Every brand has a story and the success of the brand depends on how well they tell the story to the consumers.
After a near -death experience in the Indian market, Yamaha have slowly started telling a compulsive story. In my last update on Yamaha, I had blogged about their new launch Yamaha YZF R15. Priced at Rs 1,25000, the brand has already made a strong start.
After a near -death experience in the Indian market, Yamaha have slowly started telling a compulsive story. In my last update on Yamaha, I had blogged about their new launch Yamaha YZF R15. Priced at Rs 1,25000, the brand has already made a strong start.
R 15 is positioned as the urban racing machine. The brand boasts about its racing instinct and most of the auto reviews have written positive wo
rds for this machine.Last day I was watching the Auto Car show in UTV i and happen to see the report on the racing championship for R 15 owners held in October 2008. The first racing event was held in September.
I consider this event as one of the best marketing practice where a brand truly living the dreams it has painted for its customers.
The racing event promoted by Yamaha was not for the racing professionals but for the ordinary owners or R 15. But the entire racing was done on the professional race track. So many guys were able to realize their dream of participating in an actual race using their bike.
Its not the first time that a bike brand associating itself with racing . TVS Apache RTR was positioned along the racing platform. Even the market leader in performance bike - Pulsar also was associated with racing attributes.
But R 15 has gone the extra mile by making racing real by launching such an event. I bet that many of those R 15 owners who participated in the race was seeing the racing track for the first time. They also got the chance to burn the rubber and live their dream - thanks to the brand.
This event is also an outcome of the clear understanding of the consumers who buy such a bike.
Those who can shell out Rs 1 lakh for a bike will definitely a bike enthusiast who wanted to burn the rubber and make a statement. These customers will also be the key opinion leaders among their community be it students or professionals. So a racing event will be the best possible way to make them feel good about their purchase.
The customers of R 15 can participate the event by paying a nominal amount of Rs 500. According to the report , the company will handle the transportation of the bike to the racing venue. The riders are given enough training before letting them loose on the race track.
The brand is going to have lot of advantages by organizing such an event. First is the reinforcement of the brand's positioning of a sports bike. The event also will make the opinion leaders to hook on to their brand. Those who have participated this even will cherish those moments and will have generated lot of positive word of mouth . It also will strengthen the case of pricing the brand at Rs 1.25 lakh .
Another interesting factor is that this event is not for potential customers but existing customers. So this case is an example of a successful "After Marketing' . 'After Marketing ' is a jargon that is used for all marketing activities that are done after the sale is over.
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I do agree that what YAMAHA has done is revolutionary and a one of its kind campaign in India... But just see it from the ethical angle. They are selling an insanely powerful bike to "bike enthusiasts" (Read: mostly young males with rich parents)and promoting it by organising races on professional race tracks. Wont these same lads add to the traffic misery that most Indian roads already face, by racing at high speeds?
ReplyDeleteThere is an organised drag racing circuit in most major cities - A menace. These races usually happen in the wee hours of the morning when the patrolling cops are at their sleepiest!
I dont think the Indian junta is mature enough for a bike like this.
From the marketing and branding perspective though, kudos to YAMAHA. (P.S. I was the proud owner of an RX135 a few years ago!)
The most expected bike, Yamaha R 15 gives you tons of confidence. You can do what you want around corners. Stiffer front and rear will make it even faster.. Keep the engine on the boil and you can always be sure that you're faster than the rest.. Its ahead in the market..
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