Indian multinational company Balkrishna Industries Ltd. (BKT) is now the first sub-continent group to partner with the Australian cricket league KFC Big Bash League (BBL) as the new off-highway tyre supplier. The company signed a three-year agreement with Cricket Australia, the governing body of all events around the sport in the country.
BKT have been providing large-scale tyres to farmers and the mining sector for almost a decade, through its Australian distributor Tradefaire.
BKT’s decision to partner with the BBL was motivated by the Group’s passion and enthusiasm for cricket, by the opportunity of reinforcing its brand awareness in the country, and the BBL’s alignment to BKT’s “Growing Together” philosophy. For the company, growing together means to support and sustain cricket in Australia in order to see talent grow and attract attention for the competition on an international level, in part due to BKT’s global presence.
“I am really glad about this partnership since cricket has been my great passion ever. Being able to support it and cheer at a close makes us proud. Not only do we appreciate its dynamics, but also the team play and above all the spirit of the game ruling this sport, or else the unwritten fair play every player adheres to,” said Rajiv Poddar, BKT’s Joint Managing Director.
“On the contrary, unfair play means a damage for the game itself. Here in BKT, we have the same philosophy: to do our best paying full respect to everybody.”
Cricket Australia Head of Big Bash League, Kim McConnie said “We are very excited to be welcoming BKT as a partner of the KFC Big Bash League as we draw closer to the highly anticipated BBL|08 season. BKT’s decision to come on board as a supplier of the BBL shows the growing appeal of the competition not just in Australia but overseas as well, and also demonstrates the value partners see in being associated with Australia’s most exciting sporting league.”
According to Steve Ryan, the General Manager of Tradefaire, the agreement is invaluable and unprecedented as Australians have united passion for cricket.
As part of the BBL announcement, BKT and Tradefaire gave away cheques totalling $30,000 to Australian charities. $20,000 was given to Aussie Helpers, a charity based in New South Wales that assist struggling farmers and $10,000 to a Ronald McDonald House in Tamworth, a charity offering accommodation for struggling rural families of sick children in Tamworth Hospital. The money was raised by Tradefaire through a gold coin donation for a BKT sports ball at its stand at the Agquip Field Days.
BKT’s BBL partnership is one in a line of sponsorships of international sports worldwide. This includes an agreement it signed in 2013 with the Monster Jam circuit, the American live motorsport event with giant trucks performing stunts equipped with BKT tyres, as well as the recent sponsorship agreement with the Lega Nazionale Professionisti B, the governing body of the B football series in Italy, for the second division championship which is now called “Serie BKT” and la Ligue de Football Professionnel, the governing body of Professional French football, for the Ligue’s National Cup which is now called Coupe de la Ligue BKT.
The agreement between BKT and Cricket Australia includes Havas Sports & Entertainment (Havas SE), a specialist team of Havas Media Group, which operates actively within sport and entertainment industries to implement effective marketing strategies with the aim of creating meaningful relations among brands and fan communities. The Italian team of Havas SE is the global advisor of BKT for the selection, negotiation, and activation of sports sponsorship.
The announcement was held at the home of Australian cricket, the MCG, and attended by legendary Australian cricketer Ricky Ponting, executives from BKT in India, and Hari Parsad, India’s Acting Counsel General in Melbourne. The event was hosted by high-profile Indian actress, fashion designer and television presenter Mandira Bedi.