31 Years of Heroes

Group 13
Harshit Gupta (PGP14021)
Shiva Sharma (PGP14045)
Suneha Anand(PGP14052)
Mudit Singh (PGP14081)
Jonaki Yadav (PGP14104)

Company History
From starting in 1956 to 1975, Hero had become the
largest manufacturer of bicycles in India.
In 1978, Majestic Auto Limited was incorporated and
started producing Hero Majestic Moped, a motorized
two wheeler. In 1986, Hero became the largest bicycle
manufacturer in the world.
Honda had been the largest manufacturer of
motorcycles in the world since 1959. In terms of
automobile manufacturing, it was the sixth largest in
the world.
Hero Honda started a JVin 1984 for a period of ten
years. Honda agreed to provide the technical knowhow, manufacturing facilities, and R&D.
The company launched its first bike - the Hero Honda
CD 100 - in 1985. Designed completely by Honda. The
four stroke motorcycle with EIS, illuminated
speedometer, and 4-gear box. A high mileage standard
of 80 km per liter. Fill it, shut it, forget it

CD 100 and Puch

Balancing act promoting power and mileage
What does the indian consumer want?
CD100 and CD100SS (variant to tackle rural indian
roads better due to higher clearance) saw huge
success from 1985 to mid-1990s.
Hero Puch was targeted at the younger entry
segment and had more youthful image. It was
endorsed by the three (then young and upcoming)
Khans of Bollywood

Splendor era 1994 Onward

With the advent of globalization, consumer preferences were changing with
regards to style. Body and head were sculpted and faring added to make the
bike more designer appeal to a broader consumer base
Splendor has been the worlds largest selling motorcycle
The success of CD series was carried forward with the same features of a
100cc engine and good mileage of 70kpl
Has launched several variants since, plus, pro, super splendor, NXG and
classic and is now sold by Hero Motorcorp as Splendor iSmart with a record
mileage of 102.5 kpl
From 1997 onwards, the headlights were changed from rectangular to
sculpted to cater to evolving design preferences.
Since 2001, passion series has been marketed as a slightly rugged and better

CBZ
Introduced in 1999, CBZ was the first 150cc bike from Hero Honda and positioned itself
with a powerful and stylish image the fast pick-up was a huge boost to sales and popularity
among consumers in a starved market with the energetic slogan motorcycling unplugged
CBZ star was introduced in 2004 but it did not receive much enthusiastic response
because mileage was improved at the cost of acceleration. It was discontinued in early
2005
CBZ Xtreme was launched in 2006. It was edgy and powerfully built with a slogan live off
the edge but suffered at the hands of Pulsar and Apache which had redefined the market
preferences.
The Hunk, launched in 2008 was a more muscularly designed, and shorter wheelbase
variant of the same platform. The changes were done to compete with FZ-5 which was a
distinctively shaped bike, and a top seller in the category`

KARIZMA
Karizma was a 225cc bike launched in 2003. Hritik Roshan has been
associated with the brand for almost a decade and it remains Hero
Motorcorps premium range product offering
Has always espoused sporty and rebellious slogans Always Game,
Discover your biker gene, Unleash the biker within, Above all
Full faring head and body with sporty lights and chassis. Powerful engine
all at par with entry level American bikes. The bike was a reasonable
success though the competitions pulsar 220 and 200 variants captured
significant share due to lesser price and better handling.
Karizma R and ZMR brought significant cosmetic and performance
changes and has been in the mindset of consumers due to good
marketing and accessible after sales service
The latest iteration was unveiled last year along with international

Pleasure
Introduced in 2007, Pleasure was targeted at women. With the
slogan Why should boys have all the fun? and Priyanka Chopra
as its celebrity endorser, the brand was very well received and
has kept a competitive share of the market if the face of other
brands like scooty pep. However it faced stiff competition once
Honda released the more powerful Activa and Aviator
Pleasure has had relatively few modifications and just focuses on
cosmetic upgrades and changing its celebrity endorsers to stay
relevant with young female celebrities. Alia Bhatt is the current
endorser for Pleasure

Maestro
The Maestro was unveiled in 2011 along with the new
corporate identity of Hero Motorcorp. With a quirky and edgy
design and suitable advertisements from endorser Ranbir
Kapoor, the scooter is positioned in contrajunction to the
Pleasure with the punch line Its a boy thing
Was launched to compete directly with Hondas activa as
the market was the main point of contention between Honda
and Hero. Honda wanted to capture more profits in the
scooters market and so it split.
Hero launched this scooter as an almost identical but
cheaper variant of Activa and has captured market share
while Honda struggled with installing a full production

The Desh ki Dhadkan

campaign was one of the
major changes in the
approach of the company
to its target audience.
The company was
involved in the Hockey,
Golf and most
importantly Cricket.
Hero became the
countrys largest
motorcycle seller, and
The campaign started with an ad by Hritik
the worlds second
Roshan and Saurav Ganguly appealing to the
largest in terms of units
two gods of Indian psyche Cricket and
volume sold.
Bollywood
The patriotic fervour was cashed upon and the
inspiring advertisement of a progressive,
responsible India was widely broadcasted
during the 2003 Cricket world cup
The Dhak dhak slogan was maintained up until
the company split up in 2010, when the JV
celebrated its 25th anniversary
Hritik and Priyanka were paired near the end of
the campaign to position the company with its
two diverse products, motorcycles and
scooters

