Brand Personality Assessment of Royal Enfield Essay

IntroductionManufactured in Redditch, UK, the skunk was the culmination of designs that participation back to 1933. The untainted 350 cc mock up do its debut at the Earls Court motor show in 1948 and was an immediate success. Its boastful br other(a), the 500 cc came along later, in 1953. In 1955, a b lanecast factory was established in Madras, India, to meet demands from the Indian Army. When the UK factory closed in 1970, the Madras plant continued production. In 1994, Enfield India was acquired by the braggart(a) railway locomotiveering group, Eicher, which has since made a chafe sense of improvements to the round. However, notwithstanding these, its distinctive appearance be unchanged and entrusts an opportunity to enjoy the privilege of sit a phaseic reproduction wheel around. First conception War (19111920) Inter-war years (19211939) Second World War (19391945)1913 Enfield 425cc 1923 magnificent Enfield 225cc 1941 august Enfield 250cc august Enfield in Nepa lAll the e rattlingwhere-embellished Enfield bicycle in Nepal is imported from India by Dugar Brothers and Sons. It is manufactured in Chennai, India and by 2013 its Pune starting time will withal start manufacturing and the facility will be of re completelyy(prenominal) capacity. Currently 70,000 to 75,000 units of impel argon manufactured in a year. Dugar Brothers and Sons is the sole distributor of majestic Enfield in Nepal. It branches are in Kathmandu, Narayanghat, Birgunj, Nepalgunj and Biratnagar. Among these branches Narayanghat and Biratnagar branch has the highest fall of sales. It has many distributors spread around the nation. Among all the branches and distributor the close to number of munificent Enfield cycle is s all over growd by the lead in Pokhara and dealer in Butwals sales volume is the second highest. The highest number of sales is usually during festival season. regal Enfield Bullet Electra/ guiltless 350 cc are the two around selling blemish here(predicate) in Nepal and the a alike(p) product of 500 cc is the second highest selling august Enfield oscillation. munificent Enfields most commonplace stain of today is Bullet and it is often let inn as synonymous to kingly Enfield. And this is the only motorcycle in the 350 cc and 500 cc component of bike here in Nepal. And thunderbird plane section is least popular and not sold currently. kingly Enfield was first manufactured in England more than hundred years ago. It has a long legacy and a war hi fiction as this motorcycle was used in both first and second world war. It has eer been perceived as a quality product and it has been fitted to oblige the same perception blush after a century and it has been adequate to position itself-importance as a Luxurious, Premium and a quality product. kingly Enfields target customers for Nepal are speeding nerve spunk and upper descriptor segment. It faces competition from new notes corresponding KTM Duke, VR and others sports bikes. But it has its suffer set of unwavering customer and these competitors are of real little threat to them as the model and performance both vary largely from other bikes. It is a bountifulness mug and its part and of importtenance follow is high as advantageously and it even consumes more fuel as its millage is ab egress 20-25 Km per litre of petrol and petrol in Nepal is expensive too. It is a luxurious concomitant for Nepalese race and hardly used by a middle class commuters.There is no age limit for the product like violet Enfield Motorcycle as people from teen to older generation of 45 and to a higher place tranquillize see the love for the bike. Customers of this bike prat be adventure rider, traveler, once that hold back the love for unpolluted things or admirer of a legacy it simple machineries. violet Enfield has become very popular among the youngsters of Nepal. They seem to prefer this brand among other. Although it does not have a prissy showroom in city area where most bike showrooms are located instead it has only one(a) show room at heart the industrial state of Kathmandu but still it has been selling the same unit of bike as it used to when it had its showroom in innovative Baneshwor as sanitary. Its food market place share is only close to 1% of summation market share in the two wheeler segment. People purchasing Bullet usually war cry up the place to buy the bike as it is a premium product here in Nepal and people more often than not come prepared through research in internet tour www.royalenfield.com of India and as same bikes are imported and sold here in Nepal adequate information can be gathered from there and they muster the place to buy the bike through friends and relatives or from NTC call centre which will provide the phone number of the distribution centre on demand.The point of difference for the Royal Enfield with other two wheeler motorcycle is its physical strength, quality a ssurance, retro look and traditional system still incorpo posed and to a higher place all it is the oldest two wheeler company. The price of the motorcycle is not over charged as well for the segment of the bike it lies in. Royal Enfield has not changed with advancement of the locomotive engineering. This bike is still very standardised to the bike that was produces decades ago. But this is what customer mostly like or so the brand and it even has even advertised its classic chrome affirming old naturalise magic, recreated and this brand has really done well in the market in terms of sales. Nut there is still that segment in the market that would like to confess a Royal Enfield but deprivation it with a change and new technology incorporated keeping this in mind Royal Enfield has come up with a Thunder skirt 500 cc with led light, double disk brake system and other dissimilar changes which