Product: ETNEWMumbaiBS PubDate: 14-10-2015 Zone: BrandEquity Edition: 1 Page: BEFP User: kailashk0106 Time: 10-09-2015 01:22 Color: CMYK

THE ECONOMIC TIMES OCTOBER 14-20, 2015

NITIN SONAWANE Will the Real Hero Please Stand Up? As motorcycle growth dips and growth heads northwards, Hero MotoCorp has little choice but to make quick and effective inroads into Honda “The old territory. By Lijee Philip & Ketan Thakkar scooter selling more than a “We are clearly gunning for leadership in a clear ‘mind leadership’ in motorcycles’ and farts are motorcycle in India was till re- scooters as well. We are putting a lot of stuff to Honda has a clear ‘mind leadership’ in scoot- cently as unthinkable perhaps get to the leadership position. It is not going to ers. And both are aiming to outwit each other as vindaloo finding more takers happen overnight but we will keep improving in these cross-domains while retaining their hanging on” Athan aloo gobhi, but that’s exact- our market share...clearly the ambition, the core supremacy.” ly what happened in the first five objective, the target is to go for leadership. At In 2015-16 the overall two-wheeler industry months of 2015-16. Between April and August, the same time, we are also equally focussed is expected to grow marginally, to close to 19 The world’s largest communica- Honda’ Motorcycle & Scooter India’s Activa on motorcycles, where we have over 52% million units. Scooters could comfortably tion group, WPP’s chief Sir Martin scooter has nosed ahead of Hero MotorCorp’s market share. Going forward, we will be fur- cross the 5 million mark and end bestselling motorcycle, the Splendor to ther strengthening this leadership with new up at over 5.2 million unit Sorrell’s five quick takes on the emerge the largest selling two-wheeler in the launches,” says Pawan Munjal, chairman, with a 12% growth, reckon “old farts”, his business relation- country. The race is neck and neck, with the managing director and CEO, Hero MotoCorp. analysts. Splendor clawing back lost ground, and re- Honda and Hero, joint venture partners for Hero’s first scooter launch ships in India, a Modi-led market’s gaining its lead for the April to September 2015 26 years till 2010, are not in a face-off for lead- was when it was a joint ven- prospects, Twitter and FIFA period – but not by much. If Hero sold 12,35,617 ership, in scooters as well as motorcycles. ture partner with Honda, of all models of the Splendor in the first half of Experts point out that the segmentation lines way back in 2005 when the fiscal year, Honda was hot on its tail with are blurring even as the action intensifies in it launched the PRITHA MITRA DASGUPTA 12,30,828 units. scooters. Given that the scooter segment is Pleasure, a 100 & DELSHAD IRANI To protect its flagship, Hero MotoCorp is now consistently gaining, growing at 11% so far cc scooter. You referred to Maurice Levy (Publicis Groupe’ chief flanking the Splendor brand with an indige- this year as against a declining motorcycles Continued executive) as the Freddy Krueger of advertising due nously-developed scooter of its own — its first market, and with scooters contributing al- on Pg 2 >> to his apparent unwillingness to retire. But wouldn’t — called the Duet, which will be launched most 30% to the overall two-wheeler segment, you say the same label applies to a lot of other in- this Diwali to take on the Activa head the dice seems loaded in the Japanese giant’s dustry leaders? Piyush Pandey (Ogilvy India’s on. Just before that, in the Navratri favour. Says PS Sunder, a senior profes- chairman), for instance has famously said there’s no season, Hero is unveiling a revamped sional-turned-entrepreneur who fixed date for his retirement. Why is this so-called Maestro, called the Maestro Edge, to earlier worked in senior po- young man’s business full of Freddy Kruegers? challenge Honda’s Aviator, which is sitions with two-wheeler It is not his (Levy’s) unwillingness to retire. targeted at the urban male. majors in India: “Hero has There’s no one else there. You are certainly right. Piyush hasn’t set a date yet. Neither Piyush nor I are dead yet. You know there is a very interest- Scooter vs Bike: Running Neck and Neck ing graph that somebody sent me. In the UK since Lehman (Lehman Brothers crash in 2008) the April-August 2015 (unit sales) April-September 2015 employment category that has grown most is 50 >>> year old plus. The employment category that has 10,01,350 12,30,828 grown least is under 24-years. And the one that is just recovering to where it was pre-Lehman is >>> 9,92,429 12,35,617 25-49. So the old farts are hanging on.

