Having roped in Indian cricket team skipper Mahender Singh Dhoni as its brand ambassador, Lafarge India, the Indian subsidiary of the French building materials major, is set to roll out a new advertising campaign for the ICC World Cup.

The company has allocated a budget of Rs 5 crore for the campaign.

The ad campaign, for which Lafarge has commissioned Ogilvy & Mather, will aim at building a brand connect for the Lafarge name. It will play on the theme that just as a captain leads a team of experts on the field to victory, so does a builder lead a team of experts (architects, planners, masons, painters) for the completion of a dream home.

“Quite like a team and its captain, a homebuilder also needs to have a clear strategy or plan in mind while building his home. Like a team has to have the right mix of batting, bowling and fielding talents, a homebuilder needs to make the right choice of materials for finish and durability,” Madhumita Basu, senior vice-president (marketing), Lafarge India, told Financial Chronicle.

According to Lafarge brand managers, cricketers in India enjoy mass popularity. At a time like the World Cup, end-users will be able to connect with the messaging strongly as Dhoni will be featured in the ads.

“The campaign will be introduced simultaneously in states like West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand and Orissa. But eventually we will adopt a 360-degree marketing approach around it,” Basu said.

How does the company stand to gain from the campaign?

“It serves the dual purpose of building the brand and ensuring recall, which finally contributes to the top line. This is a brand building exercise and we see it as a key step in supporting our growth plan for our Concreto brand,” said Basu.