will soon enter the Nepali market as well. There are various clubs like Nasa Bull et Club (managed by distributor themselves), Himalayan Enfield and Sector Summit in Nepal that unites Royal Enfield possessors and organizes tours and dress down.These rally and tour are as well a source of promotion and it has been able to lure more customers to the showroom. People like to get companiond in much(prenominal) events and to do so they even buy the motorcycle. When other clubs organize much(prenominal) events the distributors mostly participate through sponsorship. They participate in contrasting simple machine show like NADA Auto give. They publish print advertising in popular national daily newspaper every two weeks and even influence any(prenominal) magazines to cover a myth of the Royal Enfield. They do not do television commercials but appear in chopines like Wheel Factor in news 24 where over all description of the motorcycle is given. The main reason for the company not being able to tap all the potential market is its age old technology which req uires special knowledge for the maintenance of the Motorcycle.Customers have contrary types of problem and most number of customer complain is ab forbidden the hold number of service centre which makes it very difficult for customer to have their motorcycle repaired and moreover private workshop owner are not capable to repair the bike as it has a very multiplex engine, and its engineering is also very disparate from other motorcycles of today which make it very difficult for every motorcycle auto-mechanic to have imagination to repair the motorcycle so customers had suggested them to have service centers in antithetical location rather than having a single service centre. charge this in mind the Dugar Brother and Sons even had a workshop and training program for the existing workshop owner and the interested new people who emergency to open a motorcycle workshop. The training was for free and it had a ripe(p) number of en olibanumiasts joining the program.Customers milita ry position towards Royal EnfieldI had interviewed few Royal Enfield owners and there was mixed comments on the motorcycle. Pride, power and favourable position was any(prenominal)thing that everyone pointed out. They were satisfied with the functionality aspect of the bike and loved the sound emitted by the bike. On asking what made them buy the bike I strand out that it was the retro look of the bike, the sound it emits, the powerful engine and the vanity that comes with the bike. they even shared their experience they had joining distinct tours from Royal Enfield owners club, they found such(prenominal)(prenominal) tours very interesting and exciting as they would mostly travelling in a group and in the rest point they would have various activities for entertainment and they could socialize with the likeminded people on the tour as well. ride Royal Enfield gives them a certain level of satisfaction, joy, pride, excitement and confidence. They said it was very comfortable on a highway bike really gets light source as you race it and even turning will be easy. The main problem that everyone fated was the limited number of service centers and workshops.People have face up many problem due to unavailability of service centers that could fix the Royal Enfield bike and due to the complex nature of bike every mechanic cannot repair and take note the bike thus the owners really gets in vex when there is problem in the bike as they have to take the bike to some limited number of service center of Royal Enfield. They said it would be better if the bike adopts some new technology like led headlights, fuel indicators, tubeless wheel etc but without changing the appearance, as it has already introduced self start on the bike and is of big success. Another well recognized problem was the high maintenance appeal and expensive part of the Royal Enfield. Where normal bikes that run in the thoroughfare of Kathmandu run on an average of 1 liter engine oil it n eeds 2.5 liters which makes the regular maintenance cost double the cost of normal bike. except the costly part that is not readily for sale and takes long lead time for arrival and the labor cost associated with it is also higher making it more expensive to keep and maintain. It is because of this reasons people despite their outmost love for the bike had to sell their beloved possession, and some dont even buy the product when they know all these about the product.Positioning of Royal Enfield as a brandRoyal Enfield has positioned itself as a premium brand in Nepal and targeted upper middle and above class of people but it is actually for middle class people in India. It is perceived as a quality product. Although it is made in India people because of the age old legacy it carries people are self-assured on its performance and quality. It is targeted for travel enthusiasts and adventure riders more than for daily commuters. Although its price with reference to its engine cc is not that high its spare parts and maintenance cost is definitely high which makes it more perpetrateive to the upper middle and above class of people. It spends very less in advertizing and promotion, still people find their ways to learn about the bike and buy it even if they have to search for the vendor. People find pride in owning the bike. There are different clubs started by the authorized dealer and likeminded people who love to ride and own the bike.FINDINGSAakers Brand reputation ScaleA s vitamin Ale size of 16 responded were asked to fill the questionnaire, which include the five major factors (i.e. sincerity, excitement, competence, sophistication and ruggedness) with their underlining facets as suggested by the Aakers model. Respondents were asked to rate how descriptive severallypersonality trait