[Achilles]

Originally Posted by Storm2.0

They can take pics from our Accidents in India thread to show how important is it for car to be well built.

Like the scary disgusting picture on a cigarette packet!!

There should be some mandatory awareness session and the safety test (NCAP or whichever applicable) report should be given to every customer by the car dealership before purchase. In that way, people will be aware and the manufactures will be forced to make safer cars!!
It won't be that difficult to implement, I believe.

[Aditya]

The big problem here is the perception built in peoples' minds about the brands mentioned (Tata & Mahindra). At least in bigger cities, Tata cars are widely regarded as unreliable, despite some of their recent products being way better than their cars from yesteryears. Mahindra, though considered more reliable by some, is associated with old Armadas and Boleros. They are thought of as old school rust buckets.

Coming to brand value, neither of them really holds a candle to Toyota or Hyundai. When it comes to fuel efficiency and after sales service, no one can touch Maruti. The sheer number of dealerships and service centres means that customers are spoilt for choice.

The above points are what most Indian buyers have in their minds. Changing their mindset is not going to be easy. Tata Motors came up with a very good ad about a year ago, but clearly, it hasn't had much of an effect. The only way people can be made aware of the safety of the product they are buying is by having the cars' safety ratings published in bold in every dealership as well as the vehicles' brochures and advertisements. The government has to make it compulsory for all manufacturers to have their products crash tested by independent organisations like the NCAP. Again, less safer cars should have much higher insurance premiums.

[Keeleri_Achu]

Originally Posted by Aditya

Again, less safer cars should have much higher insurance premiums.

Exactly. I believe that is the easiest way to get the message to the common folk. We love to compare prices and look for value. If the manufacturers can make them realize that SAFER = CHEAPER in the long run, I'm sure there's going to be significant pressure on the top brands.

The only problem is that we still don't have a central certified agency that actually gives a rating to all the vehicles built/sold in India. GNCAP cannot be relied on this as it's technically a charity organization. So there's no way they can test out all the products on the road, without help from the manufacturers. And AFAIK, BNVSAP is a joke. I've seen statements that so and so product complies with all new safety norms, but am yet to see any sort of metrics related to how they performed in these tests. And if the top brands get into it, I'm sure all of them will easily score 5 stars, just by reducing the standards. I still remember reading about the proposal for tests to be conducted at 56 KPH instead of 64 KPH. BNVSAP doesn't even have a proper website stating the objective of the program. That speaks volumes about the emphasis on safety in this country.

Off Topic:The domain www.bnvsap.com is actually up for sale

[Jaguar]

I have a simple idea. The companies making safer cars should lobby for mandatory NCAP star rating stickers to be stuck to the windscreen of all new cars. Stickers similar to the energy star rating. And the stickers should be prominent and tamper proof. People will anyways want to out do their neighbors star rating and eventually end up buying safer cars.

[Rahul Rao]

Originally Posted by Aditya

The big problem here is the perception built in peoples' minds about the brands mentioned (Tata & Mahindra). At least in bigger cities, Tata cars are widely regarded as unreliable, despite some of their recent products being way better than their cars from yesteryears. Mahindra, though considered more reliable by some, is associated with old Armadas and Boleros. They are thought of as old school rust buckets.

Coming to brand value, neither of them really holds a candle to Toyota or Hyundai. When it comes to fuel efficiency and after sales service, no one can touch Maruti. The sheer number of dealerships and service centres means that customers are spoilt for choice.

Even though Tata and Mahindra vehicles are considered not desirable. Yet they hold no 3 & no 4 in sales after Maruti and Hyundai. Ahead of Toyota.
April onward when BS6 norms kick in. Maruti without a BS6 diesel will suffer.
With new entrants MG , Kia and to be introduced Chinese co Great Wall market percentages will again change, in this case too looser in share wll be Maruti.


Rahul

[DrCar]

Best way to promote safety? I have got few ideas...

- Tata or Mahindra should display own post accident affected cars at the back side lobby of each and every showroom to show the build quality of their products. Nothing will impact our mind more than seeing the real results of an actual crash involved vehicle. (Yes, no two accidents are same, but atleast this can pass on the message of importance of safety).

