WHAT IS POSITIONING?It is the act of designing the company’s offering

and image to occupy your distinctive place in the mind of the target market.

The end result of positioning is the successful creation of the customer focussed value proposition,a core region by the target marketship by the product.

Positioning is’nt what you do to a product,positioning is what you do to the minds of the prospect.

The hero honda story began with a simple vision-the vision of a mobile and an empowered india powered by hero honda.This vision was driven by hero honda’s commitment to customer,quality and excellence and by doing so,maintain the highest standard of ethics and societal resposibilities

25 years and 25 million two-wheelers later,Hero Honda is closer to fulfilling this dream.

Hero honda two-wheelers have been on indian roads since 1984 when Hero cycles ltd. Tied up with Honda Motor company to start a joint venture.

Hero Honda is taken to be the world’s largest two-wheeler manufacturer.It is therefore no surprise that there are more Hero Honda bikes on this country’s road than the total population of some European countries put together!!!

Hero Honda motorcyles are reputed for low maintenance and high fuel efficiency.These motor bikes ,including around 13 current varieties with names like Hero Honda Splendor,Glamour,CBZextreme and 1 scooter and the hero honda pleasure,are quite popular with the Indian two-wheeler consumers.These two wheelers are for the middle class ranging from Hero Honda two wheelers at around Rs 37,000 to 83,000.

BIKES FROM HERO HONDA CD DAWN CD DELUXE SPLENDOR PLUS SPLENDOR NXG PASSION PLUS SUPER SPLENDOR GLAMOUR ACHIEVER CBZ XTREME HUNK KARIZMA PLEASURE

PROMOTIONAL STRATEGIES OF HERO HONDA

1. Brand ambassadors of hero honda-Hero honda has roped in film actor Hrithik Roshan as its brand ambassador.

Brand ambassadors endorse the company products,attend corporate and brand events and help promote its “we care” campaign.

The latest commercial featuring Hrithik Roshan,Priyanka Chopra and 6 cricketers,is perhaps the longest ad of 3 minutes.

PROMOTIONAL POLICY: Company gives ad in different media

vehicles time to time. Company also organises free service

camps every year. Also takes part in trade fairs. Hero Honda with the help of ICICI

provides loans to the customers for loans for bikes.

Gives huge commission to the dealers.

ADVERTISEMENT1. Through Hero Honda sa re

ga ma pa challenge 2009-This show on zee tv is the 3rd installment of the series is a way to advertise hero honda.

2. Through hero honda roadies.

3. Hero Honda is rock solid on its top position-The boom in the automobile industry has benefited the tv channels in terms of advertising revenues.Hero Honda Motors Ltd. was the top advertiser in tv advertising in 2002.TVS holds the 2nd rank while Bajaj holds the 3rd rank.

MARKET SHAREHero Honda Motors Ltd. on 14

july 2009 reported a forecast-beating 7.1% rise in net profit.Helped by falling commodity prices,a cut in excise duties and sales in rural areas.

Hero Honda’s closest rival,Bajaj Auto ltd,2nd week of july,2009 reported a 23% drop in net profit for its fiscal third quarter as a lack of financing and high interest rates crimped demand.

Hero Honda was not affected,as 60% of its revenues comes from rural markets,where purchase are less reliant on loan financing than in urban areas and where its 100 cc bikes are popular, munjal said.

Company Apr-jun2008-09

Apr-jun2009-10

Growth(%)

Market share(%)

Ruralmarket share

Urban market share

HEROHONDA

877089 1094996

24.84 51.26 10% 25%

BAJAJAUTO

391100 331731

-15.18 15.53

TVS 292530 315785

7.94 14.78

HONDA 226068 284890

26.01 13.33

TOTAL MARKET

1865767

2135869

14.48

TABLE TO SHOW MARKET SHARE

ATTRIBUTE POSITIONING- It is a positioning strategy in which a company positioned itself on an attribute

SPLENDOR The world’s single largest

selling model for over 3 successive yrs.

setting a new record of selling 5 millon units.

Maximum mileage of 85 kmph.

Useful for longjourneys.

Double-cradle frame gives the steadiness in biking.

PASSION PLUS Is a bike meant for the

city commuter Gives an easy ride and

easy handling .

GLAMOURGlamour,the name tells all.Biker’s who prefer stylish

looks in bikes to come with 4 essential attributes.

Reaonable priceEase of handlingGood after-sale maintenance

support and acceptable resale value.

Its Looks-Black alloy wheels,large petrol tank with eye-catching graphics.

60-62 kmpl mileage with 13.6 lts tank capacity.

Comfort-night riding safety,good balance and low engine noise.

BENEFIT POSITIONING It is the type of positioning in

which the product is positioned as a leader in a certain benefit.

Hero Honda CD-Dawn,CD-Deluxe comes under this category.

CD-Dawn is a value-for-money bike.

It is a beginner’s bike well tested on indian roads and proven in city conditions.

Having features like fuel efficiency,economy and dependibility,the bike has gained popularity.

The no-frills CD-Dawn is the cheapest bike till date from the

Hero Honda stable.It has ex-showroom price of Rs.32,000.

Hero Honda CD 100 was india’s first 100 cc 4 stroke bike.It was launched at a time when 2 stroke scooters and motorcycles ruled roots in india.

Therefore it is said,”It was Munjal’s long-cherished desire to produce scooters,destiny had other plans.It was a blessing in

disguise.”CD-Deluxe It is the epolished version of

CD-Dawn. Like CD-Dawn it is also a

beginner’s bike.

COMPETITOR POSITIONING It is the positioning strategy in

which a product is claim to be better in some way than a named competitor.

