Dentsu Creative Impact Pvt. Ltd.

, New Delhi, India

 Background

•  The Automobile Industry in India is one of the fastest growing markets

and from a car buyers’ perspective, it’s an industry looking to offer many
choices to a consumer across car segments.

• But in a market which is booming, the C Segment compared to the other

car segments was stagnant largely on account of the fact that there was
only 1 player I the market (Omni) and there were no options for customers
looking at upgrading.
 
• On the other hand, this also offered a big opportunity for manufacturer’s
to tap into.

• The EECO from Maruti Suzuki was introduced in the segment to offer
consumers another choice to choose from and tap into the potential in
the segment. The EECO was launched clearly with an aim of providing
consumers a VFM proposition.

Dentsu Creative Impact Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, India

 Marketing Challenge

With the launch of EECO, MSIL had some challenges and they were:

Dentsu Creative Impact Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, India

 The Target

Dentsu Creative Impact Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, India

 Product Highlights

Dentsu Creative Impact Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, India

 Strategy to overcome Marketing Challenge

Challenge 1 : Successfully launch the brand and achieve launch target sales volumes
 Solution:
• Expand category by winning first time buyers of A1 and Lower A2 segment.
• Win within the C segment by expanding Eeco’s opportunity amongst Omni Rejecters and Up-graders

Challenge 2: Manage the Brand Image of the car - the segment has always traditionally had a “commercial”
baggage attached to it due to usage behaviors, whereas we wanted to build on a “family car” brand image.
Solution:
• Position EECO as a “Car” and not a “Van” in order to create an aspirational value towards the brand.
• Establish EECO as more stylish & comfortable for C segment Rejecters/Up-graders and as practical and
pleasing as a small car but more spacious, more multi-purpose and better performance for A1& Lower A2
segment intenders.

Challenge 3: Avoid/Minimize cannibalization with Omni

Solution:
• Position EECO as a “Car” and not a “Van” and pitch it as a personal use car

Dentsu Creative Impact Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, India

 Communication Challenge contd..

The biggest communication challenge was to develop a platform for the

brand with which audiences could be engaged. The challenge was further
accentuated by the fact that the product was largely “functional” with no
aspirational features when compared to the other cars in the market.

Also, research showed that :

C segment or the MPV segment (Omni) had an image issue, the

common perception being that the offerings are meant for “Commercial”
purposes such as taxi fleets, maxi-cabs, school vans etc and hence this
manifested in a way that people perceived the offerings were not meant for
personal use and could not be used for families.

Dentsu Creative Impact Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, India

 Communication Challenge

Also, given the fact that it had a “Commercial” segment tag to it, there was practically
no “Prestige or Show-off” value which the C segment cars could offer. This therefore
was a big deterrent, infact almost an “Entry” barrier for people to consider C segment
offerings. Therefore, it was critical to steer the brand away from this common belief in
a manner in which communicate about it to families so as to bring it into their
consideration.

Another important aspect which we needed to factor in was the fact that we are
looking to expand the category by pulling in A1 and Lower A2 segment
shoppers/intenders.

The fact, that A1 and Lower A2 segment cars call for a big compromise in space and
comfort often result in compact cars not being ideal to carry a family. Therefore, for
EECO it was an opportunity to call onto buyers in the segment who always had a latent
desire in the user to move to a bigger option as to be able to travel together with their
family.

Dentsu Creative Impact Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, India

 Brand Launch Pad

Given, EECO’s product promise of Space, Power and Comfort, we

looked to pitch the brand to buyers with large families. Hence, it
was important that the communication for EECO needed to
revolve around the family, it was also important to highlight their
slice of life (situations, i.e. Holiday’s, Picnic, Weddings, Receiving
guests etc).

We also had to ensure that the car (“EECO”) is an integral part in

whatever they do (since branding was key) and that the
communication creates a “buzz” for the brand through relatable
situations and unique execution

Dentsu Creative Impact Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, India

 The Big Idea for the Campaign

Our Big idea to highlight our intent was to create an “EECO FAMILY”. A family that is funny and
quirky so that it breaks the clutter but at its core is like any other family we see. Therefore, the
plots revolved around their slice of life (holiday’s, weddings, picnics, receiving guests etc).

Our Idea was to do something unprecedented, i.e. bring together some of the most popular
comedians & veteran artists across generations and genres and create our Eeco family. Therefore,
all the characters we chose were from different popular and successful tele-serial and soaps
intended for the families. We also made sure that each artist is from different comic genres and
has an already established personality and has a mass appeal which is relatable across India.
 
