7/31/2019 Hero MotoCorp Case Study
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Hero MotoCorp Case Study
Ambition
Hero Honda is the worlds largest producer by volume of
motorcycles (or two- wheelers' as theyare called in India). It
enjoys the lions share of the Indian market and is loved by tens
of
millions of Indians. The company started as a joint venture
between Hero Group of India and
Honda Motors of Japan. It has been one of the most successful
partnerships in the history of
India Inc., but in late 2010, after 27 years of success, the two
companies announced their
amicable separation and Hero Group took majority control of the
company. After the split, each
partner was free to act independently. In Heros case, this meant
entering new markets like Latin
America, Africa and South East Asia as well as building new
lines of business beyond two-
wheelers. In turn, this meant creating a new version of an
Indian icon, preparing it for the world
stage.
Action
The brief came directly from Mr. Pawan Munjal, MD and CEO of
Hero MotoCorp, in January
2011. In a nutshell, he was asking what the new brand should be.
Its positioning, the relationship
of the manufacturer brand to other parts of the Hero Group as
well as to the strong product
brands like Karizma and Splendour. And of course, the name and
new visual identity, including
dealer signage.
Wolff Olins worked closely with Mr. Munjal and his senior team
to create the new brand. The
challenge was to build the image of an innovative engineering
company while also retaining its
equity as the nations heartbeat. Research showed clearly that
this equity draws from theliberating effect a two-wheeler has upon
the social and economic circumstances of a typical
Indian. We called this effect the catapult (and A. R. Rahman
translated our thought into a new
company anthem, Hum mein hai HeroThere is a Hero in us.) The
brand had to signalcontinuity and change. So one of the most
obvious early conclusions was to use the name Hero
alone but to change much of the rest of the identity.
Expected Impact
Referring to the last few months and the journey ahead, Mr.
Munjal said "the new brand identity
has been born out of our desire to break the shackles and
realize our potential which was
restricted by the nature of our JV with Honda.
The new brand will support the successful launch of Hero in
international markets while further
consolidating its leadership in India. Internally, the brand
will guide (and hopefully inspire)
employees and partners. But the new Hero is much more than a new
identity. It is a new icon of
an already successful business and an expression of
irrepressible confidence to expand beyond
India and beyond two-wheelers.
