Toyota Liva vs Honda Brio: Marketers at War

So far, Toyota and Honda have more or less shared honours in their Internecine Battle in India. Will The Brio and The Liva change that?

They have competed fiercely with each other in every market they entered, but for their fatherland, it would be sacrilege to choose between the two! After all, both Toyota and Honda have been symbols of Japan’s iconic rise as an industrial superpower post World War II, and are also key to the country’s bid for an economic recovery in this century. Besides these similarities, they have been celebrated case studies for their successful forays into multiple global markets, and have also been viewed quite negatively for the ‘recall’ wave they unleashed some time back.

While Civic and Corolla appeal to a similar TG, both these models have been able to carve their respective spaces in US, Japan and even in the domestic circuit. The same is the scenario with Camry and Accord. At the end of February 2011, Camry and Corolla stood at the 3rd and 4th position respectively in the list of the top selling vehicles in the US market, while Accord and Civic booked the 6th and 8th positions, respectively. However, they are markedly different when it comes to strategic approach. Toyota is one of the more aggressive players, while Honda has a slow and steady approach. “Honda first studies the market and then launches a product,” said a consultant on condition of anonymity.

As far as the Indian market goes, both Honda & Toyota have been equally cautious and have avoided taking the expressway too early. The duo entered the second fastest growing automobile market in the world during the mid-90s and they have been building their consumer base in a slow and steady manner. The playing field has been restricted to a couple of sedans and SUVs so far. In the segments where they have competed, they are more or less even. In the executive segment, Toyota Corolla posted sales of 8,769 units in the April 2010 to January 2011 period as compared to Honda Civic’s sales of 4,121 units in the same period. In the premium segment, Toyota posted sales of 330 units with the Camry & Prius combined, compared to 1,988 units for the Honda Accord in the same period. In the mid-size segment, Honda is the leader with 40,190 unit sales in the period, but Toyota is making waves with over 2,000 units of the Etios sold within two months of launch. In the MUV segment, Innova alone sold over 50,000 units in the period, while CR-V managed only 435 units.

The launch of Toyota Etios Liva and Honda Brio will catapult these companies into the high volume fetching hatchback segment, and this is where the battle will get very interesting. The question is – who looks more par for the course?

“The buzz around Etios started from the Auto Expo that took place in the capital in January last year,” says Sandeep Singh, Deputy Managing Director – Marketing, Toyota Kirloskar Motors. Undoubtedly, a lot of research and synergy has gone into the development of the Brio and the Liva and both Japanese giants would not like to gamble with the success equation for these models in particular. For both companies, Liva and Brio will surely bring new customers under the Toyota and Honda umbrella, but an overwhelming buying experience will build loyalty with these consumers as they upgrade over time. “There is a lot of anticipation for Honda Brio in the market and we are confident that the car will be appreciated by the Indian customers,” says Jnaneswar Sen, Vice President - Marketing, Honda SIEL Cars India.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2011.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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Their team synergy wasn’t evident initially, but complementary traits have in fact done wonders for Vaybhav and Tirth

"As we speak, we’re in the process of taking on the role of Senior Creative Directors at JWT on the Airtel business,” declares an exuberant Vaybhav Singh, CD, Dhar & Hoon. With the ‘we’, he refers to his better half – Swami Anand Tirth, who also works as Creative Director at the same agency, and has been working with him for eight years now.

Interestingly, the sparks flew off in the air for them when they first exchanged glances at Grey, but with different partners. At that time, a campaign at the agency had propelled them to spend a weekend, as a team, with the execution and finishing stages completed by them. This was a campaign for Hindustan Times which was soon followed by another stepping stone in the form of a campaign done for Business Today. The campaign not only fetched great reviews among their peers but also marked their establishment as a team; as they soon shook hands with the bitter but true reality – that in the field of advertising it takes two to tango most of the time! Thus the duo gradually started using each other as a springboard to push the bar on their work. Since then, they have been sounding boards for each other’s ideas, as well as of those who’ve worked with them. And still, after years the aura, this effervescent relationship is still evergreen.

However, as said, their understanding wasn’t a given at the beginning of their relationship. Tirth reminisces about Vaybhav as he shares, “He thought of me as an absolutely spooky advertising fellow who remains soaked up in his own creativity, while I thought that he was senior to me, as he worked with Pat (Pratap Suthan) at that time.” But the start wasn’t as disastrous as it is made out to be. The duo’s jam sessions after office hours helped them break the ice, until the two overtime became great friends and realised the value of that camraderie. “Being in a business that’s about ideas and people, it’s great to work with people you respect and yet have the freedom to question. And working in a team gives you the opportunity to have both,” admits Vaybhav.

And soon enough, the duo had changed track to agencies like Ogilvy, Saatchi & Saatchi and McCann Erickson. It was their stint in McCann Erickson, however, which was the most special one. The reason was that they got the opportunity to gain as much as possible from the iconic Indian ad guru Prasoon Joshi, an opportunity many others in their ilk would sell their souls for. Over time, everything just “fell in place.” And as of today, Vaybhav says, “It’s the understanding that we’re together to do good work, if not great; that keeps us curious and pushing each other.”

The duo bring with them an incredible client list. At their earlier agencies, they had chalked out creatives for some of the biggest brands like RIG, Reebok, Microsoft, Happydent, Chevrolet, Santro and of course, Hindustan Times to name a few. Despite having already worked with such big names, both of them feel their best work is yet to come. As Vaybhav asserts, “From our last agency, the work we feel closest to was for RIG, a utility clothing brand. For the armchair explorer, the campaigns pushed beyond boundaries to an exploration of landscapes filled with incongruous imagery and visual oddities; and to that extent aroused the interest of both the viewer and the advertising within the category.”

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2011.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

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