Bosch case study

1. Sydenham Institute of Management Studies, Research and Entrepreneurship Education
(SIMSREE)
Mamta Gupta
Priyanka Bhandari
Janvi Bhagat
Bosch : Brand Migration
Kakoli Laha
Dhananjay Surte
Nikita Kale
Shruti Gudadhe
Group 7

2. Q1. Was Bosch justified in changing the name from MICO to Bosch?
o Bosch initially entered India as Motor Industries Co. Ltd (MICO), a
subsidiary of Robert Bosch GmbH, but looking at the growth potential
of the Indian market, decided to enhance its investment in India and
integrate its local brand with the international brand in order to create
synergy between the two. This would lead to standardisation of the
brand.
o Bosch also had other brands operating in the fields of Industrial
technology and Consumer goods which were not performing as well as
MICO was, therefore by bringing all three under one umbrella, Bosch
could use MICO’s brand equity to push the other two brands as well.
22-Nov-15

3. Q1. Was Bosch justified in changing the name from MICO to Bosch?
o But changing the name from MICO to Bosch may not have been the
right decision.
o MICO was started by Bosch in India in 1951 and has been for the last
50 years synonymous with quality and reliability. This brand equity
garnered over 50 years cannot be replaced by another name in just a
period of 5 years.
o A majority of MICO’s customers belong to semi urban and rural areas,
which makes communication more complex given their limited
understanding and remote locations.
32-Nov-15

4. Q2. Should Bosch have opted for dual branding – MICO BOSCH?
o On the face of it, opting for dual branding does seem like the most
feasible solution.
o By introducing the name, “Bosch”, the company succeeds in
amalgamating the local brand with its global partner.
o By retaining the name, “MICO”, the company continues to enjoy the
recall and recognition that it has developed over the years.
o But dual branding would be redundant in this case, as customers tend
to remember only one word, which in this case would be MICO.
o Results of market research conducted by the company indicated that
MICO performed better than Bosch in terms of awareness, it also
scored higher on parameters such as quality, reliability and value for
money making it imperative that the brand name, MICO, be retained
in the new branding strategy.
42-Nov-15

5. Q3. Target Audience for Communicating Change
o Employees: Internal to the Company, with diverse cultural
backgrounds
o Customers: OEM (Manufacturers of cars, buses, trucks, tractors, two
wheelers and three wheelers), Aftermarket (Wholesalers, Retailers,
Mechanics, Fleet owners, Truck drivers, Tractor owners, Farmers who
owned diesel pump)
o OEM Manufacturers knew the most about Bosch
o Aftermarket Target Audience: All males, age group 25 years+, SEC
BCDE all over India
o Aftermarket TA Size: 11.78 million Mechanics and Truckers + 1 million
Fleet Owners + 16 million Farmers = 28.78 million
52-Nov-15

6. Q3. Target Audience for Communicating Change
o Media: Print, Radio and Television Journalists
o Opinion Leaders: Government Officials, Senior Bureaucrats Trade
Associations (CII, FICCI), Industry Bodies that influenced Policy Making
o Target Audience: SEC AB, both male and female aged 25 years or more
in major cities (Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata, Pune,
Ahmedabad and Hyderabad)
o Total Combined Audience of Media and Opinion Leaders: 2.75 million
o Aftermarket is the most important TA since they are the largest in size
and have limited reach of mass media, while working mainly on
contacts
o Most important in Aftermarket were mechanics followed by retailers
since they recommended & pushed the parts to be used in the market
62-Nov-15

7. 4. Critically analyze Bosch’s strategy for the corporate campaign
• Media
– It was reserved when it came to media, but it opened it up for
B3
– The strategy was to conduct continuous meaningful dialogue
with the media to avoid speculation and maximize media
coverage
– Announcements of investments always attracted media
attention and thus it was a conscious PR strategy to attract
media attention
– It enabled them to gain the highest share of gain in the industry
– Media did not know much about Bosch and for that Bosch took
14 Journalists to Germany to show their leadership status in the
industry

8. • Employees
– Employees were strongly associated with Bosch as they had
worked there for generations
– The key concern of the employees was loss of identity owing to
brand migration
– They wanted to increase the visibility of the brands within the
company to develop confidence in the brand & a strong W-O-M
publicity
– Apprehensions like “will I lose my job”, “will I have to work
more”, “will my salary get reduced”
– The Implementation took in 3 Stages:
• Audio: Power of We
• Visual: Posters of employees in cultural attire
• Verbal: Local team leaders were encouraged to interact with
the employees