ANIRBAN BORA ANIRBAN Continued on Page 4 >>

INSIDE Google has Pg3 bought Pg2 Dating (G)apps Dell takes to abc...xyz.com paathshaala Now that Google is Alphabet, it’s going to need some extra URLs to match its new identity. But the company may be taking the quest for the perfect domain name a bit too far. In addition to the ABC.xyz domain that Google showed off in August, it seems that it also recently acquired the domain for the entire alphabet. We all know what Tinder is for. Hooking up. But a new spate of Indian dating apps That ’s right. Google is now the proud owner of the might be suffering an identity crisis visible handy internet domain in their communication. And that just abcdefghijklmnopqrstu- might be why women are swiping left for Pg4 vwxyz.com. Google’s new dating apps. Rejection is hard. So, true 26-letter URL was spot- Harnessing ted in Whois records by love, marriage or hot flings? Just make up DomainInvesting.com. your mind, says BE’s Shephali Bhatt Snapchat The site noted that the URL was created in 1999 and was privately owned before being transferred to Google, though it’s not clear how much Google paid for the URL. “We realized we missed a few letters in abc.xyz, so we’re just being thorough,” a Google repre- sentative said in an emailed statement. Recode’s Mark Bergen speculates that the purchase may have been defensive, to prevent the likes of Apple or Facebook getting their Larry hands on Page, CEO, it. Clicking Alphabet on the URL today leads to an inac- tive site, and we wouldn’t expect that to change anytime soon. The internet address may be easy to remember, but it’s not one that most people would relish typing. GETTYIMAGES (Source: businessin- sider.com) Product: ETNEWMumbaiBS PubDate: 14-10-2015 Zone: BrandEquity Edition: 1 Page: BEPER1 User: kailashk0106 Time: 10-09-2015 01:27 Color: CMYK

ECONOMIC TIMES THE OCTOBER 14-20, 2015 2 Dating (G)apps Is confusing communication the reason Indian dating apps are struggling to get more women to sign up? BE finds out. By Shephali Bhatt

