Problem Statement: How do we establish brand awareness of our tires in India? Company: BFGoodrich Posted On: MindSumo

1. India

2. Knowing the customer is one of the key things that
should be taken care of. This includes knowing the
target segment, how frequently do they purchase,
how much can they pay, what benefits do they expect,
what features do they want and many more.

3. The Types of Customers*
I have categorized the customers on one simple
ground, i.e. how frequently do they purchase tyres.
• The Fresh Customer : A fresh customer is the one
who don’t have any experience in purchasing tyres
and usually go with the words of mechanic.
• The Average Buyer : An average buyer purchases
tyres judicially according to his/her prior
knowledge and experience with tyres he/she
owned.
• The Heavy Buyer : A heavy buyer will always
compare the brands and its features, costing,
warranty, reliability and other critical parameters.
*Here customer refers to the end user

4. After categorising the customer segments, now let’s
discuss what products do we have to offer them.

5. The Products
We have 2 primary products to be launched in India:
1. KO2 All-Terrain Tire
2. KM3 Mud-Terrain Tire
KO2 All-Terrain Tire KM3 Mud-Terrain Tire

6. Product Description
Features of KO2 All-Terrain Tire:
Where can it be used: Light Truck/SUV/CUV

7. Product Description
Where can it be used: Light Truck/SUV/CUV
Features of KM3 Mud-Terrain Tire:

8. A proper strategy bridges the gap between the target
customer with the intended product

9. The Strategy
The following strategic points should be noted:
1. The Customer Base:
The products which BFGoodrich has to offer to its
customers in India are inclined towards Light Trucks,
SUV’s and CUV’s. Now, as per slide no. 3, the
customers in India that own Light Trucks and CUV’s
falls under the category of Average and Heavy Buyer.
Whereas the customers that own SUV’s falls under
the category of Fresh Customer and Average Buyer.
So, the benefits* given should be different for these
segments.
*Check slide no. 15 to 19 for benefits

10. 2. Analysing the Competitors:
For entering the Indian market always consider
what are the customers using currently, and what
benefits are they getting right now. As of now the
primary competitors in India for BFGoodrich are
Apollo Tyres, Goodyear Tyres, JK Tyre, CEAT Tyres,
BKT Tyres, TVS Tyres, Yokohama, Michelin,
Continental Tyres, Bridgestone and MRF Tyres.
These are some companies which are embedded
in the minds of Indian customers as they see their
advertisements very frequently on hoardings,
banners and televisions. These companies get in
touch with associations like ATMA (Automotive
Tyre Manufactures Association) India and ITTAC
(Indian Tyre Technical Advisory Committee)

11. 3. Proper Branding:
Indian customers or certainly any customer in the
world will go for the branded products. So,
BFGoodrich need to show its accomplished value
in the market outside India. This would make a
place in people’s minds that BFGoodrich is a very
renowned brand and for the very first time it is
entering the Indian market with its state of the art
technological advancements in the tire industry.
And yes, hoardings do create an excellent impact (at least in India)

12. 4. Reward Program:
This includes 2 types of rewards:
i. For Distributors: Perks should be given to the
aftermarket distributors, as most people in
India trust the most in the auto-repair shop
workers, the mechanics and the ones who
deal with the auto-parts.
ii. For Customers: This is nothing but the
customer loyalty program that the company
can think of for its customers. The benefits
given in this program will vary from purchase
to purchase and will also differ on the
grounds of amount and types of products
purchased.
*Check slide no. 15 to 19 for benefits

13. 5. Events:
BFGoodrich should show live tests on the tires by
organising partnered campaigns, this would give
customers and dealers a good insight of how
special the BFGoodrich Tires are. Organizing these
kinds of events would build the brand faith.
Off-roading SUV Tyres torture test by JK Tyres

14. Rewarding is the best way to allure customers
towards the brand.

15. Loyalty Program
• Referral Scheme: It would allure new consumers
while rewarding the existing users of BF Goodrich
tires. Discount vouchers will be provided to both the
referred as well as referee customers
• Fresh User Scheme: This scheme will be tailored for
the fresh customers to BF Goodrich tires, it would
include initial discounts on first time purchases
Green: The Fresh Customer

16. Loyalty Program (contd.)
• Jackpot: At each purchase of a set of 2 wheeler, 4
wheeler and multi-wheeler truck tires; the customer
would be eligible for winning a family trip to abroad
• Freebies: Freebies like key chains, pens, diaries and
many more small goodies bundled together can be
provided to the customers at purchase of each set of
tires (E.g.: a set of 2 wheeler, 4 wheeler and multi-
wheeler truck tires)
Yellow: The Average Buyer

17. Loyalty Program (contd.)
• Free Fuel: 5 free fuel vouchers can be provided to the
customer after the purchase of 10 tires from BF
Goodrich, which can be availed at BF Goodrich’s tied
up gas/fuel stations
• Free Vehicle Services: Either the customer can avail 5
free fuel vouchers or the customer can go for 1 free 4
wheeler service at any of BF Goodrich’s tied up
service centres, after the purchase of 10 BF Goodrich
tires
Yellow: The Average Buyer

18. Loyalty Program (contd.)
• Loyalty Wallet: At purchase of each tire from BF
Goodrich, the customer will get BFG Coins in the BF
Goodrich Loyalty Wallet, which the customers can
spend on future purchases from BF Goodrich
• Golden Loyalty Card: The golden loyalty card can be
provided to the customers who are very frequent
customers of BF Goodrich tires, they can show their
customized Golden Loyalty card at various service
centres and gas stations to avail special discounted
services
Blue: The Heavy Buyer

19. Extended: For the Garage
The Loyalty program can be extended for other vehicles
present in the customer’s garage like:
• The customers can get their any 4 wheeler serviced
by availing the Free Service Voucher
• The customers can be made eligible for getting free
full tire set replacement in 2 wheeler after purchasing
at least 15 tires from BF Goodrich
• Free car wash can be provided after complete two 4
wheeler tire set purchases

20. Now, lets talk money! i.e. The investments that
BFGoodrich need to make in Indian Market.

21. Investments
Goodies and Freebies
Tie-ups with gas
stations
Tie-ups with service
centres
Vouchers and Loyalty
Card Printing
Holiday Trip Tickets
Online Portal and
Mobile Application
Branding and
Marketing
Live Events

22. Return on Investment
Low Inv. on Goodies and Freebies
Mutual Inv. on Tie-ups with gas
stations
Mutual Inv. on Tie-ups with service
centres
Low Inv.: Vouchers and Loyalty Card
Printing
High Inv. on Holiday Trip Tickets
Low Inv. on Online Portal and
Mobile App.
Low return, alluring all customers
High Return, alluring Heavy Buyers
High Return, alluring Heavy Buyers
Mediocre Return, as it is merely
printing
High Return, alluring average
consumers
High Return in terms of
digitalization
Investment (Inv.) Return
Live Events
Branding and Marketing
High return, winning people’s
confidence
High return, enlightening customers

23. A personal perspective.

24. Personal Perspective
• Demographics and geographics: Indian public take
the SUV’s and the CUV’s in various harsh conditions
few of them are poor roads in remote locations, the
hilly regions of Himalaya (North-East India) and
Ladakh (North India), the muddy regions of
Cherrapunji (East India) and the deserts of thar (West
India).
• What people care about the most: People in India
care most about the quality of the tires i.e. the tires
should be reliable enough and should last long.
Secondly, the cost it is incurring to the customers.
Thirdly, what rewards and benefits will they get by
purchasing from BFGoodrich.

25. Customer is the utmost priority and delivering the
excellent quality!