Advertising Project

Honda Cars
To
Prof Sunil Kumar

GR No:- 14

COMPILED bY
Dipesh Solanki Karna Mehta
Ronak Salecha Muzammil Poonawala
Gurpreet Singh Chhabra Vishal Changela

Preface
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 Advertising has become the integral part of today’s life. This
is because there is a wide market consisting of endless brands or
products. The consumer today is influenced by advertising and
this result in his purchase behavior.

Hence advertising has gained importance and recognition in

society. Advertising is the parameter which is used by consumers
to decide on purchase of a particular product. The brand that is
projected & advertised well is going to sell well in the market.

Acknowledgement

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We would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to all who have
lent their hand in making this project a success.

Initially we would like to extend our warm thanks to Prof. Mr. Sunil
Kumar for guiding us and giving his valuable support and helping
us with every minute aspect on this project. Sir really made this
project a great learning experience.

We are also thankful to our institute “ INDIAN INSTITUTE OF

PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT” for providing us an opportunity to
work on this project and gain valuable experience and hindsight
on conducting a research project.

Lastly we would like to extend a very warm thanks to all the

respondents who gave us their valuable inputs to make this
project a success. It would not have been possible without them.

Undertaking
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This project has helped us to collect tangible information about
Honda Cars & the effect of advertising on the purchasing behavior
of the consumers buying Cars in their life. The primary &
secondary data have been collected from various segments & on
this basis the analysis is done.

Executive Summary
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This project goes out to each one of us who holds advertising dear to their hearts.
The purpose of this research was to establish the role of advertising in influencing
the final purchase decision for and against Honda. Our research on Honda tries to
unlock the complex decision making process of the consumer and explore the
prime reason that leads to the purchase of this Car Brand. In our journey of
exploration we did an analysis about the positioning strategy in the ad world and
also famous with the consumers.

We were more interested in the study of the effect of advertising on a product such
as cars which is a high involvement product in today’s modern era. The first part of
the report deals with the secondary research and the later part deals with our
primary research. The primary research was carried out using a questionnaire
administered to the residents of Pune.

INDEX
Sr No Topic Pg No11
Company Overview
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HSCI was established in December 1995, with Honda Motor Co.,
(Japan) and Siel Ltd. (India) as the key promoters. Honda’s models
are strongly associated with advanced design and technology,
apart from its established qualities of durability, reliability and
fuel-efficiency.

Honda Siel Cars’

state-of-the-art
manufacturing unit
was set up in 1997 at
Greater Noida, U.P.
and currently has a
capacity of 50,000
cars annually. The
company is planning
to raise its capacity to 100,000 cars per annum by the end of
2007.

HSCI has recently launched the all-new, third generation CR-V and
new Accord in its portfolio. The all-new Honda CR-V comes in 2
variants- 6 speed manual transmission system and 5-speed
automatic transmission system with Grade Logic Control for
smooth and effortless performance.

Honda’s most successful global model, the eighth generation Civic

was launched in July 2006 and has already become segment
leader within a short span of time. The Honda City ZX, the largest
selling sedan in India, is today recognized as one of the most
successful car brands in India. To ensure consumer’s safety,
Honda has recently added new features like Airbags and ABS in
the VTEC version of the car.

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In 2006, three of Honda’s four cars in the Indian market – City,
Accord and CR-V, have ranked first in the TNS Total Customers
Satisfaction Award.

The company operates under the stringent standards of ISO 9001

for quality management and ISO 14001 for environment
management.

Objective of Study

 Is advertising helping the brand in communication its

positioning statement to the target segment?

 Is advertising helping the brand in increasing its sales for

existing customers?

 Is the advertising helping brand in creating new customers?

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 Message Strategy

“Power Of Dreams”
is a phrase commonly heard across the length and breadth of
Honda. It was made popular by its founder, Soichiro Honda, who
knew that his fledgling company had to out-think and out-perform
its competitors every step of the way in order to survive.

