There was a time in India during the FZ series and R15’s launch, where we kept on hearing Yamaha every now and then. The situation is still the same except that the brand is now Hero Honda and not Yamaha. Probably, BikeAdvice is overflowing with Hero Honda news. Anyways, here’s another one to add to the (probably never-ending) list.
Law & Kenneth bagged the Rs 100-crore account of the world’s largest two-wheeler company by volume, beating Percept/H, JWT, DraftfcbUlka and Mudra in a creative pitch. It will join London-based design agency Wolff Olins to create a positioning for the Munjal family-owned brand, complete with name and logo. “Strategically, we would like to communicate our new brand identity in complete harmony with our new brand vision,” Munjal said.
India’s largest two-wheeler maker Hero Honda Motors Ltd (HHML) today said it had roped Law & Kenneth (L&K) as a creative partner to launch and establish a new brand for the company after Honda’s exit. Law & Kenneth (L&K), an independent brand communications firm, has been mandated to devise the new brand positioning of the company.
“Law and Kenneth has been mandated to bring alive the positioning of the new brand, and evolve an impactful 360 degree campaign to communicate the same,” HHML Senior VP (Marketing & Sales), Hero Honda Motors Ltd Anil Dua said in a statement.
L&K’s appointment follows the hiring of international brand and innovation specialist, Wolff Olins by HHML to work on its new brand identity.
“Wolff Olins and Law & Kenneth will work closely together to ensure that there is seamless transition between the strategic thought behind the new identity and the new brand campaign,” Dua added.
Commenting on its appointment as a creative partner, Law & Kenneth Chairman Praveen Kenneth said: “This is a once-in-a -lifetime opportunity for any creative agency and we feel really privileged to be the chosen one.” Hero Honda has embarked on the journey to acquire a new brand name post the two joint venture partners of HHML — Hero Group of India and Honda Motor Co of Japan — deciding to part ways in December last year.
The Munjals-promoted Hero Group had agreed to buy out Honda’s 26% stake in HHML for Rs 3,841.83 crore. As per an agreement signed between the two erstwhile partners, Hero can use the Honda brand till 2014, but it is understood that the Indian group wants to acquire a new identify of its own at the earliest in order to maintain its leadership position.
Hero Group plans to turn into a global automotive player and enter three-wheelers and passenger car segments. Before that, it will ship bikes and scooters to Latin America, Africa, Middle East and South East Asia. Wolff Olins, which created top mobile service provider Airtel’s new brand image, is already working on Hero’s brand identity. Law & Kenneth has been working with the company in an informal capacity, a person close to the development said.
Hero’s new logo and name, without ‘Honda’, will likely be unveiled in a few months. “It will be a new brand that has to be built in the shortest possible timeframe.” In the recent past, different creative agencies have done different corporate campaigns for the company.
Its latest brand campaign the “Dhak Dhak Go” was done by Draft FCB Ulka, while the iconic “Desh ki Dhadkan” campaign was done by Percept.
Even in the case of brands, separate creative agencies handle different brands of Hero Honda. While Percept manages the Passion brand, JWT does all the creative campaigns of Karizma and ZMR. Draft FCB Ulka did the campaign for Hero Honda’s scooter brand, Pleasure.
Hero Group and Honda had signed a new licensing agreement in March under which the Indian firm will pay its Japanese counterpart 45 billion yen (about Rs 2,450 crore) till 2014.
Regards,
M.Naren.
Author – BikeAdvice.in