o you have a 60:40 women to men ratio on your app?’ we ask Sachin Bhatia, co-founder of mobile dating app TrulyMadly. ‘S While we mean to say 40:60, the error inadvertently helps us get to the point sooner. “I’ll retire the day it becomes 60:40,” Bhatia quips. Even Facebook doesn’t have more than 40% female users, says Amit Vora, co-founder of (yet another) Not Just dating app called iCrushiFlush. Quite obvi- ously, getting women to sign up for these apps is the biggest challenge facing every player in the category. And even though 40 is not an abysmal figure, no one can give it in writing Plain that there are no fake profiles. Bhatia, in fact, admits to some cases of female escorts signing up for the app but “they were weeded out as soon as someone flagged it off,” he shares. Vanilla To their credit, almost all the dating apps try to create an ecosystem that protects user’s in- VADILAL WAS FAMOUS FOR terest, especially women. In fact, TrulyMadly recently tied up with AIB’s advertising wing ITS ICE CREAMS. CAN IT ALSO Vigyapanti, to launch a Creep Qawwali that MAKE A DENT IN NON-ICE tries to convey their verified profiles offering. That said, everyone also admits no system is CREAM PRODUCTS? foolproof. If a fee-based Ashley Madison (a site for married people wanting to indulge in ex- SHRAMANA GANGULY tra-marital affairs) can find itself amidst fake ix-year-old Kasish Advani’s first turn as a model profiles lawsuit riot, here we’re talking about Swas in 2015 after she made it to the Vadilal annual apps that are free to download and use. calendar. In the last three years, the Vadilal ice Creating fake profiles is the easiest ploy to cream brand from Gujarat has put 100 five to 25-year-olds cover up for the paucity of genuine female us- on its annual calendar, one of the initiatives that has ena- ers. And why do women not readily sign up for bled it to catch its consumers young. these apps? Anand Halve of chlorophyll brand “Just as ice-creams have ceased to be luxury and have consultancy abridges the cause in two words: ILLUSTRATION: ANIRBAN BORA become aspirational, our endeavour has enabled young Asymmetrical intentions. Don’t worry, We protect female users consumers be pin-up models and aspire for bigger there’s an explanation that follows: Halve had will someone pay for a matchmaking site if We’re like a singles bar but with bouncers.” achievements in life,” says Rajesh Gandhi, chairman & consulted an international dating site when from unwanted elements it’s not a matrimonial site but somewhere in These apps have big names as funders be- managing director of Vadilal Industries, which is set to it wanted to rebrand itself for the Indian mar- but we don’t moral police between casual dating and holy matrimony,” hind them, and big numbers whose veracity become a `500 crore brand in the current fiscal year. ket. During the spadework, a female respon- them. We’re like a singles asks a female user. Perhaps that explains why only another HackerGate can question. But The company, which started from a soda fountain out- dent from Chennai told him, “When you’re out Nitin Gupta, founder of Vee (another casual does that guarantee they’ll sustain? Societal let in 1926 in the Mughal architecture-dotted area of old on a date with someone, a girl is not necessarily bar but with bouncers dating app) pivoted to WedLock – which is all mores are their biggest hurdle. “I have friends looking to have sex right away but a boy almost about enabling marriages. who got married after meeting on one of these Ahmedabad, is now the whole hog in dairy products, be- Sachin Bhatia, TrulyMadly yond ice creams. After launching flavoured milk and always is. Your behaviour is judged to draw Bhatia too feels a Woo model doesn’t make apps but they don’t want anyone to know how frozen products (fruits, fruit pulp, vegetables, ready unnecessary conclusions to determine whether business sense for him because once a they met,” shares Amaresh Godbole, MD of meals, vegetables et al) under the Power Sip and Quick you are ‘easy’ or not. ” of its time,” he feels. “The Indian market is not user finds his match, he’s out of the app. Digitas LBi India. And he’s still talking about Treat labels respectively, Therefore, it’s imperative for dating apps ready for it,” he adds. “Whereas, at TrulyMadly, we’re trying to a Life in a metro-esque scene. Getting a posi- Vadilal will soon also enter to communicate what they stand for, what But things are changing, says iCrushi- collaborate with Food, Beverage, Beauty and tive word of mouth for dating apps isn’t impos- the shrikhand and butter do they ultimately offer – a social discovery Flush’s Vora. He thinks the TrulyMadly jingle Hospitality brands to find ways to engage sible. But it’s tough in an environment where milk categories. While non- platform where you meet new people, or an and campaign help validate the dating space our users, help them plan their date and earn one Uber-rape-like incident can become a PR ice cream products contrib- app that pretty much allows you to casually which is a win-win for his app because it is a some revenue in the process.” He also clari- apocalypse for the entire category. ute `100 crore to Vadilal, hook up with someone? It is this communica- better app amongst all, he claims. fies that casual dating and casual sex are Sure, India can undergo a behavioural change Gandhi wants this segment tion that will determine how many women are Sumesh Menon, founder of Woo – a match- very different and he doesn’t think India is and casual dating and casual sex can become to account for `250 crore by willing to sign up. making app – vehemently opposes the ready for the latter either. “All we’re trying acceptable to a larger audience. Till then, the 2020, by which time he ex- thought. No market is ready for casual dating, to say is that we are a social discovery plat- safe thing for them to do is to narrow down pects total revenues to climb The company, Let’s see how the players fare on he maintains. “Which is why our communica- form that has a refined program to send you on a particular target group and make their to `900 crore. “Value-added which started that front: tion doesn’t encourage users to go on dates or a bunch of curated matches. communication more pointed towards them. products help attract the af- from a soda TrulyMadly’s latest communication is cen- check out boys. It offers them to find love,” he We protect female users “For instance, I know Tinder is about looks fluent consumer and also tered around #BoyBrowsing. It encourages remarks. Matchmaking is a `100 crore market from unwanted elements but and location and Hinge is about finding people build the image of being in- fountain outlet women to ‘unsingle’ themselves. Since the app in India and Menon is bullish about Woo’s we don’t moral police them. from within the circle. If you don’t stand for novative,” he adds. in 1926 in the is open for users who are 18 and above, Bhatia prospects given it tries to be an individual’s something specific, you become just another For Vadilal, the second- Mughal archi- is clear that the intent of users is different Shaadi.com – where the guy and girl can find clone of Tinder or another hookup app that largest ice cream maker in tecture-dotted depending on the age-group. “18-22 is looking their respective partners instead of their par- I’d not want to waste my time on,” shares a India after Amul with an esti- area of old for casual dating, 22-26 is looking for serious ents getting involved in the decision-making. No market is ready for female dating app user based in Mumbai. So, mated 14% market share in Ahmedabad, relationship which may or may not last, and That Bhatia calls Woo’s campaign a sexier casual dating. Which is why if you’re all for casual, direct your message to the `3,500 crore category, the 26 and above are looking for relationship that version of Shaadi.com only pleases Menon. “It a smaller group than rolling out a nationwide quest for higher-margins be- is now the may end up in marriage,” he says. But does means we’re on the right track,” he says. But our communication doesn’t campaign. If you’re into matchmaking, make gan four years ago when it whole hog in their campaign coupled with the ‘Eenie Meenie where people are willing to pay for a Shaadi. encourage users to go on sure your communication isn’t wishy-washy introduced niche products dairy products, miney mo’ jingle convey all that? To Halve it com, Woo is still a “socialist catalyst” as far as dates or check out boys and says it like it is. And if you’re somewhere like Juicies, Choco Shot, Dol- beyond ice shows a bunch of girls with their hormones their revenue model is concerned. They plan between the two, heaven help you. lies and Ice Trooper. Another creams zipping about. “Casual dating is an idea ahead to become a fee-based model soon but “why Sumesh Menon,Woo [email protected] product Badabite, which claims to be India’s biggest chocolate bar with caramel, cookies and cream, coffee caramel, was a revolution of sorts when it was launched four years back. “When eve- expose the durability of its sportswear CEO Tim Boyle- demonstrating the qual- ryone was offering a choco bar for `10-15, we had this gi- and feature Boyle as the “One Tough ity of the sportswear. But the current ads gantic 72 gm product coated with premium chocolate at Sexy at 91 Mother”. From 1984-2005, Boyle was the try to shift the focus away from Boyle `35,” says Gandhi. Newer additions to the niche basket face of Columbia’s comical commercials. and more on the product, with her more include Flingo (cones) and Gourmet (Belgian chocolate Columbia Sportswear has a new ad Columbia’s new campaign brings back a as an appearance. Other company found- in tubs and cups). campaign featuring its 91-year-old chair- ‘90s nostalgia that the company believes ers who became marketing stars include At the other end of the spectrum Vadilal is investing man and former CEO, Gert Boyle. The viewers will like. “It was time for us to Richard Branson of Virgin, Frank Perdue heavily in glycol freezers across power deficit markets. company’s current campaign, which has insert some sexiness back into our adver- of Perdue Farms and Dave Thomas of “We have supplied ample freezers to our retailers in Bi- been launched recently, is focused on the tising,” Boyle told AdWeek. The previous Wendy’s. Columbia went public in 1998 har and UP to reach rural consumers,” says managing hashtag #testedtough. The brand aims to ads featured Boyle and her son - current and generates more than $2 billion in director Devanshu Gandhi. It’s tackling rural India global revenue. In 2014, the company’s which accounts for approximately 40% of Vadilal’s con- sales increased 25%, which was its fastest sumers with `5 vanilla cups. Columbia went public in 1998 and generates more than $2 single-year growth rate in 10 years. [email protected] billion in global revenue. Company’s sales increased by 25% (Source: businessinsider.com)

