Comparison of Branding Strategies of Bajaj Auto Ltd and Hero Honda Motors Ltd

Subject: Apparel Brand Management

Submitted to: Submitted by:

Mr. Vikram Parekh Ajay Kumar (M/FMS/08/02)
Bhavik Gandhi (M/FMS/08/10)
Gaurang Gupta (M/FMS/08/11)
Ridhima Ranga (M/FMS/08/14)
Sunil Kerketta (M/FMS/08/31)

Fashion Management Studies Department, NIFT - Mumbai

Comparison of Branding strategies

Table of Contents
COMPANY PROFILE ....................................................................................................................................... 3
Bajaj Auto Ltd ............................................................................................................................................ 3
Hero Honda Motors Ltd ............................................................................................................................ 3
PRODUCTS/BRANDS...................................................................................................................................... 4
BRAND EQUITY .............................................................................................................................................. 5
Building Brand Equity ................................................................................................................................ 5
BRANDING STRATEGIES ................................................................................................................................ 6
The Product brand .................................................................................................................................... 6
The Line Brand Strategy ............................................................................................................................ 7
The range brand strategy .......................................................................................................................... 7
The Umbrella brand strategy .................................................................................................................... 8
The Source Brand strategy ........................................................................................................................ 8
Endorsing Brand Strategy ......................................................................................................................... 9
Mixed Brand Strategy ............................................................................................................................... 9
BRAND ROLES IN BRAND PORTFOLIO ......................................................................................................... 10
BRAND IDENTITY PRISM .............................................................................................................................. 11
New Pulsar 220 DTS-I .............................................................................................................................. 11
Karizma ZMR ........................................................................................................................................... 12
BRAND EXTENSION ..................................................................................................................................... 13
Line Extension ......................................................................................................................................... 13
Brand Extension ...................................................................................................................................... 13
COMPANION PRODUCT EXTENSION ................................................................................................... 13
COMPANY EXPERTISE.......................................................................................................................... 14
Reference .................................................................................................................................................... 15

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Comparison of Branding strategies

COMPANY PROFILE
Bajaj Auto Ltd

The Bajaj Group is amongst the top 10 business houses in India. Its footprint stretches over a
wide range of industries, spanning automobiles (two-wheelers and three-wheelers), home
appliances, lighting, iron and steel, insurance, travel and finance.
The group's flagship company, Bajaj Auto, is ranked as t h e w o r l d ' s f o u r t h l a r g e s t
t w o - a n d t h r e e - w h e e l e r m a n u f a c t u r e r and the Bajaj brand is well-known
across several countries in Latin America, Africa, Middle East, South and South East Asia.
Bajaj auto is based in Pune, Maharashtra, with plants in Akurdi and Chakan (Pune), Waluj (near
Aurangabad) and Pantnagar in Uttaranchal.
Bajaj Auto came into existence on November 29, 1945 as M/s Bachraj Trading Corporation
Private Limited. It started off by selling imported two- and three-wheelers in India. In 1959, it
obtained license from the Government of India to manufacture two- and three-wheelers and it
went public in 1960.
The company is headed by Rahul Bajaj who is worth more than US$1.5 billion.

Hero Honda Motors Ltd

Hero Honda Motors Limited, based in Delhi, India is a joint venture between the Hero Group of
India and Honda of Japan. It has been referred to as the world's biggest manufacturer of 2-
wheeled motorized vehicles since 2001, when it produced 1.3 million motorbikes in a single
year.
“Hero” is the brand name used by the Munjal brothers for their flagship company Hero Cycles
Ltd. A joint venture between the Hero Group and Honda Motor Company was established in
1984 as the Hero Honda company,India.
Hero Honda has three manufacturing facilities based at Dharuhera and Gurgaon in Haryana and
at Haridwar in Uttarakhand.
The company is founded and headed by Brijmohan Lal Munjal. Toshiaki Nakagawa (joint
managing director) Pawan Munjal (Managing Director & CEO) are key person for Hero Honda
Motors Ltd.
The company's most popular model is the Hero Honda's Splendor, which is the world's largest-
selling motorcycle, selling more than one million units per year.

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Comparison of Branding strategies

PRODUCTS/BRANDS

Bajaj Auto Ltd Hero Honda Motors Ltd

Pulsar DTS-i CD-Dawn
Pulsar 220 DTS-i CD-Deluxe
XCD DTS- Si 125 Splendor Plus
XCD DTS- Si 135 Splendor NXG
Platina Super Splendor
Platina 125 DTS-Si Passion Plus
Discover 135 DTS-Si Passion Pro
Discover DTS-Si Glamour
Avenger DTS-i Glamour PGM F1
Kristal DTS-i Achiever
Commercial vehicles CBZ Xtreme
Hunk
Karizma
Karizma ZMR
Pleasure

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Comparison of Branding strategies

