Marketing Strategies of

Hyundai Motors

Group MembersSarita, Mazrin,

Sreeraj, Vazim, Balu, Sunita, Tapan

Q.1 Discuss the initiatives taken by the company to become a successful brand in IndiaProduct Smart move of entering the country with

a hatchback rather than a sedan. The consumer had grown bored of the Maruti offerings and saw this as a welcome change

Turning disadvantage to its advantage, Hyundai positioned the Santro on the design aspect

Evolved their positioning over time from being well designed to a family car, and gradually to a more sporty positioning

Timely product improvements and upgrade

Price Smartly priced, within reach of the target

consumer who wanted to upgrade to the B segment

Cont.

Promotion Their masterstroke was the brand ambassador

“Shahrukh Khan” who did a number of commercials and product placements to win the trust of the Indian consumer and make them accept a Korean car brand

Continuous brand building

Placement Built their own service network and distribution

channel, making the product easily available Easy availability of spare parts and convenient

service stations

Cont.

Brand EquityThe initial failure propelled Hyundai Motor to improve their product quality and regain consumer confidence by "adding an unprecedented 10-year/100,000-mile powertrain warranty—assurance to buyers that the car wouldn't fall apart on the turnpike while speeding along in the passing lane”

Product DifferentiationBy improving (augmenting) its cars' exterior design and engineering, while still maintaining its affordability, made it appealing to consumers and improved its brand image (from being the "Worst Car Ever Made"); giving it a competitive edge.

Cont.

Marketing StrategyThe assertive advertising helped to develop the brand element by capturing the brand's intangible characteristics - durability and quality. For e.g. a "commercial for the Elantra showed a father negotiating a series of hair raising and frighteningly genuine stunts to the glee of his family in the back seat“. The commercial turned the traditionally mundane sedan into a hero." With such assertive advertising and slogans

such as the Tucson's "Pretty but tough", Hyundai Motor's brand image and consumer brand awareness improved, and sales soared; contributing to brand building (consumers' perception of the brand).

Cont.

Change of Company Policy:Hyundai Motor's former policy of volume taking precedence over quality was soon replaced with building quality cars: the production of a car's design would be stopped midway through its life cycle, or a car's launch may even be delayed just so to resolve niggling issues Top management was replaced with

engineers (to get a more accurate perspective), and employees were encouraged to share their ideas for (generate) improvement with promised bonuses; boosting creativity

Other Initiatives The mega ‘Always Around’ campaign

is conducted at various locations where customers in their normal course of life frequently visit on an everyday basis like Joggers Park, Shopping Malls, Apartments, Multiplexes, etc.

While the customer might be busy shopping in a mall, his car is serviced and cleaned which saves both his time and money as it is a free service, and the advice that he gets from trained technicians helps him maintain his car even better.

Cont.

Along with the camp various value added services and schemes are offered e.g. customer Referral Scheme, Hyundai Advantage, Health Check-Up Camps, customer education towards improving the vehicle mileage/performance, information related to Hyundai products, etc. are also part of this campaign

The customers will also have a chance to see and test drive the latest Hyundai cars which would be there on display at the venue.

Cont.

Cont.

Hyundai Road Side Assistance Programme is a 24x7 emergency support provided in the event of any mechanical or electrical breakdown and or traffic accident of a vehicle. It is an initiative to increase the HMIL’s focus on its customers.

The program is designed to enhance the customer ownership experience and ensure that customers get immediate and hassle free service in the event of any car breakdown.

Q.2 Discuss the efficiency of the company in effectively managing its product lifecycle. With its vision of “Innovation for

Humanity,” the leading Korean automobile maker, Hyundai Motor Company, has worked hard to enhance quality and significantly increase its brand value

Accent is one of the highly successful long serving car brand in India launched in 1999

Santro is a classic example of successful marketing in Indian context. Santro was launched in India in 1998.

Hyundai Santro

After many years of launch, Santro is facing its maturity stage in its PLC. The sales have stagnated and price war from Maruti and a slew of launches like Chevy Spark, have hurt the sales of Santro.

Santro is also banking on price cuts and sales promotions to stay afloat.

Santro has managed to keep its market position by regular upgrades, product changes , relaunches and repositioning. E.g. Santro Zipplus, Santro Xing

It has been consistent in delivering excellent quality and functional performance through out its life. The brand is still a preferred upgrade for many middleclass car users.

Problems To Overcome

Santro still has lot of fuel to keep itself going. But for that Hyundai may have to keep the price down so that potential Alto users can strech a bit and buy Santro.

With the newly launched i10 by the company

in this segment, the focus on Santro will slowly decrease and that is a bad news for all those who love this brand.

Santro is losing some 10 % sale because of this laidback approach of its dealers.

Hyundai Accent Hyundai managed the product lifecycle of Accent

using variants, regularly updated Accent by launching different variants in line with the changing consumer expectations.

One of the most successful variants was the Accent Viva launched in 2002 was positioned as a sporty sedan. The engine was tweaked to give more power and was priced at a premium and was a successful niche variant.

In 2008 Accent was launched in CNG version with an expectation to boost the sagging sales of this brand. Last year, it was relaunched as Accent Executive with spruced up interiors.

The company was able to make enough changes in the price which enabled the brand to ride the PLC effectively.

Problems To Overcome Accent had tried out different taglines during its

different stages. The frequent changes in the tagline have really messed up the positioning of the brand. Accent is confused about whether it should focus on performance or image. The taglines of Accents were

- Sheer Pleasure- Expect More- The Next Step- The Power to Excite- What dreams drive

Although the taglines were more performance oriented, the ads especially the television commercials was unfocused. The agency failed to understand that the core brand value for Accent was its product performance and value for money proposition.

Cont.

One of the strong points for Accent is its design. Accent is still looking great. If Hyundai plans to keep this brand alive, it should focus on the design.

Accent can ride the PLC by positioning itself as a stylish brand. It should experiment with colours and graphics. The product quality is already established, what the brand needs is excitement.

At this stage of the PLC, Accent will get a boost if the brand is endorsed by a celebrity. A high profile young film star can rejuvenate the brand for sure.