Building brands isn’t as easy and straightforward as it might read. There’s lots that goes behind building a brand, and then breaking it.
My take is, a company continues to build a brand till it’s successful, and breaks it, if it’s a failure. Let’s take Bajaj Auto as an example -
The Pulsar, you’d agree is probably a case study on how one needs to build a brand, and than, take it to a new plane.
The P150 (and the P180) started it all, driving the CBZ into oblivion, much to the horror of both Hero Honda and the bike enthusiast. And how Bajaj managed it, is a well know fact now – cheaper pricing, better styling, but mostly, better fuel efficiency. Indians we were (and are); and our fetish for fuel efficiency is almost murderous, to put it lightly.
Not surprising, we embraced the Pulsar like I would a million dollar lottery!
Bajaj also rewrote a few rules. It upgraded the Pulsars sooner than a testosterone pumped man would grow stubble. More importantly, it stayed away from introducing the bike under a different brand, and it only used subtle monikers to show the upgrade.
Introducing DTS-i in its bikes was a beginning, and now with the P200 and the P220, Bajaj is propelling the Pulsar brand further.
However, there’s a counter argument to building the Pulsar brand.
The bikes look almost identical, then be it the P150, 180, 200, or even the 220. Yes, the styling is a tad different, but it’s very minor indeed. It therefore, leaves Bajaj very little leeway to sell these bikes under separate nameplates.
Adding to this is the fact, that the company hasn’t followed the same philosophy in other segments, particularly, the entry level. It had the Boxer, then the CT 100, and finally the Platina. So if Bajaj was so conscious about brands why didn’t it follow the same here?
Cause it all boils down to success, and this where breaking a brand helps. Bajaj, as is well known, has failed to break Hero Honda’s stranglehold in the entry level. It, as a result tried giving more – more features, better styling etc, all the things that made Pulsar a success – for less. And it tried doing it with a new brand each time; so that consumers would appreciate that an all new motorcycle had come their way, even though the truth was far from it. Take the Platina – she had the CT 100 under pinnings, and the Wind’s clothing. We, of course, continued to lap up Hero Hondas.
As a result, now the XCD sees the light of day, and with her, Bajaj is playing a completely new game. But, not without a safety net. Rajiv Bajaj quite categorically stated at the engine’s unveiling that the new DTS-Si platform can be both upgraded (read 150cc) or downgraded (read 100cc) depending on the need.
So it will begin building the XCD as its entry level brand which will have bikes ranging from 100cc to 125cc, and maybe even a 135cc variant.
Where does this leave the Discover then? The Discover will move up the ladder as well, and she will do so with revised, more kickass styling. She will sport 135cc and 150cc powerplants, displacing the Pulsar 150 in the bargain.
The Pulsars then, will only be a performance brand with P200s, 220s, 250s, 300s etc etc, while the XCD will be the bastion of fuel efficiency, and Discover, well, if the XCD takes off, maybe Bajaj will kill the Disco. Otherwise, it will break the XCD, introduce yet another brand, and also rework the Discover, all over again.
My take is, a company continues to build a brand till it’s successful, and breaks it, if it’s a failure. Let’s take Bajaj Auto as an example -
The Pulsar, you’d agree is probably a case study on how one needs to build a brand, and than, take it to a new plane.
The P150 (and the P180) started it all, driving the CBZ into oblivion, much to the horror of both Hero Honda and the bike enthusiast. And how Bajaj managed it, is a well know fact now – cheaper pricing, better styling, but mostly, better fuel efficiency. Indians we were (and are); and our fetish for fuel efficiency is almost murderous, to put it lightly.
Not surprising, we embraced the Pulsar like I would a million dollar lottery!
Bajaj also rewrote a few rules. It upgraded the Pulsars sooner than a testosterone pumped man would grow stubble. More importantly, it stayed away from introducing the bike under a different brand, and it only used subtle monikers to show the upgrade.
Introducing DTS-i in its bikes was a beginning, and now with the P200 and the P220, Bajaj is propelling the Pulsar brand further.
However, there’s a counter argument to building the Pulsar brand.
The bikes look almost identical, then be it the P150, 180, 200, or even the 220. Yes, the styling is a tad different, but it’s very minor indeed. It therefore, leaves Bajaj very little leeway to sell these bikes under separate nameplates.
Adding to this is the fact, that the company hasn’t followed the same philosophy in other segments, particularly, the entry level. It had the Boxer, then the CT 100, and finally the Platina. So if Bajaj was so conscious about brands why didn’t it follow the same here?
Cause it all boils down to success, and this where breaking a brand helps. Bajaj, as is well known, has failed to break Hero Honda’s stranglehold in the entry level. It, as a result tried giving more – more features, better styling etc, all the things that made Pulsar a success – for less. And it tried doing it with a new brand each time; so that consumers would appreciate that an all new motorcycle had come their way, even though the truth was far from it. Take the Platina – she had the CT 100 under pinnings, and the Wind’s clothing. We, of course, continued to lap up Hero Hondas.
As a result, now the XCD sees the light of day, and with her, Bajaj is playing a completely new game. But, not without a safety net. Rajiv Bajaj quite categorically stated at the engine’s unveiling that the new DTS-Si platform can be both upgraded (read 150cc) or downgraded (read 100cc) depending on the need.
So it will begin building the XCD as its entry level brand which will have bikes ranging from 100cc to 125cc, and maybe even a 135cc variant.
Where does this leave the Discover then? The Discover will move up the ladder as well, and she will do so with revised, more kickass styling. She will sport 135cc and 150cc powerplants, displacing the Pulsar 150 in the bargain.
The Pulsars then, will only be a performance brand with P200s, 220s, 250s, 300s etc etc, while the XCD will be the bastion of fuel efficiency, and Discover, well, if the XCD takes off, maybe Bajaj will kill the Disco. Otherwise, it will break the XCD, introduce yet another brand, and also rework the Discover, all over again.
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