Assignment on Brand Architecture Audit

Group Members

Main Brand: Hyundai Motor India (Automobiles)

Business Analysis:

• What are the current and potential sales, profits and growth in the brand’s
product portfolio?

Ans. - Hyundai Motor India reported a 12% increase in sales in the month of the
November 2010 that stood at 31540 units compared to 28162 units same month
last year.
The company’s export department saw a dip at 19.4% that stood at 44542 units in
the month of November compared to 55241 units same month last year.

• What are the strategic initiatives?

Ans. - Current Strategies By Hyundai:

• Pricing strategy - catering to all segments

• Offering one stop shop to customers

• What businesses are important financially and strategically, now and

in the future?

Ans. – Invest in designing and manufacturing new models of cars for all target
groups.

• What segments are important financially and strategically, now and

in the future?

Ans. – The people with all kind of income brackets (2-3 lacs pa., 3-5 lacs pa. and
5 lacs above pa.) in the urban and semi urban segments are important.

Brand Architecture:
Brand Portfolio:

• Identify the brands and sub-brands in the portfolio.

Ans. –

Under each of these individual brands (vehicles), there are different models like
petrol, diesel, LXi, VXi etc.

Brand Portfolio Roles:

• Which brands are the strategic brands (that is brands representing

substantial future profits)?

Ans. – The brands under the SUV segment (Tuscon), A2 segment (Santro, i10,
i20, Getz prime) and A3 segment (Accent,Verna,Sonata) are the strategic
brands.

• Are there (or should there be) any linchpin brands that will leverage
important business arenas?

Ans. – There aren’t any linchpin brands of Hyundai as there is no need for it.

• What brands or sub-brands are playing (or should play) silver bullet
roles? Are additional silver bullets needed?

Ans. – There’s no silver bullet brands under Hyundai as of now. Hyundai i10 has
great potential to be one

• Are strategic, linchpin and silver-bullet brands being supported and actively
managed?

Ans. – The strategic brands (linchpin and silver bullet brands are non-
existent) are being managed and supported actively in terms of:
• Expanding the total market

• Defending the market share

• Expanding market share

• What brands should be playing cash cow roles? Do they require the resources
they now receive?

Ans. – Brands like Santro and i10 are playing cash cow roles. In terms of
resources, they are not under R&D anymore so the investment is subtle. So
apart from that, the essential resources for their sale are required.

Product-Market Context Roles:

• Indentify the brands and sub-brands with substantial driver

responsibility. How much equity do they have? How strong is each
one’s link to customers? Which brands need active management and
brand building?

Ans. – The brands with substantial driver responsibility are: Santro, i10,
Getz,Verna. The previously mentioned cars are well known in the Indian
population, which proves their strong bonding with the target markets. However,
the brands which need active management and brand building are Sonata, i20.

• Identify the sub-brands and scale them on the driver- descriptive

sub-brand spectrum. Given that appraisal, are they all receiving an
appropriate amount of resources and management?

Ans. – Hyundai operates in the three segment of SEDANS, HATCHBACKS and

SUVs’.
Among sedans its prima facie motive is to promote its premium offering the
Verna while i20 gets much less attention.
Among hatchbacks Santro and i10 gets the maximum attention and resources
very obviously because it is the highest revenue earner.
In the SUVs’ Tuscon is promoted lightly as Hyundai does not have much SUV
line.

• Do the exiting endorser brands add value as endorsers? Do they

detract? Is their identity appropriate for that role? Should their role
as endorsers recede or be deleted in some contexts? Are there other
contexts in which an endorser should be added or made more
pronounced?

Ans. – Actor Shahrukh Khan is the current and only brand ambassador for
Hyundai brand in India. As a successful actor, the campaign for i10 has been
 running well in parts of India and it seemed to help promote the image of the
actor himself as well.

• Indentify co-brands. Are they well conceived? Should new ones be

considered? What types of partners would serve to enhance the
brand?

Ans. – No co-brand with Hyundai

• Indentify the branded components, features and services. Should

these be given a greater or lesser role?

Ans. – Hyundai own and franchised service centers and automobile parts for
their different cars are the examples of services and components respectively,
although there’s no unique feature available from Hyundai vehicles, components
or services. The service centers and original parts do play an important role in
the business and also convenience of the consumers. So if possible, they’re to be
taken care of in a bigger and better way.

• Are there other components, features and services now being

offered that could be packaged and branded?

Ans. – No, there aren’t any new component, features or services being offered
that could be packaged and branded.

Brand Portfolio Structure:

• Portray the brand portfolio structure by one or more of the following

methods :

- Show a grouping of brands, using logical descriptors such as

segment, product type, application, or channel.

- Diagram all the brand hierarchy trees.

- Specify the product/ market range and potential range of all the
major driver and endorser brands.

Ans. – Hyundai is a publicly listed automaker in India. It is one of the leading

four-wheeler automobile manufacturers in South Asia. It has come up
strongly as a great customer friendly company in India to mass-produce and sell
more than a million cars. It is largely credited for having brought in huge
competition to the existing Maruti Suzuki in India. It is the second market
leader in India.

BRAND PORTFOLIO OF THE COMPANY

 YEAR
CLASS BRAND NAME SLOGAN
INTRODUCED
First Car, First
Hyundai Santro
City Car 2003 Choice
Xing

Hyundai i10 2007 For the Next Gen

Super
mini Car Hyundai i20 2008 I got It All

Hyundai Accent 1999 Executive style

Compact
Car Hyundai Verna
2010 Dynamic by DNA
Transform
Sports
Luxury on Wheels
Utility Hyundai Santa Fe 2010
Vehicle

BRAND HIERARCHY OF THE COMPANY

# Hyundai is trying to increase the depth of their line 1 i.e. SUV with its latest offer
Hundai SantaFe and the Sedan i30.

• Should existing brands be deleted or given a greater or lesser

influence in existing contexts? Should new driver brands or sub-
brands be created?

Ans. – The Accent has already been taken off the market and it might not
supposedly a good move from Hyundai to create more space for their other A1
segment car, the Verna. Also the Sonata should be given more influence in order
to rise up its sales. And one new driver brand should be created to compete
against Tata’s cheapest car, the Nano.
• Are some brands overextended? Are their images being jeopardized?

Ans. – The brands which are not doing too well in the market, like Verna, seem to
be overextended considering their different models (vertical extension).
Although it’s not jeopardizing their images, but it’s still not being useful to
increase sales, instead it’s decreasing sales.

• Are the driver brands and sub-brands adequately leveraged? What

are some possible horizontal brand extensions? Does the potential
exist to extend brands vertically (with or without a sub-brand)?

Ans. – The driver and its sub-brands are adequately leveraged considering their
importance. As mentioned above, one of the possible horizontal brand
extensions could be a new car of very low budget which can compete directly
with Tata’s Nano. And although financially feasible, the logic to extend the
existing brands vertically may be absent. But vertical extension could be applied
after extending the brand horizontally (as stated above).