Benchmarking against other Industries for Marketing Successes

1. RENAULT IN INDIA
Benchmarking against other Industries for Marketing Successes
Presentation by
N.ASWINI
S.MAHESWARI
P.PORKUMARAN
V.AROKYA SALAMON RAJ

2. ABOUT RENAULT
• Founded in 1898 by French engineer Louis Renault
• They innovated 1st modern gear box in 20th century and Turbocharger in 1970’s
• Pioneer in the car industry
• They are champions in European Road Rallies in 1901 followed by Formula 1
champions title from 1970’s & 2011 Redbull car powered by Renault Engine.
• After second world war the company acquired by French Government and again
turned into a private company in 1996.
• In 1960’s they reach peak in the sales but in 1970’s the company is fall down due
to financial crisis and the financial health recovered in 1987.
• In 1999, Renault and Nissan started an alliance and became the fourth largest car
manufacturer worldwide in 2010.

3. STRATEGIC PLAN
• Carlos Ghosn, the CEO of Renault Nissan Alliance,
announced in 2011 a comprehensive 5-year
strategic plan “Renault 2016”
• The Plan aimed to generate growth and freeing the cash flow
• These objectives will be achieved through the launch of a broader
range of innovative cars designed for traditional and new fast
growing markets, a reinforcement of Renault’s brand image, and a
stronger management of the cost structure
• For this they focused on traditional market i.e., BRIC countries,
namely Brazil, Russia India and China

4. RENAULT IN INDIA
• Renault entered the Indian market in 2005, by establishing a Joint
Venture (JV) with the Indian automotive group Mahindra & Mahindra
• The Logan, a mid segment sedan (designed by Dacia but produced in
India), entered the market in 2007.
• The launch of Logan was not a success, as its sales figures,
especially compared to its local competitors, remained quite low
• In 2009, a Renault design studio was launched in Mumbai, signaling
the willingness of the brand to understand and integrate regional
cultures and styles to its own design language.

5. RENAULT IN INDIA
• A production plant in the outskirts of Chennai, designed to produce
both Renault and Nissan cars, was inaugurated the same year, with a
capacity to produce 400,000 cars per year
• A strong focus on dealership network was also crucial to signal to the
Indian customers Renault's clear intention of increasing its presence
• Renault planned to increase its network from 14 outlets in mid-2011
to 100 at the end of 2012
• In May 2011, the first model, Fluence, was launched, followed by
Koleos & Pulse

6. RENAULT IN INDIA
• Such a frenzy launch schedule showed Renault’s eagerness to
succeed in India
• But as the brand itself was new, and its association with the failure of
the Logan was still lingering, a complete make-up of the brand image
was essential to support this new range of cars

7. RENAULT'S BRAND STRATEGY
• Renault's brand strategy was first to establish the brand as premium
with the first set of cars launched by mid-2011 (Fluence and Koleos),
and to extend this image to smaller and less expensive models later
• Fluence was a mid-sized sedan, priced from 13 Lahks competing with
Volkswagen Jetta, Honda Civic and Chevrolet Cruze, while Koleos
was an SUV, priced from 22 Lakhs and competing with high-end cars
such as the BMW X1 and the Honda CR-V

8. RENAULT'S BRAND STRATEGY
• The consumer target was 30 to 40 year-old men, with a high
disposable income, who wanted a high quality and high value product
• Although sales of both Fluence and Koleos experienced high
growth, the volumes remained low
• High sales volumes were the target of the
third model, Pulse, which was to enter the
small car “A2” segment by early
2012, to compete with similar models
such as Hyundai I10 and Maruti
Suzuki Swift

9. RENAULT'S BRAND STRATEGY
• The A2 segment was extremely competitive in India. Brand image
would be key to success there
• But becoming a premium brand was not enough to differentiate
Renault from its competitors
• Renault needed to communicate about something else, something
really consistent throughout the whole range of cars
• This is the big question that haunted Renault India's marketing
department

10. RENAULT’S COMMUNICATION PLAN
• As this period was critical for Renault's future in India, some people at
Renault's headquarters in Boulogne Billancourt suggested that a task
force based in France could help develop an innovative and premium
communication plan
• Soon many names were considered as candidates to be sent to India,
but one name stood out from the rest: Mr.Roger Laroux de Secourt,
32, was the communication manager of Renault in France, and was
known by almost everybody at Renault for his innovative way of
thinking.