- Manufacturers can put a prominent display about 500 metres away from actual showroom location on either side with wordings like -

'Is saving money on fuel more important than saving yours or your family life? Are you responsible enough? If yes, come take a look at our collection.'

'Do you want to see your life insurance policy mature? Please contact us.
Regards,
Tata / Mahindra vehicles'

- Tata or Mahindra sales staff should congratulate every potential buyers who walks out of showroom after checking their models. Something like 'Thank you for visiting our showroom. Congratulations for choosing safety over anything else.' Even though buyer may or may not buy their vehicles, it will create an immediate impact on his decision making process.


One thing safe car manufacturer should make sure is not to talk ill about any other manufacturers. They should remember that they too weren't saint few years back and have committed enough sins. Should learn from Dominar marketing mistakes and try not to repeat them.

[Latheesh]

One 10 seconds video ad idea - Show a man (without showing his face) holding a tin can, crush it using his hands, and throwing it. Followed by a voice over " Our cars don't get crushed like this tin cans".

[varman742]

Indian car buyers are largely making their decisions based on the brand perceptions built over years and recommendations from friends/families. Sadly, safety, at-least till recently, was never a top priority for most of the buyers and the ones making recommendations. Many buyers are still either not aware how the safety features can help or think that they will never be required to use these features so why to bother going for safer cars offered by any not-so-popular brands.

Changing brand perceptions is a slow moving process and the manufacturers (like Tata or Mahindra) have to be persistent in marketing safety as its core value offering in their vehicles. They should not look at this as a business case for more immediate sales but to build strong brand value over years. Here are some ways they can promote safer cars:

1. Create some 'emotional connect' ads and use in Cinema halls and radio. One of the research in the UK has established that ads played in the cinema halls make the most impact due to focused attention from audience, audio-visual effects etc. In India I have hardly seen any car ads in theaters.
2. The ads should focus on 'cause for action' i.e. why should one go for safer car instead of just highlighting that 'XYZ' is a 5 star rated car.
3. Tie up with most popular driving schools and offer their vehicles for learners.
4. Collaborate with govt/licensing authority to include safety awareness as an important criteria for passing test and issuing license.
5. Create a community of influential individuals/celebrities/companies/financial institutes to promote safe cars through targeted campaigns. They can even create personalized offers with the help of banks for safer cars (e.g. special interest rates etc.). Indian buyers love personalized experiences!

Last but not the least, through whatever medium of communication, ensure that spouses are convinced about owning a safe car. We all know how much this can have influence on the final decision

[manjunathkl]

As a marketer, I have some creds to comment on this thread:

Marketing safety features is like marketing life insurance. In case something terrible happens, you will be better off with safety features and life insurance.

"Protect your future" is the message if you distill it. Now, how to creatively say that? Well if you want to negatively say it, you can show an accident video. It will have the highest shock value and people will have to notice. But some of that shock will leave a bad taste.

It will be stupid to show "You may die if you don't buy our safe car". That is totally playing with negative emotions.

So, what is the next best thing?
> Show how precious you are to your family (involving kids)/friends (Emotional).
> Show these safety features as the most sophisticated things engineers can build today. Don't you want such technology to come to your help when you need it? (Aspirational).
> Comic Ads (Funny Ads work) E.g. Ceat Tyres "Idiots on the road" ads had good traction.
> Take real-life cases (where safety features have saved lives) and narrate that story. (Reality TV works)


I'm sure there are many more ways to market creatively. As long as you don't use negative emotions like fear, It will work.

[landcruiser123]

A car purchase is a stepping stone or right of passage for many Indians. I completely disagree with videos or photos depicting results of crashes. As a brand, the last thing I'd want to show my prospective customers TV/YouTube ads involving crashes of my products. (NCAP videos are okay)

I'd suggest these steps:
1. Sticking of the safety rating on the window in the showroom/while delivery (can be done voluntarily)
2. Trying to negotiate with insurers and get reduced insurance premiums

Originally Posted by locusjag

Safe cars need to be marketed?

