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Advertising Project

Honda Cars

ToProf Sunil Kumar

GR No:- 14

COMPILED bY

Dipesh Solanki Karna MehtaRonak Salecha Muzammil Poonawala Gurpreet Singh Chhabra Vishal Changela

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Preface

Advertising has become the integral part of today’s life. This is because there is a wide market consisting of endless brands or products. The consumer today is influenced by advertising and this result in his purchase behavior.

Hence advertising has gained importance and recognition in society. Advertising is the parameter which is used by consumers to decide on purchase of a particular product. The brand that is projected & advertised well is going to sell well in the market.

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Acknowledgement

We would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to all who have lent their hand in making this project a success.

Initially we would like to extend our warm thanks to Prof. Mr. Sunil Kumar for guiding us and giving his valuable support and helping us with every minute aspect on this project. Sir really made this project a great learning experience.

We are also thankful to our institute “ INDIAN INSTITUTE OF PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT” for providing us an opportunity to work on this project and gain valuable experience and hindsight on conducting a research project.

Lastly we would like to extend a very warm thanks to all the respondents who gave us their valuable inputs to make this project a success. It would not have been possible without them.

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Undertaking

This project has helped us to collect tangible information about Honda Cars & the effect of advertising on the purchasing behavior of the consumers buying Cars in their life. The primary & secondary data have been collected from various segments & on this basis the analysis is done.

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Executive Summary

This project goes out to each one of us who holds advertising dear to their hearts.

The purpose of this research was to establish the role of advertising in influencing

the final purchase decision for and against Honda. Our research on Honda tries to

unlock the complex decision making process of the consumer and explore the

prime reason that leads to the purchase of this Car Brand. In our journey of

exploration we did an analysis about the positioning strategy in the ad world and

also famous with the consumers.

We were more interested in the study of the effect of advertising on a product such

as cars which is a high involvement product in today’s modern era. The first part of

the report deals with the secondary research and the later part deals with our

primary research. The primary research was carried out using a questionnaire

administered to the residents of Pune.

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INDEX

Sr No Topic Pg No

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Company Overview

HSCI was established in December 1995, with Honda Motor Co., (Japan) and Siel Ltd. (India) as the key promoters. Honda’s models are strongly associated with advanced design and technology, apart from its established qualities of durability, reliability and fuel-efficiency.

Honda Siel Cars’ state-of-the-art manufacturing unit was set up in 1997 at Greater Noida, U.P. and currently has a capacity of 50,000 cars annually. The company is planning to raise its capacity to 100,000 cars per annum by the end of 2007.

HSCI has recently launched the all-new, third generation CR-V and new Accord in its portfolio. The all-new Honda CR-V comes in 2 variants- 6 speed manual transmission system and 5-speed automatic transmission system with Grade Logic Control for smooth and effortless performance.

Honda’s most successful global model, the eighth generation Civic was launched in July 2006 and has already become segment leader within a short span of time. The Honda City ZX, the largest selling sedan in India, is today recognized as one of the most successful car brands in India. To ensure consumer’s safety, Honda has recently added new features like Airbags and ABS in the VTEC version of the car.

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In 2006, three of Honda’s four cars in the Indian market – City, Accord and CR-V, have ranked first in the TNS Total Customers Satisfaction Award.

The company operates under the stringent standards of ISO 9001 for quality management and ISO 14001 for environment management.

Objective of Study

Is advertising helping the brand in communication its positioning statement to the target segment?

Is advertising helping the brand in increasing its sales for existing customers?

Is the advertising helping brand in creating new customers?

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Message Strategy

“Power Of Dreams”is a phrase commonly heard across the length and breadth of Honda. It was made popular by its founder, Soichiro Honda, who knew that his fledgling company had to out-think and out-perform its competitors every step of the way in order to survive.

