Marketing Strategy of

Bajaj Pulsar

28/11/2010
Introduction
India has a huge market in the two wheelers segment. It is the biggest contributor in the
automobile sector. In 2008-09, out of the total market share for automobiles 76.49% was
occupied by two wheelers (business maps of india).

The two wheelers segment is made of mainly three components, motorcycles, scooters and
mopeds. The latter two have more or less remained stagnant during the last decade and
half, whereas motorcycles have shown double digit growth of 17.4% CAGR in the same
period. By 2019-20, annual sales of 20.7 million units are expected to be achieved by
motorcycles.

The demand for two wheelers has been influenced by a number of factors,

Increase in per-capita income in urban as well as rural areas.

Inadequate public transport system.
Availability of cheaper financing options.
Availability of fuel efficient and low maintenance models.
Change in demographic profile.

The major players in motorcycles include Hero Honda, Bajaj, TVS, Honda and Yamaha.

From the Bajaj stable, Pulsar has been one of the biggest success stories in the field of two-
wheelers in India during recent times.

It has become the largest selling bike in the over 150cc two wheelers market in India. The
way it has been marketed has been a very big factor in its success.
History
In November 2001, Bajaj Auto launched a bike which has gone on to become a best seller
and continuously scaled new heights.

Before the launch of Pulsar, the Indian bike market in the nineties was more concentrated in
the low capacity engine models, below 125cc. Manufacturers were concentrating on giving
higher fuel efficiency. In the high engine capacity only Royal Enfield Bullet existed.

In 1999, the launch and success of CBZ by Hero Honda opened the eyes of manufacturers
towards performance oriented bikes. Then Pulsar came along and gave a new life o this
segment and helped make it the fastest growing segment in India.

Bajaj Auto prior to 2001 had been looked upon as a company which manufactured scooters.
It came into existence on November 29, 1945. Since that time it had been associated by the
middle class with stability and quality. But, with the launch of Pulsar it moved into a new
territory of high performance, style and excitement.

Pulsar was developed by the Product Engineering division of Bajaj Auto, which is the R&D
division, and designed by Tokyo R&D, a designing company.
Marketing
Target Segment
Bajaj Auto had a very definite segment of population in mind when it planned for this bike.
The way it had styled this bike and gave emphasis on performance, it can be said that the
target was the urban male youth of the country between 18-25 years. This is a growing
segment in India and with newer employment options being available, more and more
disposable money was getting into the hands of this segment. And thus it made sense for
Bajaj to try to get this segment to buy its product. But later it found out that a much larger
and older segment was interested in this product. So, the target audience was revised to
include people from 18-45 years of age. This segment had been deprived of bikes which
were high on performance and also looked good, as no manufacturer had imagined till the
launch of Hero Honda CBZ that the average Indian urban male could look beyond fuel
efficiency and cost savings.

It designed and marketed its product in such a way that this segment was drawn towards
the new Pulsar. Even though all the manufacturers had been manufacturing motorcycles
primarily for the male population, no one had ever advertised this openly. This is where
Bajaj Auto differed. In all its communications it emphasised on the manliness of this
machine and the superior performance and power which it delivered.

So, the main characteristics that Bajaj Auto focussed on in deciding the segment were,

Areas Urban
Age 18-35 Years
Gender Male
Lifestyle Sporty, performance oriented
Engine Capacity 135cc to 220cc

Recently, Bajaj Auto has also started to use Pulsar motorcycles to target the sub-150cc with
the launch of the 135cc variant. The target customers are those who want a big-looking
bike, but want higher mileage as well and hence will be content with a less powerful engine.
The lower price will obviously help and bring in new customers to the fold. And so will its
step-type seat, newer headlamp design and a sporty rear.

One major drawback of the strategy of Bajaj Auto to concentrate on urban areas is the risk
involved. The recent economic disturbances affected the urban population more than the
rural population. And so Bajajs sales took a major hit.
Creating Brand Equity
Coming from the house of Bajaj Auto not much effort could have been spent by the
company on marketing and building the image of Pulsar. But the company had chosen to
differentiate it from its other offerings and focus on performance and styling as against
Bajajs regular image of stability and family oriented.

So, a whole new strategy had to be designed to create a separate brand identity for the
Pulsar bikes. This was very important as the target segment wanted high performance and
modern muscular design, things which could hardly be related with Bajaj Auto.

In the initial stages the traditional Bajaj brand was attached with Pulsar but without any of
its traditional identity. And with the huge success of Pulsar as a brand it has even
transformed the original image of the parent, Bajaj Auto.

