The document summarizes Bajaj Auto Limited's marketing campaigns for its Pulsar motorcycle from 2001-2008. Early campaigns like "Definitely Male" were highly successful in positioning Pulsar as the "He-Bike of India." Later campaigns struggled to maintain this image, such as "Digital Biking" which lost the classic image. Campaigns also had difficulties appealing to families in addition to youth, and promoting discontinued engine technologies. Overall, the campaigns evolved alongside the changing Pulsar product line and market conditions.

1. Advertising and Promotion Management
Term Paper
Anujay Mathur
2010SMF6576
Lokesh Bahety
2010SMF6555
Under the guidance of:
Prof. Harish Chaudhary

2. Bajaj Auto Limited: An Overview
 Introduction
• Part of the Bajaj Group
• Amongst the top 10 groups in India
• Other business include automobiles, home appliances, lighting, iron and rods, insurance et al.
 History
• Came into existence in 1945 as M/s Bachraj Trading Corporation Private Limited
• In 1959, it obtained license from the Government of India to manufacture two- and three-
wheelers and it went public in 1960
• In 1986, it managed to produce and sell 500,000 vehicles in a single financial year.
• In 1995, it rolled out its ten millionth vehicle and produced and sold one million vehicles in a year.
• Changed image from scooter maker to a two-wheeler manufacturer
 Financial Metrics
• BAL sold 3.82 million units – consisting of 3,387,043 motorcycles and 436,884 three-wheelers.
• Exports were at an all-time high: rose by 35% to 1,203,718 units.
• The Company’s operating EBITDA for FY2011 grew by 30.6%
• In 2010-11, net sales and other operating income grew by over 39% to Rs.16,609 crore over the
previous year to Rs.3,385 crore.
• Profit after tax and exceptional items increased from Rs.1,704 crore to Rs.3,340 crore.

3. Product Portfolio: BAL
Automobiles
2 wheelers Car 3 wheelers (Commercial Vehicles)
RE 60
Scooters Scooterette Motorbikes Goods Carrier Passenger Carrier
*Chetak *Wave
Commuter Standard Commuter Deluxe Sports
(Entry level) (Mid Level) (Performance)
Platina *XCD Discover Avenger Pulsar **Ninja
* `Product discontinued
** Distributor for Kawasaki

4. Product Category: 2 Wheelers - Motorbike
 Commuter Standard (STD)
Low pricing power, Low margin, Low profit products
Bajaj Auto’s Platina, Hero Honda’s CD series, TVS’ Star.
 Commuter Deluxe (DLX)
Placed between sports and Commuter standard
Bajaj Auto’s Discover; Hero Honda’s Splendor,
Passion and Glamour; TVS’ Fiero
Honda Motorcycle & Scooters India’s (HMSI’s) Shine;
 Sports
Rapidly growing with the purchasing power of the middle class
Bajaj Auto’s Pulsar; Hero Honda’s CBZ, Hunk and Karizma;
HMSI’s Unicorn and Stunner;TVS’s Apache; Yamaha’s R15 ,FZ16
Source: BAL Annual Report 2009-10

5. Changing scenario of the Indian 2 wheeler market
 Scenario
• Commuter STD market share consistently falling down
• Sports segment slowly rising
• Deluxe holds more than half the overall marketshare
 Triggers
• Higher purchasing power with the youth
• Campaigns focusing on the entire riding experience rather than just commuting
• Bombardment of new products in this category
Pulsar NS, Karizma ZMR, Honda CBR, Kawasaki Ninja
Bajaj follows
• Bajaj’s market has moved in the same direction
• Sports markets share increased from 21% to 33%
• Expected to be the biggest contributor by 2020
CHANGING PRODUCT MIX
Source: BAL Annual Report 2009-10

6. Bajaj Positioning
An evolution from ‘Humara Bajaj’ to ‘Distinctly Ahead’
Humara Bajaj Brand Tagline Distinctly Ahead
Reliability & Trustworthiness Core Values Innovation, Speed & Perfection
Value for Money products Campaign based on Styling and Technology
Chetak Flagship product Pulsar
Design company for the Flying B logo:
Elephant Design
• Transformed its image from a scooter maker to a 2 wheeler maker
• Based on high technology and precision engineering
• Positioned as pioneer and not a follower
• Also had an ‘Inspiring Confidence’ campaign before ‘Distinctly Ahead’
• Has tried to portray an international image with the ‘globalize india’ campaign

7. Integrated Marketing Campaign
• 2001 – Bajaj Pulsar 150cc & 180cc launched
₋ Product: First bike under the Bajaj portfolio to focus on performance
₋ The performance bike trend was started by CBZ in the Indian industry
₋Target Group: Youths (18-24 yrs) wanting powerful, stylish bikes which would
suit their pockets
₋ Advertising Idea: “Definitely Male”. Associating a motorbike with gender
drew a connect between the male youth and the product
₋Outcome: Pulsar got positioned as the “He-Bike of India”
“The nineties witnessed the birth of the 'AND' generation. Work hard and party
hard, Western influences and Indian values. This young Indian was cool,
masculine, stylish and deserved to be different.”- Press Release, O&M
• 2003 – DTS-I Technology launched
₋ Product: Bajaj became the inventors of a performance technology – DTS-i
(digital twin spark ignition)
₋ The technology improved the performance as well as mileage of the bike
₋Advertising: The advertising campaign was still handled by O&M with the
same tagline “Definitely Male”. The DTS-i technology was portrayed as an
addition to the masculinity of the bike.
“Not just mileage, the new technology (DTS-i) was the focus of all marketing
campaigns.”

