Research Proposal : Kedar S.

Proposal to increase penetration of TVS scooters among women.

Kedarswamy S. Ravangave
31279
1/17/2009
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Research Proposal: Kedar S. R.

Summary: TVS Scooty is the market leader in the Indian scooty market for women.
Scooty is a brand targeted at the young girl. Scooty had been in the market since 1994 and
over a period of time has evolved substantially in style and features that it offers. TVS Scooty
is the market leader in the young girls segment. The brand straddles both the big town
confident and aspiring girl and the small town hesitant girl. The brand is retailed across 600
TVS distributors and an equal number of multi brand outlets.

The current problem facing the company is how to increase penetration of scooters
among girls? How to make scooters an absolute necessity for young girls across town classes
and thereby explode the market for scooters among women?

Contents
1. Study and Introduction .......................................................................................................................4
1.1 The Context: ..................................................................................................................................4
1.2 Significance of the Study ..............................................................................................................4
1.3 Goals and Objectives .....................................................................................................................4
1.4 Study Questions / Hypothesis........................................................................................................4
1.5 Likely Beneficiaries ......................................................................................................................5
1.6 Limitations ....................................................................................................................................5
2. Literature Review ................................................................................................................................5
2.1 Demand and Growth Trend (Problem being addressed) ...............................................................5
Figure 1: Scooters Demand Trend...................................................................................................5
Figure 2: Penetration of Scooters .................................................................................................... 6
2.2 Increased Competition...................................................................................................................6
2.2.1 Competitors Analysis .............................................................................................................6
2.3 Population / Sample ......................................................................................................................7
2.4 Recent Communication strategies by different companies ...........................................................7
Table 1: Brand Commercial Highlights and Targets ......................................................................8
3. Data .....................................................................................................................................................8
3.1 Online questionnaire: ....................................................................................................................8
3.2 Personal Survey of consumer: .......................................................................................................9
3.3 Projective techniques: ...................................................................................................................9
3.3 Personal Interview of Retailer: ......................................................................................................9
4. Methodology .......................................................................................................................................9
5. Time Schedule ...................................................................................................................................10

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Research Proposal: Kedar S. R.

5.1 Background reading/ preparation ..........................................................................................10

5.2 Primary research ....................................................................................................................10
5.3 Data organization and analysis ..............................................................................................10
5.4 Organizing the Report ...........................................................................................................10
5.5 First draft finalization ............................................................................................................10
References: ............................................................................................................................................ 10

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Research Proposal: Kedar S. R.

1. Study and Introduction

1.1 The Context:
Today women in India are leading the change in different fields as can be witnessed
across the different strata in the society. Women are ambitious for themselves and are moving
ahead to prove their potential. Young girls today enrol in various programmes to enhance
their skills (like computer classes, entrance test preparations) which are besides regular
classes and tuitions. This essentially means that they are running against time and there is a
need to do more and more in less and less time. Though this is true for girls across town and
income classes, we still have the small town girl who is still a little hesitant/restricted by
societal norms to step ahead in the open to prove herself.
Given the need to achieve, anything that enables girls/women to realize their true
potential is more than welcome. This is where personal mobility plays a big role. Personal
mobility not only reduces dependence and saves time but also allows girls to explore different
avenues to realise their potential to the fullest.
Though there is a definite felt need for mobility among women; they are not taking to riding
in a big way.
The current scooter penetration (among women in the riding age of 15-45 years) in
India is only around 4% and this decreases further as we go down town class and in come
class. Even in metros/mini metros the penetration of scooters is only around 15%. This is low
when compared to penetration of other white goods and consumer durable like mobile
phones. Despite new launches in the category and other initiatives by leading players, the
penetration of scooters has not gone up significantly. Scooters are currently growing at 10%
annually.

1.2 Significance of the Study

The penetration of scooters among women (in the riding age of 15-45 years) in India
is very low at just about 4%. Despite the entry of new players in the scooter segment and
increased market activation; the scooter segment for women has not shown any impressive
growth. This proposal attempts to increase the penetration of scooter among women.

1.3 Goals and Objectives

To increase penetration of scooters among girls and to make scooters an absolute
necessity for young girls across town classes and thereby explodes the market for scooters
among women.

1.4 Study Questions / Hypothesis

•What will be the key drivers for growth of scooters among women in India? How
can Scooty lead this?
•What should be the marketing strategy for Scooty?
•Marketing actions
•Communication strategy
•Sales and distribution strategy

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Research Proposal: Kedar S. R.

