It took us months of constant badgering to catch up with Pawan Munjal. After all, his schedule is packed for weeks ahead with power lunches, conferences and dealer meets. In between he also sewed up multi-million deals for HH’s sponsorship of Champions Trophy and the 2010 Hockey World Cup. Phew! Quick, over to him...
ON TOPLINES & MARKET SHARE
4Ps B&M: Your topline success is because you got it right or Bajaj got it wrong?
PM: I won’t comment on competition but as far as HH is concerned, we got our strategy mostly right. We decided what we wanted to achieve and went about it systematically.
4Ps B&M: What about January when sales were flat? Did you fear that your topline strategy may backfire?
PM: Long before the economy saw the fiscal meltdown or the slowdown hit, the Indian two-wheeler industry was already facing a crisis because of retail finance. But even in a declining industry we were able to maintain growth. We were doing better than the industry. Yes, stagnant sales earlier this year were a cause of concern. (Pauses) Particularly because we were also spending a lot of money, investing in our new plant at Haridwar, building capacity etc. Obviously, as a company, we knew that this was a challenge. But we could see that we were doing better than the rest of the industry. So we said, let’s use this adversity as an opportunity, build on it and go all out on advertising and brand building.
4Ps B&M: So you plan to cross the 4 million mark by the end of this fiscal?
PM: (shrugs) I don’t know where the 4 million figure has come from. But despite all the gloom around the economy, we are sure to exceed that.
4Ps B&M: And will market share go beyond the 60% plus as on date?
PM: The target is the numbers and market share will follow.
THE NEW POSITIONING
4Ps B&M: HH is known as a 100cc bike company. Are you now aiming for a premium position?
PM: (shakes his head) I think what you are talking about is how outsiders perceive us. Inside Hero Honda, we’ve known for a long time that we don’t want to be a leader in just one segment. We want to be a leader in the complete sense of the word, not just in sales, market share and bottomlines. We want to be seen as a prized company to work for. In terms of HR we should have the best practices; in terms of fiscal prudence, we should have the best practices. Coming back to the premium segment, but people forget that we were the first to enter the segment with CBZ.
4Ps B&M: Yes, but that was in the 1990s. Somewhere, Bajaj won that race?
PM: (nods sadly) you are right. In that premium segment we did not manage leadership. But last couple of years we decided that we have to have leadership across segments. We should not be seen as a company for the rural masses only, selling fuel economy products. So we refreshed our portfolio in the segment and have been growing at almost 40% in the segment. We want to be a company that the youth would like to be associated with. And that is why we have been consciously associating with youth centric programs like MTV Roadies, Sa Re Ga Ma Pa and others. Sports is also youth and we’re involved in cricket, golf and now even hockey.
4Ps B&M: And have you been successful in changing that perception?
PM: We’re not there yet. But the perception is slowly changing. We’re moving in the right direction. And it’ll happen soon!
4Ps B&M: So is there a plan to move into the 300-350cc bike segment?
PM: I personally think that the cc of an engine does not matter so much, unless you’re talking 1000 or 1500cc. For the rest, what matters is the image, the aura and the youthfulness of the company. And the last few years, we’ve invested heavily in advertising, marketing and branding. Big budget ads, any worthwhile show on TV, and all big sporting events, you would have seen Hero Honda everywhere. The idea has been to leverage the buzz created.
4Ps B&M: That’s why the shift from Desh Ki Dhadkan to Dhak Dhak Go?
PM: Yes! We launched Dhak Dhak Go in 2008 that is when we really sharpened our focus on the premium segment. Dhak Dhak Go was an evolution from Desh ki Dhadkan to make our brand more youthful and energetic.
4Ps B&M: Now you’ve brought back ‘fill it-shut it-forget it’. Is that not back to fuel efficiency positioning?
PM: Over the years we were doing so much else that the Fill it-Shut it-Forget it thought was forgotten. But fuel efficiency is still the most important buying criteria for consumers in India. Competition is forever touting mileage. The idea to get back the popular slogan was not to talk about numbers and tom tom that we give 90 or 80 kilometers. We wanted to remind consumers that we were the ones that started it all and tell them to start reliving their past.
ON PERSONAL STRENGTHS
4Ps: What makes Pawan Munjal tick?
PM: Relationships. One of the biggest pillars of HH is relationships across stakeholders – people within the organisation, the whole value chain, dealers – it’s actually a strong well-knit team. Take the Haridwar plant. Going from 0 to 4000 units per day, without the backing of suppliers, and with an entirely new team was not easy. But it happened because of relationships and a professional work environment.
For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.
Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).
For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
“We will change your outlook” - The Sunday Indian on B-SCHOOL RANKING SCAMSTERS EXPOSED! A must read...
For Exclusive Footage by Sunday Indian Click Here
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ON TOPLINES & MARKET SHARE
4Ps B&M: Your topline success is because you got it right or Bajaj got it wrong?