The brand elements used to create the brand are the insignia of Pulsar, the various taglines
(Definitely Male, Digital Biking, etc.), the overall performance of the bikes and association of
the product with the concept of manliness.

Initially when launched the Bajaj logo used to be prominently displayed on the bikes, but
gradually the company has relied lesser and lesser on the Bajaj brand and has built up the
Pulsar brand. Recently it was decided that the use of Bajaj logo and name would be
altogether stopped and only the bikes logo will be displayed.

POPs and PODs

The Point of Difference which Pulsar has associated with it that differentiates it from its
rivals like TVS Apache and Hero Honda CBZ is the emphasis on manliness and its muscular
design. The whole communication idea initially was based on this point.

It also gave disk brakes as standard fittings, which was then a novelty in Indian motorcycles.
Later, DTSi technology became another point of difference for the brand.

The Points of Parity which made a difference for Pulsar and helped it capture the target
segment from CBZ were high performance, great styling and moderate pricing.

The long term strategy of Bajaj Auto to achieve their goal of being No. 1 in motorcycles
segment is to differentiate itself on the basis of its superior products and achieve quality
leadership.

Communication Strategy
Bajaj Auto had always been known for outstanding ads and punch lines. This had worked
with their range of scooters which were instantly recognizable by the name Bajaj.
In case of Pulsar also the advertisement campaign run by the agency (Ogilvy and Mather)
was also a very important factor in the success of the bike. The bike itself was pretty much
different from anything that Bajaj had produced earlier. It was the first bike without the
Kawasaki tag, developed by internal R&D and was a beauty in design. So, the agency
decided that the campaign should also be different. The agency stuck upon the idea of
India's Male Bike. Idea was to position the bike as World's first bike endowed with a
Gender. Thus, was born the classic campaign of all times Definitely Male. The campaign
together with the design and performance catapulted the brand into stratospheric sales
level.

All its television commercials pointed out that it was a male bike, having superb
performance and great styling.

When newer technologies were used in the bike the communications changed accordingly.
When DTSI was introduced the positioning was changed from Definitely Male to Digital
Biking. And now with it becoming the fastest Indian production bike a new tagline has been
adopted of The Fastest Indian.

Another strategy adopted by Bajaj was the opening of ProBiking showrooms around the
country. These are showrooms showcasing their high performance bikes of which Pulsar is a
major part. This helped the customers get a first hand feel of the bikes as well as they got to
know about the specialities in a much better way than was possible in a regular showroom.

Product Modification
Bajaj did not rest with the laurels. It knew that Pulsar was the key to become the biggest
company in the Indian bike market. Hence Pulsar got undivided attention from the
company. In 2003, Bajaj Auto launched its new technology DTSi. DTSi, which stands for
Digital Twin Spark Ignition, delivered more power and efficiency. The increased performance
of the brand took Pulsar to greater heights. 2004 and 2005 saw some cosmetic changes in
the brand which appealed to the customers and thus cemented Pulsar's position in the
market.
 Porters Five Forces Analysis

Threat of New Entrants

To enter into the automobile
segment huge investments need
to be made. So, it is not that
easy for a new player to enter
the market as the entry and exit
barriers are high. But the market
is lucrative so serious players
may be interested.

Bargaining Power of Suppliers Competition Bargaining Power of Customers

Most of the components are
outsourced, with over 200
vendors. Being highly
fragmented and availability of
other options their bargaining
power is limited. Efficient supply
chain management is very
important in this case.
The competition is high with
competitors constantly trying to
match Pulsars offerings and
bringing in better bikes. To keep
ahead Bajaj has to keep
upgrading its product which it
has done till now.
Buyers have more number of
choices to choose from and this
increases their bargaining
power. But in this segment of
over 150cc Pulsar has currently
almost monopolised the market
with a large number of offerings.

Threat of Substitutes
There arent any real substitutes
in this segment. One can say that
Tata Nano is there but it caters
to a different segment of
consumers than what Pulsar
caters to.
References
How the sons transformed Bajaj Auto, Feb 14, 2005
http://www.rediff.com/money/2005/feb/14spec2.htm
http://business.mapsofindia.com/automobile/
http://autocarindia.com
The Motorcycle Diaries, Sep 28, 2010
The Financial Express
http://marketingpractice.blogspot.com
Marketing Management, Philip Kotler, Kevin Keller, Abraham Koshy, Mithileshwar
Jha
13th Edition, Pearson Education, Inc.
http://www.4psbusinessandmarketing.com