Saatchi & Saatchi bags creative mandate for Harley-Davidson in India

The first campaign will be rolled out once the company has set up its five dealerships in locations including Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai

Following a multi agency pitch, Saatchi & Saatchi has bagged the creative duties for Harley-Davidson India. The account will be handled by the agency's Delhi office. The pitch was called last month and after going through the presentations made by various participating agencies, the company zeroed in on Saatchi & Saatchi.

Saatchi & Saatchi bags creative mandate for Harley-Davidson in India

Confirming the development to afaqs!, Sanjib Dey, president, Saatchi & Saatchi, says, "The brand has a huge fan base globally and already, there is enough information available on it. In such a scenario, it will be interesting to devise a communication strategy for a brand whose TG (target group) is not limited to hardcore bikers but has become more inclusive."

This year in January, the company launched its range of 12 motorcycles from each of its 5 families for the Indian market. With the launch of the three dealerships in Delhi, Chandigarh and Hyderabad, the company has already commenced the deliveries of its bikes.

Sanjay Tripathi, director - marketing, Harley-Davidson India says, "We welcome Saatchi and Saatchi on board to manage our expanding creative mandate. At the same time, we will continue to work with our existing creative partner, Republic in Mumbai. In order to provide a complete opportunity and exposure for our target audience to touch, feel and experience the true Harley-Davidson spirit and culture, we will follow a 360 degree marketing approach with a clear focus on experiential marketing.

He adds, "We aim to kick-start our marketing approach towards September 2010."

The company already has dealerships in Delhi, Chandigarh and Hyderabad. Two more will come up in Mumbai and Bengaluru shortly. Though the brand will stick to multi-media approach, print and outdoor will play a significant role in the communication.

Harley-Davidson was granted permission to begin operations back in 2007 but it delayed its plans because of import duties (more than 100 per cent). The bikes available in India will be imported as completely built units. While the entire range will not be offered, at least one bike from each of the Harley 'model families' will be up for grabs.

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