Hero Motocorp is scouting for a creative partner for its upcoming launch of Ignitor. The company has identified four agencies for the same which includes JWT, Draft cb Ulka, Law & Kenneth and Percept/H. The company aims to spend Rs. 30 crore on brand building exercise of its upcoming launch Ignitor, as per the sources close to the deal.
The reason being the company is spending this much amount behind brand building exercise because, Ignitor is nothing but Honda CBF Stunner. There are some minor changes but one can easily identify it as CBF Stunner at first instance. Hence it is necessary to create a separate identity by the way of branding and influencing the perception of people, to remain in competition.
This is called badge engineering concept in automobile which is very much prevalent in car segment and now it is catching up in motorcycle segment with Hero Motocop using Honda’s product. The first one is Hero Impulse which is copy of Honda NXR 150 Bros. Badge engineering is a concept where a single product is sold under so many brand names by different manufacturers in automobiles. This is sometime necessary to save the cost of developing entire new product. As we know that Hero Motocorp’s R&D is still in nascent stage and it will take time the company to come up with fully in house developed product, badge engineering is the best solution for the company.
Earlier the company has showcased three new products at Auto Expo 2012 in Delhi which includes Passion Xpro, Ignitor and Maestro. Hero Motocorp has already launched Maestro scooter at ex showroom price (Delhi) of Rs. 48,280 in March. It is interesting to see how Hero Motocorp will establish the brand Ignitor. It is also to be seen that at which price Hero Motocrop will launch this product, at premium to Honda, at discount to Honda or at par. Let’s wait and watch.
-Mahavir Kothari
