Master hero: such guy!

Brand: Meastro
Company: Hero Motocorp

Brand analysis: # 528

Teacher, launched at the beginning of 2012, was the market leader in its erstwhile companion Honda offers active response of the hero Motocorp. After the break of the JV, Motocorp hero wanted to take the fight into the fortress of Honda in the Indian scooter market.

Master looks and feels as it activates and comes with the same technology. Master was presented not as a motorcycle unisex but explicitly as a male scooter. This was probably inspired by the success of the hero of pleasure which began as a girl scooter.

Teacher has the motto "a child exists" and the campaign highlights features that would appeal to young people. It is interesting to see the Hero Honda Activa attack strategy not directly but through two brands - master and pleasure that are segmented based on gender.

Beware the tvc: Hero master

Priced on par with Activa, Maestro has generated considerable interest in consumers mainly the long waiting period for active.  The launch campaign is not surprisingly male and hero does not want to push the product as male although the motto says it. Mark does not want to subscribe to those who want a scooter that can be used by all members of the family.

Although I started writing about Maestro highlighting his genre segmentation, a surprising article caught my mind: read here

In a classic case of Osborne effect, the company had already announced that master will be phased out soon. Its ironic that the announcement is made in the same year of the launch of the master. Customers who bought master has been shocked by this announcement. In many of the Forum as team BHP, new buyers has expressed his feelings of being cheated. Obviously when products are eliminated, new buyers often feel cheated but this is a product that is in the introductory stage and suddenly the company announces that this product is going to die soon.Having said that, Motocorp hero who had been established as a market leader in reliable and dependable I hope that they will not allow that this brand customers stranded without any assistance.
In this digital age, is important for brands to cling to their common sense and sharing information. Over 80% of buyers potentials of the car looks for information online before shopping. The phasing out of master official press release do not miss the discerning eye and probably lost a client. And what business sense does launch a product along with the announcement that will be phased out? Its planned obsolescence not where products are eliminated in a planned way and then reaches a stage in the life cycle. Master, as reviews say, is a good product that provides a credible alternative to the active market leader. But the company has dug the grave for the teacher. How sad!