An analysis on why the Honda Unicorn hasn't been a success story so far..
Back in 2004 the market was abuzz with the news that Honda was about to launch its first motorcycle in India. Everyone expected that Honda would make a clean sweep of the motorcycle sales in India. There wasn't any reason to believe that Honda wouldn't be able to pull it off. After all wasn't Honda single handedly responsible for reviving the dying scooter market in India with its "Activa"..??
According to me there are three main reason why the Honda Unicorn failed to make an impact..
>> First: Because Honda is a Japanese Company
>> Second: Wrong "Targeting" and "Positioning" of the Unicorn
>> Third: Maybe because Honda was overconfident
"Overall it was a "Marketing Failure"
Honda has a formidable reputation worldwide not only as the biggest motorcycle manufacturer, but also as a manufacturer which made ultra reliable engines. Consumers in India are no different and always had similar trust in the Honda Brand.
On 08 Septemtember 2004, Honda finally launches its first motorcycle in India, the 150 C.C Honda Unicorn. Along with the ultra smooth and reliable engine it also sported India's first monoshock rear suspension. Magazines carried rave reviews of the latest 150 C.C from Honda; putting it on top of other models of its competitors.
2004 Honda Unicorn
But unfortunately and to the surprise of many, the sales of the Unicorn were dismal compared to the 150 C.C models of its competitors viz. Bajaj Pulsar and TVS Fiero/Apache. Compared to Bajaj Auto’s 150-cc Pulsar, which sells 35,000-40,000 units per month, Honda’s Unicorn manages barely 3,500-5,000 (Source: BusinessWorld). The company "made a mistake", said the official (Mr. Takedagawa), in introducing the models and its styling which were quite similar to the existing Hero Honda models (Glamour and CBZ).
So what went wrong for the Honda Unicorn..??
Let us try to find some answers...
This is what Mr. Masahiro Takedagawa, Head-South-West Asia, Honda Motor Co. had to say..
So was it really due to the Styling why the Honda Unicorn failed to dent the sales of the Bajaj Pulsar..?? According to me the Unicron was a "Marketing Failure" on part of HMSI.
Majority of people understand "marketing" as "the activity done for PUSHING the product down the customers gullet..!!"
Let me first define "Marketing". Majority of people understand "marketing" as "the activity done for PUSHING the product down the customers gullet..!!" Such a definition would mainly include the Sales and Advertisement strategies and in trying to create a hype in the market about the product.
But according to me "Marketing" covers a lot more aspects of a business. These would be..
- At Pre Production stage:
- Knowledge of your customer
- Knowledge of your competitors
- "Targeting" the right customer segment
- Selecting the right "Positioning" for your product
- Collecting Customer Feedback
- Customer Relationship Management
- Managing the Distribution Network
- Managing Sales & Advertising
Post Production Stage:
Even Selecting the right "Pricing" is a part of marketing. So "Marketing" covers activities starting from preproduction and continues to postproduction activities.
According to me there are three main reason why the Honda Unicorn has not been able to make an impact in the market.
- First: Because Honda is a Japanese Company
- Second: Wrong "Targeting" and "Positioning" of the Unicorn
- Third: Maybe because Honda was overconfident
Honda is a Japanese company, being run by a Japanese Chief. It would take some time for them to understand Indians and the vast Indian market
Let me elaborate the first point. Imagine your are sent to Zambia (you can take any other country for an example) to manage the production and sales of a two wheeler business. What are the problems that you could possibily face there..?? Being an Indian you would first face language problem. The market characteristics of that country would be totally alien to you. Imagine how difficult it woud be to interact with the workers and distributors. So what do you do..?? Simple, hire some local management talent. Let them run the business while you give the orders. Simple Eh..?? Well, the only problem is that if your orders are wrong then everything below you is bound to go wrong.
This exactly is the problem with Honda. It is a Japanese company, being run by a Japanese Chief. It would take some time for them to understand Indians and the vast Indian market. And while planning the Unicorn, they obviously did not understand the Indian market.
To elaborate my second point, let me put a famous quote by Dr. Philip Kotler (the Marketing Guru for management students world over).
"If you nail Targeting and Positioning, the rest will automatically follow"
Let us now see what "Targeting" and "Positioning" actually means..
