In high places

BY IMPACT Staff

Debashis Mitra, Director of Marketing and Sales, Mercedes-Benz India, is looking to raise the bar for the luxury brand and build its image as a motorsport major in the run-up to India’s first Formula 1 race.

What are the marketing activities that help build your brand?

Our TVC is on various channels and the response is good. Also, we are the only luxury automobile manufacturer to provide a threeyear warranty other than Rolls Royce. We have our financial services and are introducing the concept of self-leasing.

What’s the USP of the new CLS-Class sedan?

Its USP is the Active Parking Assist, that comes with the newly developed technology ‘Electromechanical Direct-Steer System‘. This provides unmatched safety to the driver. Equipped with reversing cameras, the technology gives the driver information about the most suitable parking space.

What are the key insights behind your marketing activities?

We focus on Product Offense Strategy and Brand Offense Strategy. We are the premium luxury car-makers and cater to people who have a high disposable income. The demand is proportionate to new offerings in the market. We launched three new products during the festival season, and have two more in the offing. The luxury car market is burgeoning in India and all our marketing strategies are aimed at sprucing up the demand. Through brand offense strategy, we want to raise the bar for the brand, strengthen our positioning as a luxury brand and build our image as a motorsport major. Mercedes-Benz is synonymous in India with luxury cars, yet globally, it is known for its legacy in motorsports. Few in India know about Mercedes-Benz’s longstanding relationship with F1.

To change this, we are leveraging the F1 Grand Prix being held in India this year through various initiatives and promotional events: the Mercedes-Benz JPSI Performance Driving academy, which will offer certificate courses to racing enthusiasts and have former F1 drivers as trainers, the association with MTV for the show MTV Date with Speed, Mercedes-Benz Speed Date where consumers are given a chance to experience the excitement of racing on a track in Mumbai. Motorsports is all about speed and youth. It is the game for adrenaline junkies, so we have incorporated a lot of activities attuned to the event and motorsports on the whole.

What, according to you, is the best medium to reach out to customers?

There cannot be one medium tailor-made for all customers. Each and every individual is different with different tastes and preferences. Also, people have become very interested in the service we provide, so we cannot depend on any one medium to reach our discerning customers. We want to be involved in their lifestyles, dreams and aspirations. Our brand claim is: The best or nothing. For us, this clearly means that

we want the best or nothing for our customers.

The luxury car segment has seen a double digit growth in the last three years. How do you see the market growing this year?

We expect sales in the luxury car segment to be higher this year. Although we saw a downturn in automobile sales in general due to higher interest rates and rising fuel prices, in August we sold 614 units, recording a growth of 7% over August 2010 (573 units). The company also grew 40% by clocking 4,890 units from January-August 2011, as compared to the same period in 2010 (3495 units). With the launch of the New C-Class, and recently the New CLS Class and an aggressive launch calendar this festive season, we are bullish about retaining the ongoing good momentum.

Whom do you see as your biggest competitor in the Indian auto market?

Competition is good because the moment one is not competing, one becomes complacent and there is no scope for improvement. In our rich history of 125 years, Mercedes-Benz India has set the benchmark for luxury cars in terms of product offerings, innovations and state-of-the-art after sales service enhancing the overall vehicle ownership experience. We have pioneered many features in automobile engineering that have been adopted by others. We don’t get into numbers. We surpassed our annual target in 2010 and are doing the right things to add value for our customers. We have the dominant market-share.

Tier II cities have many buyers of luxury cars, what are your campaigns for that market?

With the Indian economy showing a consistent growth rate of 8-9% for the last five years, the disposable income of Indians has grown. People are aspirational. This attitude helps the luxury car market. Although nearly 70% of the cars are still sold in metros, Tier-II and Tier-III cities are emerging as the next auto destinations. We are very encouraged by the response to our products in smaller cities. It gives us an opportunity to expand the network. Today, Tier-II cities have pipped the metros when it comes to growth.

There has always been money in those towns, but now there is an openness in attitude, to invest in lifestyle products such as a luxury car. There is continued prosperity and financing, factors which are driving growth for us in these areas. We have already planned a Rs 250 crore investment to open new dealerships and upgrade the existing ones. To tap the growing potential of Tier-II and Tier III cities, the company has already established state-of-the art dealerships/ showrooms in Surat, Coimbatore, Nagpur, Jalandhar, Jaipur, Porvorim (Goa) and Kolkata.

What activations are planned to create excitement around the upcoming Mercedes- Benz F1 driving academy at Buddh Circuit?

The academy will offer structured training by professional racing drivers. Though it is difficult to beat the popularity of cricket, I am sure it will attract a lot of people. Creating awareness about the driving academy would be the first step. al.

What is the future of the luxury cars sector in India? How can one stand out in the market?

The luxury car market in India is poised at 15,000 units per annum. It has grown tremendously in the last couple of years. Studies show that the segment is growing at the rate of 25% per annum with more and more luxury cars entering the market. The key factors contributing to this growth is the rising economy fuelled by high growth in Tier II & III cities and aspiration of owning luxury goods and products. There is more disposable income that people spend on luxurious and high-end cars. Despite the growing number of millionaires in India, the luxury car market is relatively small. But it has the potential to be among the top four key markets globally. To be a differentiator, a company should have a very clear brand and product strategy. This should be amply supported by world-class aftersales service and a strong network. Customer satisfaction is key to success. All these will make the company stand out.

One learns more from failures than successes. Can you share any such phase or incident in your brand marketing that helped you learn and reach a higher pedestal?

When I was at Toyota, and we launched the Innova, people called it a mini-bus and asked why we had phased out the Qualis. It took eight months for the marketing team to figure out perception and presumption issues. We then signed Aamir Khan as the brand ambassador and changed our positioning from ‘niche’ to ‘multiple roles’, just as Aamir had done. It took us those painful eight months to rev-up sales from 2,500 units per month to 4,000 units per month.

Later, I took up the Mercedes-Benz challenge in 2009, in the worst macro-economic situation. The economy was badly hit by recession and there was healthy yet tremendous competition from car-makers. It was a difficult phase. We restructured the network and made some important changes in our portfolio. By sprucing up the brand image, we managed to change the whole scenario and give a year-on-year 80% growth in 2010. Well, every success has its own failure. That’s life!

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Tags : CMO Interview