It is also known as competitive positioning.

Bajaj has been the major competitor of Hero honda.

Hero honda has been responsible for making the market ready for the premium

bikes of Bajaj. Hero honda CBZ prepared

the market for the 150cc pulsars .

So will hero honda take the bait again this time and pull out something from its joint venture partner honda’s hat..??

Just a fuel injected karizma would be playing catch with bajaj instead of taking the stakes higher.

SO WHAT’S UP HERO HONDA…….???

A 300cc with fuel injection ….??? May be a 250cc twin…??? Or will bajaj take the initiative this time and surprise us all….??

Bajaj has been smart enough to use the same pulsar platform to push the envelop further for 180cc. In 2001 and now the 220 cc pulsar in 2007. Using the same platform has ensured that there are tremendous cost savings. Similarly the Karizma launched in 2003 prepared the market for 200 cc bikes . It is clear that hero honda indeed has been the pioneer in introducing new bikes but Bajaj has been the shrewd and smart fast follower .Right now the pulsar 220 DTSF-I with 20 bhp fuel injection,rear discs, the fat tube less tyres, the projector beams, the full digital speedo just manages to out do the Karizma… leaving hero honda with a challenge to push the envelope once again.

USE POSITIONING In this strategy ,the product is

positioned as best for some use or application.

The Hero Honda super splendour comes under this category.

It is not a bike to race with but one you can depend on to get you to your destination and back in the city safely and economically.

The super splendour gets a futuristic quantum core engine developed for the indian customers,powers hero honda’s new offering,the “sarva gun sampanna”super splendor.

USER POSITIONINGPositioning the product

as best for some user group is called user positioning.

Hero Honda pleasure comes under this category.

It is a machine mainly targeted for the women audience.

It has a catchy tagline-”Why should men have all the fun”.

Hero honda is positioned as the no 1 two wheeler company in the whole world.Its growth has kept compounding. The company crossed the ten million unit milestone over a nineteen yr span.It has scaled this to 15 million units in just 5 yrs.Hero Honda sold more two-wheelers than the 2nd,3rd and 4th placed company. Hero honda two-wheelers have been on indian roads since 1984 when Hero cycles ltd. Tied up with Honda Motor company to start a joint venture.

Over the course of two & a half decade they stuck to respective strengths.It is one of the world’s technology leaders in the automotive sector.Honda has been able to provide technical know-how,design specificatios and R&D innonvations.It has led to the development of world-class,value-for-money for two-wheelers. Setting up an extensive distribution networks and providing insights into the mind of Indian customers.It has sold and serviced through a network of over 3500 customer-touch-points .

It has built two world class manufacturing facilities at DHARUHERA and GURGAON.

3rd-Most sophisticated plant at haridwar.Thrust on quality Key for the company is to concentrate on

quality in products and services. To the previous yr’s strike by the raw

material’s price twirl in other companies HMSI too added in that.

There is some enhancement yr on yr but the company has not attained a pleasing level.

HERO HONDA CREATES NEW PERFORMANCE RECORDSSells over 2 million motorcycles in 2003-04.Highest

turnover in the Indian two wheeler industry.Total Turnover for the year up by 15% to Rs.5997

crore.Total motorcycle sales up by 23%.PAT increases by 25%.5 successful model launches drive 4% growth in

market share to 48%.Announces 500% final dividend,totaldividend

1000% for the year.Market capitalisation crosses Rs. 10,000.

PERSON BEHIND THE EXCELLENCE OF HERO HONDA

Dr.Brijmohan lall Munjal, chairman of the Hero Honda has been conferred the prestigious Padma Bhushan Award for his contribution to the trade and industry.

Dr munjal is considered to have led Hero Honda from the front to establish it as a world number one two wheeler company.

As an true entrepreneur,he set up Hero cycles factory in 1956 which engaged in manufacturing complete bicycles and went o to become the world’s largest bicycle producer in 1986,a position it has held since then.

In 1984, he started Hero Honda,the joint venture of Hero with Honda motor company Japan.

The company heralded the two wheeler revolution in India and became the world’s largest two wheeler company in 2001 and continue to hold it ever since.

Today more than a crore satisfied Hero Honda customers bear the testimony to dr munjal’s philosophy and performance.

SWOT ANALYSIS

STRENGTHSHuge brand equity/reputation among

customers.Research and development-due to joint

venture with japanese jiant-HONDA.Models/products in almost every bike

segment.Healthy growth in profits.Brilliant relations with customers and

dealers.

Low cash reserves due to massive dividend payouts.Virtual absence in the highly lucrative bike segments.imports >31% of its spare parts requirements.Slow to react to market changes- slow to innovation Too much dependence on few models.

OPPPORTUNITIES HHML can still make it up by launching a

strong model in 150cc segment. 125cc bike segment-this segment is yet to

pick pace. Exports market is yet to be properly

exploited HHML can still make it.

THREATS All major bike makers in the world are lining

up for India. The growth in two wheeler market is slowing

down. Low cash reserves. HHML has losing the foothold in the exports

market which is now dominated by a Bajaj.

CONCLUSION Hero Honda has been the

pioneer in introducing new bikes.

Its brand image is unbeatable.

Hero honda is responsible for improving the Indian market of two-wheelers.

The company’s meteoric growth in the two-wheeler market india stems from an intrinsic ability to come closer to the customers.

It has the highest standards of ethics and social responsibilities,innonvative products and process and develop teams that keep the momentum.

ADITI OBEROI MEENAL

SHILPA KAPOOR

TANUSHREE ROY