31 Years of Heroes

Group 13Harshit Gupta (PGP14021)Shiva Sharma (PGP14045)Suneha Anand(PGP14052)Mudit Singh (PGP14081)Jonaki Yadav (PGP14104)

Company History From starting in 1956 to 1975, Hero had become the

largest manufacturer of bicycles in India. In 1978, Majestic Auto Limited was incorporated and

started producing Hero Majestic Moped, a motorized two wheeler. In 1986, Hero became the largest bicycle manufacturer in the world.

Honda had been the largest manufacturer of motorcycles in the world since 1959. In terms of automobile manufacturing, it was the sixth largest in the world.

Hero Honda started a JV in 1984 for a period of ten years. Honda agreed to provide the technical know-how, manufacturing facilities, and R&D.

The company launched its first bike - the Hero Honda CD 100 - in 1985. Designed completely by Honda. The four stroke motorcycle with EIS, illuminated speedometer, and 4-gear box. A high mileage standard of 80 km per liter. ‘Fill it, shut it, forget it’

CD 100 and Puch

Balancing act promoting power and mileage – What does the indian consumer want?

CD100 and CD100SS (variant to tackle rural indian roads better due to higher clearance) saw huge success from 1985 to mid-1990s.

Hero Puch was targeted at the younger entry segment and had more youthful image. It was endorsed by the three (then young and upcoming) Khans of Bollywood

Splendor era 1994 – OnwardWith the advent of globalization, consumer preferences were changing with regards to style. Body and head were sculpted and faring added to make the bike more designer appeal to a broader consumer baseSplendor has been the world’s largest selling motorcycleThe success of CD series was carried forward with the same features of a 100cc engine and good mileage of 70kplHas launched several variants since, plus, pro, super splendor, NXG and classic and is now sold by Hero Motorcorp as Splendor iSmart with a record mileage of 102.5 kplFrom 1997 onwards, the headlights were changed from rectangular to sculpted to cater to evolving design preferences.Since 2001, passion series has been marketed as a slightly rugged and better suited to rural markets version of same platform

CBZ Introduced in 1999, CBZ was the first 150cc bike from Hero Honda and positioned itself

with a powerful and stylish image the fast pick-up was a huge boost to sales and popularity among consumers in a starved market with the energetic slogan – motorcycling unplugged

CBZ star was introduced in 2004 but it did not receive much enthusiastic response because mileage was improved at the cost of acceleration. It was discontinued in early 2005

CBZ Xtreme was launched in 2006. It was edgy and powerfully built with a slogan ‘live off the edge’ but suffered at the hands of Pulsar and Apache which had redefined the market preferences.

The Hunk, launched in 2008 was a more muscularly designed, and shorter wheelbase variant of the same platform. The changes were done to compete with FZ-5 which was a distinctively shaped bike, and a top seller in the category`

KARIZMAKarizma was a 225cc bike launched in 2003. Hritik Roshan has been associated with the brand for almost a decade and it remains Hero Motorcorp’s premium range product offeringHas always espoused sporty and rebellious slogans – ‘Always Game’, ‘Discover your biker gene’, ‘Unleash the biker within’, ‘Above all’Full faring head and body with sporty lights and chassis. Powerful engine all at par with entry level American bikes. The bike was a reasonable success though the competition’s pulsar 220 and 200 variants captured significant share due to lesser price and better handling.Karizma R and ZMR brought significant cosmetic and performance changes and has been in the mindset of consumers due to good marketing and accessible after sales serviceThe latest iteration was unveiled last year along with international flagship and concept models. Ad

Pleasure Introduced in 2007, Pleasure was targeted at women. With the slogan

‘Why should boys have all the fun?’ and Priyanka Chopra as its celebrity endorser, the brand was very well received and has kept a competitive share of the market if the face of other brands like scooty pep. However it faced stiff competition once Honda released the more powerful Activa and Aviator

Pleasure has had relatively few modifications and just focuses on cosmetic upgrades and changing its celebrity endorsers to stay relevant with young female celebrities. Alia Bhatt is the current endorser for Pleasure

MaestroThe Maestro was unveiled in 2011 along with the new corporate identity of Hero Motorcorp. With a quirky and edgy design and suitable advertisements from endorser Ranbir Kapoor, the scooter is positioned in contrajunction to the Pleasure with the punch line ‘It’s a boy thing’Was launched to compete directly with Honda’s activa as the market was the main point of contention between Honda and Hero. Honda wanted to capture more profits in the scooters market and so it split.Hero launched this scooter as an almost identical but cheaper variant of Activa and has captured market share while Honda struggled with installing a full production capacity

The ‘Desh ki Dhadkan’ campaign was one of the major changes in the approach of the company to its target audience.

The company was involved in the Hockey, Golf and most importantly Cricket.

Hero became the country’s largest motorcycle seller, and the world’s second largest in terms of units volume sold.

