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Kal, Aaj aur Kal: Hero Honda bets on Splendor’s staying power

The Splendor NXG will be backed by a new campaign that will hark on the 12-year track record of the mother brand

What’s in a name? Plenty, if you ask Hero Honda about its flagship product, Splendor. In the market for 12 years now, the company has sold 8.5 million Splendors, around half of the 16.5 million bikes it has sold thus far. Now, riding piggyback on the success of the Splendor brand, Hero Honda – the market leader by sales in the Indian motorcycle market – has launched a new model.

The 100-cc Splendor NXG isn’t a variant, and is positioned in the deluxe segment. Hero Honda already has the Super Splendor, a 125cc bike. Interestingly, Super Splendor 125 was tagged as a ‘next generation' bike. Now, Splendor NXG is also being touted as a next generation bike.

So far, advertising for the Splendor bikes has been driven by the ‘blind faith’ philosophy. In the past, the concept has used actor Pankaj Kapur as the blind father and then later, in a fresh avatar, as a ‘Super Dad’. This time around, too, a similar advertising strategy will be used, but without Pankaj Kapur.

Kal, Aaj aur Kal: Hero Honda bets on Splendor’s staying power
The media mix for the advertising campaign, called ‘Kal, Aaj aur Kal’, is electronic, outdoor and print. The agency, JWT, is still working on the campaign, which will be rolled out in mid-June. The campaign measures the heritage of Brand Splendor, drawing on the success of the past and being geared to take a leap into the future.

It talks about how Splendor as a brand has been powerful and bestowed with enormous trust. The same line of thought has been taken forward. Says Rohit Ohri, managing partner, JWT, Delhi, “With more competition coming in, Splendor needed to create a variant for the new generation. With essentially a new product design and engine, the Splendor brand is being brought back to life. The new campaign is about taking forward the trust built up for Splendor.”

While Splendor NXG and Super Splendor will continue to co-exist, Hero Honda has made some quick changes in the original Splendor. Says Pawan Munjal, Hero Honda’s CEO, “Splendor brand owners are loyal. With this new model, we are giving our loyal consumers an option to look beyond Splendor. Basically, we are getting aggressive on the deluxe segment and trying to bring the Splendor brand back.”

Besides the name, Splendor NXG has stylish looks, a high-performance engine (100cc), and five new colours. There are two variants carrying a price tag of Rs 40,990 and Rs 41,990 (ex-showroom Delhi), respectively.

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