Result? From a producer of fuel-efficient motorcycles, Hero Honda has morphed into a marketing-led organisation. Advertising campaigns, product refreshes and brand health - walk blindfolded into the Hero Honda office in a crowded south Delhi market and the language spoken there could lead you to mistake it for an FMCG company. "Every two-wheeler company is focused at the product-end of the story. But all products are similar," says brand consultant Harish Bijoor. "Hero Honda is the first to go beyond that. It shows in its domination of cricket, selection of youth and style icons, and association with shows like MTV Roadies which improves involvement with the hinterland."
This was the first change Hero Honda internalised in those turbulent days. All motorcycles and their advertisements looked similar. The diagnosis was that the company's differentiation in terms of propositioning to customers was weak. That was the first gap that needed to be plugged.
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