8. Integrated Marketing Campaign (cont.)
• 2005 – New features were added
₋ Product: Digital features like LCD display, non contact speed sensor, self
cancelling indicators and many more were added.
₋ With such a technological advancement, the bike had become fully digital
₋Advertising Idea: “Digital Biking“. Leo Burnett tried to put forward the digital
advancement as the USP of the bike
₋Outcome: The message of digital advancement was conveyed but the image
of the classic “He-Bike” was lost. Took time to build new image.
“We had to promote the Bajaj DTSi range of bikes and there were a lot of features
to communicate. But if we had spoken about the details in the communication, it
would have been extremely boring as people don’t buy logical arguments. So, we
went ahead with the idea of exciting bikes-exciting technology in the campaign. We
wanted people to sit and take notice.” – KB Vinod, Exec. Director, Leo Burnett
• 2007 – Bajaj Pulsar 200 DTS-i & 220 DTS-Fi launched
₋ Product: the 200cc variant of the DTS-i bike is launched. Bajaj introduced the
DTS-Fi technology. The new technology improved the acceleration of the bike.
₋Advertising Idea: “The Fastest Indian“. The campaign was handled by O&M,
featuring a bike getting vanished in the wind.
₋Outcome: The speed quotient was seen as red flag in the Indian families and
the DTS-Fi variant was soon discontinued.
"We had to position the Bajaj Pulsar 220 as the fastest product bike. We had to
convey this thought to the audience in a very "Pulsar" manner, with a lot of
attitude to go with it.” – Abhijit Avasthi, Exec. Creative Director, Ogilvy & Mather

9. Integrated Marketing Campaign (cont.)
• 2008 – Oil Cooled Engines were introduced
₋ Product: The oil cooled engines helped control engine oil temperature, thus
ensuring more stable engine oil viscosity. Led to a better control.
₋Advertising Idea: “Free Biking”. The campaign was initiated by O&M and shot
in busy streets of Cuba. Bajaj tried to communicate that it does not matter
where you are biking but how you are biking when you are atop a Pulsar 200cc
₋Outcome: Message might have been a bit complex for the typical Indian
Motorcycle owner, the freshness of the ad really popularized the bikes.
₋Other Promotions:
 Pulsar Mania – An advertisement showing some bikers performing
various stunts on their Pulsar. An attempt to position itself as the India’s
true sports bike.
 MTV Stunt Mania – After the success of Pulsar amongst stunt
bikers, Bajaj decided to take a step forward by creating a new show called
“Stunt Mania” on MTV. Stunt bikers from all across India compete to
prove their mettle.
 GhostRyderz – A group of stunt bikers that emerged as the winner of
MTV StuntMania (Bajaj Pulsar’s own show) are sponsored by Bajaj for
various stunt tournaments
 Pulsar License – A “license” issued by Pulsar to people in order to
prove their Pulsar Mania. The license carries details like Highest
Speed, Favorite Stunt, Outstation Trips etc. apart from the basic personal
details.
“Pulsar 200 Free Biking concept is a hyperbole and look like scenes out of some
action Hollywood Movie.” - Critic

10. Growth in revenue vs Advertising Expenditure
60,000,000,000
50,000,000,000
40,000,000,000
30,000,000,000
Advertising
20,000,000,000
Change in revenue
10,000,000,000
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
-10,000,000,000
-20,000,000,000

11. Campaign Objective Campaign Outcome Gap
Campaign: Definitely Male (O&M)
Connect between the male youths and the Pulsar was successfully positioned as the “He- O&M was able to accomplish the objective of
product by putting “Gender” as the common Bike of India”. The first ever bike to have the campaign to almost 100% level.
connect. achieved such an image. Gap: None.
Campaign: Digital Biking (Leo Burnett)
Put forward the fully digital functional The style component failed to connect with This change of tagline is accounted as the
features of the bike as its USP. Best way to the customers at a deeper level, unlike the biggest mistake in the evolution of Bajaj
describe all the features of the bike in one previous campaign. Pulsar.
word. Gap: The classic He-Bike image of Pulsar was
lost for a common image of advanced
technology.
Campaign: The Fastest Indian (O&M)
The unbeatable speed and acceleration The campaign lacked persistence and died out The campaign was specially for DTS-Fi
because of the recent engine up gradation before could be noticed. Also, the Indian technology, which failed to take off as
was the most attractive point in Pulsar. families look at Speed Quotient as a negative expected. The line of production was
while making decision. discontinued eventually.
Gap: The campaign did lure the users but not
the decision makers.
Campaign: Free Biking (O&M)
The control over the RPM and other Engine The control over bike message was well The message was complex but conveyed. The
performances allows you to ride through any conveyed and well utilized for stunt purposes. response to the campaign was quickly
possible obstacles. Bajaj Pulsar decided to take forward this accommodated in the future promotional
image by starting other promotional planning of Bajaj Pulsar.
campaigns Gap: The campaign was dynamic and
constantly tried to bring the gap to current
under control level