Marketing director Avik Chattopadhyay knew that because tires are commodities, brand would be the key. Apollo's  name was functionally strong, but its old 'unending road' symbol was not up to the challenge. When it came to creating a new brand for Apollo Saffron was invited to submit a proposal amongst a number of larger international branding firms. Saffron responded best and Apollo began work with them.

Saffron responded with an elegantly simple wordmark based on wheels, and no single symbol — instead, a vibrant pattern of wheel shapes in hot Indian colors. As CEO Neeraj Kanwar said in launch memos, "We want to stand out from others. After all, we are not like them. We are young, ambitious, Indian and proud of it. Therefore, we decided to introduce a bit of colour, wit and fun into the representation of the Apollo identity -- a brand for each one of us. Enjoy the ride ahead."

In addition to the visual system (the wheel patterns, a colour palette and the Flama type family), Saffron developed a clever system to associate of the various 'wheel' weights and colours to Apollo's product range. The purples for example represent radial tyres, ranging (in thickness of gray) from agricultural through heavy truck, light truck, and SUV, to passenger.