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Old 16th January 2011, 17:42   #16
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Re: Bajaj to drop its name- the VW way!

^Agree with you Huntrz.

However, the would need a 'stable' name. What would a dealer showroom be called of instance? Pulsar? but have all other models stacked inside them.

It is the name in the brand that carries the good will. and it is this brand which also got the pulsar sold. If Pulsar was launched few years back, without people being told it is a Bajaj, do you think it would have been a success. People bought it, because tey knew they were getting a good performer from a good brand.

The Hyosung Comet, despite its fairly reasonable price tag, never sold well, because people never knew what Hyosung was. What if they were told it was a Bajaj or TVs or Hero.? Perception
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Old 16th January 2011, 17:46   #17
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Re: Bajaj to drop its name- the VW way!

I feel this is not a good move, because Pulsar or Discover or any other particular motorbike is simply a model of the company & not a sub-brand in itself. The comparison with Audi doesn't seem right because Audi has been set up as a separate brand that is managed separately & though it falls under the VW group, it is Audi as a sub brand that churns out the different models like A4, A6 etc.

Launching a new sub brand 'ABC' tomorrow separately may make sense if this is used as a platform to launch separate products/models under it with some unique USP of the sub brand.

A bad move in my opinion, because though it may create a perception of "more" to the product (in Mr. Bajaj's words), it will also disconnect many.
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Old 16th January 2011, 18:28   #18
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Re: Bajaj to drop its name- the VW way!

Quote:
Originally Posted by huntrz View Post
A very intelligent move. They should have done it long back. The name bajaj is also related to 3 wheelers, home appliances and what not. The pulsar's brand value will always be pulled down as long as Bajaj name is associated with it.

Analogy to Audi is just an analogy and there is nothing childish about it I believe. Perceived value of an Audi is more than a Volkswagen. He is trying to achieve the same here. Moreover delinking Pulsar with bajaj can allow them to sell the brand later on without diluting the goodwill of the brand.
I'm just wondering how they're gonna plan to sell a completely new bike? It's gonna be a bit weird, don't you think?
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Old 16th January 2011, 23:25   #19
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Re: Bajaj to drop its name- the VW way!

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Originally Posted by thedreamcatcher View Post
^Agree with you Huntrz.

However, the would need a 'stable' name. What would a dealer showroom be called of instance? Pulsar? but have all other models stacked inside them.

It is the name in the brand that carries the good will. and it is this brand which also got the pulsar sold. If Pulsar was launched few years back, without people being told it is a Bajaj, do you think it would have been a success. People bought it, because tey knew they were getting a good performer from a good brand.
Yeah "Bajaj" name was responsible for the birth of "Pulsar", however personally I feel that now it has the potential to outgrow the mother brand. Especially when they are planning to launch 250cc bikes and in future there will be even better bikes, it will not be easy to sell premium bikes with the name bajaj prefixed to it which also makes those horrible 3 wheelers. Completely agree with the need for a stable name though.

Quote:
Originally Posted by smashnerd View Post
I'm just wondering how they're gonna plan to sell a completely new bike? It's gonna be a bit weird, don't you think?
Yes It will definitely be interesting to see how they deal with it.
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Old 17th January 2011, 01:30   #20
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Re: Bajaj to drop its name- the VW way!

The Pulsar success story has given Bajaj the ability to think big. However, despite the delinking i dont think the Pulsar and Discover brands would suffer. It would only allow them to take on a greater identity than the present. As for the variation across these subbrands, that is currently already happening based on engine capacities.

I would be curious to know how this turns out for a new bike, just like others here have mentioned.

However, Bajaj has been able to get where they are now, only thanks to being able to think differently when it mattered. I always equate Bajaj's Pulsar as well as M&M's Scorpio as two brands which emerged as bold decisions from the respective managements.
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Old 17th January 2011, 01:45   #21
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Re: Bajaj to drop its name- the VW way!

What if KTM 200 is the next generation Pulsar (Its confirmed that KTM 200 is going to be launched in India by Bajaj. Birdies say its the KTM 125 with a 200cc mill jointly developed by Bajaj and KTM)?

Bajaj would have had to rename it Bajaj KTM Pulsar 200. However, now it will just have to be called Pulsar 200. (Pulsar being the brand here, and 200- the bike). People would associate it with Bajaj indirectly and hence all KTM qualities will be associated with Bajaj rather than KTM.
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Old 17th January 2011, 05:06   #22
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Re: Bajaj to drop its name- the VW way!

Post deleted by the Team-BHP Support : Please do NOT post one-liners that add little or no informational value to the thread. We need your co-operation to maintain the overall quality of this forum.

Please read our rules before proceeding any further.

