Rising to the challenge

BY IMPACT Staff

Taking inspiration from the positioning ‘Mahindra Rise’, Mahindra Two-Wheelers Ltd hopes its new, attractively priced 110cc Centuro will hoist the brand as an aggressive player in the competitive motorcycle segment. Viren Popli, Executive Vice President, Strategy and Market Development,  Mahindra Two-Wheelers, shares how they have learnt from their past failed launches, and are happy being the challenger

Q] Mahindra Two Wheelers Ltd (MTWL) just launched the 110 cc motorcycle Centuro at a very competitive price. What was the rationale behind this strategy?

Nothing excites consumers more than great prices. We thought we should create some disruption in the market with our aggressive price points for the motorcycle; so we offered an introductory price of Rs 44,000 for the first 10,000 bikes and thereafter, Rs 45,000.

Q] Your TVC was released just last week. What was the brief given to the creative agency? What message are you looking to convey to consumers?

Our core target audience is men aged between 18 and 35 years. We gave a simple brief — it has to be from the house of Mahindra & Mahindra and bring to life the core strengths of MTWL; and it has to be aspirational.

Q] MTWL invested in a lot of R&D time and resources to power the bike with new features. Can you tell us a little more about them?

Based on the replies of consumers we worked with and video-graphed, we added a host of innovative features like the ‘Anti-Theft’ and ‘Find Me’ where with a click of a button on the key the vehicle beeps. We’ve also added the ‘Distance To Empty’ meter to indicate the distance before the fuel tank will run dry. We have a patent on the MCI-5 engine, which allows higher fuel efficiency.

Q] Looking back, it’s been a bumpy ride for MTWL in the two-wheeler space. What did you gain from that experience?

The single biggest lesson for us was to get control of end-to-end technology and product styling, and work with customers to solve the real problems they face. These are the issues we grappled with Stallio, and we’ve sorted them out with Centuro.

Q] Tell us about the brand’s marketing mix, the fundamental principles of your marketing strategy and an estimate of your marketing spends?

We will run the campaign in phases. The new TVC will build the brand and the customers’ relationship with MTWL. We will add more films that will talk about the product and its features.

We will use all mass media and touch points to focus on our core TG. We will be present on Television, Print, Digital and Radio to some extent, and also organize ground activations. While news and sports will be the priority on Television, we are looking at some GEC mixes as well and will focus on male-oriented programming for the time being.

Q] What are you doing in the digital space to connect with your consumer?

Digital is a unique promotional and advertising medium for us. For Pantero, we had a bilingual website (Hindi and English) and we are now looking at other languages that are mobile phone-friendly too. A similar plan is in the works for Centuro. Our website is like an online showroom which allows a lot of interactivity with customers, including videos on how we test the product. We are also looking at showing sales videos at our dealerships, which allow people to experience the product in store. Online Reputation Management is top priority, which is why we have a complete vertical that focuses only on managing customer care.

Q] You partnered with Rajasthan Royals in the last IPL to promote Pantero. What was the rationale behind this tie-up?

As a brand, we’ve never been involved with cricket like we are with football. This was an interesting opportunity for the brand to experiment with cricket on a non-advertising basis.

Q] When MTWL launched you had Aamir Khan and Kareena Kapoor as your brand ambassadors. How did these associations help the brand’s growth? Will you be looking at celebrity endorsers looking ahead?

In the initial stages, you need to break through the clutter and stand out; so it made sense for us to tie up with Kareena and Aamir then. Today, we are in a slightly different space. I don’t see someone filling Aamir’s shoes at the moment.

Q] Adverse macro-economic factors have affected the entire automotive space. While the two-wheeler segment was flat, sales of MTWL fell in the last fiscal — the impact was probably more as you are still a relative newcomer to this space. What are you doing to ride this out?

As a new entrant, a brand may not be worried about market share as your targets are different. The focus is on making sure your product is well accepted, customer word-of-mouth is positive and the network expansion is on track. You are not looking to fight for any market share with any competitor, because your market and volume expectations are so small that neither does the competition worry about you nor do you worry about the competition. However, we see an opportunity for us as we are a new challenger brand in the market space.

Q] Are you looking to increase your dealer strength? Also, will you be looking at launching more products in the near future?

We have about 900 touchpoints across the country, which will hopefully rise to 1100 to 1200 in about six months. We have announced that we will be launching 10 new products and variants in the next two and a half years. Although we’ve been strong in the scooter segment, we hope our new motorcycles will reach out to consumers in Tier II and Tier III cities.

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Tags : CMO Interview