Following the launch of Pulsar RS 200, Sumeet Narang, VP – Marketing (Motorcycles), Bajaj Auto talks about the brand’s marketing plans and how they are leveraging digital for targeted promotions
By Saloni Dutta
Q] How do you work towards a product launch at Bajaj Auto?
The process varies from launch to launch. For example, Platina is a more mass bike and addresses a different segment, targeting deep down to rural so the mix is different for its launch with a strong reliance on mass media. Pulsar RS 200 is targeted at the youth, metro, super sports and bikes. For Pulsar, mass media is of course important but Digital plays an important role as well. The kind of conversations happening around a product on social media plays an important role because that’s where the youth finds out about the product and looks for more information. The product being a style quotient is essential, and that is not easy to buy, you have to earn by creating the right kind of positive and genuine conversations around your brand. When we unveiled the 400 series at the Auto Expo, we saw an unprecedented interest among customers. Sustaining that interest and forming the right kind of opinions around the products became a big part of our marketing strategy.
Q] What are some straits of marketing that differentiates Bajaj Auto from other players?
More than anything else, it’s relevant and razor focused marketing. Marketing can often be a wasteful activity. It’s important to prevent that from happening in a segment where customer behaviour, preferences and lifestyle changes for each sub-segment. Therefore, we are constantly hosting workshops and clinics in order to understand people, their media consumption habits, interests, what drives them, what kind of brands are moving them. That ear to the ground becomes an extremely important part of understanding what will be the right way of marketing to these customers.
Q] What are some of the changing facets of media and customer that your research indicates that lead to communication plans and product launches?
It would be a cliché to talk about the growing importance of Digital so I would rather say that Digital is becoming multi-faceted with customers. There is controlled and uncontrolled Digital. There is a certain massification of Digital that we are seeing and there is a certain growing role that influencers in Digital are playing. Today it doesn’t matter how large a community you have on your Facebook page because that area changes quite dramatically. There are newer social tools Digital’s massification has been powered by smartphones, affordable 3G and platforms such as WhatsApp. You cannot track the uncontrolled part of Digital but there is content that gets created and it circulates through our smartphones.
Q] How do you use mobile for brand communication?
We have used mobile to reach out whether through SMS or voice messages, because as you get down to rural, the penetration and use of SMS becomes almost negligible. Mobile is a medium which works for different categories in different ways. In a category like ours, currently I don’t see it being able to play a strong role in terms of brand building. But if you do have a tactical message or if you have something on offer, or some kind of an immediacy then that is something one can use it for and we have done it in the past.
Q] How do you aim to create distinct communication for different brands under Bajaj Auto?
Since I moved into this role, the one thing I’ve ensured is that each of our brands has distinct equities and differentiated factors. To me, that is the starting point. If we don’t do that then it is going to get all muddled up. The second thing is that one has got to respect the interplay between the brand and the product in this category. Unlike FMCG, where perhaps the brand takes time, when you buy an automobile you are really buying the brand and the product both. So you have to understand that play, you can’t just build a brand by eclipsing the product. You can’t have a great product but a weak brand. It’s a theory everyone knows about but it becomes that much true in this category. Finally, many of these products are driven by evolution in design and technology, and when that happens the entire generation of products move together and that being the case there are more chances of similarity with competitors’ products at times, because they are also benefitting from the same generation leap in technology and design or changing tastes and preferences or newer fashion languages going on. That’s where it becomes important to differentiate yourself sharply on your proposition, what you want to stand for and your execution. There is a lot of sameness in the industry, getting your branding recalled and connected with your marketing initiatives becomes critical.
Q] How would you define Bajaj Auto’s USP?
Bajaj Auto stands for design, technology, the right value proposition and trust and performance for the people. However what we build on more are the individual offerings because we believe that is what people buy for and we try to make sure that those brands have their own sharp standing, whether it is Discover, Pulsar, Platina, CT 100, or Avenger. Pulsar is a lot about living life on the edge, speed, it is a complete youth brand and it’s got shades of grey. Discover is a brand that appeals to the family man, a brand which would always keep the zing alive in that family and functionally it is a brand that stands for joy of riding. We don’t believe that someone buys a bike thinking only about commuting. That is what we have encapsulated through our current campaign of ‘Life Banaye Zing Zong’. Platina stands for mileage, longevity, reliability. Avenger, which we call ‘Feel like God’, is all about that leisurely, laid back attitude when you want to enjoy the ride, it is a more mature youth brand. CT 100 is new, our current advertising says ‘Life Banaye Jackpot, Bike Nahi Jackpot’. It’s a bike which delights people with what it offers with that kind of a price.
Q] How have your marketing spends changed in the last year?
Versus the previous years, our spending has remained in the same zone, plus minus 5-10% or so. But more important is the way we have been changing the mix. We have started looking at Digital in a bigger way. We have started looking at product experience in a significant way and we have started looking at our TV presence with the aim for a more significant TV presence. To us more than media, it is a question of how we are using each media and what our messaging is.
Q] What is the marketing push behind the X-Factor that defines Pulsar?
From a marketer’s perspective, it’s difficult to create a loved brand. You can buy brand salience, you cannot buy brand love. When I see the interaction around Pulsar, whether they are customers or non-users or aspiring, it is a brand that is truly loved. Going behind that are few things, one is that it stands for adrenaline rush and it is complimented by the product. The same has gone behind the attitude and image created around the brand. The brand is premium but it’s not exclusive and that works a lot and our customers like it quite a bit. Even a 40+ guy finds this brand relevant to him, I see a metro guy finding the brand relevant to him and I see a guy from a small town with relevant means also finding the brand relevant to him. That’s the way this brand has been built, it is more on the attitude. It is an example of finding that commonality across, or a certain customer attitude and expectation, which is not defined by demographics and that is the sweet spot which Pulsar enjoys as a brand.
Q] What is on the anvil for Bajaj Auto this year?
We see the super sports segment growing. We also see the entry level bike segment to be growing and that is why we launched CT 100 and strengthened the Platina with a new model.
ABOUT THE BRAND
Bajaj Auto is an Indian two-wheeler and three-wheeler manufacturing company, and manufactures and sells motorcycles, scooters and auto rickshaws. A part of the Bajaj Group, Bajaj Auto was founded by Jamnalal Bajaj in Rajasthan in the 1930s. It is based in Pune with plants in Chakan (Pune), Waluj (near Aurangabad) and Pantnagar (Uttarakhand). Bajaj Auto is the world’s third-largest manufacturer of motorcycles and the second-largest in India. It is world’s largest three-wheeler manufacturer. Bajaj Auto is also India’s largest exporter of motorcycles and three-wheelers. Bajaj Auto’s exports accounted for approximately 35% of its total sales.
FACTS
Creative Agency:
Bajaj Discover: Leo Burnett
Bajaj Pulsar & Platina: O&M
Media Agency: Lintas
Digital Agency: Mindshare (creative); Indigo (website maintenance)
PR Agency: Ketchum Sampark
MARKETING TIP
Understand the segment across geographies and strata. This acts as a bedrock of a marketer’s journey.
CMO FILE
Sumeet Narang has been VP – Marketing (Motorcycles) at Bajaj Auto since March 2014. Prior to his current role, he was at Samsung Electronics as Marketing Director – Mobile. With a rich experience in marketing across categories, Narang has also worked with companies such as Aircel Telecom, Crystal Eyes Marketing Consulting, Procter & Gamble India, Coca-Cola India and Gillette India. He is an alumnus of Institute of Management Technology, Ghaziabad and Shri Ram College of Commerce.
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