Striking Early

THERE’S just one word for it: ruthless. If you thought that Maruti’s internal troubles would blunt its edge, you’re mistaken. And to show how street-smart it is, Maruti Udyog Ltd’s (MUL) first ever advertisement campaign for its perennially popular Maruti 800 has been launched, in seven languages, and is scheduled to run till the end of the year at an approximate cost of Rs 2 crore.

So what is it that makes MUL advertise the country’s bestselling car—the car that powered its success story? A drop in sales? No. The fear of competition? No. The desire to crush all impending competition even before it gets off the ground? Most definitely. As MUL’s managing director, R.C. Bhargava, puts it: "We may face competition within the next two years from new entrants in this segment. The ad campaign is part of our long-term strategy to strengthen our position and pre-empt the competition". Which could appear as early as next year if South Korean conglomerates like Daewoo, Hyundai and Kia move with their characteristic speed, and latest by 1998 when Telco plans to launch its 800 cc car.

And, of course, the campaign is also part of the endeavour to expand the burgeoning market even further. To this end, the campaign targets two different types of consumers. Says Sandeep Goyal, executive vice-president, Rediffusion-DY&R, the agency behind the campaign: "Being the cheapest car on Indian roads, it opens up two constituencies for us. Those who want to upgrade from their second hand car but don’t have enough money. Besides, it also offers, in times to come, the market of people moving up the ladder." In other words, those who already plan to, or might at a later date buy a car and discard that old faithful, the Bajaj scooter.

 The ad copy stresses on two words which are the key to the campaign: ‘freedom’ and ‘achievement’. The campaign, in fact, has a series of four advertisements, each one of them stressing on freedom of a different kind. The first ad, for instance, refers to the freedom of achievement, the one gained by purchasing your first car, featuring a happy family of four. The second ad refers to the freedom of bridging distances and the visual shows a child with his grandfather, signifying the distance bridged. The next ad in the series targets the customer who is buying a second car for the house and pertains to the freedom of mobility and convenience, featuring a mother and daughter, who, thanks to a second car, can move about independently. The last ad in the campaign talks about the freedom to discover, featuring a couple on holiday with their Maruti 800, where you discover not just new destinations, but each other too. Says Bashob Dey, account director at Rediffusion-DY&R: "Since we are looking at the first time car owner, we are trying to impress upon him the freedom he acquires by purchasing a car."

 He adds that the campaign also attempts to educate the potential customer about how easy it is to have access to the Maruti 800. The ads therefore talk about the shorter delivery periods prevalent now, down to three months thanks to increased production. This has been a major bugbear for MUL since many potential customers have been daunted by the year-long queues. Besides, the ads also talk about the convenient financing options—usually crucial for anyone purchasing his first car. Also, the ads refer to the wide sales and service network available—essential, since MUL is trying to reach out into the smaller cities and towns, where its penetration levels have left much to be desired. In order to shore up matters on this front, the company has also been working at increasing its dealer network, with a fair amount of success. "The ads will run in Bengali, Malayalam, Tamil, Hindi, Gujarati and Telugu publications, besides leading English magazines and newspapers," says Dey. Rediffusion has preferred to advertise more in regional publications since the ads will feature the names and addresses of MUL’s dealers in that region.

Clearly, an ad campaign designed to prepare MUL for tomorrow’s competitive market scenario. And a campaign that gives enough indication that MUL is at least one Indian company that prefers not to sit on its laurels.