Continued from Page 1 >> side stand indicator, digital-analogue We are clearly gunning for by HMSI is to push scooters into the combo meter console, and a boot light. hinterlands. Guleria says with im- Bhasin points out that some of the in- leadership in scooters as provement in mileage, increased con- Will the real... novations and features are category- well. We are putting a lot venience, improving infrastructure firsts. “A key prong of the strategy is to of stuff to get to the top and education levels along with the “The Pleasure was well received, but do 1 million test rides and put the focus increase in working women are creat- the model shared most of its engineer- on one-to-one engagement,” he adds. position. It is not going to ing more demand for scooters in the ing with similar Honda scooters and Hero’s annual scooter production ca- happen overnight but we rural areas. “Our data analysis says between the two brands the custom- pacity is 1 million units. will keep improving our three years back our dealership mix ers preferred Honda,” says Deepesh Experts say Hero MotoCorp needs of scooter vs motorcycle use to be 1:9, Rathore, founder & director, Emerging to spruce up its brand appeal to the market share today it has reached 3:7, so that clearly Market Automotive Advisors (EMAA), urban audience. The motorcycle ma- Pawan Munjal tell us there is a big blue ocean for us to an auto consultancy. In that context, jor’s strength lies in the below 125cc Chairman, Hero MotoCorp take scooter growth to the next level.” the new launches with indigenous tech- motorcycle segment and sales of these Alpana Parida, president at DY nology are critical to Hero MotorCorp’s models come mostly from small towns Works, a brand consultancy firm, fortunes and leadership ambitions. and rural areas. Rathore of EMAA says products with same look and feel. says underestimating Hero may be a Hero, for its part, is upbeat on the scooters have a wider appeal in larger “Having said that, we welcome any mistake. “Despite the break-up, I don’t new launches. “Our deep understand- cities and also with female riders. new launches; they will only expand think consumers have made a big dis- ing of the market has allowed us to There is a sense of fashion and style in awareness of the category. There will connect with Hero. Hero has done a design, develop and build these new scooters and buyers demand that the be more noise, more competition, the commendable job in staying relevant products to match customer needs and machine look aesthetic. On the brand best will win. We will continue to and, in terms of brand strength, there aspirations,” says Ashok Bhasin, head side, Hero has to transform itself into evolve our portfolio.” is hardly anything to differentiate be- of sales, marketing & customer care, a more fashionable and hep brand. As Anticipating more launches from tween the two. Hero is the largest two Hero MotoCorp. of now, it has a very common man feel competition during the year, HMSI has wheeler maker and Honda is the larg- Hero Duet and Hero Maestro Edge to it, not necessarily a good thing in the revamped its entire portfolio earlier in est scooter maker with a first mover are loaded with features like an inte- scooters segment. the year and the Japanese two-wheeler advantage; for Hero to grow further grated braking system, coupled with YS Guleria, senior vice president, maker has even diverted more produc- in Gujarat. women, the traditional Activa for fami- eyeing a big scooter pie is natural and telescopic front suspension, an under- sales & marketing at HMSI, calls it a tion capacity to scooters to make the HMSI claims it has the widest scooter lies, Dio for college students, Aviator Honda is not going to let go so easily, so seat mobile charging port, remote seat disease of sameness, which happens most of the demand in the market. And portfolio catering to different custom- for the urban male and Activa 125 for it is going to be a tough fight between opening, remote fuel-lid opening, ex- when one is a segment leader by far in the first quarter of 2016, HMSI will er segments — right from Activa-i at upgraders. the two.” ternal fuel filling, service reminder, and the competition tries to introduce flag off the world’s biggest scooter plant the entry level to the Activa-deluxe for One of the initiatives undertaken [email protected] Product: ETNEWMumbaiBS PubDate: 14-10-2015 Zone: BrandEquity Edition: 1 Page: BEPER2 User: kailashk0106 Time: 10-09-2015 01:23 Color: CMYK