Roadies was started in

2003 and was a different
brand communication
than the more patriotic
and responsible Desh ki
Dhadkan campaign
The show was a
rebellious and edgy
reality show that had
attitude and ambition
and a zeal for touring the
country
Many of the tasks and all of the touring was done of Hero
The show became a cult
Honda bikes (Karizma for the most part) throughout the
in the Indian youth
series
mindset
Due to the extreme nature of the terrain and the general
charged atmosphere of the show developed a brand
The
image
for Hero
Honda Karizma as a great sports bike
shows
controversial
judges and hosts as well
as the success stories of
the winners have served
to keep the image of
Roadies alive in pop
culture and the minds of
the target audience
Hero Honda and
subsequently Hero

HUM MEIN HAI HERO

2011 campaign to communicate the change in corporate identity after the split up Honda
AR Rahman composed the music and the ad was widely popularized by the billion voices
contest, which received many submissions, singing along with the theme song
The Desh ki Dhadhkan campaign had been a huge landmark in
the history of Hero Honda. Having become the market leader,
there was in increasing returns to associate the brand name with
patriotism and connect with the consumers
Hero Motorcorp wanted to retain the trust and goodwill it had
accumulated over the last 25 years, but it also wanted to
communicate the change from Hero Honda and dissociation with
Honda
The Hero film showed various people who represent ambitious
and inspiring images joining Hero motorcorp to the Indian
consumer. Shots of Indian army men, children, women and
middle income common man were used to deliver the brand
communication

WHAT HERO LACKS Areas of

Improvement
Hero Honda has historically paid less attention to its design as opposed to its competitors.
The CBZ was criticised for being understated and outdated in design in comparison to Pulsar
The flagship Karizma was criticised for having a fixed head (and fixed headlight) leading to nighttime driving issues
Many models have seen infrequent and sporadic updates with relatively minor cosmetic changes
and changes in brand name by adding a suffix to the brand name
With the advent of international brands and new, cutting edge design philosophy, Hero is being
left further behind for its dated designs
R&D was carried out by Honda, which brought its technical expertise to the venture. After it left,
Hero has been slow to develop its own R&D capability. It has come out with Ignitor, Glamor and
Achiever to compete mostly with Honda and Bajaj at various
price
pointsPLANS
and product
platform.
HOW
HERO
TO ADDRESS
Hero Motorcorp has released a new ad titled Zidd which talks of the driving force which theTHIS
company hopes to embody, from designer to engineer to consumer
The campaign Zidd emphasises the Heros commitment to progress in technology and
aesthetics. The campaign also builds the companys technology credentials and establishes Hero
as an innovative company which is competing with the best in the continuous climb on the
technology curve.
With five designs which included the innovative diesel engine scooter (for the rural India) that
were unveiled in the Delhi Auto Expo 2014, Hero showed that the company has taken on the
offensive and is rather doing well without the help of the Japanese automaker.

COMMUNICATION THROUGH THE YEARS TO CONSUMERS

1985- With its first bike Hero Honda CD 100, Hero Honda started its joint venture in India with a
high performance bike that had a superb mileage that catered to every market from rural to
urban.
1989- With PUCH selling the entire production of PUCH maxi plus entirely to Hero Honda, Hero
PUCH with its stylish and performance orientation was launched with the three Khans to target a
young population.
1994- Hero Honda came out with Splendor and gave its most popular bike in terms of volume of
sale. The Splendor carried the need for more style that was a growing need amongst the
customers. Hero brought out a lot of variations of the bike over the years and currently sells
Splendor i-Smart with a record mileage of 102.5 kpl that caters rural and lower middle class of
India.
1999- CBZ with a 150cc engine was launched and was more edgier and powerful bike than its
counterparts. The response towards the bike was enthusiastic in the initial years of the launch
with advertisements focussing on speed which was slowly gaining prominence amongst the
riders.
The bike was cosmetically changed over the years to compete with other brands who had
edgier designs in their stable.
Present- The response has been lukewarm due to many entrants flooding the given

 2003 contd.- Hero started with Desh ki Dhadkan campaign to instil the patriotic fervour and
widely circulated it in the Cricket World Cup 2003. The campaign showed Sourav Ganguly and
Hrithik Roshan- appealing to the two Gods of Indian Psyche. The campaign was continued till
2010 until the company split up.
2003 contd. Hero Honda also clearly communicated its distinction in performance and powerful
bikes with the company sponsoring Roadies-cult reality show which used to air on MTV. Karizma
was widely used in the show to give the company a rebellious attitude towards its powerful bikes
in the mindset of youth.
2007- With a growing need to tap female market, Hero Honda launched Pleasure. The launch was
significant in terms of increasing meagre female two wheeler driver population and the company
communicated the message through Priyanka Chopra through the tagline-Why should boys have
all the fun?. The advertisements brought out the handicap of female population in traversing
small distances as pillion riders to male two wheeler riders.
2011- With new corporate identity of Hero Motocorp, Hero brought out a more powerful and
stylish scooter- Maestro which was intended for the male population. Rising favourite Bollywood
star Ranbir Kapoor was chosen to be the celebrity endorser for the brand.
2011 contd. Hum Mein Hai Hero campaign was launched to communicate the change from
Hero Honda and dissociation with Honda. The campaign was sung by A.R. Rehman and was well

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