Pleasure : Why Should Boys Have All The Fun ?

Brand : Pleasure
Company: Hero Honda
Agency: FCB Ulka

November 2005 saw the launch of the scooter from Hero Honda branded " Pleasure". The launch is a bold one because of two reasons
1. The scooter is going to compete with its technology partner Honda.
2. Hero Honda is perceived as a bike manufacturer.

Pleasure is a 102 cc scooter targeting the young ladies. The launch makes sense because the scooter segment is now growing and is expected to touch 1 million units. In the scooter segment , the ungeared scooter segment is growing very fast. Hero Honda wants to have a pie of this segment. It is a paradox in that in 1990's Hero Honda disrupted Scooters with its 4 stroke bikes and now it is introducing a scooter.

Pleasure is positioned as a Pleasure scooter. The company is targeting Ladies and Ladies only ( that is clearly and obviously cried out in the baseline and in the ads). That,I will call a sound strategy. If you are targeting ladies, why should you expect men to ride that scooter. So Hero Honda has decided that the brand will be for ladies. Pleasure is going to be sold through " Just4her" showrooms where the salesperson will be ladies . ( Men are going to be pissed off by that)

The product comes with 8 flashy colours and lot of features for the fairer sex like broader seats, electric start etc. So as far as the product concept goes, Hero Honda have a winner at hand.

The communication executed by FCB Ulka which is splashed all over the channels have an international look and aimed at the ladies of age group 18 - 35. The segmentation is based on the current techno boom and the emerging empowered ladies segment.

Will it work in the real world?

If I had the answer, I would have been next Philip Kotler.

There are some danger points in Pleasure's paths. The product is pitted against Honda Activa and Dio. Activa is a formidable player and its reputation itself is an entry barrier for Pleasure. Since the pricing of Pleasure is comparable with that of Dio, Pleasure should have to make sure that it create a meaningful differentiation.

Hero Honda off late has been unsuccessful in its new product launches. It has not been able to take out Pulsar or Boxer and all the new product launches like Ambition was flops. So Hero Honda will have to convince the ladies to choose Pleasure over Activa. If Hero Honda is able to sustain the brand over one year, there is a possibility of migration from Scooterette segment to Pleasure.

Till that time " Let boys have fun" .....

Brand Update : Now Alia Bhatt asks Why should boys have all the fun ?

Having tasted success as a women's only scooter, Hero Pleasure has set its sights on the younger ladies. The brand in its push to appeal to the younger crowd has roped in the latest bollywood star Alia Bhatt as the brand ambassador. 

Watch the new ad here : Hero Pleasure

Hero Pleasure was endorsed by Priyanka Chopra and with the change in the brand ambassador to a much younger actress, the brand is trying to bring in a much youthful persona to it. The positioning and the message from the brand remains much the same . Pleasure also has retained the tagline " why should boys have all the fun ". 

The theme of the new campaign is of nothing new and many things shown in the ad has been repeated by many brands. So as far as the new communication is concerned, the brand has taken the most- traveled route except for the new face. 

If one looks closely at the brand's logo in the TVC, the brand describes itself as a " Light and Zippy " scooter. The emphasis of light and zippy is aimed at the younger crowd. With the new push, Pleasure is also challenging TVS Scooty although later is a scooterette. According to newsreports, Pleasure sells around 25000 units per month. Together with Maestro and Pleasure, Hero Motocorp has around 19 % share in the Indian scooter market. 

Brand Update : Pleasure

Pleasure has started using Hrithik Roshan in a latest marketing move. The latest ad is aimed at promoting the Just4her showrooms. Just4her is the all female showrooms for giving personalized service to Pleasure customers.
The latest ad offers Pleasure customers to have a date with Hrithik. 21 lucky customers will dine in style with Hrithik. Hrithik is the brand ambassador for Hero Honda group as such and had been endorsing Karizma. Pleasure is now trying to leverage the celebrity in breaking the stronghold of TVS Scooty.
Pleasure is Hero Honda's take on scooters. Aimed at the fairer sex, the product is advertised heavily in media with the tagline " Why should boys have all the fun". Just4her showroom are first of its kind in India. The showrooms are promoted using the tagline " Where every girl is a celebrity". Hero Honda has also created an Exclusive Lady Rider Club taking a lesson from the success of its Passport programme.

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Pleasure