Business Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Friday, Apr 04, 2008
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Business Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Friday, Apr 04, 2008 ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version |
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Marketing
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Advertising
The New York agency intends to leverage the culture of brand Mahindra and position it in the prestige category.
Divya Trivedi Goa, April 3 Commercial vehicles major Mahindra & Mahindra has hired creative hotshop Strawberryfrog to help it make its foray into the US and Brazil markets for cars and SUVs in 2009. The innovative, independent New York agency intends to leverage the culture of brand Mahindra and position it in the prestige category. “Mahindra will definitely be successful in the US as it is a great product, with the only challenge being of branding. We will position the cars as premium category products, which are green, environment-friendly, innovative and premium, something the Americans can connect with,” Mr Scott Goodson, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, told Business Line on the sidelines of the advertising conclave at the GoaFest. The ad agency will handle the marketing of three vehicles of the Mahindras, who already have 300 dealers in place across the US, said Mr Goodson. According to him, the Americans were at the highest level of dissatisfaction with the American brands at present and were open to trying global brands. “I came across a research paper that said that around 57 per cent of Americans today are open to buying an imported car, which makes a huge number of willing customers.” Besides, it was an exciting time for them to launch an Indian car brand as the Tatas had only recently bought Land Rover and Jaguar. But Mahindra will be the first Indian car brand to be launched globally. For the Indian car manufacturers, this is a great opportunity to grow from being mere manufacturers to brand owners, he said. Most of the marketing will be done via the Internet, through building of communities with prospective customers, he explained. Strawberryfrog, which has handled brands such as PepsiCo, Microsoft, Heineken, Google and Mitsubishi Motors in the past, is now looking to expand its business in India. It intends setting up an office at Mumbai in 2009 with three Indian founding partners, one each from strategy, business and creative. The agency is unfazed by competition here and will concentrate on quality rather than quantity, and may start by handling one client a year, he said. It is currently working on the launch of a campaign for an Indian NGO, Nanhi Kali, in the next three weeks. The agency bets heavily on the success of online advertising, moving away from the traditional modes such as television and print. Around 70 per cent of its marketing is done through the Internet, while only five per cent is via the print mode and 25 per cent through television. More Stories on : Advertising | Cars | Brands | Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd
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