BRAND EQUITY

According to The Economic Times Brand Equity India’s most trusted brands survey the
ranking are:
Hero Honda – 33
Bajaj Auto – 100

Building Brand Equity

Bajaj Auto Ltd Hero Honda Motors Ltd

Corporate Bajaj – Name very familiar for Hero Honda – Introduced wide
Name scooters range of bikes of Honda Japan
Logo Logo was No Logo
changed Change

Slogan Distinctly Ahead , (Pulsar –
Definitely Male)
Spokes Person Rahul Bajaj – Prominent Business
leader, Rajiv Bajaj
Celebrity NO but using songs of new released
Endorsement movies for its lower income bikes
Jingle Earlier Bajaj had Hamara Bajaj
jingle.
Product life Kills brands and product so often.
cycle Eg. Caliber, 4S champion, Rave,
Chetak, Spirit, CT 100 etc.
Products Known for Scooters for years,
became 2nd largest motorcycle
manufacturer in India
Service Modern service centre’s and finance
schemes through bajaj finserve
available across India
Promotion No corporate branding
Pulsar & MTV Stunt Mania
Technology DTSi Technology
Dhak Dhak Go (Fill it. Shut it.
Forget it) Pleasure (why should
boys have all fun)
Pawan Munjal
YES – Hritik Roshan for
Karizma, Priyanka Chopra for
Pleasure
No specific jingle
Maintains brand portfolio. CD
100 now CD dawn & CD deluxe,
Splendor lasted for almost 2
decades etc.
Known for its motorcycles over
the years & first mover
advantage
Modern service centres across
India
No corporate branding
Sponsor ship – Hero Honda Series
(India Australia series), ICC
sponsorship, Hero Honda
Saregama – Zee TV, Herohonda
Karizma MTV Roadies

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Comparison of Branding strategies

BRANDING STRATEGIES
The New Brand Management – Kapferer has following branding strategies. Most of the
companies follow either of them or follow mixed branding strategies.

 The product brand

 The line brand
 The range brand
 The umbrella brand
 The source brand
 The endorsing brand

The Product brand

As such Bajaj and Hero Honda are not having product brand strategies. Generally these strategy
is adopted by FMCG players. They create individual brands like P&G has brands like Ariel,
Tide, Head & Shoulders, Olay etc.
Bajaj Auto & Hero Honda does product branding for their premium products such as Pulsar 220
and Karizma ZMR.

Positioning Statement

Both the bikes are very sporty and targeting the youths who are into biking.

Advantage:

 It reduces risk as if a particular brand fails other brands remains unaffected

 One could easily manage and cater to various classes

Disadvantage:

 It becomes expensive to do branding and advertising for individual brands.

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Comparison of Branding strategies

The Line Brand Strategy

The line involves the exploitation of successful concept by extending it but by staying very close
to initial products. Example – L’Oreal offers structuring gel, lacquer, a spray etc. under brand
name of StudioLine. These strategy is more often practiced by cosmetic, FMCG etc. Bajaj Auto
Ltd and Hero Honda Motors Ltd. does not follow the line brand strategy. Advantages are:

 It reinforces the selling power of the brand and creates a strong brand image;
 It facilitates distribution for each line extension;
 It reduces launch costs

The range brand strategy

The range brands bestow a single brand name and promote through a single promise a range of
products belonging to the same area of competence. Example – Clarins – Concept: the specialist
in beauty care.
Products – Creams, Solutions, fluids, Gels, Baths etc. and it has 3 lines for each products –
Soothing line, Slimming and firmness line and line Y.
Hero Honda follows Range brand strategy for Karizma, Splendour, Passion and CD
brands.
Bajaj Auto follows Range brand strategy for Pulsar and Discover brands.

Splendor CD Passion Glamour

Target Market – Target Market – Target Market – Tier Target Market – 2nd
Entry level, Middle Entry level, Lower I city, Middle income bike purchaser,
income group bike Income group bike group bike Middle income group
Splendor Plus (basic CD Dawn – (basic Passion Plus (basic Glamour (basic
Model bike) model) model)
Super Splendor (auto CD Deluxe – (old Passion Pro (Sporty Glamour PGM F1
start) splendor look alike) look)
Splendor NXG (Next
Generation)

XCD Platina Discover

Target Market Target Market- Target Market
– Mid segment Entry level bike – Mid segment
bike bike
125 DTS-Si (125 Basic model – DTS-Si bike
cc bike 110 cc bike
135 DTS-Si (135 125 DTSi engine DTS-Si 135 cc
cc bike) bike

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Comparison of Branding strategies

Advantages:

 If a brand get recognized then to target newer customer new products are introduced to
increase the range of product
 Less advertising needed

Disadvantages:

 If product does not full fill the expectation than it affects overall range image

The Umbrella brand strategy

The umbrella brand strategy is mainly capitalization on one single name and the economies of
scale on an entry level.
For example – Cannon, Philips etc follow this strategy.
This strategy is not adopted by Bajaj Auto Ltd and Hero Honda Motors Ltd.