1.5 Likely Beneficiaries

• TVS Scooters
• Women

1.6 Limitations
• Because of the time and resource constraints it’s difficult to reach out cities
other than Pune to conduct exploratory research thus may not give a true
picture of the original population
• Planning to use email questionnaire with an underlying assumption that all
potential scooter has access over internet which night not be true

2. Literature Review
2.1 Demand and Growth Trend (Problem being addressed)

Figure 1: Scooters Demand Trend

As per the CRISIL Research Data, ungeared scooters have grown at around 18% from
2002-2007 and are expected to grow around 14-12% over the next 5 years. But the
main issue related to the ungeared scooter growth is its low penetration. The addressable
female population in total wheeler markets is almost 50% but it contributes to less than 10%
of the total demand. As per CRISIL, the penetration rate presently is 9% and even after the
expected growth rate 14-16%, the expected penetration would not be more than 17% by
2011-2012.

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Research Proposal: Kedar S. R.

Figure 2: Penetration of Scooters

2.2 Increased Competition

Even with an under penetrated market, buoyed by demand from college girls and
housewives, the gearless scooter segment has emerged as the second largest category in the
two-wheeler segment, after bikes. After the phenomenal growth of the youngest entrant
HMSI of 59%, the player like Suzuki, Yamaha to add scooters to their India product line. The
two-wheeler manufacturers are fast revving up their strategies to tap this growing segment
and the segment has shown many of recent launches in last few months. 2007 saw the launch
of the two wheelers like

• Kinetic’s Flyte
• Bajaj Kristal
• Suzuki Access

2008 is likely to be all the more exciting, with Bajaj Auto Ltd (BAL) unveiling and Honda
Motorcycle & Scooters India(HMSI) coming up with a premium scooter Aviator, taking the
total number of launches in the segment to five in less than a year.

2.2.1 Competitors Analysis

While most of the scooters have positioned themselves as both women’s and men’s segment,
the positioning of Scooty, Hero Honda Pleasure and newly launched Kinetic Flyte have been
completely women oriented. I consider these two as main competitors of TVS Scooty.

Hero Honda Pleasure

The most aggressive entry in the women’s’ scooter segment was of Hero Honda Pleasure in
2006. Targeting towards women of 18‐25 years, the Hero Honda product has adopted an
entirely women‐oriented positioning for its first launch in the segment and we found it to be
the most potential competitor of TVS Scooty.
The highlights of Hero Honda Pleasure’s marketing Strategy

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Research Proposal: Kedar S. R.

Positioning Fun Ride for happy, empowered women

Supporting Services 1. Women's outlets called `Just4her

2. Lady Rider Club, a loyalty program
3. All‐women staff ‐ the company is now
working on creating all‐women teams of
mechanics
Punch Line “Why boys should have all the fun?”

Ambassador Priyanka Chopra

Kinetic Flyte

Flyte comes from the collaboration between India’s leading scooter manufacturer Kinetic
Motor and Taiwan’s $1.1 billion automotive giant SYM. Flyte is targeted at women, the
fastest growing two‐wheeler buyer segment in the country. It is user‐friendly, innovative and
equipped with updated technology. Bollywood’s successful and well known actress Bipasha
Basu has been selected as its brand ambassador. Flyte is loaded with numerous features,
which the Indian market has been exposed for the first time.

Positioning Confident young women who are looking for

a set of wheels as cool as themselves

Ambassador Bipasa Basu

Supporting Services 3 years service warranty

2.3 Population / Sample

To comprehend the triggers and barriers and the decision making process involved for
the laying out a method of increasing penetration we need to derive insights from the survey
of users/non users (women), parents and husbands as well as the dealers of the two wheelers.

2.4 Recent Communication strategies by different companies

Brand Commercial Highlights and the target

Scooty http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=kOYFz1nOdVA 1.Functionality:Balancin
PEP Situation of a middle class family which raises the g Wheel
issue 2. Women empowerment
about the daughter of the house depending on them to (Boys vs Girls)
learn to ride the scooty. The father provides the
solution
by the use of balancing wheels.
Scooty http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=ifdk_6‐XdJA&NR=1 1. Highlights the benefits
Pep Situation of a modern lady doctor who thanks her in personal progress

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Research Proposal: Kedar S. R.

