“We are just playing around in the mid-size car market with Verito”

Vivek Nayer, Senior VP, Marketing (Auto Division) Mahindra&Mahindra

Vivek Nayer, Senior Vice President, Marketing, Mahindra (Auto Division) has been with the company for the past six years now. Prior to M&M, he was working with Reckitt Benckiser, UK as a Global Category Marketing Manager (Furnishings and Floor care). He has a special interest in brand equity & strategy, consumer insights, advertising and communication and product innovation. With brands like Bolero, Scorpio and Xylo, Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) has about 63 per cent market share in the utility vehicles space. In the C-segment, with Verito, it has a five per cent share. In a exclusive interview with Purba Das of Pitch, Nayer talks about Scorpio, the company’s flagship brand and the company’s plans for the year ahead. Excerpts:

In the utility vehicle (UV) space you Mahindra has three brands – Bolero, Scorpio, Xylo. How are they positioned differently from each other?
Each model has a sharp differentiation in the positioning. Scorpio is a SUV and is positioned as a premium, stylish, powerful car while Bolero is positioned as a more youthful, fun, affordable and an entry-level car. Xylo on the other hand, is a MPV (multipurpose vehicle) and is positioned around the benefits of space, therefore more on the luxury and comfort.

While Scorpio is one of the most loved cars, but now it is being seen as an aging brand. How does the company plan to keep it fresh? And does it target any particular set.Although I believe, today, behavioral kind of differentiation is needed while deciding the target group; but to answer your question, the TG consists of SEC A and consumers over 30 years of age.
Scorpio is our flagship brand. It was first launched in 2002 and over the years has become  the ‘Olympic brand’ of the company. To keep up with the times, Scorpio has undergone several changes over the years. In 2009, Mahindra launched Mighty Muscular Scorpio. The new muscular look was inspired by the then consumer desire for six-pack and eight-pack muscular look. The TVCs too focused on high-end lifestyle, which showed a man playing golf in a desert. Also, we ensure that regular buzz is built around the brands through BTL campaigns like the Mahindra Great Escape and Xylo Karoke.

Please explain these campaigns.
Mahindra Great Escape is a rally, wherein, almost 100 Mahindra vehicle owners are taken on an off-road trip. The rally is usually flagged off with Mahindra SUVs such as the Scorpio, Bolero, Thar, Getaway, Legend, Major and Classic negotiating the route along the rugged terrains, dense forests, tangled jungles, vast stretches of mountains. The event aims at giving Mahindra customers an idea of the tough and enduring nature of Mahindra vehicles.

The event was first initiated in 1996 and used to be a small one-day event, but now it has evolved into a weekend event. The Mahindra Great Escape was recently held in Munnar in Kerala, Coorg in Karnataka, Goa and also at Chikmagalur, Wayanad, Ooty, Hyderabad, Guwahati and Mandawa in Jaipur.

Also, the company has recently uploaded a training video on its website and on YouTube, which gives viewers an idea of how to engage 4X4 vehicles (SUVs) and maneuver them on difficult terrain, under various circumstances.

Thus, such events help the company to interact and bond with its consumers ang get word of mouth promotion.

How do you ensure that Scorpio doesn’t become a commercial vehicle like Bolero?
I would also like to clarify that we don’t mind if 10 per cent of our cars are used for tours and travel purposes. After all, these are utility vehicles and consumers will continue buying them. The image of a car being used for commercial purposes doesn’t deter a customer who wants to buy a SUV or a MUV for personal use. Let me explain it with an example. There are cargo planes and there is passenger planes. Just because there are cargo planes, it doesn’t mean consumers stop flying by planes.

Both the small car segment and the sedan segment have seen a rapid growth off late. What are your plans for these segments apart from Verito?
We are a the market leaders in utility vehicle segment. We would like to concentrate on them and do more product innovation in and around them. Apart from Verito, which is positioned as the ‘mature man’s sedan’, we don’t plan to launch any car in the segment. We are just playing around in the mid-size car market with Verito.

Coming to Reva, we haven’t seen or heard much of it. Why is it so?
Although Mahindra & Mahindra doesn’t look after its operations, however, I would say as soon as infrastructure is in place, Reva will sell like hot cakes. Electric cars are the future.

What is the marketing budget for the year? And how has it been allocated?
The marketing budget is somewhat over Rs 100 crore.  About 50 per cent is allocated to TV adverising while 40 per cent is reserved for print. We generally take the print rout during launches. Remaining 10 per cent of the total marketing budget is for digital media. Apart from all this, we have BTL communication such as Mahindra Great Exchange and Xylo Karaoke.