Positioning Strategy

Honda has positioned itself as a leader in technology, as a result most of the products Honda developed made a difference. They sought to challenge and overcome conventional wisdom

Target Segment

Premium Car Segment Market (C & D Segment)

Market Share of Honda

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Total Advertising Expenditure

$ 443 Mn (Global Ad Spends)

Successful Advertising Campaign

Honda Cog Ad for Honda Accord

Competitors

Maruti Hyundai Skoda Tata Motors Ford

Media vehicles used by the company

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News papers TV Commercials Magazines Auto Expo

Methodology

Customers Questionnaire

Q-1 Which car brand do you have ?Honda ( )Ford ( )Tata ( )Maruti ( )Hundai ( )Any Other_____________________________________

Q-2 How do you decide on buying a brand

o Get inspired by Television Commercials

o Get inspired by Print Ads

o Take Opinion from Friends & Families Any other (Please Specify)

Q-3 How is your buying decision influenced ?

By Wife By Children By Advertisements

Others (please Specify)

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Q-4 What is your Perception about Brand “Honda”

Q-5 Please rate on a scale of 0-5 on the following parameters for the respective brands (where 0 being lowest and 5 highest.)

Honda Ford Tata Maruti HyundaiFuel EconomyAfter Sales ServiceValue for MoneyAdvertising

Q-6 Have you seen any of the Honda ads Recently ?

Yes ( ) No ( )

Q-7 Where have you seen these ads mostly?

o Newspapers o Magazines o Television o Hoardings o Internet

Q-8 What attributes in an ad of “Honda” influence you

Creativity Brand Line Promotional Campaign

Q-9 What according to you is the target segment of Honda ?

Premium ( )Luxury ( )Standard ( )Economy ( )

Q-10 Are the advertisement of Honda directed towards the target segment ?

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Yes ( ) No ( )

Q-11 Does Honda through its ad communicate its message strategy of “Power your Dreams”

Yes ( ) No ( )

Q-12 Brand Honda creates a positive impact on customers

Strongly Agree( ) Agree( ) Neither Agree nor disagree( ) Disagree ( )

Q-13 Do you think that for “Honda” a brand ambassador is important ?

Yes ( ) No ( )Q-14 Who would you suggest as a Brand Ambassador?

Q-15 Will you suggest Honda cars to others because of good effect of their advertisements ?

Yes ( ) No ( )

Q-16 Name any two products of Honda Cars

1.

2.

PERSONAL DETAILS

1. Name

2. Age

15 – 20 20 – 30 30 – 40 40 – 50 50 & above

3. Occupation

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Student Businessman Govt.Employee Salaried Professional

4. Annual Income

2-4L 4-6L 6-12L 12 & ABOVE

5. Telephone Number / E-mail :-

Honda ranks 1st in choice of cars followed by Maruti.

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57% of the people go by opinions sought from friends and families.

Advertising plays a major role in buying a car brand.

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40% people perceive Honda to be synonymous with POWER

People who buy HONDA think it is good value for money

From the above we can see that the HONDA ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN is equally balanced since 53% have seen the ads while 43% have not seen the ads

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Most of the people have seen the ads in different newspapers and magazines as seen above

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“POWER YOUR DREAMS”- Brand Line influences the maximum number of people in the HONDA AD

Maximum number of people think that HONDA ADS focuses on the LUXURY SEGMENT

75% of people think that HONDA ADS are targeted towards the target segment

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75% of people think that HONDA does convey its message strategy through its ad

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85% of the people agree that Brand HONDA does create a positive impact on the customers

80% of the people strongly say that HONDA does NOT require a Brand Ambassador

Maximum number of people think that Actors would be the best choice for a Brand Ambassador

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73% people say that they would suggest the HONDA Brand to others because of the good effect of their ads

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Dealers Questionnaire

Q-1 Which models of Honda are available at your outlet ?

Honda City ( )Honda Civic ( )Honda Accord ( )Honda CRV ( )

Q-2 How do you decide on what cars to stock ?__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Q-3 Does advertisement of Honda cars influence your decision on stocks of particular models ?

Yes ( ) No ( )

Out of the 4 Models available HONDA CITY and HONDA ACCORD are most familiar with most of the people

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Q-4 Does advertisement of Honda help increasing your sales ?

