This iconic ad in 1989 reflected the pride that Indians took in the name of ‘Bajaj’ which was synonymous with their sole vehicle of dreams: a scooter.
In that era, marketers didn’t have the hair splitting challenge of selling a diverse product line under one name and consumers were willing to wait up till five years for a scooter.
The fact that Bajaj is now positioned as second in the motorcycle business and has exited the scooter market is a sign of a change in the power equation between the consumer and the manufacturers.
Rajeev Bajaj has unfolded his vision of building Pulsar, Avenger, Discover and Platina as strong brands that can flourish with an identity independent of “Bajaj”. Type ‘Pulsar’ on youtube and you will see user created videos of stunts pulled by the Pulsar bikers, a true indicator of the power of brands to connect to their consumers.
Traditionally, the automobile industry has relied heavily on the corporate names to build reputations basis the country of origin, its inventor & patents. While BMW’s alphanumeric names like BMW 3,5 and 7 series helped perceptions of technology , Honda has graduated to advertising Civic, City, Jazz, Accord and CRV to do justice to the expectations from each product and its performance.
In contrast, FMCG with its choices between whiteness and stain free, has P&G & HUL oversimplifying their brand architecture with brands like Tide, & Surf Excel standing for distinct needs in the minds of the consumers. Imagine if we could replicate this model in complex categories like Finance where the understanding of the product is a challenge in itself. ICICI bundles mutual funds, banking services, life insurance and general insurance all with the name of ICICI. HDFCSL faces the challenge of carving out its identity separate from HDFC Bank for which it often gets mistaken.
Why are the marketers afraid to cut the umbilical cord of their brands from the parent company? A learning ground to solve this dilemma is in an industry that also sells ‘performance’, Apple is making waves with Mac, IPod and Ipad. The consumers buy in to the philosophy and the quality of Apple but worship the strong identity of its products.
More From This Section
This is the world of consumers, and brands have to take the shortest route to their hearts and mind, hopefully Rajeev Bajaj’s thinking will give a fresh impetus to this debate.
(The author is National Creative Director, Leo Burnett)