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S. Muralidhar

CHENNAI, March 20

HOODIBABAA! That catchy, funky, seemingly clichéd and yet addictive watchword that Bajaj Auto has chosen for its new bike, the Caliber 115, has been drawing curious buyers, non-buyers and even people from the competition into Bajaj's showrooms. Wondering what and who is behind this slogan? And is it part of a new marketing strategy that Bajaj is adopting ... ?

According to the company, Hoodibabaa is an expression of freedom, of liberation and and power. Quite a mouthful, for ten letters in a combination that has not seen previous usage. Mr R. L. Ravichandran, Vice-President (Business Development & Marketing), Bajaj Auto, says the company wanted a fresh new perspective for the Caliber 115 to distinguish the bike from its previous lower-powered avatar. It is also a strategy to rope in not the youth, but kids, into the decision-making process when a family considers buying a bike.

The focus for the Caliber 115 as reflected by the `punch word' is youth. And though Bajaj made the bike look bigger and feel more powerful than its predecessor (characteristics that will attract the average, 25-plus, executive segment bike buyer), its approach towards advertising is even more radically different this time around.

Bajaj's target customer for the Caliber 115 is the father in a family. But the target audience for its advertising is the son. Says Mr Ravichandran, "The company wants to leverage the `pester power' that the Hoodibabaa campaign is capable of generating," and that again explains the catchy watchword.

Bajaj gave the mandate for the ad campaign to Lowe, picking them from the clique of three agencies that do promos for the company (the other two being Leo Burnett and O&M). Going by the initial market response, the campaign is clearly a hit in the 5-10 years age bracket. So, the teaser campaign and the emphasis on the Caliber 115 being a `Hoodibabaa' bike is aimed at the son driving the purchase decision for the father.

This is also the underlying theme for the set of four TV ads highlighting the relationship between the father and the son. The company is now extending its advertising campaign to channels such as Cartoon Network! Maggi sauce and Max candy on Cartoon Network are easier explained, but a bike ad? That is surely a first for the industry. Kids' Pester Power, it would seem, does have a strong influence on the family's shopping list.

Further, given the fact that the overwhelming majority of bikers in India are male, Bajaj has again chosen to focus on this segment for the Caliber 115. Its focus clearly was the male biker as reflected by the `It's a boy' campaign for the Bajaj Pulsar.

In many respects, `Hoodibabaa' is the essence of Bajaj's planned strategy for the new Caliber 115. Going by the attention that Hoodibabaa is getting, Bajaj has been successful at least in the first round of its marketing warfare.

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