Thinking like a Marketing student……helps you understand the choices you make.

It so happened , I decided to buy a bike. One of my childhood dreams of biking through the highway, exploring places. After much thought process I had finally decided to buy a bike and live my dream.
But the big question was “Which bike” shall I go for?
Seeing the rising prices I concluded that a 125cc bike would meet most of my needs. The Bike that topped the charts was Honda Shine, which unfortunately had min 1 month waiting period, so I had to switch to indigenous options. The two obvious choices were Bajaj Discover 150cc and Hero Honda Glamour 125cc.
Ironically both lay in the same price range i.e. 60k, I was more inclined to buy discover (perception) as I was getting more power at the same price.
But fortunately there was a hero Honda showroom near by and we managed to have a look at the 125cc Hero Honda Glamour. The differences were as follows:
Hero Honda Glamour:
125cc
Digital Odometer
2yrs warranty+3yrs extended warranty at INR 1500 total 5 yrs warranty
6 services free.
State of the art servicing

Bajaj Discover
150cc
Analogue Odometer
2 yrs warranty only -No extended warranty
3 services free
Local Garage type servicing.

Bajaj 150cc is the cheapest bike in 150cc segment. Even in its brochure it compares itself to 125cc Honda Shine and 100cc Hero Honda Splendor.

The DTS-i engine technology of Bajaj, reminded of a case study, which talked about “Tide” giving some hi-tech fundu name to it’s washing powder formula, to make it’s place in the market.
I asked myself, am I the kind of a customer who is looking for a “sasta ,sundar aur tikau” product or am I the kind who would prioritize the quality of the product over anything else.
What struck me most about Hero Honda that they are giving 5 years warranty on all of their bikes, which shows they are confident about the quality of the product they are making. This was one of the main reasons for me choosing 125cc glamour over 150cc Discover. Even though both are coming at almost equal prices.
But being a marketing student it was wonderful to have experienced, the marketing strategies implemented by these companies in real life.