Targeting: In simple words "Targeting" means selecting the customer segment for whom the product will be made.
Positioning: In marketing, positioning is the technique by which marketers try to create an image or identity for a product. For example BMW cars are positioned as Luxury Sports Cars and Volvo cars as one of the Safest Cars. The Positioning essentially brings out the benefits of the product offers to the customer.
The "Targeting" and "Positioning" for a product can be deduced by observing its Advertisements.
A relatively sporty looking but more Commuter Oriented 150 C.C bike was conjured by Honda..
Just try to recall the Advertisements of the Unicorn when it was first launched. The TV Advertisement showed a Young guy riding the Unicorn to his workplace. The Young Rider happens to be a doctor who doesn't pay attention to beautiful girls who plead for a lift on his Unicorn. The Young Doctor would rather be with his patients. The TV Advertisement clearly shows the "Targeting" and "Positioning" of the Unicorn.
Honda'a target customer was the young working executive who was looking more power and style compared to the 100 C.C bikes but who was also sensible enough to look for "Fuel efficiency".
There was nothing wrong with this targeting. Infact any market research done at that time would have given similar results. Moreover everone had clearly seen how the Hero Honda CBZ had failed due to its low mileage. But beyond all these, a young Indian Biker was emerging who was looking for style and excitement more than anything else. But you had to be a bike enthusiast and most importantly an Indian to understand that.
Therefore the Unicorn was to be "positioned" by Honda as a 150 C.C bike with sporty looks but also delivered good fuel efficiency. So a relatively sporty looking but more Commuter Oriented 150 C.C bike was conjured by Honda.
The Unicorn was therefore designed to be a sporty looking bike but with upright commuter friendly stance It had a monoshock to show its sporty intent but at the same time had a thin rear tyre to aid fuel efficiency It produced almost same power (13.3 bhp) like its competition so that it could claim to be equally powerful but produced its maximum torque (1.3 Kgm) at a lower rpm (5500) compared to the Pulsar (1.3 @ 6500 rpm) so that it kept the rider in the lower RPM to aid fuel efficiency.
The Honda Unicorn was neither sporty enough nor economical enough. It was a classic example of "Confused Positioning".
Due to this "Wrong Targeting" and "Confused Positioning", a product was finally developed which majority of the 150 C.C buying Indian consumer did not want.
The Third Point: Honda might have been over confident and decided to go ahead with the "Targeting" and "Positioning". By 2004 it was clear that Bajaj was sweeping the 150 C.C sales with its Pulsar. Honda probably did not take care to study the reason behind the success of the Pulsar.
If it had done so, Honda might have realized that the target segment for the 150 C.C actually constitutes young guys who are actually looking for a "Hooligan" bike. A bike which should have sexy looks and ample power. If the bike was able to give a better fuel efficiency that the CBZ, then it was a bonus. And yes, they would rather prefer to imagine themself as Hooligan rather than a Gentleman on a 150 C.C.. They would rather dream of cruising with a Hot Chick than going to work.
The last thing that majority of the 150 C.C buying crowd was looking for is a 150 C.C commuter. And sadly the Unicron turns out to be an execellent 150 C.C commuter. Also the success of its scooter "Activa" might have made honda overconfident. They probably thought that the Indian biker would lapp up anything it dished out.
Conclusion: So according to me the reason behind the non performance of the Unicorn wasn't because the "Styling of the Unicorn was similar to the CBZ or the Passion". But it was because Honda did not understand us (the Indian "Desi" Bikers), it could not give what we wanted. And since marketing starts by "Knowing your Customers". Overall it was a "Marketing Failure".
The opinions expressed above are my personal opinions. If you agree or disagree with them or if you have your own opinions, then please share your comments with us.
Related Posts:
- Why are the Japanese lagging behind Indian Two Wheeler Manufacturers..??
- My Mechanics 150 C.C Bike Review
- Bajaj Pulsar, an excercise in "Trial & Error"..??
- Hero Honda, the "First Hero" among Indian bike manufacturers
- Is This Blog Biased towards "Bajaj Bikes"..??
Disclaimer:
This is to remind that the Views or Opinions in the blog are entirely mine unless explicitly stated. The Views and Opinions published in this blog should in no way be related to any other person or organization associated -- directly or indirectly -- with me.
