Premium cars need Advertising on TV, Print, and Radio - Suman Ghosh

While automotive marketers are accustomed to changing the creative content of their campaigns on a regular basis, there is no automatic driver that encourages the adoption of new media channels. Changing established media allocations is risky; weighing the options requires time, effort and skill. The fear of making the wrong decision in today's economic climate is all too clear. As per KPMG report on Premium cars in India, the market size is estimated at 25,000 units which is about 1 percent of passenger vehicle market of India. This market is going to increase by CAGR of 25 %  for next 8 years  , in contrast to overall passenger vehicles are expected to grow by 10-12 percent , to touch 1,50,000 units by 2020 .  The marketing spend of major companies are as follows:-

Brand	Marketing Expenditure
BMW	50 Crores
Mercedes	45 Crores
Audi	35 Crores
Jaguar	15-20 Crores

Instead of focusing on ATL (Above the line), the locus of marketing lies in BTL (Below the line) activities for above mentioned companies. For instance, German luxury carmaker PORSHE provides free car services to small town crorepatis to high value purchases in Ahmadabad. As there is positive correlation between global economic scenario & the sale figures of premium car companies, such approach is adept way of marketing. BTL activities not only give the best way of interaction with client but it also helps to sell them the experience of driving premium brands. This is not viable in case of advertising on TV, Radio & Print. The other advantage of BTL activities above ATL is that one can tangibles’ the ROI of such activities. But BTL activities are not one time affair; they should be an annual event for companies. They require sincere involvement of management & ground staff to make it successful. In my view, Radio, Television & Print can be used for driving brand awareness & recognition, while BTL activities should be used for driving the sales. Companies should allocate marketing expenses to these mediums proportionately as per their short & medium term goals. The key message for car marketers is to ensure that at least some marketing money is invested in these higher risk areas, to ensure your brands are using all the gears, and not stuck in reverse.