9. • OEMs and Opinion Leaders
– OEMs were the least challenging target audience
– Opinion Leaders were important to spread W-O-M
– Strategy was to highlight benefits of change and gain maximum
recall
• Direct marketing - Direct Mailers to OEM
• Road shows - Hand’s on experience of Bosch products
• Mass media campaigns – Target audience were automotive
industry and trade associations
– Target audience was very niche thus television media was ruled
out and business dailies and magazines were focused on

10. • Customers
– The main concern was to not lose customers in the brand migration process as they
were loyal to MICO
– Unconventional communication channels:
• Direct contact program
– Mindshare studied the consumer behavior in the aftermarket to prioritize the TA
– The most important TA was mechanics followed by the retailers as the decided
which brand to buy
– Truckers & mechanics were found to have lower than average viewership of TV &
press
– Mechanics & retailers could be reached at their repair centers and the truck drivers
used to take halts at the dhabas
• Sites were chosen on highways where semi-permanent structures were erected
• Contest-based activity/ games were conducted and people were informed that
MICO was becoming Bosch
• Product demonstrations were done
• Photos of mechanics were clicked
• “Bosch ka vishwas humesha aap ke saath”
• Bosch branded caps, torch, and pillows were distribulted

11. Q5. Analyse campaign for Aftermarket
o Aftermarket have limited reach of mass media, while working mainly
on contacts
o Direct Contact Program at places where they assembled
o Project NH21 rolled out over 3 years: 21 National Highways and
transport nagars with majority traffic and good infrastructure
o Semi permanent structures erected for 1-2 weeks supported by
signage and local radio campaigns
o Contest based activities, games designed around Bosch products
o Product demonstrations
o Tagline: Bosch ka vishwaas humesha aapke saath
112-Nov-15

12. Q5. Analyse campaign for Aftermarket
o New Packaging
o Vans fitted with audio visuals visited shops to demonstrate products
o Branded caps, torch, pillows distributed
o Photo clicked in van and handed over to mechanic in Bosch photo
frame
o Branding of dhabas
o Similar activities aimed at farmers in local mandis
o Advertisement on trucks, local trains, autos
122-Nov-15

13. Q5. Analyse campaign for Aftermarket
o Despite of Program, Bosch recall low in Aftermarket
o Mindshare estimated it would take 7 years to reach entire Aftermarket
TA through BTL activities
o Special Ad Campaign ‘No Fear No Compromise’ and ‘Say Bosch if you
want MICO’
o Echo Advertisement
o 12 week campaign executed through heavy advertising on DD, regional
channels, news, local cable movie channels
132-Nov-15

14. Q6. Analyse campaigns post project B3
o Ad Campaign ‘No Fear No Compromise’ and ‘Say Bosch if you want
MICO’
o Ad campaigns were effective in communicating the change
o Echo advertisement resonated with the change happening
o 12 week campaign executed through heavy advertising on DD, regional
channels, news, local cable movie channels
o Post project B3 was fairly successful as it attained the high reach
o But it should be continued for longer period of time so as to reach
more and more customers.
142-Nov-15

15. Q7. To what extent has brand migration campaign been successful?
Should Bosch continue to use MICO’s name?
• Despite B3, Bosch awareness was low among truck and tractor drivers
• Introduction of another campaign ‘say Bosch if you want MICO’
• Post the heavy advertisements on DD, regional channels, local news
and cable channels and satellite channels; effective reach was seen.
• Bosch has invested lots of money, efforts, time in building the brand
Bosch over MICO
• So, it should not further the target audiences by using MICO’s name as
new audience will know it as Bosch and old audience have known this
transition due to heavy advertisements
2-Nov-15 15

16. Q8. Communication Strategy for 2010
o From Exhibit 12, it is clear that awareness has increased in aftermarket
especially in mechanics and retailers
o Also Media, employees, OEMs, opinion leaders are well aware about
brand migration
o Bosch should continue to target retail customers, truck drivers and
farmers for another year
162-Nov-15

17. Final Words…
Thank You!
172-Nov-15