PM: I won’t comment on competition but as far as HH is concerned, we got our strategy mostly right. We decided what we wanted to achieve and went about it systematically.
4Ps B&M: What about January when sales were flat? Did you fear that your topline strategy may backfire?
PM: Long before the economy saw the fiscal meltdown or the slowdown hit, the Indian two-wheeler industry was already facing a crisis because of retail finance. But even in a declining industry we were able to maintain growth. We were doing better than the industry. Yes, stagnant sales earlier this year were a cause of concern. (Pauses) Particularly because we were also spending a lot of money, investing in our new plant at Haridwar, building capacity etc. Obviously, as a company, we knew that this was a challenge. But we could see that we were doing better than the rest of the industry. So we said, let’s use this adversity as an opportunity, build on it and go all out on advertising and brand building.
4Ps B&M: So you plan to cross the 4 million mark by the end of this fiscal?
PM: (shrugs) I don’t know where the 4 million figure has come from. But despite all the gloom around the economy, we are sure to exceed that.
4Ps B&M: And will market share go beyond the 60% plus as on date?
PM: The target is the numbers and market share will follow.
THE NEW POSITIONING
4Ps B&M: HH is known as a 100cc bike company. Are you now aiming for a premium position?
PM: (shakes his head) I think what you are talking about is how outsiders perceive us. Inside Hero Honda, we’ve known for a long time that we don’t want to be a leader in just one segment. We want to be a leader in the complete sense of the word, not just in sales, market share and bottomlines. We want to be seen as a prized company to work for. In terms of HR we should have the best practices; in terms of fiscal prudence, we should have the best practices. Coming back to the premium segment, but people forget that we were the first to enter the segment with CBZ.
4Ps B&M: Yes, but that was in the 1990s. Somewhere, Bajaj won that race?
PM: (nods sadly) you are right. In that premium segment we did not manage leadership. But last couple of years we decided that we have to have leadership across segments. We should not be seen as a company for the rural masses only, selling fuel economy products. So we refreshed our portfolio in the segment and have been growing at almost 40% in the segment. We want to be a company that the youth would like to be associated with. And that is why we have been consciously associating with youth centric programs like MTV Roadies, Sa Re Ga Ma Pa and others. Sports is also youth and we’re involved in cricket, golf and now even hockey.
4Ps B&M: And have you been successful in changing that perception?
PM: We’re not there yet. But the perception is slowly changing. We’re moving in the right direction. And it’ll happen soon!
4Ps B&M: So is there a plan to move into the 300-350cc bike segment?
PM: I personally think that the cc of an engine does not matter so much, unless you’re talking 1000 or 1500cc. For the rest, what matters is the image, the aura and the youthfulness of the company. And the last few years, we’ve invested heavily in advertising, marketing and branding. Big budget ads, any worthwhile show on TV, and all big sporting events, you would have seen Hero Honda everywhere. The idea has been to leverage the buzz created.
4Ps B&M: That’s why the shift from Desh Ki Dhadkan to Dhak Dhak Go?
PM: Yes! We launched Dhak Dhak Go in 2008 that is when we really sharpened our focus on the premium segment. Dhak Dhak Go was an evolution from Desh ki Dhadkan to make our brand more youthful and energetic.
4Ps B&M: Now you’ve brought back ‘fill it-shut it-forget it’. Is that not back to fuel efficiency positioning?
PM: Over the years we were doing so much else that the Fill it-Shut it-Forget it thought was forgotten. But fuel efficiency is still the most important buying criteria for consumers in India. Competition is forever touting mileage. The idea to get back the popular slogan was not to talk about numbers and tom tom that we give 90 or 80 kilometers. We wanted to remind consumers that we were the ones that started it all and tell them to start reliving their past.
ON PERSONAL STRENGTHS
4Ps: What makes Pawan Munjal tick?
PM: Relationships. One of the biggest pillars of HH is relationships across stakeholders – people within the organisation, the whole value chain, dealers – it’s actually a strong well-knit team. Take the Haridwar plant. Going from 0 to 4000 units per day, without the backing of suppliers, and with an entirely new team was not easy. But it happened because of relationships and a professional work environment.
For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.
Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).
For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
“We will change your outlook” - The Sunday Indian on B-SCHOOL RANKING SCAMSTERS EXPOSED! A must read...For Exclusive Footage by Sunday Indian Click Here
Outlook Magazine's B School Ranking Scam Exposed
Don't trust the Indian Media!
IIPM ISBE Programmes
Follow Arindam Chaudhuri on Twitter
IIPM B School on Twitter
Management guru Arindam Chaudhuri’s latest blockbuster book, Discover The Diamond In You
IIPM, GURGAON
IIPM 3-year full-time Integrated (MBA BBA) Programme
IIPM 2-year full time Programme (leading to the award of the MBA degree from IMI)
B-schools expect higher rate of campus placements this year
IIPM B School : King Khan, Bollywood Badshah and Quiz Wiz — that’s Shah Rukh Khan for you
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