Maruti Suzuki tries to smarten up the image of WagonR with its new campaign.
What is common between a little beagle ruling over a pack of pet dogs in the city and the WagonR? The master who owns them both, according to a new campaign by Maruti Suzuki India Limited (MSIL). While WagonR is the car of choice for the smart guy, his dog imbibes some of his intelligence to become the unchallenged Alpha Dog of his pack. The campaign, launched to mark the WagonR crossing 1 million units in sales this April, comes at a time when another of MSIL’s hatchbacks, the Swift, has been relaunched with a bang.
Shashank Srivastava, chief general manager, marketing, MSIL, believes that the power of a new campaign should never be underestimated: “A fresh communication always prompts people to buy,” he says. For the record, the WagonR is the second best-selling MSIL car after the Alto.
Not just to boost sales, the campaign will also ensure that the WagonR does not get swamped by the Swift relaunch. Market observers believe the WagonR runs the danger of being overtaken by the new Swift in volumes sold. The WagonR, priced at Rs 3.38 lakh and upwards, also competes head on with sibling Ritz. Then there is increasing competition from new players in the market to deal with.
Battle gets tough
Indeed, the compact car market is a far cry from the days of the Maruti 800. It has two segments — the value hatchback segment in which the Alto and the WagonR operate and the premium hatchback which has had new entrants almost every year for the past few years. The latter opened up with the launch of the Swift and now has cars like Ford Figo, Volkswagen Polo, Tata Indica Vista, Hyundai i20 and latest entrant, the Toyota Etios Liva.
Experts say the intense competition in the segment might have prompted MSIL to highlight a landmark achieved by WagonR. “The company needs to strengthen its positioning to keep the brand alive and relevant,” adds a brand expert who chose to remain anonymous. Agrees Yezdi Nagporewalla, executive director, KPMG, “The A2 segment in the Indian automobile market is estimated at 1.4 to 1.6 million. The landscape gets more competitive with each new player and newer variants of existing models, and the products tend to get more appealing with new features and models. Existing players with significant market shares may see their shares erode if they don’t recognise the changing market dynamics.” Industry estimates put the hatchback segment at 60-62 per cent of the Indian passenger car market.
Dentsu Creative Impact, the creative agency for WagonR, was asked to reinforce WagonR’s leadership position in the market through the new piece of communication. The new campaign is based on a new tagline ‘Smartness is infectious’. Srivastava says, “WagonR has been positioned as a car with a range of smart features. The fact that it has crossed the 1 million mark means that its smartness has caught on with the masses. Hence the insight, smartness is infectious.” Junichi Minohara, chief operating officer, Dentsu Creative Impact, adds, “The challenge for us has been to create buzz around the new brands from Maruti Suzuki, namely, Kizashi, Ritz etc. At the same time, we had to differentiate the WagonR, one of MSIL’s power brands, from the rest of the pack. We decided to choose a metaphor that would play up its positioning of a ‘smart’ car.”
A new road
If for nothing else, this ad stands out from other car advertising in the way it brings out the qualities of WagonR, one of MSIL’s largest selling hatchbacks. There’s no easier place to spot an Alpha Male than in automobile ads — he can easily turn a cumbersome drive to work into an impromptu race, replete with rip-roaring action. This one, in contrast, depicts how a lowly beagle assumes the status of an Alpha Dog — no sweaty action to his aid.
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The ad opens with a gathering of dogs in a warehouse, the setting taking after gangster movies. The beagle is seen to mete out justice to dogs of all sizes. Over with its pronouncements, the dog runs back to its master, who happens to be a WagonR owner. More instances of the dog’s human-like intelligence, and we realise that it is the result of the bond that the master shares with his pet. The owner knows his wisdom has brushed off on his dog, giving it the status of the pack leader.
The pet has also become part of a smarter race (over 1 million) whose car of choice is the WagonR. The teaser campaign was directed by Narayan Shi and the 35-second ‘dog-father’ TVC by a French director, Frank Vroegop. It was shot in Mumbai and the post-production work was done in Paris over three months. Apart from the TV ad, there will be print, radio, internet and below-the-line activities as well.
Sumanto Chattopadhyay, executive creative director, O&M, says, “Car advertising has changed — even until five years back cars were regarded as a luxury. So advertising talked about a lifetime investment. Now it has become more relaxed.”
The new WagonR ad follows a few changes in the car to make it… well …smarter. Features such as glass-holders that expand to fit bottles of every size, a concealed storage tray beneath the co-passenger’s seat in the front and engineering improvements such as a new platform and steering unit are some of the enhancements. Priced between the entry-level Alto and the stylish Swift, WagonR is being touted as an affordable functional choice for the value-conscious Indian consumer.
Stressing on the car as a smart choice may work better than WagonR’s previous attempt to prove the car’s superiority by roping in a celebrity (actor R Madhavan). Krunal Mehta, vice-president, brand management & corporate communication, Angel Broking, says, “Using brand ambassadors for such a car might not work. They might make the product look premium but at the end of the day, these cars are assessed by the value they provide and not a premium distinction.”
Agrees Chattopadhyay of O&M, “Consumers are upgrading more often and even if they are drawn in by the looks, they still justify a purchase on the basis of the features a car brings to them.”