Yes ( ) No ( )

Q-5 Which advertisement had a specific impact on increase/decrease if sales ?

Increase in sales_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Decrease in sales______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Q-6 What kind of customers do you cater ?

Premium ( )Luxury ( )Standard ( )Economy ( )

Q-7 In your opinion who is the influencer in the decision making process ?

Parents ( )Spouse ( )Children ( )Friends ( )Dealer ( )Other_____________________________________________________

Q-8 Do you advertise special schemes for your cars ?

Yes ( ) No ( )

Q-9 Does your advertisements help in increasing your sales ?

Yes ( ) No ( )

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Q-10 How do you rate Honda’s advertising campaign as regards to its competitors on the scale of 0-10

Honda ( )Toyota ( )Hyundai ( )Chevrolet ( )Ford ( )

Q-11 Do you think that Honda is successful in putting its message strategy across to its customers?

Yes ( ) No ( )

Q-12 How many enquiries are generated by you in a month ?__________________________________________________________

Q-13 Do you think that these are due to Honda’s Advertisements ?

Yes ( ) No ( )

Q-14 What ad schemes do you use at POP ?

Banners ( )Pamphlets’ ( )Catalogues ( )Financial Schemes ( )Others____________________________________________________

Q-15 Does this POP material influence Sales?

Yes ( ) No ( )

Q-16 Should Honda come out with new positioning strategy?

Yes ( ) No ( )

Why ? ___________________________________________________

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_________________________________________________________

ALL 4 Models are available at both the Dealers Outlets

Stockings are managed and controlled according to the demand.

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Advertisement plays a balanced role.

Advertisement plays balanced role.

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Honda dealers cater premium and luxury segment customers, and aspects the major sales from these kind of high profile.

Friends, children & spouse influences the decision making process till a great extent.

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They don’t have much aggressive schemes to promote their brand.

Advertisement plays balanced role in sales of Honda car.

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According to a dealer Honda should relating its products with nature, with the brand line as- “Nature Rides With Honda.”

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Premium Segment

Majority of people prefer Honda and desire to have one in the future

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Honda makes the person feel supreme, and it creates a premium image.

Advertisement plays very vital role in buying decision.

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According to people, Honda stands for luxury and quality.

Premium advertisement has helped create a better image in the market.

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Honda should focus on newspapers and television media for effective performance in sales.

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Brand line again plays an affective role in this segment as well.

Premium customers are targeted by Honda.

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Honda achieved in its desired target segment.

Honda satisfies 90% of their customers, which is a good feedback for the customers.

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This shows that Honda is much of brand pool and superior technology comes second.

Honda creates positive impact on customers, which would create more customers for them.

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People are much more aware with accord and CRV.

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Standard Segment

Most of the people are comfortable with Honda city.

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In this case Family plays the major role in buying.

Power again wins over other alternative like interiors, fuel and design.

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Most of the people have seen Honda city advertisements.

Television and newspaper again proves to be the most effective ways of reaching people.

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According to the survey SX-4 has better advertising campaign as compared to other brands mentioned above.

11Economy Segment

People driven by advertisements, so more advertisements, more is the response.

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In case of the economy segment 43 number of people give fuel economy as the most important factor at the time of purchasing a car.

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Advertisement rules in this case.

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60% people expect that Honda will not introduce economy car segment.

Economy car segment do not intend to buy Honda because of its pricing.

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Honda cars come in the 4th place as peoples next car.

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Research Findings

1.

Conclusion

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Recommendations

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1. More use of mediums such as Television & hoardings.2. Justify price differences through advertising.3. The Ads should be made more memorable.4. Claims made in the Ads should be significantly substantiated

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LIMITATIONS

1. Since the sample size for the survey was small, we cannot make

generalizations.

2. The response received was only from Pune but the results may vary from

city to city.

3. Discounting factor was not considered as sometimes wrong responses may

have been received due to lack of understanding of the question.

4. Lack of channel partners, so the quality of responses suffered a setback.