Although it is the seventh largest car manufacturer in the world, Fiat is yet to make a significant dent in the Indian auto market. Extremely positive about changing market dynamics in favour of Fiat, Kevin Flynn, President and MD of Fiat Chrysler’s India operations, talks about the campaign which may well become the game-changer for the brand
By NEETA NAIR
Q] Fiat usually focuses on getting at least one overall brand campaign out in a year, as opposed to individual product ads. What is the strategy behind this?
It is a historic strategy however I am not sure we will continue to follow it in future. What we need to do right now is understand our brand strength and attempt to get a good product story coming through the brand message. I have been with the company in India for seven months now and have much to learn about the Indian car market. One of our challenges here is how do we resonate with the Indian car buyer, through our overall brand as well as our products.
Q] Tell us about Fiat’s new ‘Crafted for Car Lovers’ campaign’
We are very pleased with this fantastic new brand campaign which has really incorporated the DNA of who we really are. We first need to get that balloon back up and then we can come back with tactical and product activities which will appeal more because we would have already got our brand message through in the first instance.
Q] Does festive season marketing work for car brands?
This is my first festive season in India, so I am still on the learning curve and I’m quite intrigued to see what happens here. By all means we need to be part of that noise, we need to be part of that activity and we are going to have our right proposition in there. I would have loved to see our campaign launch a little earlier but unfortunately, the developments around the campaign took a little longer than anticipated. So we’re going to try and make that work for us.
Q] Which medium is the focus of your ad spends and why?
50% of our ad spends are going to Television and we have a reasonable mix between Outdoor and Print. On top of that we have a whole different strategy for Digital and social media. We need to find out what is the best channel of communication for us to get the best possible results. So for this campaign, I am going to observe the metrics very closely to give me a real steer on investments vis-a-vis where the strongest leads come from. The development has been fairly traditional with regards to this campaign but the outcome of it will shape what we will do moving forward.
Q] How is Fiat Chrysler Automobiles going to turn around the fortunes of Fiat in India now that you are in charge?
I am new to the country, new to the segment and new to the company as well. So there is a multitude of challenges and learnings for me here. What we have got is a fantastic set of attributes, the way the car drives, the superior engine, what our product offers is great quality, build, thickness of steel—there are so many things that really fit in our DNA. We want to lift that out, link it with the Indian buyer and rekindle the affection he had for Fiat in the past.
Q] You are one of the biggest car makers in the world but have less than 1% market share in India. What is holding you back here?
There are a lot of reasons for that. My team and I are heavily focussed on turning that around for the brand. We were working on the media and how we can do a better job of it than before. Also the idea is to maximise our product offering and make sure that key attributes of the product and brand are highlighted in the marketplace. The cars drive beautifully and are competitive but there has to be more. So it is a two pronged attack — taking care of today, correcting it and getting us more relevant. The commitment from the seventh largest car company in the world to India is phenomenal and we are not going to be backing out from that. We deserve more and we need to get that space back in people’s minds. So we will be back with a vengeance.
Q] How much will advertising contribute to that revamp in image?
I wholeheartedly believe in the message of Fiat –Crafted for Car Lovers. The response on Facebook to this campaign is really positive. We have seen good traction and increase in the number of enquiries now that the TV ads have come into play. Ideally the TV ads should have come earlier and then fed into Press. There are a lot of lessons that we will take from this particular campaign.
Q] You are reinventing Fiat in India. Have you considered singing on a brand ambassador like some other auto companies have done in the past?
I think, we should get our basics right first. We need to be careful that it is not borrowed values we are using. It would be fundamentally wrong to brand a known face, a known character to compensate for not getting your own brand personality and character stated. In the next step, if we were to pursue that route we need to ensure that the individual we pick is a good fit and can actually help progress the market’s thinking of us. Just plugging on a well known face because you think it will generate a level of fondness for you—how deep or sustainable is that, I’m not sure. It has its pros and cons. I don’t think we would want to go that route right now.
Q] After the launch of Abarth 595, are you looking at increasing your portfolio here?
We are focussing on maximising the products we have got. The Abarth brand in India is the funky, fast 595 Competizione which is a niche product priced at around Rs 30 lakh. We did an analysis of all the segments in India to see where could we play a role, profitably. We want to build a product that really hits the spot, but also ensure that we and the dealers are earning from it and at the same time the customer gets a great proposition and value offer. So while we will get into other segments, it would be difficult to cover them all.
Q] Which are the cars that will drive you straight into the heart of India?
Jeep is a completely different opportunity which will start changing the size of our footprint and the commercial stability of our footprint in India. We will be introducing the Grand Cherokee and Wrangler in the first half of next year and will be building a brand new product at our factory in Ranjangaon. The same car that we will be selling in Indian market will be exported to other markets. So that is a big vote of confidence in what we are doing in India and the make in India campaign too.
ABOUT THE BRAND
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) designs, engineers, manufactures, distributes and sells vehicles under the Abarth, Alfa Romeo, Chrysler, Dodge, Fiat, Fiat Professional, Jeep, Lancia, Ram, SRT brands as well as luxury cars under the Ferrari and Maserati brands. In addition, the Group provides retail and dealer finance, leasing and rental services in support of the car business through subsidiaries, joint ventures and commercial agreements with specialized financing services providers. FCA is an international auto group engaged in industrial activities in the automotive sector through companies located in 40 countries and has commercial relationships with customers in approximately 150 countries.
FACTS
CREATIVE AGENCY: OGILVY & MATHER
MEDIA AGENCY: MAXUS
DIGITAL AGENCY: MAXUS DIGITAL
PR AGENCY: PERFECT RELATIONS
CMO FILE
Kevin Flynn is President and Managing Director – FCA India Private Limited. A seasoned auto industry professional who commenced his career as an apprentice motor engineer and one who progressed through all the levels of management in both automotive retail and the import business, Flynn was the MD of Jaguar Land Rover, South Africa and Sub Sahara Africa region prior to joining – FCA India Private Limited
MARKETING TIP
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