Plus parents while talking to her sister for buying her a of owning a Scooty
Scooty. 2. Targets modern
educated women

http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=FpZkbCwt02U&NR= 1. Highlights importance

1 of goals in life
Using actress Trisha as brand icon, the ad focuses on 2. Using icon personality
her having dreams to move ahead in life connecting it to drive sales
with Scooty pep 3.Target modern and
self‐driven women

Kinetic http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=vq6v8Mw75Go 1. Highlights the strong

SYM Using icon Bipasha Basu, the ad showcases existing product features
Flyte competitor product female owners as baby dolls and (125cc, telescopic
delicate and pushes Flyte as a more macho and suspension & front
powerful fueling)
alternative; while also highlighting the product’s 2. Associates confidence
attributes & smartness with
Flyte
3. Negates existing
competitor models with
softness
Hero http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=q7SzkPCg5D4 1. Associates confidence
Honda Actress Priyanka Chopra is showcased as a lively and intelligence
Pleasur young with the product
e girl who is intelligent and witty, getting out of trouble 2. Tagline pushes the
product as only for girls

1. Associates confidence
http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=24XMPqAVwlE & intelligence with
product

Table 1: Brand Commercial Highlights and Targets

From the table below we see that the communication by all the companies practically hovers
around the similar concept of fashion, style and women empowerment and upliftment rather
than the actual functionality of the product.

3. Data
3.1 Online questionnaire:
For tier I cities, we propose to carry out an survey based on structured questionnaire.
Assuming that the potential customer of Tier I cities have access over internet and thus
internet will be easy and cost effective way of reaching the segment. From the identified

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Research Proposal: Kedar S. R.

profile based on the exploratory research we clan float the survey to the potential TG
segment.

3.2 Personal Survey of consumer:

For Tier II cities , we would go for personal interviews with prospective user
around Pune. We can carry out a survey based on both structured and structured interview
which will provide a better understanding of why the usage of scooter is particularly low in
the women in Tier II cities.

3.3 Projective techniques:

Here we propose to show the existing commercials of TVS Scooty and its
competitors and understand the consumer’s reaction based on the ad. The potencial TG,
would be shown some or of the commercials that we have collected and would be asked to
put down the image of the Scooty girl.

3.3 Personal Interview of Retailer:

We can have informal interview with the retailer around Pune to identify the issues
they are facing at present

4. Methodology
From the secondary data and the primary analysis I have identified the following
objectives that need to be analysed by Statistical tools.

RO1: Identifying the variables that affects the decision of learning riding scooter in Tier I
and Tier II

RO2: Analysing the gap between the learning decision in Tier I and Tier II and how we can
incorporate the drive from Tier I to Tier II cities

RO3: Identifying the brand imagery of TVS Scooty in both user and non user segment to
understand how we match the image of Scooty to infuse usage in non‐user segment

RO4: Identifying retailers perspective to understand the issues with sales and distribution n
for coming up with the proposed model

Corresponding Hypothesis can be formed Minitab can be used for further factor and
qualitative analysis of data collected.

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Research Proposal: Kedar S. R.

5. Time Schedule
5.1 Background reading/ preparation
• 19th to 22th Jan 2009 for background preparation.

5.2 Primary research

• 23rd Jan to 3rd Feb Questionnaire formulation
• 4th Feb to 28th Feb Interviews with the dealers/consumers/non
riders/ non users

5.3 Data organization and analysis

• 1st March to 9th March Data Analysis

5.4 Organizing the Report

• 9th March to 11th March

5.5 First draft finalization

• 12th March

References:

• http://www.financialexpress.com/news/Scooter‐is‐a‐ladies‐thing‐too/259603/
• http://www.automobileindia.com/two‐wheelers/overview.html
• http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/catalyst/2006/02/09/stories/2006020900030100.htm
• http://www.indiaabroad.com/money/2006/feb/15honda.htm
• http://www.moneycontrol.com/india/news/business/the‐ungeared‐scooter‐market‐isbackgear/
21/23/303712
•http://www.financialexpress.com/news/TVS‐Motorss‐Women‐on‐Wheels‐to‐be‐panIndian/201901
/
• http://marketingpractice.blogspot.com/2008/09/brand‐update‐tvs‐scooty.html
• http://marketingpractice.blogspot.com/2006/11/tvs‐scooty‐playful‐powerful.html

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