I completely agree that safe cars don't compensate for lack of driver education. Yet, I'd say safe cars are important as they can be implemented in the next 2 years, but educating all drivers will take 2-3 generations.

Originally Posted by Keeleri_Achu

Off Topic:The domain www.bnvsap.com is actually up for sale

No sir, on topic. Whatever happened to BNVSAP? I don't hear any noise about it.

[charanreddy]

My 2 cents as i am not a marketer.

Flash a 10 sec interview of people saved in the crash..either when the pole crashed on to the nexon Or any other example.. let them say, I am alive as i was ina safe car and want nothing else for my family. This is putting a postive spin on something as negative as a life threating accident. Flash the picture of the accident for dramatic effect.

[renegade004]

In a country where:

1. Two-wheeler riders buy cheap and unsafe helmets just to avoid getting challaned
2. Two-wheeler riders carry their helmets on their arms, and put them on only where they expect police presence
3. Car drivers and passengers don't wear seat belts except in areas where they expect police presence
4. Manufacturers manage to sell large numbers of 'basic' car models, which lack most safety features, just because of the cheaper prices
5. Ghastly photographs of cancer victims on cigarette packets have not gone a long way towards reducing cigarette sales

I am at my wits' end regarding what can be done to market safer cars better. Perhaps government regulations, which make it mandatory for all car models to meet certain safety standards, might be of some help.

[am1m]

Originally Posted by Aditya

The big problem here is the perception built in peoples' minds about the brands mentioned...Tata cars are widely regarded as unreliable...They are thought of as old school rust buckets...When it comes to ...after sales service, no one can touch Maruti. The sheer number of dealerships and service centres means that customers are spoilt for choice.

The above points are what most Indian buyers have in their minds. Changing their mindset is not going to be easy.

All these are absolutely true and can say from recent personal experience. We went ahead and bought the new Maruti Swift a year ago, EVEN after knowing fully well that it's was an unsafe car when compared to a Tata or a Toyota or a Hyundai even. It's going to be an unpopular thing to say and it may even be a stupid thing to say, but I'd probably make the same choice now as well. Simple fact being I just don't see a Tata or Toyota service center anywhere, unlike Maruti or Hyundai. And yes, in my mind Tata is an unreliable brand in the passenger-car segment still. I realize that might be just perception-hangover. (I had a friend who worked for a Tata service center, admittedly a long time ago, and he always advised us against buying any of their cars. He doesn't work there anymore, so this doesn't apply to any of the new models.) What would change my mind is a lot more Tata service centers, visible. Great customer stories of how Tata went out of it's way to fix a customer's problem, especially customer posts on independent platforms like TBhp.

Originally Posted by Aditya

The government has to make it compulsory for all manufacturers to have their products crash tested by independent organisations like the NCAP. Again, less safer cars should have much higher insurance premiums.

Absolutely, this will help a lot! Independent crash testing and forcing all manufacturers to declare the crash test results of each model up-front.

[vibbs]

I think the only thing that matters is awareness. Indian population by large does not think safe. It is just not a part of our DNA. I remember a discussion in my office where one of my colleagues posed a rhetorical question of how many people have been saved due to seat belts? His intention was to somehow show there are not many and thereby drive in the conclusion that all this talk about mandatory seat belt etc is to bully car owners and a money making scheme for police men. This was a person who was employed in a technical sales role at an MNC. Just goes to show the importance of safety in general public opinion.
I would attribute this to lack of general awareness regarding safe practices.

Companies need to highlight cases and stories where a seat belt or an air bag saved a valuable life and bring it to mainstream. Give statistics of lives lost during accidents and how many could have been saved by better safety devices etc.
In the absence of awareness we will never get the safety culture inculcated which is so essential to change the public opinion towards this important aspect!

[fhdowntheline]

What cannot be done by education, must be done by regulation. Government must make all pasenger cars mandatorily tested to the GNCAP norm . The production of those models with less than 3 stars must be banned outright. And the resale of the remaining( current running ) ones should be banned in a timespan of 5 years or so.