Last edited by GTO : 17th January 2011 at 15:38.
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Old 17th January 2011, 07:07   #23
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Re: Bajaj to drop its name- the VW way!

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Originally Posted by RROD View Post
I am guessing, the reason for this being, Bajaj as a brand is used by the family (after split up) which still appear on Goods, like Hair oil, Bulbs etc.
IMO as your brand starts climbing up the value chain, you need to be very clear, that the Brand name is not used on other goods, or completely drop it.
True, Bajaj family has split their business amongst them. Bajaj auto is owned by one family and electrical's, force motors by another family, they want to show their own identity so removing their family name.

Remember, Bajaj tempo changed to Force motors?? So now Bajaj Auto is doing a similar move.
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Old 17th January 2011, 15:45   #24
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Re: Bajaj to drop its name- the VW way!

I think this is an incredibly silly move. In the eyes of the general customer, the "Bajaj" name is less a family name, and more a brand that stands for trust, VFM etc. I can understand when a tarnished brand goes through such an exercise, but the Bajaj brand commands phenomenal respect amongst the Junta.

And I don't see what's wrong with a family name either. Most of the Japs (Toyota, Honda, Suzuki etc.) and closer home Tata & Mahindra do it just as well.

Quote:
Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR View Post
the strategies used by fast moving consumer goods giants like Hindustan Unilever, ITC or Procter & Gamble.
There's a difference between 50 rupee consumables and Rs. 50,000 depreciating assets. I know which soap I use, but don't know (and couldn't care) about the parent company behind it.

Quote:
Consumers know that the product is coming from Bajaj, just like I know my Audi is coming from Volkswagen. But there is no Volkswagen on the Audi product. This creates a perception that there is something more in the product
I highly doubt Mr. Bajaj made this statement. And if he did, man, he needs a reality check. Audi as a luxury brand would intentionally not flaunt the economical VW connection on its cars / showrooms.

And no, 1/2 of Audi buyers don't know about the Audi <-> VW connection like you do, Mr. Bajaj!

Lastly, do we know their 30 lakh rupee sedan as the Audi A4 or only the A4?

Last edited by GTO : 17th January 2011 at 15:46.
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Old 18th January 2011, 02:19   #25
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Re: Bajaj to drop its name- the VW way!

Bajaj to restart Boxer sales to take on Hero Honda

Bajaj to relaunch the Boxer brand, to fight CD Dawn!
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Old 18th January 2011, 02:40   #26
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Re: Bajaj to drop its name- the VW way!

Sometimes I wonder that what goes on in Mr Bajaj's mind, I mean yes his out of box thinking has got them a repute in Biking world but most of his other experiments have bombed the biggest one is the Pro-biking exercise, they tried a lot of combination's to derive what they expect from this premium range of showrooms & till the time Ninja was alunched nobody including those in company knew where its headed.

Also their initial exit from 100 cc segment & 125 cc ones bombed pretty badly. Not too mention so did the forecast that the entire segment would move.

While the introduction of Symbol(which too is a cheap copy of the bluetooth logo) instead of full name was a good move, removing name would be disastrous I think.

Last edited by Technocrat : 18th January 2011 at 02:42.
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Old 18th January 2011, 12:12   #27
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Re: Bajaj to drop its name- the VW way!

Horrible idea, the Bajaj brand name is viewed in a positive light. If anything, being associated with Bajaj would help the motorcycles.
Calling it just the Pulsar seems silly.
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Old 18th January 2011, 12:23   #28
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Re: Bajaj to drop its name- the VW way!

Volkswagen arent simply dropping VW when it comes to selling the Passat/Vento etc
so I dont buy his reason

The Bajaj brand has been built over decades, why are they not keen to leverage it further?
Is it do with the fact that it is too closely associated with scooters?
A perception they cant break?
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Old 18th January 2011, 12:38   #29
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Re: Bajaj to drop its name- the VW way!

This could very well be amongst the biggest blunders that Bajaj would commit. "Humara Bajaj" still pulls strong heart strings in a lot of consumers.
If Bajaj want to sound trendy by dropping the name there are a lot of other ways of doing it rather than letting go of a legacy that has been built up over generations and has a very good penetration level in the market.
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Old 19th January 2011, 14:35   #30
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Re: Bajaj to drop its name- the VW way!

Its difficult to believe that Rajeev Bajaj made these statements. He is generally so sensible.

Its ok to create sub-brands like 'Ninja', 'CBR', 'Bandit', etc. But the parent brand still has to be there to back up new sub-brand. Bajaj might get away selling 'Pulsar' and 'Discovers' without the bajaj brand name, but what they will do when it comes to launching a new sub-brand? They need the parent brand.
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