Positioning Strategy

Honda has positioned itself as a leader in technology, as a result

most of the products Honda developed made a difference. They
sought to challenge and overcome conventional wisdom

Target Segment

Premium Car Segment Market (C & D Segment)

Market Share of Honda

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Total Advertising Expenditure

$ 443 Mn (Global Ad Spends)

Successful Advertising Campaign

Honda Cog Ad for Honda Accord

Competitors

 Maruti

 Hyundai

 Skoda

 Tata Motors

 Ford

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Media vehicles used by the company

 News papers

 TV Commercials

 Magazines

 Auto Expo

Methodology
Customers Questionnaire

Q-1 Which car brand do you have ?

Honda ( )
Ford ( )
Tata ( )
Maruti ( )
Hundai ( )
Any Other_____________________________________
Q-2 How do you decide on buying a brand

o Get inspired by Television Commercials

o Get inspired by Print Ads
o Take Opinion from Friends & Families
Any other (Please Specify)

Q-3 How is your buying decision influenced ?

By Wife By Children By Advertisements

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Others (please Specify)

Q-4 What is your Perception about Brand “Honda”

Q-5 Please rate on a scale of 0-5 on the following parameters for

the respective brands (where 0 being lowest and 5 highest.)
Honda Ford Tata Maruti Hyunda
i
Fuel Economy
After Sales Service
Value for Money
Advertising

Q-6 Have you seen any of the Honda ads Recently ?

Yes ( ) No ( )

Q-7 Where have you seen these ads mostly?

o Newspapers
o Magazines
o Television
o Hoardings
o Internet
Q-8 What attributes in an ad of “Honda” influence you
Creativity
Brand Line
Promotional Campaign

Q-9 What according to you is the target segment of Honda ?

Premium ( )
Luxury ( )
Standard ( )
Economy ( )
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Q-10 Are the advertisement of Honda directed towards the target
segment ?

Yes ( ) No ( )

Q-11 Does Honda through its ad communicate its message

strategy of “Power your Dreams”

Yes ( ) No ( )

Q-12 Brand Honda creates a positive impact on customers

Strongly Agree( ) Agree( ) Neither Agree nor disagree( )

Disagree ( )

Q-13 Do you think that for “Honda” a brand ambassador is

important ?

Yes ( ) No ( )
Q-14 Who would you suggest as a Brand Ambassador?

Q-15 Will you suggest Honda cars to others because of good

effect of their advertisements ?

Yes ( ) No ( )

Q-16 Name any two products of Honda Cars

1.

2.

PERSONAL DETAILS

1. Name

2. Age
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 15 – 20 20 – 30 30 – 40 40 – 50
50 & above

3. Occupation
Student
Businessman
Govt.Employee
Salaried Professional

4. Annual Income

2-4L 4-6L 6-12L 12 & ABOVE

5. Telephone Number / E-mail :-

Honda ranks 1st in choice of cars followed by Maruti.

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57% of the people go by opinions sought from friends and families.

Advertising plays a major role in buying a car brand.

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40% people perceive Honda to be synonymous with POWER

People who buy HONDA think it is good value for money

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From the above we can see that the HONDA ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN is
equally balanced since 53% have seen the ads while 43% have not seen
Most of the people have seen the ads in different newspapers and
magazines as seen above

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“POWER YOUR DREAMS”- Brand Line influences the maximum number of
people in the HONDA AD

Maximum number of people think that HONDA ADS focuses on the LUXURY
SEGMENT
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75% of people think that HONDA ADS are targeted towards the target
segment
75% of people think that HONDA does convey its message strategy through
its ad

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85% of the people agree that Brand HONDA does create a positive impact
on the customers

80% of the people strongly say that HONDA does NOT require a Brand
Ambassador

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Maximum number of people think that Actors would be the best choice for a
Brand Ambassador
73% people say that they would suggest the HONDA Brand to others
because of the good effect of their ads

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 Out of the 4 Models available HONDA CITY and HONDA ACCORD are most
familiar with most of the people

Dealers Questionnaire
Q-1 Which models of Honda are available at your outlet ?

Honda City ( )
Honda Civic ( )
Honda Accord ( )
Honda CRV ( )

Q-2 How do you decide on what cars to stock ?

__________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________

Q-3 Does advertisement of Honda cars influence your decision on

stocks of particular models ?

