THE NATION'S BIKE

Gold Spike

Case Film

Presentation Image

TitleTHE NATION'S BIKE
BrandBAJAJ AUTOMOBILES
Product / ServiceBAJAJ V
CategoryA03. Cars & Automotive Products & Services
EntrantLEO BURNETT INDIA Mumbai, INDIA
Idea Creation LEO BURNETT INDIA Mumbai, INDIA

Credits

Name Company Position
Vikrant Wadkar Creative Art Director
Sriram Iyer Creative Copywriter
Ashish Sharma Creative Copywriter
Saurabh Varma Leo Burnett Chief Executive Officer - South Asia
Raj Deepak Das Leo Burnett Chief Creative Officer
Sanju Menon Leo Burnett Vice President
Rajiv Wadhwa Leo Burnett Associate Vice President
Varsha Roy Leo Burnett Brand Associate
Akshaya Karanth Leo Burnett Brand Strategy Associate
Prajato Guha, Sachin Kamble Leo Burnett Executive Creative Director
Kevin Lobo Leo Burnett Creative Director
Vikrant Yadav Leo Burnett Creative Director
Deepak Jage Leo Burnett Art Director
Harshad Hardikar Indigo Consulting COO
Navin Kansal Indigo Consulting National Creative Director
Deepak Gopalakrishnan Indigo Consulting Associate Vice President
Aditya Seshadri, Viresh Pawar, Sacchidanand Chavan Indigo Consulting Associate Creative Director
Satyawan Hande, Sushant Sawal Indigo Consulting Group Head
Ramesh Shah Indigo Consulting Associate Vice President
Yatin Tondwalkar, Mangesh Paralkar, Milind Haldankar Indigo Consulting Art Director
Alok Mathkar Indigo Consulting Senior Developer
Dhaval Doshi Indigo Consulting Associate Vice President
Alfie Saldanha Indigo Consulting Senior Social Media Manager
Angad Chowdhary Indigo Consulting Associate Account Director
Sumeet Narang Bajaj Auto Vice President - Marketing (Motorcycles)
Soumya Das Bajaj Auto Deputy General Manager
Debasmitta Dutta Bajaj Auto Management Trainee
Rajesh Saathi Keroscene Films Director
Aparna Ganesh Keroscene Films Associate Director
Gauri Chikhalikar Keroscene Films Director of Photography
Ebyug Akhil Keroscene Films Assistant Director
Anikita Malhotra Gurjar, Harish Nambiar Keroscene Films Producer
Sanchit Balhara Keroscene Films Music Director

The Campaign

BAJAJ V – THE NATION’S BIKE. A BIKE FORGED WITH THE PRIDE OF THE NATION. We could not let such a historic figure fade into oblivion this way. We wanted her legend to live on. We wanted to bring back Vikrant’s lost pride, and with that the nation’s. We partnered with Bajaj Motorcycles, bought the legendary metal, melted it, moulded it and created – for the first time ever – a motorcycle infused with the metal of a historic warship. A bike made with the spirit of Vikrant, for the spirit of India. An opportunity for millions to be a direct part of the legend’s rebirth. To own a piece of history.

Execution

AN INTEGRATED PR CAMPAIGN DESIGNED AROUND THE REPUBLIC DAY. PHASE 1. INDUCE CONVERSATIONS AROUND VIKRANT A.Rallied select national, regional and online media to create opinion pieces around dismantling of Vikrant. B.Tied-up with Native Content providers to bring to fore Vikrant’s story in all its glory. PHASE 2. ACCELERATE CAMPAIGN MOMENTUM & BUILD PRODUCT CURIOSITY A.Partnered with Auto Media, National & Regional News Media, Online News Media and Marketing Media to translate momentum gained by YouTube teaser film launched on Republic Day into curiosity around the bike. B.Handpicked reputed twitteratis as part of influencer program. PHASE 3. CREATING URGENCY Leveraged national, regional and auto media to populate stories around high interest in V and its limited period booking window. PHASE 4. PRIDE IN OWNERSHIP Converted first day of sale into a celebration of pride at Retail, by inviting national and regional media to cover first deliveries by ex-Navy Officers.

First and foremost, Vikrant was born again – not just physically, but in the minds and hearts of the nation. The teaser film triggered a series of activities, online and offline. The entire nation stood up to applaud the effort and honour the legend in her new form, with #BajajV trending higher than #RepublicDay itself. And Online & National Media couldn’t stop talking about us! We garnered 0.7 Million USD worth of free media coverage in one week. Creating a cumulative 160 million impressions, reaching out to 32 million, overall. Most importantly, V sold 11,000 bikes on the first day of launch itself! And now has a 3-month waiting period, with Bajaj upping their production capacity from 20,000 to 50,000 units monthly – making it a brand worth $0.5 billion in annual turnover in just one month!

The Situation

An idea – driven by a lean & impactful PR module – got an entire nation together and created a brand worth 0.5 billion USD in annual turnover in an industry that sees around 25 new launches every year – most of which fail to take off.

The Strategy

ONLY A BRAND SEEN AS THE TRUE SON OF INDIA–SUCH AS BAJAJ MOTORCYCLES–CAN REINSTATE THE NATION’S LOST PRIDE. Renowned for making products that have become a part of our national fabric, no other brand that has been a truer reflection of India than Bajaj Motorcycles. We believed Bajaj was best suited to honour Vikrant. In the manner they know best – making motorcycles. LEVERAGING CONTEXT TO GET THE ENTIRE NATION TALKING ABOUT US Pride being our operative word, we decided to focus our campaign around an important date associated with national pride – 26th January 2016, the Indian Republic Day. With such a strong context in place, we created a holistic PR plan that helped drive awareness and participation for the launch across strata. To ensure the entire nation laps up our story, we gave strong impetus to national and regional media apart from targeting online conversations.

Links

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