When it comes to Branding, Hero really needs to follow The Footsteps of its Arch Rival Bajaj Auto if it wants to go a long way without Honda
It was all about scooters in the Indian market in the early ‘80s when Hero Honda decided to take that bold step. While the waiting period for the scooters coming out of Bajaj Auto’s stable was running into several years, Hero in JV with Japanese Honda launched India’s first 100cc four-stroke motorcycle (CD100) in 1985. Starting with its popular campaign, ‘Fill it, Shut it, Forget it’, and following up with launches like Sleek, Splendor, and Street, the brand took little time in taking the competition by surprise and making its presence felt in the scooter-dominated two-wheeler market... so much so that it even achieved the position of the largest two-wheeler maker in India, which it retains till date.
Certainly, the company has played the right set of cards for the price sensitive Indian consumers by banking on its core competence of fuel efficiency. But, what has been more critical for the brand is the buzz that it creates in the market with its campaigns. Be it the “Fill it, Shut it, Forget it” campaign for CD100 in 1985 or the star studded “Dhak Dhak Go” campaign, the company has always powered its brand activation on all fronts. Even its association with many popular shows like the MTV Roadies and Sa Re Ga Ma Pa has helped it stay alive in the minds of the country’s millions of consumers.
However, the question now is: Will the company continue to spell the same magic considering it has already announced to go to the market alone after a 26-year partnership with Japanese Honda (in December 2010) that, till now, has been the single provider of all its technological needs. Well, to time this effort to perfection, the group has just roped in the London based consultancy firm Wolff Olins (a part of the Omnicom Group) to create a new brand identity of its own. For the less informed, Wolff Olins has recently worked on the rebranding campaigns for names like Airtel & Tata Docomo and is undoubtedly a veteran is this area. But then, considering that the domestic consumer still associates the Hero brand with bicycles against Honda that has always been seen as a trusted name behind motor vehicles, this exercise perhaps might prove to be a little tougher for Wolff Olins as compared to its previous clients. “It’s a known fact that brand India is getting stronger by each day. And so does Hero Honda, especially as we pass through this exciting phase in the life of our company – changing for the future while anchoring ourselves to our core values and fundamental principles that have guided us in the past. The new buzzwords at Hero Honda are creation, renewal and re-energising,” however counters Pawan Munjal, MD & CEO, Hero Honda Motors.
It was all about scooters in the Indian market in the early ‘80s when Hero Honda decided to take that bold step. While the waiting period for the scooters coming out of Bajaj Auto’s stable was running into several years, Hero in JV with Japanese Honda launched India’s first 100cc four-stroke motorcycle (CD100) in 1985. Starting with its popular campaign, ‘Fill it, Shut it, Forget it’, and following up with launches like Sleek, Splendor, and Street, the brand took little time in taking the competition by surprise and making its presence felt in the scooter-dominated two-wheeler market... so much so that it even achieved the position of the largest two-wheeler maker in India, which it retains till date.
Certainly, the company has played the right set of cards for the price sensitive Indian consumers by banking on its core competence of fuel efficiency. But, what has been more critical for the brand is the buzz that it creates in the market with its campaigns. Be it the “Fill it, Shut it, Forget it” campaign for CD100 in 1985 or the star studded “Dhak Dhak Go” campaign, the company has always powered its brand activation on all fronts. Even its association with many popular shows like the MTV Roadies and Sa Re Ga Ma Pa has helped it stay alive in the minds of the country’s millions of consumers.
However, the question now is: Will the company continue to spell the same magic considering it has already announced to go to the market alone after a 26-year partnership with Japanese Honda (in December 2010) that, till now, has been the single provider of all its technological needs. Well, to time this effort to perfection, the group has just roped in the London based consultancy firm Wolff Olins (a part of the Omnicom Group) to create a new brand identity of its own. For the less informed, Wolff Olins has recently worked on the rebranding campaigns for names like Airtel & Tata Docomo and is undoubtedly a veteran is this area. But then, considering that the domestic consumer still associates the Hero brand with bicycles against Honda that has always been seen as a trusted name behind motor vehicles, this exercise perhaps might prove to be a little tougher for Wolff Olins as compared to its previous clients. “It’s a known fact that brand India is getting stronger by each day. And so does Hero Honda, especially as we pass through this exciting phase in the life of our company – changing for the future while anchoring ourselves to our core values and fundamental principles that have guided us in the past. The new buzzwords at Hero Honda are creation, renewal and re-energising,” however counters Pawan Munjal, MD & CEO, Hero Honda Motors.
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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2011.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).
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