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Insider Story: How Hero Honda became Hero MotoCorpLast updated
on: November 7, 2011 17:25 IST
On November 1, Hero MotoCorp, the newavatar of Hero Honda,
announced that its dealerssold a record 650,000 motorcycles and
scootersin October.Farmers had harvested their crops, and
salariedpeople had got Diwali bonuses; the companyhad no reason to
complain.Some days before that, it had declared itsfinancial
results for the quarter ended September2011, the first full quarter
without Honda as ashareholder, which showed that sale as well
asprofit had hit at an all-time high.For several years, the
Munjals, the promoters ofthe company, have been known as
sharpbusinessmen but their success was alwayscredited to technology
and innovation fromHonda. The ride without Honda was the real
testof their skills.
The Munjals and Honda had formed Hero Honda, a 26-26 joint
venture, in the late-1980s. The first sign of discordbecame visible
over ten years ago when Honda set up a 100 per cent arm, Honda
Motorcycles and Scooters India.Finally, on December 16 last year,
Hero Honda informed the stock markets that the partnership was over
and Hondawould soon exit the company.Click NEXT to read more...
Insider Story: How Hero Honda became Hero MotoCorpLast updated
on: November 7, 2011 17:25 IST
In the days that preceded the announcement,the Munjals had
formed a core team of threepeople to assess if life was possible
withoutHonda.The team, which was kept under wraps from therest of
the world, could not go out for consumerresearch because that would
have let the secretout.It had to rely on gut feel. What may have
playedon this team's mind was Honda Motorcycles andScooters India's
performance in the motorcyclemarket and Hero Honda's performance in
thescooter market.Both had entered these markets in 2006;
whileHonda had got 7 per cent of the motorcyclemarket, Hero Honda
had grabbed over 17 percent of the scooter market which was
dominated
by the Honda Activa. Technology, the team concluded, was equal
for all, and what really mattered to Indians was thetotal cost of
ownership - low price tags, high fuel economy, inexpensive spares
and high resale value.Click NEXT to read more...
Insider Story: How Hero Honda became Hero MotoCorpLast updated
on: November 7, 2011 17:25 IST
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On December 16, immediately after it hadinformed the stock
markets that Honda will exitthe company and before answering calls
fromanxious analysts and inquisitive journalists, HeroHonda
Managing Director & CEO Pawan Munjaldid a live webcast to all
employees, vendors anddealers. The dealers were the real strength
ofthe Munjals.Chairman and family patriarch Brijmohan Lallwas on
first-name terms with each of his 450dealers, and he had made it a
practice tointerview all prospective dealers.The next day, the key
hundred or so dealers werebrought to Delhi, and the father-son
duoapprised them of the situation.Within ten days, each one of the
100,000 or somechanics and salesmen of the dealershipsand the
4,000-odd touch points (service centreset cetera) were given
dockets on the subject, andtheir questions were answered by the
company'semployees. Close to a year later, Hero MotoCorpclaims not
a single dealer left it, in spite of thedoomsday projections.Click
NEXT to read more...
Insider Story: How Hero Honda became Hero MotoCorpLast updated
on: November 7, 2011 17:25 IST
And when the Munjals launched the newcompany name and brand
identity at the O2arena in London on August 7, the presence ofthe
army of dealers wasn't missed by observers.Somebody who was there
says there were atleast 1,000 of them. Obviously, many
dealersdidn't travel alone.With the dealers reassured, another core
team offive was formed under Pawan Munjal to give thecompany a new
name and a new brand identity.Though the Munjals had the option to
use theHero Honda brand till June 2014, they decided toreplace it
as early as possible.As it involved renewal, the project
wascodenamed Yajna. The team gathered about tencase studies of
companies that had gonethrough such rebranding.
Click NEXT to read more...