The campaign started with an ad by Hritik Roshan and Saurav Ganguly appealing to the two gods of Indian psyche – Cricket and Bollywood

The patriotic fervour was cashed upon and the inspiring advertisement of a progressive, responsible India was widely broadcasted during the 2003 Cricket world cup

The Dhak dhak slogan was maintained up until the company split up in 2010, when the JV celebrated its 25th

anniversary Hritik and Priyanka were paired near the end of the

campaign to position the company with its two diverse products, motorcycles and scooters

Roadies was started in 2003 and was a different brand communication than the more patriotic and responsible Desh ki Dhadkan campaign

The show was a rebellious and edgy reality show that had attitude and ambition and a zeal for touring the country

The show became a cult in the Indian youth mindset

Many of the tasks and all of the touring was done of Hero Honda bikes (Karizma for the most part) throughout the series

Due to the extreme nature of the terrain and the general charged atmosphere of the show developed a brand image for Hero Honda Karizma as a great sports bike

The show’s controversial judges and hosts as well as the success stories of the winners have served to keep the image of Roadies alive in pop culture and the minds of the target audience

Hero Honda and subsequently Hero Motorcorp has leveraged the shows popularity effectively

HUM MEIN HAI HERO 2011 campaign to communicate the change in corporate identity after the split up Honda AR Rahman composed the music and the ad was widely popularized by the billion voices contest, which received many

submissions, singing along with the theme song The Desh ki Dhadhkan campaign had been a huge landmark in the history of

Hero Honda. Having become the market leader, there was in increasing returns to associate the brand name with patriotism and connect with the consumers

Hero Motorcorp wanted to retain the trust and goodwill it had accumulated over the last 25 years, but it also wanted to communicate the change from Hero Honda and dissociation with Honda

The Hero film showed various people who represent ambitious and inspiring images joining Hero motorcorp to the Indian consumer. Shots of Indian army men, children, women and middle income ‘common man’ were used to deliver the brand communication

WHAT HERO LACKS – Areas of Improvement Hero Honda has historically paid less attention to its design as opposed to its competitors. The CBZ was criticised for being understated and outdated in design in comparison to Pulsar The flagship Karizma was criticised for having a fixed head (and fixed headlight) leading to night-time driving issues Many models have seen infrequent and sporadic updates with relatively minor cosmetic changes and changes in brand

name by adding a suffix to the brand name With the advent of international brands and new, cutting edge design philosophy, Hero is being left further behind for its

dated designs R&D was carried out by Honda, which brought its technical expertise to the venture. After it left, Hero has been slow to

develop its own R&D capability. It has come out with Ignitor, Glamor and Achiever to compete mostly with Honda and Bajaj at various price points and product platform.

HOW HERO PLANS TO ADDRESS THIS

Hero Motorcorp has released a new ad titled ‘Zidd’ which talks of the driving force which the company hopes to embody, from designer to engineer to consumer

The campaign ‘Zidd’ emphasises the Hero’s commitment to progress in technology and aesthetics. The campaign also builds the company’s technology credentials and establishes Hero as an innovative company which is competing with the best in the continuous climb on the technology curve.

With five designs which included the innovative diesel engine scooter (for the rural India) that were unveiled in the Delhi Auto Expo 2014, Hero showed that the company has taken on the offensive and is rather doing well without the help of the Japanese automaker.

COMMUNICATION THROUGH THE YEARS TO CONSUMERS

1985- With its first bike Hero Honda CD 100, Hero Honda started its joint venture in India with a high performance bike that had a superb mileage that catered to every market from rural to urban.

1989- With PUCH selling the entire production of PUCH maxi plus entirely to Hero Honda, Hero PUCH with its stylish and performance orientation was launched with the three Khans to target a young population.

1994- Hero Honda came out with Splendor and gave its most popular bike in terms of volume of sale. The Splendor carried the need for more style that was a growing need amongst the customers. Hero brought out a lot of variations of the bike over the years and currently sells Splendor i-Smart with a record mileage of 102.5 kpl that caters rural and lower middle class of India.

1999- CBZ with a 150cc engine was launched and was more edgier and powerful bike than its counterparts. The response towards the bike was enthusiastic in the initial years of the launch with advertisements focussing on speed which was slowly gaining prominence amongst the riders.

The bike was cosmetically changed over the years to compete with other brands who had edgier designs in their stable. Present- The response has been lukewarm due to many entrants flooding the given compartment.

2003- Hero Honda came out with their premium range bike Karizma with Hrithik Roshan as its brand ambassador. The brand struck the right note with the new age of bike riders who demanded speed as well as a aesthetically pleasing bike. Hrithik Roshan was the obvious choice to communicate the same message. Till date Karizma has underwent cosmetic changes and competes with several other brands of different companies.

2003 contd.- Hero started with Desh ki Dhadkan campaign to instil the patriotic fervour and widely circulated it in the Cricket World Cup 2003. The campaign showed Sourav Ganguly and Hrithik Roshan- appealing to the two Gods of Indian Psyche. The campaign was continued till 2010 until the company split up.

2003 contd. – Hero Honda also clearly communicated its distinction in performance and powerful bikes with the company sponsoring Roadies-cult reality show which used to air on MTV. Karizma was widely used in the show to give the company a rebellious attitude towards its powerful bikes in the mindset of youth.

2007- With a growing need to tap female market, Hero Honda launched Pleasure. The launch was significant in terms of increasing meagre female two wheeler driver population and the company communicated the message through Priyanka Chopra through the tagline-’Why should boys have all the fun?’. The advertisements brought out the handicap of female population in traversing small distances as pillion riders to male two wheeler riders.

2011- With new corporate identity of Hero Motocorp, Hero brought out a more powerful and stylish scooter- Maestro which was intended for the male population. Rising favourite Bollywood star Ranbir Kapoor was chosen to be the celebrity endorser for the brand.

2011 contd. – ‘Hum Mein Hai Hero’ campaign was launched to communicate the change from Hero Honda and dissociation with Honda. The campaign was sung by A.R. Rehman and was well received. The campaign showed various inspiring and ambitious people which connected well with qualities and mind set of the current Indian audience.

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