The Source Brand strategy

The products have their own brand name. They are no longer called by one generic name like
scooter, bike, moped etc.
Bajaj Auto and Hero Honda have moved on to source brand strategy to a great extent.
For example earlier scooters were known by Bajaj and bikes by name of Hero Honda. Now all
their products are having their individual brand names such as Hero Honda Spendour, Bajaj
Discover DTSI etc.

Advantage:

 Strategy effective when new product is introduced

Disadvantage:

 If a brand fails to deliver promise and eventually fails it may affect other brands

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Comparison of Branding strategies

Endorsing Brand Strategy

General Motors and Johnson & Johnson use endorsing branding strategy in which it they
endorses many brands under them.For example – Buick, Chevrolet, Opel etc. are endorsed by
GM.

Mixed Brand Strategy

Normally all the corporation uses mixed brand strategies. Bajaj and Hero Honda use mixed
brand strategy.

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Comparison of Branding strategies

BRAND ROLES IN BRAND PORTFOLIO

Importance of Brand Portfolio

 To increase market share

 To attract consumers seeking variety who may otherwise have switched to another brand
 To increase internal competition within the firm
 To yield economies of scale in advertising, sales, merchandising and physical distribution

1. Flankers
2. Cash Cows
3. Low-end entry level
4. High-end entry level

Flankers
Flanker brands are called fighter brands and are positioned with respect to competitor’s brands so
that more important flagship brands can retain their desired positioning.
Fighter brands need to be designed in such a way that they should not eat away from their higher
priced comparison brands or referents and it must be designed so cheaply that they reflect poorly
on these other brands.
Example – Bajaj XCD DTS-Si/ Passion--Glamour-Achiever

Cash Cows
Some brands may be kept around despite dwindling sales because they manage to hold on to a
sufficient number of customers and maintain their profitability with virtually no marketing
support. These “cash cow’ brands can be effectively “milked” by capitalizing on their reservoir
of existing brand equity.
Example - Pulsar 220 DTSi and Pulsar DTSi, Avenger DTSi/CBZ xtreme, Hunk, Karizma,
Splendor

Low End Entry level

The role of low-priced brand in the brand portfolio often may be to attract customers to the brand
franchise.
Example - Platina/CD Dawn & CD Deluxe

High-End Prestige
The role of a relatively high-priced brand in the brand family often to add
prestige and credibility to the entire portfolio.
Example - Kawasaki Ninja/Karizma ZMR

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Comparison of Branding strategies

BRAND IDENTITY PRISM

New Pulsar 220 DTS-I

Physique Personality

Good looking 2 wheeler with a Masculine, Cool, Competitive,

feel of sports bike Attitude

Relationship Culture

Distinctive, Exclusive Daring, Indian, Thrilling

Reflection Self Image

Young at heart, Confident, Fastest Indian, Definitely Male

Carefree, Trend Setter

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Comparison of Branding strategies

Karizma ZMR

Physique Personality

Stylish 2 wheeler with a feel of Charismatic, Sporty, Energetic,

sports bike Attitude

Relationship Culture

Distinctive, Exclusive Daring, International,

Thrilling

Reflection Self Image

Glamorous, Achiever, Explorer Winner, Above all, Brave.

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Comparison of Branding strategies

BRAND EXTENSION
Line Extension
Line extension strategy involves launching various new products variants in the same category
under the same brand name.

For Bajaj its Pulsar > Pulsar DTSi > Pulsar 180 > Pulsar 220 DTSi.

For Hero Honda its Karizma > Karizma ZMR

Brand Extension
The Brand extension, on the hand, involves using an existing Brand name to launch a product in
a different category.

 Companion Product extension

 Company expertise

COMPANION PRODUCT EXTENSION

Bajaj
Providing integrated solutions, to the costumer. From the cradle to the grave.

Bajaj Auto Finance

Here in the case for Bajaj the company provides loans for all the
Bajaj Products at the showroom.

Bajaj Pro Biking Showroom

It is a concept store targeted to pro bikers which houses sports
bike like Ninja, Pulsar and Avenger. Apart from this it
provides everything required for pro biking like accessories
and technical expertise.

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Comparison of Branding strategies

COMPANY EXPERTISE

Hero Group

Expertise in two wheeler

Cycle> Mopeds> scooters> Bikes
The hero group used its two wheeler expertise to make other two wheelers apart from their basic
product.

Bajaj
Expertise in Engine.
The company is pioneer in developing new technologies like DTSi and is now moving on to
developing ultra low cost car.

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Reference

The New Strategic Brand Management – Jean Noel Kapferer

Marketing Management – 12th edition – Phillip Kotler, Keller

www.bajajauto.com

www.herohonda.com

www.wikipedia.com

www.economictimes.indiatimes.com

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