Tough, reliable and safe The brand epitomizes strength, high quality and a promise of great performance in every aspect from its product to its service and its association with its customers PHYSIQUE The muscle man

CULTURE Strength, high quality

RELATIONSHIP Sponsoring and promoting rallys

PERSONALITY Strong, durable and long lasting

REFLECTION Strong, high quality and sustainable

BRANDING: MRF

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BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. http://business.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?100123 2. http://www.mrftyres.com 3. Google images

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