11. INDIA’S AUTOMOTIVE MARKET
• The overall passenger vehicle market in India was expected to grow
from 1.7 million units in 2008 to 2.4 million units by 2013
• According to a Booz & Company report, by 2012 annual car sales
worldwide would increase by about 11 million units per year, with
India accounting for 20% of the increase
• In 2010, India was the largest small car market in the world

12. INDIA’S AUTOMOTIVE MARKET
• The success of this segment was due to its competitive advantage
and its cost effectiveness that matched Indian consumers’ needs
• The low prices of those cars would, in the future help quadruple the
number of potential new car buyers, making it very attractive for car
manufacturers
• Then India was likely to emerge as a small car production hub.

13. RENAULT'S COMPETITORS IN INDIA
• Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai Motors and Tata Motors, were the three main
actors accounting for 80% of total sales volumes of passenger
vehicles in 2010

14. RENAULT’S COMMUNICATION STRATEGY
• In 2011 Renault had launched two cars: Fluence,a sedan offering high
specifications, premium positioning and value for money and Koleos, a
flagship SUV offering high specifications with a premium positioning
• Renault did not want to be a luxury automotive brand competing with the
likes of Mercedes, BMW or Audi
• Renault's marketing strategy was to target mass market and to leverage on
volume rather than very expensive and exclusive products.
• In this perspective, Fluence and Koleos were a strong foundation in terms of
communication for future growth and were essential to prepare the
launch of the following models, especially for Pulse–a dynamic hatchback
and for Duster–an affordable SUV)

15. RENAULT’S COMMUNICATION STRATEGY
• Renault wanted to develop high expectation among Indian consumers
regarding its products. Thus its promise was:
“Inspires You to Expect More Out of Life”
• Its values were: People friendly, Innovation, Aspirational, and
Trustworthy
• The product promise to upgrade the travel experience while delivering
superior performance and comfort to all.
• Dynamic, modern and elegant design made the cars reflect
consumers’ aspirations and instilled a distinct pride of ownership.

16. RENAULT’S COMMUNICATION STRATEGY
• Koleos’ ideal customer was a 35-45 years male with one or two
children who was successful in his profession – wealthy businessman
or senior corporate manager– with an hedonist state of mind
• Fluence’s ideal customer was a man, aged 30-40, with one or two
children, an early achiever who was extremely successful
• Considering all these elements, Roger was wondering who would be
the ideal customers for the Pulse given the price – 4 Lakhs – and the
segment – A2 compact hatchback
• Thus success and achievement were the key values to give a
premium perception to an automotive brand in India

17. RENAULT’S COMMUNICATION STRATEGY
• In 2011 Renault had produced and broadcasted only one TV
advertising campaign for the launch of Fluence
• The signature was “Status redefined”.
• The main theme was the sense of achievement through peer
recognition.

18. RENAULT’S BUDGET ALLOCATION
• Renault’s strategy was clearly oriented toward advertising in newspaper and
outdoor with respectively 58.46% and 20.23% of the total communication
budget dedicated to these printed mass media
• The most costly campaign in all kind of media was the “Bonjour India”
brand campaign on dailies from May to June 2011
• Several people within the company as well as outside the company had
complained about this particular campaign and its lack of understanding of
the specificities of the Indian consumer
• Some experts of communication and advertising in India criticized an
artificial “indianization” through the “cliché of India” background as well
as the mismatch with Indian advertising expectations

19. RENAULT’S COMMUNICATION STRATEGY
• Roger took notice of these comments but after reading a study on
premium key influencing media by AT Kearney, he started to wonder if
the media planning and the communication strategy were consistent
with a premium positioning.

20. RENAULT’S COMMUNICATION STRATEGY
• In spite of the whole communication strategy to position Renault as a
premium brand, status and trust remained the rare attributes that
consumers associate to the brand Renault
• This fact was a major issue to tackle because, as Roger Laroux de
Secourt noticed about the Indian market, status was a key component
to create an aspirational brand and trust was a must have for
consumers who “lived with the feeling that someday their car
would eventually collapse”.

21. RENAULT’S OPPORTUNITIES
Roger, following the advice of the Director of Marketing of Renault
India, decided to screen the best practices of brand communication in
India from other industries such as,
• LG: a key differentiator strategy
• Samsung: the store experience
• AVIVA: value customers
• PUREIT: engage with customers

22. THANK YOU