Yes ( ) No ( )
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Q-4 Does advertisement of Honda help increasing your sales ?

Yes ( ) No ( )

Q-5 Which advertisement had a specific impact on

increase/decrease if sales ?

Increase in sales_____________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

Decrease in sales____________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

Q-6 What kind of customers do you cater ?

Premium ( )
Luxury ( )
Standard ( )
Economy ( )

Q-7 In your opinion who is the influencer in the decision making

process ?

Parents ( )
Spouse ( )
Children ( )
Friends ( )
Dealer ( )
Other_____________________________________________________

Q-8 Do you advertise special schemes for your cars ?

Yes ( ) No ( )

Q-9 Does your advertisements help in increasing your sales ?

Yes ( ) No ( )

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Q-10 How do you rate Honda’s advertising campaign as regards
to its competitors on the scale of 0-10

Honda ( )
Toyota ( )
Hyundai ( )
Chevrolet ( )
Ford ( )

Q-11 Do you think that Honda is successful in putting its message

strategy across to its customers?

Yes ( ) No ( )

Q-12 How many enquiries are generated by you in a month ?

__________________________________________________________

Q-13 Do you think that these are due to Honda’s

Advertisements ?

Yes ( ) No ( )

Q-14 What ad schemes do you use at POP ?

Banners ( )
Pamphlets’ ( )
Catalogues ( )
Financial Schemes ( )
Others____________________________________________________

Q-15 Does this POP material influence Sales?

Yes ( ) No ( )

Q-16 Should Honda come out with new positioning strategy?

Yes ( ) No ( )

Why ? ___________________________________________________
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 ALL 4 Models are available at both the Dealers Outlets

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Stockings are managed and controlled according to the demand.

 Advertisement plays a balanced role.

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Advertisement plays balanced role.

Honda dealers cater premium and luxury segment customers, and aspects
the major sales from these kind of high profile.
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Friends, children & spouse influences the decision making process till a
great extent.
They don’t have much aggressive schemes to promote their brand.

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Advertisement plays balanced role in sales of Honda car.

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According to a dealer Honda should relating its products with nature, with
the brand line as- “Nature Rides With Honda.”

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 Premium Segment

Majority of people prefer Honda and desire to have one in the future

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Honda makes the person feel supreme, and it creates a premium image.

Advertisement plays very vital role in buying decision.

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According to people, Honda stands for luxury and quality.

Premium advertisement has helped create a better image in the market.

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Honda should focus on newspapers and television media for effective
performance in sales.
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 Brand line again plays an affective role in this segment as well.

Premium customers are targeted by Honda.

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Honda achieved in its desired target segment.

Honda satisfies 90% of their customers, which is a good feedback for the
customers.
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This shows that Honda is much of brand pool and superior technology
comes second.

Honda creates positive impact on customers, which would create more

customers for them.
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People are much more aware with accord and CRV.

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 Standard Segment

Most of the people are comfortable with Honda city.

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Power again wins over other alternative like interiors, fuel and design.

In this case Family plays the major role in buying.

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Most of the people have seen Honda city advertisements.

Television and newspaper again proves to be the most effective ways of

reaching people.
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According to the survey SX-4 has better advertising campaign as compared
to other brands mentioned above.

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People driven by advertisements, so more advertisements, more is the
response.

Economy Segment 11
In case of the economy segment 43 number of people give fuel economy as
the most important factor at the time of purchasing a car.

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Advertisement rules in this case.

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60% people expect that Honda will not introduce economy car segment.

Economy car segment do not intend to buy Honda because of its pricing.
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Honda cars come in the 4th place as peoples next car.

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 Research Findings

1.

Conclusion
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Recommendations

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1. More use of mediums such as Television & hoardings.

2. Justify price differences through advertising.

3. The Ads should be made more memorable.

4. Claims made in the Ads should be significantly substantiated

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 LIMITATIONS

1. Since the sample size for the survey was small, we cannot make
generalizations.

2. The response received was only from Pune but the results may vary from
city to city.

3. Discounting factor was not considered as sometimes wrong responses may

have been received due to lack of understanding of the question.

4. Lack of channel partners, so the quality of responses suffered a setback.

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