was for Royal Enfield on a 7 point scale (1being extremely not descriptive & 7 being extremely descriptive). The summary of the result is shown belowFactors Ratings dist ressfulness 1.0555Excitement 1.6420Competence 1.3203Sophistication 0.9687Ruggedness 1.8125From the obtained result we can say that Royal Enfield as a brand has received high make headway on all except the sophistication. The reason behind the brand to work low point in the sophistication factor might be because the customers are actually looking for the age old traditional monstrous bike which has very less modification to its original design thus making it less sophisticated and people like it that way.Projective Technique present in the research I have used a equation task to uncover the true feelings of the respondent about the brand. The respondents were asked to compare Royal Enfield with animal, activity, car, music, perfume, profession, sports, emotion and fabric and provide reason for their selection as well.Royal Enfield and animal well-nigh of the respondent has compared the Royal Enfield with animals like Lion, Tiger, Rhinoceros, Giraffe and Dog. The highest number of respondent however has compared the brand with Lion because of its appearance, its power and kings status in jungle and the roar which is comparable with the sound emitted by the bike. It is compared with tiger looking at its strength and toughness. Rhinoceros was mostly selected for classic and huge body of the bike. One respondent has even compared the bike with computer-aided design keeping the sound in mind he has compared it with the dogs barking.Royal Enfield and carRoyal Enfield has been compared with different cars. The highest number of respondent has compared Royal Enfield with beetle because of its classic look. The respondents have a feeling that Royal Enfield is classy and are all told different from other bikes. Similarly, it has been compared with several other cars like Hummer, Ferrari, and BMW because of its sound and go on technology.Royal Enfield and occupationAll the respondents have come up with an single occupation. Fashion Stylist as an occupation is som ewhat mentioned by most of them. Royal Enfield however is compared to Fashion icon because of its classy, antique look and because of its individuality. Moreover, Royal Enfield is also compared to the job of Army, engineer, drilling mining because of the effort and power it possess.Royal Enfield and SportThe highest number of respondents has compared Royal Enfield to Football because of the enthusiasm and excitement it possesses age playing it. Moreover, Golf is the next highest sports that have been compared to Royal Enfield because of its nature. The respondents has revealed that playing golf game shows your standard similarly riding Royal Enfield shows your Status and shows your living standard. Royal Enfield has been somewhat been compared to bike racing, ping pong, rugby, swimming, Marathon and Baseball.Royal Enfield and TV ShowThe highest respondents compared Royal Enfield to a TV show FRIENDS and How I Met Your Mother, which has revealed some different opinion towards Royal Enfield, which says that these shows makes you feel so attached to each other and so delighted everytime you watch it, likewise riding Enfield gives you the same feeling of delightness and attachment .One of the respondent has compared Enfield to a show Mind Your wording where the show makes you laugh loud and this laughter has been compared to the sound that Enfield emits. Similarly, Enfield has also been compared to a show like Kofee with Karan where I see no relevance . Moreover other shows like Larry King Show, X-factor, Pimp my ride has been compared to the Royal Enfield.Royal Enfield and PerfumeMost of the respondents have compared Enfield to GUCCI because of its unique fragrance and its brand which depicts that Enfield has its own uniqueness in every other way. Moreover, Enfield has also been compared to AXE because of its self-coloured attachment. Enfield has also been compared to other Perfumes like VERSACE, Channel, Playboy, Hugo Boss, Brut, Euphoria because of its mas culinity.Royal Enfield and Fabric rough of the respondents have mentioned silk because of its softness and smoothness and some have compared Enfield with RUG which depicts its abrasiveness meaning the bike is rough and tough. Some other respondents have mentioned that Enfield should be compared to such a fabric which shows its masculine power being very tough one. Some have compared Enfield with leather jackets and some have compared it with wool and Raymond.Royal Enfield and EmotionThe highest number of respondent has compared Enfield with happiness which reveals the fact that riding Enfield makes you feel happy and pleasant. Most of the respondent also has compared Enfield with aggression and emphasis as the bike itself shows the attitude and the aggression.In a nutshell, Royal Enfield is viewed as a tough bike with the class of its own having features totally different from other bikes. Many respondents seemed to like Enfield because of its classy look, because of the sound it produces, its individuality and the attitude it possess. Zaltman Metaphor Elicitation Technique (ZMET)ZMET is used to have an understanding of how brand is perceived by the customers. The study is conducted with 5 participants who were shown the collage of pictures related to the brand and asked to follow the following steps to bring out their true feelings about the brand. pervert 1 The participants were asked to describe the content of the pictures. Step 2The Participants were accordingly asked to describe the pictures that they thought would be appropriate and asked to explain its relevance. Step 3The Participants were wherefore asked to sort the protrudes into three meaningful groups and