ECONOMIC TIMES THE OCTOBER 14-20, 2015 3

etc, to make way for new stuff. In this case the honcho decided to do some BAWDY cleaning of a different kind: he started with cleaning out all the old people – old COPY either by age or by their vintage at the aforementioned agency. It did not end there though. It seems that a specially Penny Wise, developed font by some of the old Pound Foolish? guards at the agency also came under BORA ANIRBAN the scanner, as a part of ‘Operation After all, times are tough and economy Clear Out’. Thus, the measly rent that of any kind is a welcome occurrence in had to be paid annually to keep the an industry not known for frugality. But font’s website up and running was also this kind of cost cutting is something stopped. As of now the website is de- bordering on the bizarre. The story goes funct and the font, which has done the like this: There is this network agency, rounds of Cannes and Goafest, and has which decided to do spring cleaning, BC had over half a million downloads in a term normally reserved for ridding many languages cannot be downloaded. (and get some metal in the process, yourself of old clothes, knick-knacks Cost cutting at what cost, we ask? perhaps). Next episode on the specula- tion saga denied hope for any fair play whatsoever. An ad mole predicted the Yo Yo Shaky Singh? ousting will happen sooner than later It won’t be an exaggeration to compare and the bossman will get his old friend the fate of this NCD in his current agen- to take on the mantle. Latest on this is cy with that of a yoyo. Last we heard that bossman has met our incumbent on this, an ad man was touting his NCD and subtly assured his job is safe. soon-to