A heritage brand, Maruti Suzuki has come a long way in the Indian market. Manohar Bhat, Vice President – Marketing, Maruti Suzuki India Limited talks about customizing this heritage to current times, marketing challenges of the industry leader and the way forward
BY SALONI DUTTA
For an iconic brand such as Maruti, what is the fundamental marketing challenge?
Maruti as a company has an established heritage to back it up. Currently, we offer a wide variety of products that span across segments, which makes us the market leader. Going ahead, we are looking at establishing a presence in other segments where we aren't currently present. Our offerings are universally available and are relevant to a very large target audience. So we're looking at every geography and target segment. For each vehicle, our proposition to the customer is different. For this reason, the communication strategy, message and media plan, is a challenge. To summarize, since we are a market leader and have such a large variety of products, we also have to reach out to many different customers with different tastes which is our fundamental marketing challenge. There are also other generic challenges that are true for any manufacturer. For instance, media is getting more fragmented, the customer's attention span is getting lesser.
With such a large portfolio, how do you keep Maruti Suzuki's brand image consistent?
One positive aspect of a heritage brand is that the legacy is gradually built over years and passed on from generations. Considering the mother brand has been built into this icon over the years, we are now moulding it to suit the changes that our new products will bring which will also keep it relevant to the current generation. The brand image we have today stands for reliability, trust and leadership. We get the sporty and aspirational lifestyle part of the DNA from Suzuki. Our mother brand's image is layered with characteristics such as youth and sportiness by Suzuki.
What does your media mix look like?
One of the important challenges we face today is that media is getting very fragmented. Earlier there was only Doordarshan on Television, today we have more than 700 channels and counting. The number of channels, media options, and languages available today is humongous. That is only for TV, then there is Print, OOH and Digital which is increasing its relevance every year. The customer is getting younger and the digital space is where they are so for us social media marketing is becoming very important. That's a challenge we are facing and adjusting our budget accordingly. Print and TV continue to be mainstream but going forward, we are looking at Digital much more.
What are some of the BTL activities done by Maruti Suzuki?
As market leaders in the auto space, motor rallies are one of the most important BTL activities that we had done. We feel the need to popularize motor sports in the country, especially among the youth, and generate interest in motor sports like it is abroad. We started off with 'Raid-De-Himalaya' about 16-17 years ago, which is iconic today. Then we introduced the Desert Storm which is a rally in the desert, conducted in Gujarat's Rann of Kutch or in Rajasthan's Thar Desert. Lately, the major thing we have started is the Dakshin Dare which is for the monsoon season in the Southern terrain, where after the monsoon the terrain gets rather marshy so it is a challenge of its own. I won't call it BTL, it is a brand that we have started centred around motor sports, especially the reign to the Himalayas and deserts. They are brands on their own today. We are very confident about our products and most of the time our products come at the top in these rallies and challenging terrains.
What was the marketing strategy behind participating in the Autocross recently and how did it go for Maruti Suzuki?
The strategy behind participating in Autocross was an effort to connect with the consumers. In this case slightly different in the sense that we are trying to reach the corporate and urban consumer, who normally doesn’t have the time to go for a major rally. It was vetting their appetite and generate their interest. We also encouraged women to participate as it was a family thing.
How is Maruti Suzuki making use of Digital?
The latest example I can cite is that of Ciaz. We started the campaign much in advance and did the booking and unveiling of the car digitally. There were a lot of teasers and tweets that went viral to generate buzz. We trended on number one and two on Twitter for about four days. Videos and pictures of the car sent by customers were doing the rounds on social media. As a result, Ciaz got a large number of customers following its launch which perhaps wouldn't have been possible with any other medium. Our brand ambassador Ranveer Singh pitched in as well. On Digital, Ciaz got a lot of mileage in a very short period of time, making it a success for us.
What is your take on e-commerce for the auto sector?
One of way of looking at it is by considering what is happening abroad. I don't think in advanced markets such as the US, large numbers are still buying cars online. Buying a car is a very touch and feel experience and I don't think people will be rushing to buy vehicles online in the near future. But, things could be changing,we are prepared in case the trend does pick up.
How do Maruti Suzuki's initiatives such as end-to-end fleet, true value, and CSR, help build the brand?
All of them have a slightly different take on the brand but basically they are all driving towards Maruti Suzuki's image and basic brand proposition of being there for the customer, and giving back to society in whatever way we can. Being in the auto space, we want to popularize auto sports. Similarly for the motor driving school, we want to make sure that people on the road drive safely. We are trying to ensure that the driver has a good skill set so that safety for all road users is assured.
How do you reach the rural market and build on the market leader proposition there?
In most places, the most important fact is presence. It is also about having a physical presence on the field. The other thing is having events and BTL activities which connect with the customer as often as possible. We need to be in touch with the rural customer, informing them about our products, and ensuring that he sees these vehicles are for him. He shouldn’t feel that the brand is too urban. He needs to understand that it is not a luxury but a necessity which makes life convenient for him. So it is the reach and touch with the customer which is the most critical in the rural market.
What are the plans for Maruti Suzuki going ahead?
Increase reach and foothold across the country, be it the urban or rural market. In rural markets, penetration of cars is very less and purchasing power is increasing year by year, so it makes sense to increase our reach there.
Are there any new launches from Maruti Suzuki in the pipeline?
We have exhibited a lot of vehicles in the last two Auto Expos. We showed a Ciaz which has been launched, similarly some other car models we showed will also be launched in the near future.
MARKETING TIP
Know your customer first. Then you can move to product development and other aspects of brand development.
CMO FILE
Manohar Bhat, VP – Marketing, Maruti Suzuki has more than 15 years of management experience in various aspects of the automobile industry including marketing and sales policy, sales planning, dealer development, channel management, logistics, and institutional sales. He has also been the Head of National Sales and Zonal Head in charge of West & South zones. He was also involved in setting up systems and processes for sales planning, logistics and dealer software at Hyundai Motor India.
ABOUT THE BRAND
Maruti Suzuki started out in 1982 in Gurgaon, Haryana. The new Maruti Suzuki 800 hit the streets to begin a new chapter in the Indian automobile industry. Today, Maruti Suzuki alone makes 1.5 million family cars every year. The company believes that their story is about revolutionary cars that deliver great performance, efficiency and environment friendliness with low cost of ownership. With a team of over 12,500 professionals that turned out 14 cars with over 150 variants, the drive is backed up by a nationwide service network spanning over 1,454 cities and towns and a sales network that spreads across 1,097 cities, two factories, a diesel engine plant with a capacity upped to turn out 7 lakh diesel cars a year and, a commitment to road safety to make Indian roads safer.
FACTS
Creative Agency: Lowe Lintas & Partners, Publicis Capital, Dentsu, Hakuhodo Percept
Media Agency: Initiative
Digital Agency: Razorfish
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