“Honda story will continue on the back of innovations”

After the Hero Honda split in 2010, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI), the wholly-owned subsidiary of Japan's Honda Motor Co, has flooded the two-wheeler market with a slew of launches. Last month, it entered the 110cc mass segment with the launch of Dream Yuga. For HMSI, the top priority is to build a mass brand that represents the aspirations of an average Indian. In an interview with Rohit Nautiyal of FE, Yadvinder Singh Guleria, vice president, sales and marketing, HMSI, discusses the company's new vision, the importance of right communication in brand building and its new markets. Edited excerpts: What’s the new Honda vision and how does the new corporate campaign reflect the company's new values? 2012 is undoubtedly a landmark year in the history of HMSI. For the first time, we have inherited brand Honda in its purest form for two-wheelers in India. The company's new direction was announced early this year at the Auto Expo followed by a slew of launches. Earlier we were not present in the 100-110 cc segment which accounts for almost 50% of two-wheelers sales in India. Recently we made our foray into this segment with the launch of Dream Yuga which will bring high volumes for us. We have zeroed on a three-pronged vision: create (product), communicate (advertising) and connect (distribution). Our global tag line 'Power of dreams' has been adopted as 'Sach kar denge sapne' for the Indian masses. The campaign attempts to capture how every Indian lives with a dream in his heart. And where there's a dream, there's a chase and that's where Honda finds a connect. Through our offerings, we provide mobility so people can fulfil their dreams. This July we will touch 1 crore customers in India and so we believe it's the right time to launch our campaign. Besides television, our new media plan will focus on digital, point of purchase and outdoor. Has there been any change in how you are perceived as a company and a brand since the Hero Honda split? Currently, our main focus area is to attain optimum manufacturing capacity at all our plants. Eventually, the product makes a huge difference and the Honda story will continue on the back of innovations. At the same time, customers evaluate you not only on the basis of technology but brand positioning as well. And Honda continues to score high on consumer trust. By roping in actor Akshay Kumar, Honda has taken the celebrity association route for the first time. What made you sign him? Akshay Kumar's story represents the endeavour of a common man chasing his dreams with passion and dedication. He has worked his way up to emerge as one of Bollywood's top actors. Considering how our company has been built on dreams, I could not think of a better name. What initiatives will be taken by HMSI to strengthen its distribution, especially in smaller cities and rural India? We closed the last financial year with 1500 touch points including our network of dealers, sub dealers, branches and authorised service centres. This year we will add another 500 and close 2012-13 with 2,000 touch points. Since we have a strong network in metros, most of these will come up in tier 2 and tier 3 towns. During the application screening process of our dealerships in small towns, it was interesting to see how young entrepreneurs were enthusiastic about associating themselves with Honda. Also, our touch points will now have a more contemporary look and feel to provide a better customer experience. While we have five regional offices, our new area of focus is to expand our zonal footprint. What investments are being made by HMSI in research and development (R&D)? It is important for us to launch new vehicles consistently and 'to create' is the one of the crucial parts of our three-pronged vision. In fact, some of the development stages of our R&D will be shifted from Japan and Thailand to our new technology centre in India. This will result in faster testing of the new vehicles which will bring down the time to market new models. While we cannot disclose investment figures, with our new technology centre, India will contribute a lot more to global Honda models. India will contribute a lot more to global Honda models.