Shaji Koshy, Senior VP, Sales and Marketing, Royal Enfield, talks about the iconic motorcycle brand’s efforts to reach out and communicate with consumers on a oneon- one basis with experiential marketing, and why it has worked for the brand
Q] What is the marketing strategy for the new launch of Thunderbird 500?
As a company, we promote the culture of ‘keep riding’; riding is our culture and what we believe in. In line with this thought, 50 to 60 rides take place every month in our dealership outlets. It is through such experiential activities that we aim to expand the segment. Our new Thunderbird 500 is the ultimate highway cruiser; as people start riding it more, they will definitely fall in love with it and want to buy this bike.
Q] What are the targeted activities for Thunderbird 500?
All our marketing activities are simple and focus more on one-on-one interaction with customers. Thunderbird does very well in IT markets such as Chennai, Coimbatore, Bangalore, Mangalore, Pune and also Mumbai, as these customers want to come out of their stressful lives. This is our readymade target segment. We need to ensure that they experience our bikes. For this, we have the first ride experience available at our dealerships. I’m sure once people experience the joy of this bike, they will buy it.
Q] How does the brand strike the balance between keeping existing customers happy and attracting new customers as well?
The Thunderbird 500 is a great upgrade for an existing Thunderbird owner; also there are many who have not experimented or tried out our bike. For this purpose, we have many kinds of activities for IT companies. For example, we take bikers of other brands to ride along with us and experience our bikes for themselves. In Chennai, we do such experiential activities in companies such as American Express and Wipro with people who ride other bikes. We take them on our bikes, then they exchange bikes, after which they feel this is the only bike they can ride. It is done for our existing customers and their friends as well. We mainly use retail media and our website, so our latest campaign is present on YouTube, which is the biggest touchpoint for our target audience, along with our website.
Q] How do you decide the media allocation for the brand?
We don’t use TV to advertise. We use automobile and lifestyle magazines, which we feel is the best way to talk to our target group. Basically, we are a brand that believes in engaging customers directly. We have marketing activities like rides for the Rann of Kutch and Southern Odyssey. We also started the Bhutan ride and Nepal ride. Our main aim is consumer engagement and how to increase consumer engagement. Royal Enfield also organizes and supports many activities, events and rides across the country, most prominently the Rider Mania – an annual gathering of Royal Enfield riders from all over the country and the Himalayan Odyssey, the largest motorcycle ride over some of the toughest roads and highest mountain passes in the region of Himachal and Ladakh.
Q] What is the market-share enjoyed by the brand currently?
We don’t play the market-share game; we are selling about 10,000 units a month today and we are limited by our capacity. Once we set up a new plant, we will be able to reach out to more customers.
Q] How has your distribution strength grown to supplement your expansion plans?
In 2009, we had 140 dealers, today we have 237 and we are expanding. We are also tying up with new dealers who are Royal Enfield riders. They come with a fresh passion and keep the ‘Keep riding’ culture alive in our country.
Q] Does the brand enjoy a good presence in smaller towns as well?
We don’t differentiate between markets we will go where we get the right partnership. Earlier, we were strong in Kerala and Punjab, now we are spread across the county.
Q] How do you think the riding culture has evolved in India?
The motorcycling culture has certainly evolved and we are happy to lead the growth for this in India. There is a distinct shift, wherein people are motorcycling for the pleasure of motorcycling and not solely for the utility purpose of commuting. Our latest Thunderbird 500 launch is to expand and strengthen our position as a leading motorcycle brand in India.
Q] What are the emerging consumer trends?
Consumers nowadays lead extremely stressful lives and are looking for a few moments to escape from it. Our motorcycle gives them that escape.
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