Date: April 13, 2007
By: LALITHA SRINIVASAN & KETAN THAKKAR
Source: Financial Express
MUMBAI, APR 12: It's not only on the products front that the major two wheeler makers Bajaj Auto and Hero Honda are fighting it out. To gain mind share, they are also increasing their marketing spend considerably in the year 2007. For starters, Bajaj Auto is increasing its marketing budget by 20%. The company's marketing spends stood at Rs 136.72 crore (ad spend Rs 106 crore and sales Rs 29.7 crore).
Likewise, Hero Honda is also increasing its budget for mass media advertising and below-the-line activities this year to woo new customers. Incidentally, Hero Honda's ad budget rose from Rs 147 crore in 2005 to Rs 191.83 in 2006. The accent seems to be on 'effective marketing mix' in the Indian two-wheeler industry.
Meanwhile, Hero Honda is in the process of rolling out an aggressive ad campaign featuring cine star Hrithik Roshan for its brand ‘Karizma’.
According to industry sources, Hero Honda is significantly hiking its ad-spend this year to gain market share. Last year, Hero Honda rolled out eight new launches. According to an analyst with Religare Securities Ltd, “In the last two years we have seen significant increase in marketing spends, with number of new models coming up in the market.”
---
Pleasure has started using Hrithik Roshan in a latest marketing move. The latest ad is aimed at promoting the Just4her showrooms. Just4her is the all female showrooms for giving personalized service to Pleasure customers.
The latest ad offers Pleasure customers to have a date with Hrithik. 21 lucky customers will dine in style with Hrithik. Hrithik is the brand ambassador for Hero Honda group as such and had been endorsing Karizma. Pleasure is now trying to leverage the celebrity in breaking the stronghold of TVS Scooty.
Pleasure is Hero Honda's take on scooters. Aimed at the fairer sex, the product is advertised heavily in media with the tagline " Why should boys have all the fun". Just4her showroom are first of its kind in India. The showrooms are promoted using the tagline " Where every girl is a celebrity". Hero Honda has also created an Exclusive Lady Rider Club taking a lesson from the success of its Passport programme.