Insider Story: How Hero Honda became Hero MotoCorpLast updated
on: November 7, 2011 17:25 IST
There were some international cases in the lot, though the
majority was Indian. Some were success stories, otherswere not.The
job from here was to find the right specialist to rename the
company and design a new brand, and then find anadvertising agency
that could convey the makeover in an effective way.In the days that
followed, the Munjals sent out feelers to brand specialists from
across the world. One of the go-betweens contacted Charles Wright
of Wolff Ollins, an Omnicom company.Wright perhaps knew that this
was no small opportunity: Hero Honda (as it was called then) was
the largest Indianmaker of two-wheelers.The very next day, he was
in the Hero Honda office in a cramped south Delhi market (the
Munjals don't move out of the
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market apparently because they consider it luckyfor them) to
meet Munjal and his brother, Sunil.Click NEXT to read more...
Insider Story: How Hero Honda became Hero MotoCorpLast updated
on: November 7, 2011 17:25 IST
The two explained the situation to Wright - thereasons for the
separation with Honda and theroadmap ahead. Many more
conversationsfollowed.What seems to have swung the deal in
WolffOllins's favour (there were at least three otherconsultants in
the fray) was its work for TataDoCoMo.The Munjals wanted the new
company name andbrand to reflect change with continuity as it
wouldbe unwise to let go off Hero Honda's brandequity.The brief
given to Wolff Ollins was that the newname and brand should
highlight Indianengineering, and signal that the company nowplans
to go global (earlier it could sell only inthose countries where
Honda was absent) andbranch into new segments of the
automobilemarket - three-wheelers, for instance.All primary data
that the company had collectedover the years on brand health and
consumerpsychographics were put at the disposal ofWright and his
team of 20 drawn from the firm'soffices in London, New York and
Dubai.Click NEXT to read more...
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Insider Story: How Hero Honda became Hero MotoCorpLast updated
on: November 7, 2011 17:25 IST
This team, which of course included someIndians, flew to India
to and interacted with thecompany's promoters, employees,
dealers,vendors and customers to get a feel of the brand."The
research," says Wright, "showed theaffection the brand has long
enjoyed in thehearts of Indians and how this strong bond isborn of
the way a two-wheeler transforms theeconomic and social
circumstances of thecommon man."By mid-year, Wolff Ollins gave its
output. Thename, it said, should be Hero MotoCorp - Hero tosignal
continuity and MotoCorp to indicatemobility, modernity and
technology.It kept the door open for the company to get
intosegments other than two-wheelers. So far as thebrand was
concerned, Wolff Ollins stuck to theblack and white of Hero Honda
for continuity butgave it the shape of an "engineered" H: a red
parallelogram with a black triangle and trapezium.The Hero next
to it was in red, to signify warmth and friendliness, and all the
letters were of the same size.Click NEXT to read more...
Insider Story: How Hero Honda became Hero MotoCorpLast updated
on: November 7, 2011 17:25 IST
There were no sharp edges in the letters,which, says Hero
MotoCorp Senior Vice-president (marketing and sales) Anil
Dua,reflects the Indian feel. "Together, the two standfor Indian
engineering."In March, the Munjals had appointed Law &Kenneth
to devise the communication strategyfor the new identity. Its
people were made to workwith the Wolff Ollins team to (1) create
ownershipand reduce friction, and (2) cut the go-to-markettime.The
baton was now passed to it. Law & Kennethcame out with the
punch line, KXPPDLQKDLKHUR(there's a hero inside us). The Munjals
liked it.They knew it had universal appeal. Everybodylikes to feel
that he has it in him to reach his fullpotential, and thus there
are better times tocome.The line was then passed on to lyricist
IrshadKamil to write an anthem around it. Kamil hadmade a name for
himself with his lyrics in filmslike &KDPHOL/RYH$DM. DO-DE:
H0HWand $MDE3UHP. L* DMDE. DKDQLClick NEXT to read more...
Insider Story: How Hero Honda became Hero MotoCorpLast updated
on: November 7, 2011 17:25 IST
Once the anthem was ready, A R Rahman was contracted to set it
to music and sing it as well. Rahman was in LosAngeles where he
composed the tune.An anxious Munjal went over every stanza and line
with him on Skype. Once Rahman had done his job, film maker
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Anurag Kashyap ( HY * XODDO%ODFN)ULGD\7KDW* LUOLQ
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Source:
http://www.business-standard.com/
