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Originally Posted by Sebring Please tell us why you think the name Dominar was wrong branding? I quite like it. What could have been right as per you? The initial hoopla was around the bright lights, that was a recipe for disaster. But, I'm not seeing this as a tourer for some reason, only as a sports city-bike. |
Good question. To properly answer this, we have to step back to Auto Expo 2014 where Bajaj showcased two range topping versions of the Bajaj Pulsar family - the faired SS400 and the naked CS400. The engines in both bikes were derived from the KTM 390s. This certainly was exciting for us back then because these two bikes promised what would have been the best of the Bajaj KTM partnership. Also Bajaj needed a next upgrade from the Pulsar 220 to retain its buyers, especially those who joined them in 2001 with the first Pulsars.
The recipe was simple and yet brilliant. Take one excellent but manic engine from the KTM 390s which were motorcycles that were well priced but honestly still a little out of the reach of a majority of Indian enthusiasts. Retune it if required. Launch a naked (CS) and faired (SS) variant under the Bajaj platform (
Bajaj was and still is synonymous with affordable performance motorcycles). Position them as the top of the line Pulsars. Wipe out the market with the combined offerings of the lowest priced CS400, SS400 and the top of the line Duke 390s and RC390s.
But instead, as Crazy Driver pointed out, things changed at the last minute within Bajaj. Suddenly there was the Dominar brand. Sure, core motorcycling fans who followed the CS400 since its Auto Expo 2014 showcase knew what the Dominar was. But what about everyone else, which is the majority of the potential customers? That was mistake number 1 and boy was it a huge one. Why throw away 15 years of carefully built up Pulsar branding and fabulous sales and start afresh with a new unknown brand? Especially when they didnt need to. The Pulsar CS400 fit perfectly in the Pulsar family. Argh! Now they would not only have to build the brand (
like what Bajaj did so brilliantly with the definitely male Pulsar campaign) but it would also have to fit within a crowded Bajaj universe of offerings.
So now, one would think that despite the last minute change and the chance to start afresh, Bajaj would have nailed down a picture perfect product positioning and advertising campaign. And I actually thought their first choice of focussing on their strengths of bright lights was smart. One, it was a definite advantage over other bikes and two, the night rides meant a lot of working professionals could go to the Bajaj showroom after work and test the bike out and really experience the difference.
Instead of building on it, they suddenly changed track and decided to try and make fun of the best seller in its price range. Sure, everyone got a chuckle and all that but it was too early in the Dominar brand's lifetime to try and get cheeky when the product wasnt a big seller and didnt have years of proven mind share. Obviously the boffins in Bajaj realized that they were again down the wrong path with the Dominar brand and hence had to change course for a second time and are now focussing on the bikes strengths which is (
hyper) touring. They have backed it up with multi country rides on the Dominars that have been well documented that prove how well it can hold its ground in this regard. But your point is also very valid, is it stronger as a sporty city bike and not just a tourer? I can definitely see where you are coming from but again, takes us to mistake number 1.
Going back to the Dominar launch, if only Bajaj had rightly piggy backed on the very strong Pulsar branding, Im sure their sales story would have been very very different. They could have launched the RS400 also and really grabbed a large segment of the buyers in the below Rs 2 lac ex showroom price bracket. By creating a new brand and subsequently flip flopping on their positioning, they took a butter knife to a tank fight.