History and Marketing Strategies of Bajaj Brand

Company Name – Bajaj
Founder – Jamnalal Bajaj


How It All Started

The origin of Bajaj was in the year 1926 when it was founded by Jamnalal Bajaj. He was a freedom fighter and was close to Mahatma Gandhi. In 1931 Bajaj started a sugar factory in Lakhimpur Kheri of Uttar Pradesh, known as Hindusthan Sugar Mills Ltd, which was later renamed as Bajaj Hindusthan Ltd in 1988.

Kamalnayan Bajaj, who is the son of Jamnalal Bajaj then hold the ship of the family business after completing his education from the University of Cambridge, England. He diversified the family business into scooters, steel, cement, three-wheelers, and electrical appliances.

Launching

Bachraj Trading Corp. Pvt. Ltd, which was the former name of Bajaj Auto, was founded in November 1945. At first, Bajaj did not start with manufacturing. In 1948 Bajaj started by importing two-wheelers. In 1959 they got manufacturing license from Government. Then they started manufacturing two and three wheelers.

Rahul Bajaj, son of Kamalnayan Bajaj worked as a junior officer in Mukand of the Bajaj group. He later took control of the group in 1965 after completing his MBA from Harvard Business School. Its unique tagline: “Distinctly Ahead” makes a remarkable impact over the youngsters of this generation.

bajaj avenger print ad

Bajaj’s Marketing Strategy and Interesting Reasons behind Its Grand Success
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Bajaj as a brand:  In the late 1980s, the Chetak captured most of the scooter market. It set its root in the market of mobility and established Bajaj as a brand. It got imbibed in the people’s mind as a sign of trust as it offered value and reliability.

Scooter to motorcycle: After the success of scooter they embarked on a new journey of making bikes. Their game changer was Pulsar when it was introduced in 2001. Things Pulsar offered was a clear winner. It became a brand.

But they didn’t stop there as they wanted to build more individual brands like it. Over the years they have introduced many others like Discover, Avenger, V, Dominar, and Platina, Pulsar and so on. All of these got a good capture in the market.

It serves other fields of interests: In India, it is the only company that owns 25 separate fields to serve the Indian people in almost all possible ways it can. Bajaj Group continues to dominate the Indian Market and extends its presence in other fields of interest like finance, General Insurance, Life Insurance, Electronics, and others.

It’s automobile industry: Every people know that Bajaj is famous for manufacturing two-wheelers; especially sports bike. But Bajaj Auto has split up its automobile manufacturing into three sections. It has increased its Automobile industry by developing SBU (Strategic Business Unit) in Bajaj Intracity 3-wheelers, KTM Motorcycles, and Bajaj Motorcycles.     

Capturing market outside: It was about time that Bajaj started to have an identity outside India also. Export of bikes to countries like Bangladesh and regions Africa and Latin America has seen a huge rise. Bajaj has always been in the top of the import list. In 2018 Bajaj Auto sold over half a million units besting TVS, Hero, and others.

Joint Ventures and Subsidiaries: Bajaj not only binds itself within India but it is able to create its impact in other countries as well like Netherlands and Indonesia. In Netherland, it has developed with the name of Bajaj Auto International Holdings BV, Netherlands (BAIH BV).

The main company owns 100% subsidiary of it and involved the profitability in manufacturing the stylish, expensive and cool looking KTM motorcycles.  Whereas, on the other hand, PT. Bajaj Auto Indonesia gives 99.25% share to the Bajaj Auto.

bajaj discover print ad

Bajaj Campaigns

When we talk about Bajaj campaigns, one of the most iconic ones ‘Hamara Bajaj’ from the 1980s strikes our mind. It became part of all Indian households as it encapsulated what Bajaj meant to people. The ad was glamorous and it represented aspiration of people. The campaign, ‘Buland Bharat ki Buland Tasveer’ also appealed people with its courageous call.

It has been specially developed for Bajaj V which is infused with INS Vikrant, metal hero of the war. Furthermore, another campaign can be seen in which Rajiv Bajaj articulates the position of Bajaj Invincible by associating it with the Heroic Symbol of the Nation. When Bajaj has introduced the home and kitchen appliances, the campaign was done astoundingly. Leo Burnett who had offered to do the campaign comes with an extraordinary idea.

He had related this with the Indian Moms who work selflessly and relentlessly for their home. He thought to appreciate them via the campaign Rockstar Moms! The main motto of the campaign was to complete the household chores in “chutki mein”. As Pulsar is the most preferred motorbikes in India, Leo Burnett redesigned it in a completely new way along with the impressive taglines “Definitely Males” and “The Fastest Indian”.

Two new models were added to this long list of Bajaj Pulsar range- RS series and NS series. Recently, Bajaj Finserv associated with Flexi Loan Option and allows the customers to withdraw funds with allotted low EMIs. Its tagline is “Think it. Done”. It has many brand ambassadors- for hair oil- Parineeti Chopra, and for Bajaj Allianz- Vijender Singh.  

In 2001 Bajaj realized that India is shifting towards a youth country and they realized a shift in demand also. They started a radical shift by lying off scooters and started making bikes and a new campaign was aired called ‘Hamara Bajaj – Naya Hain Kal’.

Conclusion:

When we talk about Bajaj, it has encroacher into people’s mind as one of the most trusted brands. It has consistently offered people with its value, quality, diversity and great service.

India is the biggest two-wheeler market. A mammoth amount close to 16 million bikes was sold in 2014-15 and the figure is expected to grow to 32 million by 2015. With this, there had been a huge competition of auto-makers in the Indian market. Yet Bajaj Auto has successfully maintained the topmost position consistently.

It has tasted success in other fields as well like Bajaj Finserv Ltd, Bajaj Allianz life insurance, Mukand Internationals Ltd, Bajaj Finance, etc, taking the total to 34 companies in total. It has revenue of more than 50,000 crores.

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