In order to make the mainline campaign more engaging, we wanted to break the conventional
advertising mould by changing the format for our TVC. We decided to create a series of SITCOM
like TVC’s showcasing the EECO family. The idea was to induce the involvement & engagement by
making each one of them look like a tele serial so that in each TVC there is an entertainment
value w.r.t “What’s the EECO family up to now” which audiences would want to look forward to
and enjoy.

Dentsu Creative Impact Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, India

 The EECO FAMILY TREE

Dentsu Creative Impact Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, India

 Campaign Extendibility with the EECO family

The thought was to establish EECO as a great family car that brings everyone
together (create empathy) by ensuring the communication and its characters
become a talking point amongst the public at large.
 
Therefore with EECO family being at the forefront of whatever we did

a)we wanted to create a long term brand property for EECO which would be distinct
to create a “buzz”. EECO family allowed the brand to make its communication
extendable (strategic and tactical).

b) It allowed for creating consumer excitement via associations (sports and events) &

c) Create a communication that would spread the “buzz” through topical issues as and
when required.(festivals, marriages etc)

Dentsu Creative Impact Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, India

 Specific market challenges to be overcome

EECO as an offering from MSIL had a very strong sales potential

in the Tier 1 and Tier 2 towns and hence it was critical for the
communication to address this TG through relatable situations
revolving around their life.  

Dentsu Creative Impact Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, India

 Implemented Communication
• A 360 degree launch plan was implemented. Key media vehicles –
– TV (Popular TV channels were selected - National as well as Regional channels)
– Press (National publications were supported with Vernacular Publications)
– Radio
– Outdoor
– Activation in Big Bazaar (big chain of retails outlets which specializes in family purchases, large super mart
offering something for everyone)
– Web (micro site)
– Launch events for press, press previews for auto journos and business journos, regional press launch
events covering top 16 cities across the country
 
• TVC Details
– Trailer Film (20 sec) – A promo like film for the EECO family was aired for duration of 12 days to create a buzz
about the newly launched EECO car. It captured the salient features like – Space, AC, Power and Price and
Price and showed snippets of the characters in the family.
– Launch Film (45 sec) - The launch TVC introduced the complete EECO family and the car. The tvc focused on
the space and the powerful AC.
– 7-seater Film (30 sec)- A separate TVC was created and aired to promote the 7 seater EECO

Also, 2 more episodes (films) are lined up to break soon this Quarter to continue the fun & excitement
of the EECO family.

Dentsu Creative Impact Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, India

 EECO Launch Performance

The launch campaign resulted in a healthy flow of enquiries & increased bookings. The
campaign led to staggering bookings for a new car brand in the recent years with close to
25000 bookings in the first 3 months of launch. The huge number of bookings has now
resulted in the car seeing long waiting periods for delivery. Moreover, a whooping 1.58
lakhs enquiries have been generated in the first 3 moths of launch.

Impact of EECO Launch in the C segment

The above chart clearly reflective of the Jump in sales in the C segment and highlights the fact that the EECO has led to
category expansion

Dentsu Creative Impact Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, India

 Impact of communication – The Brand Track results

The brand track study done by an independent organization GFK Mode has brought out some very
encouraging results. The study was done among intenders (planning to buy a car in the A1 and A2
segment in the next 2-6 months). The study indicates that EECO has witnessed a very successful launch.
Both the creatives released in the media were highly successful in creating ‘Awareness’ and ‘Desire’
amongst the consumers.

Some wonder figures–

•EECO Significantly ahead of other new launches in its initial weeks of launch with similar or lower SOV.
Clearly highlighting an effective launch.
•On Brand Consideration too, EECO was ahead of other new launches in the first 8 weeks post launch.

•Currently, 2/3rd of the universe aware of the brand within two months of its launch.
•Brand consideration is at par with that of Omni (The old war-horse of the C segment)
•Relatively higher recall for the ad, with lower or similar SOV indicating the clutter breaking ability of the
creative.
•Both the ads well above average on both ad recall and brand recall Average Brand Recall figure – 71.
EECO ads score much above average - 92 (Launch TVC) and 84 (Seven Seater TVC).*

* Average figure taken basis the ads tested till date in GFK Mode’s Brand track.

Dentsu Creative Impact Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, India

 THANK YOU

Dentsu Creative Impact Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, India

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Disclaimer: This case study is for informational purpose only and for any details contact: snigdha.nandan@dentsu.in