Sunday, December 14, 2008

Bosch : Invented for Life

Corporate Brand : Bosch
Agency : Saatchi & Saatchi


Brand Analysis Count : 364



Have you ever thought about the brand of wipers you have in your car? Ever thought about the brand of spark-plug of your bike ? How many of us have insisted to the mechanic that we need a specific brand of spark-plug or a wiper ?

Compare that to a consumer insisting on Pentium Core Duo for his computers.

Welcome to the world of ingredient branding.

Bosch want to be the Intel in the auto world or I would rephrase it to Bosch has the potential to be the Intel of Automotive industry.

Bosch is world's largest auto-component manufacturer with more than 275 subsidiary companies spread across the globe.Bosch has a history dating back to 1886 when Robert Bosch founded the company which was known as Workshop for Precision Mechanics and Electrical Engineering.

The company came to India in 1951 as Motor Industries Company Ltd ( MICO) . The company established itself as a leader in spark-plugs . Infact MICO was almost generic to spark-plugs. At the not-so visible engineering industy, Bosch is famous of its motors, power tools, braking systems, etc.

Bosch India has operations in for verticals
Automobile components
Industrial technicals
Consumer goods and
Engineering and IT services.

In 2008 the company decided to rebrand its entire operations in India under the name Bosch .
Under this rebranding exercise , the company is currently running a heavy campaign across various media.
Watch the TVC here : Bosch

Before rebranding , MICO also invested heavily in building its brand presence across the country. Most of us are familiar with these names although we are not quite directly in touch with the products.

There are two markets for most of Bosch's products ( automotive) - Institutional and After market .
The institutional segment consists of the OEM segment where the consumers use Bosch products as a part of the standard equipment. The after market segment consists of the replacement of the worn-out products .

Bosch have a strong foundation in the OEM segment and has relationship with most of the major automotive companies in India. The brand was in news recently for collaboration with Tata Motors for the Nano project.
In the replacement market, the consumers leave the decision of spare parts to the workshops and the marketing is done through the distributors and dealers.

Bosch is a brand known for its engineering excellence and innovation. According to Superbrands.org, Bosch registers 2750 patents every year. The company is famous for its inventions like
Diesel fuel injection
Power tools
ABS
Bosch Traction control
Electronic stability program etc.

Infact the Bosch founder Robert Bosch was the first to introduce the eight hour work schedule long before it became a norm.
Another interesting fact about the company is that 92 % of Bosch is owned by a charity foundation and most of the profits are ploughed back to the company for growth and expansion. It is one of those rare private companies which are owned by a charitable foundation.

Bosch is a brand founded on innovation . The core brand value is innovation and engineering excellence. In 2004 , the brand acquired the tagline " Invented for Life " . The brand has lived up to its promise of innovation.

Another interesting fact which I discovered during my study on this brand was about Blaupunkt. Blaupunkt is a brand owned by Bosch ( I never knew that ! ). In 1929 Bosch launched the first car stereo radio system which created the way for the world famous Blaupunkt brand.

Bosch's branding initiative come under the ingredient branding. This is a special case of co-branding where we brand ingredients, components or parts which are contained within other branded products ( Kevin Lane Keller ) .

Although the current brand campaign by Bosch is driven by the rebranding exercise, I see an opportunity for Bosch to create an identity in the consumer's mind also. From my personal experience, my wiper for my car was not working properly and I changed it twice but still it shows problems. After seeing the ad, I am going to ask my mechanic to put Bosch wipers.

Although this may be a one-off case, it shows an opportunity for the brand in the after market. Battery marketers like Exide , Ameron etc had built the brand slowly using consumer targeted campaigns. Now consumers have started insisting on these battery brands.

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