On April 15, 2008, CEAT Ltd., part of the RPG Group and a major tire manufacturing company, unveiled

On April 15, 2008, CEAT Ltd., part of the RPG Group and a major tire manufacturing company, unveiled a new wordmark for the CEAT brand, doing away with its 25-year-old mascot, the rhino, and the tagline, Born tough. The rebranding exercise was carried out as part of a brand repositioning effort.

Introduction On April 15, 2008, CEAT Ltd. (Ceat), part of the RPG Group and a major tire manufacturing company, unveiled a new wordmark for the CEAT brand, doing away with its 25-year-old mascot , the rhino, and the tagline, ‘Born tough’. The rebranding exercise was carried out as part of a brand repositioning effort. The old CEAT logo and the tagline had been in use since 1983 (Refer Exhibit I for the old logo) . While this tagline seemed to work quite well when strength and durability were the only aspects that customers looked for in tires, it seemed to have lost its relevance with the needs of both the primary customers (automobile companies), and the end-consumers changing.

The fact that the condition of Indian roads was improving, and that vehicles were becoming more sophisticated, had led to customers demanding tires that would allow for greater speeds and increased maneuverability.
Recognizing this, the company repositioned CEAT from a brand that conveyed toughness to one that was associated more with performance, style, and comfort. Therefore, they decided to drop the ‘Born Tough’ logo as well as the rhino…