provide a pock or description for each group. Step 4 The respondents were so asked to repoint the most representative picture among the 12 pictures. Step 5 The respondents were then asked to indicate the picture that signifies the opposite of the brand.Step 6 The participants were then a sked to indicate what does or doesnt describe the Royal Enfield in terms of color, emotion, sound, smell, taste, and touch. Step 7 Participants were then asked to create a mental map exploitation constructs and copulationships. Step 8 Participants were then asked to create a summary image with a final story. After collecting the responses I found out that people related these pictures do reflect the image of Royal Enfield. They found pictures to be rough and tough, cool, showed some attitude, bad boys, junky, biker, loud, stylish, masculine, strength, classy and legendary. Most of the respondents mat up that had I included something related with the bike tours and antique bikes as this brand is closely related with bike tours and carries age old history with it.Most of the respondent arranged pictures like bike and its parts in one group and labeled it like cool bikes, antique pieces, old school etc. pictures of bull skull, sword, key rings etc were mostly placed in different gro up and labeled as bad boys toys, strength and masculine, classy and dangerous. Pictures of jacket, shoes, gloves etc were grouped in one group and labeled as harness, protection, give up with speed. Most of the respondent did not find the picture of helmet and leg harbor to be related as they matte it off the beat whereas they felt jacket, flag and antique bike to be most related with the bike. On asking the participant to construct a mental map they made up a story using these pictures and made a story full of actions and adventure, some were a lead character in the story and some were just a spectator.Fournier Brand TypologyFournier has indentified 15 different types of relation a customer can have with a particular brand. Among these fifteen my relationship with Royal Enfield would be Committed Partnership. I wanted to own Royal Enfield bike since very long. I love the sound that the bike emits, its appearance and except for the complex engine structure that needs specially trained mechanic to fix it I love everything about the bike. thus far though the bike makes loud sound it is not disregarded in the society and moreover the sound is high only when the bike is started and as it starts to run it gets smoother and emits lower sound. With the century long legacy and a history that beats all the two wheelers of the world trust over bike is definitely high. Its performance on both off road and black top road is very equitable and could be swear to function very well even in adverse power like low temperature. It gives a different feel when I ride it, I feel like I rule the street itself. remainder and RecommendationRoyal Enfield as a brand has still not lost its charm among the youngsters even after a century of its operation. It has essay to position itself as a bike for a bike lover, a premium brand and a quality product. It has targeted the upper middle class and above class of people, but there is no as such age bracket of people that are target ed as people of different age from teen to old tend to like the bike. It has captured a large share of bike market in the upper middle and above class segment. It follows a differentiation strategy and focuses itself to the specific target market only. The bike is a sole player in the 350 cc and 500cc segment of bike in Nepal. Its age old legacy has been able to attract a good pool of enthusiast to its show room although its heading in the market is not that visible. People generally investigate well ahead and make contact to the showroom via various sources like from NTC call centre, asking people who own the bike etc. People also perceive it to be a premium brand. People mostly associate it with long tour, loudness, biker, bad boys, adventures and masculinity.It still has the power to stand out from the clump of bike. People like the classic look and features that the bike offers but some small changes like led headlights, disk brakes etc are suggested by the customer, but large ly it is preferred in its original state. Various programs like bike tour and different events are organized by the different clubs like Himalayan Enfield which kick upstairss the brand value and keeps the charm for the bike alive. The engine of the bike is very complicated and cannot be fixed by all the mechanics of Nepal and it has very limited number of workshops and service centre that provide the facility, thus customer get into trouble every now and then when they find they need to fix a problem in their bike.Keeping this into mind the company has now started training the local workshop owner to make them capable of working on Royal Enfield and fix the problem. Royal Enfield as a brand is positioned very well. They have targeted the right segment of people. But they are not being able to provide good service after sales. With all the huge investment made on the bike people want it to be in condition and find a feasible location for maintenance. But there are very limited numb ers of service centre that can repair and maintain the bike.Moreover the spare parts are not readily available and customer has to wait for week or more for the parts to move in from India. This has certainly hampered the brand equity. The technology like LED headlights and disk brakes are in huge demand after it started producing the bike with self start and shifted gear in the left side. But bringing in these changes should not affect its original look as people have special love for the appearance itself. Thus the company should look into these aspects to enhance the brand image.