Bajaj v/s Hero: The Number Game:
Hero is one of the few vehicle brands which, despite the fluctuations, has never managed to go out of the A&M Top Brands Survey. This is probably because of its envious high-sales record in the two-wheeler market. But its popularity (in terms of brand awareness and recall) does seem to be facing a somewhat downward trend. Hero in 1992 had a rank of 40 and a power score of 26.
This, needless to say, has been Hero's highest rank and power score till date. At that time, Hero had a higher ranking than its main competitor in the bicycles market, Atlas, in the main earners and young adults segment. Its worst performance was amongst housewives.
In the early 1990s, Hero had started an aggressive rural-oriented campaign for its motorcycles, in order to break into the rural market. The creative route taken by the group was by taking parallels from popular Hindi movies to deliver the intended message. The campaign generated high interest and the strategy did work, as demand and brand acceptability picked up in rural areas.
But unfortunately, that was at the cost of popularity in urban areas. The year 1993 saw the brand's ranking fall nine places to 49. Brand preference was stronger amongst rural consumers than urban ones, and amongst lower-income-groups than the higher-income earning segment.
The years 1994 and 1995 saw an increase in ranking with the rank increasing to 44 and then to 42. Its best performance across segments, was amongst young adults, the main-earning segment and in the Hindi-speaking regions. Hero's performance in the urban segment also improved due to the launch of new models.
Suddenly, in 1996, the brand suffered a huge fall of 14 places to land at rank 56. Hero was doing badly in almost every segment and Atlas was ahead with a rank of 48. Waking up to this sudden dip in popularity, Hero started with a new advertising campaign.
The new campaign, which had the protagonist saying 'Kyon hero7' was successful. And by 1997, the brands ranking has picked amongst housewives, young males and the western and southern regions, thus increasing its overall ranking to 45. The next year, 1998, saw only a minute decrease in ranking with the rank falling one place to 46. But a worrisome trend emerged.
Hero has lost scores in around 12 segments out of 14. Hero Honda was still the largest selling motorcycle company but other companies such as TVS, Bajaj and Yamaha had started to catch up (in image, at last). This led to Hero's rank decreasing to a low of 54 in 1999. Its performance in urban areas had dragged it down a few notches.
Realizing this, Hero has come out with new bikes so it has products for both the rural and urban consumer. This includes the CBZ launched last year (directed at the urban consumer) and the Hero Street Smart scooty(directed at the family). Hopefully, this change in advertising and introduction of more products will improve the brand's popularity. The new adiine: 'Desh ki dhadkan' (country's heartbeat).
Hero is one of the few vehicle brands which, despite the fluctuations, has never managed to go out of the A&M Top Brands Survey. This is probably because of its envious high-sales record in the two-wheeler market. But its popularity (in terms of brand awareness and recall) does seem to be facing a somewhat downward trend. Hero in 1992 had a rank of 40 and a power score of 26.
This, needless to say, has been Hero's highest rank and power score till date. At that time, Hero had a higher ranking than its main competitor in the bicycles market, Atlas, in the main earners and young adults segment. Its worst performance was amongst housewives.
In the early 1990s, Hero had started an aggressive rural-oriented campaign for its motorcycles, in order to break into the rural market. The creative route taken by the group was by taking parallels from popular Hindi movies to deliver the intended message. The campaign generated high interest and the strategy did work, as demand and brand acceptability picked up in rural areas.
But unfortunately, that was at the cost of popularity in urban areas. The year 1993 saw the brand's ranking fall nine places to 49. Brand preference was stronger amongst rural consumers than urban ones, and amongst lower-income-groups than the higher-income earning segment.
The years 1994 and 1995 saw an increase in ranking with the rank increasing to 44 and then to 42. Its best performance across segments, was amongst young adults, the main-earning segment and in the Hindi-speaking regions. Hero's performance in the urban segment also improved due to the launch of new models.
Suddenly, in 1996, the brand suffered a huge fall of 14 places to land at rank 56. Hero was doing badly in almost every segment and Atlas was ahead with a rank of 48. Waking up to this sudden dip in popularity, Hero started with a new advertising campaign.
The new campaign, which had the protagonist saying 'Kyon hero7' was successful. And by 1997, the brands ranking has picked amongst housewives, young males and the western and southern regions, thus increasing its overall ranking to 45. The next year, 1998, saw only a minute decrease in ranking with the rank falling one place to 46. But a worrisome trend emerged.
Hero has lost scores in around 12 segments out of 14. Hero Honda was still the largest selling motorcycle company but other companies such as TVS, Bajaj and Yamaha had started to catch up (in image, at last). This led to Hero's rank decreasing to a low of 54 in 1999. Its performance in urban areas had dragged it down a few notches.
Realizing this, Hero has come out with new bikes so it has products for both the rural and urban consumer. This includes the CBZ launched last year (directed at the urban consumer) and the Hero Street Smart scooty(directed at the family). Hopefully, this change in advertising and introduction of more products will improve the brand's popularity. The new adiine: 'Desh ki dhadkan' (country's heartbeat).