HMSI to Spend Heavily on Brand Makeover

Country’s largest scooter manufacturer, Honda Motor Scooter India ltd. a subsidiary of world’s largest two wheeler manufacturer, Honda Motor Corporation of Japan is now all set to position its brand against country’s largest two wheeler maker Hero Motocorp. HMSI is said to spend at least Rs. 100 crores on its new advertising campaign which will launched by June across the media, according to a news reported by livemint.com. This is largest ad spend for this year by any auto maker. Last year, Hero Motocorp. spent Rs. 175 crores for its brand make over campaign.

A top executive at HMSI said on the condition of anonymity “The spend on the brand repositioning could be to the tune of at least aRs.100 crores.  This includes the payment to be made to the brand ambassadors, advertising and media buying firms.  The brand ambassador, who has not yet been chosen, will be paid about Rs.15-20 crores. This campaign is extremely crucial for Honda as it’s a first after their split with Hero, so it’s going to be a game changer for them in a sense that it will establish their individual identity through this, with the right kind of media and communications this campaign could be a huge success. I feel Hero should be worried.”
The new ad campaign will be targeted to the rural India and it will be aired in all regional Indian languages. The company will adopt its global tagline- Power of Dreams which it is using for its cars in Indian market. It will also appoint its brand ambassador in the country. The company has finalized two personalities from one is from cricket and one is from Bollywood. However, the company will chose only one as its brand ambassador.
An executive at “We have zeroed in on two prominent personalities—one each from cricket and Bollywood. However, the company wants to go with only one brand ambassador. A decision on that is likely to be taken soon. The move is aimed at Hero’s dominant position in the rural markets, which contribute 45% of revenue at the Munjal family firm. Honda’s penetration in the rural market is less than a third of Hero’s.
It seems that HMSI wants to breakthrough Hero’s dominance in rural India and if it is successful in doing so it will definitely become the number 1 two wheeler company of India.