Pulsar 220 DTS-i -The Fastest and confused Indian ...

The wife came home early to find her husband making love to a beautiful sexy young woman.

"You unfaithful, disrespectful jerk! What are you doing? How dare you do this to me the faithful wife, the mother of your children! I'm leaving this house and I want a divorce!"

The husband, replied, "Wait! Wait a minute! Before you leave, at least listen to what happened."

"It'll be the last thing I will hear from you so make it fast, you cheating creep."

"While driving home this young lady asked for a ride. I saw her so defenseless that I went ahead and allowed her into my car. I noticed she was very thin, not well dressed and dirty. She mentioned she had not eaten for three days. Out of compassion, I brought her home and
warmed up the food I made for you last night that you wouldn't eat because you're afraid you'll
gain more weight".

"When I served them to her, the poor young thing, practically inhaled them. Since she was dirty I asked her if she'd like to bathe. While she was showering, I noticed her clothes were worn-out and full of holes so I threw them away. Since she needed clothes, I gave her the pair of jeans
that you no longer wear because they're too tight on you; I also gave her the blouse that I gave you on our anniversary and you don’t wear because I don't have good taste. "

"I gave her the pullover that my sister gave you for Christmas that you won't wear just to bother my sister and I also gave her the boots that you bought at the expensive boutique that you never wore again after you saw your co-worker wearing the same pair. "

"After she dressed, I walked the young woman to the door where she turned around and with tears of gratitude streaming down her cheeks, she asked me,

"Sir, do you have anything else your wife doesn't use?"

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The above said story strikes me every time I see this Fastest Indian ad from Pulsar 220 DTS-i bike, which is the latest evolution from the good old Pulsar that put our very own Bajaj back in the two wheeler map of India.

For some one who saw the definitely male postitioning and was awed by its total difference (points of parity and yet the points of difference) with which it was conceived and positioned and storm that it created in the Indian two wheeler market, and in the process churning up the so called performance segment which was lying underperforming with the hero Honda CBZ, this new ad is not that striking…

For some one who saw the macho ness in the pulsar design ,the tagline, the ads and the sales rocketing, for some one who saw the client ( Bajaj) jumping from O&M to Leo Burnett who screwed up the positioning and the ads (Digital Biking was the new tag I guess and then to distinctly ahead and then to.. OOF!) which was a big disservice to the old one (the best in the two wheeler industry I believe)

For some one who have seen the Pulsar and the DTSI and then the Pulsar 200 and the 200 DTS-Fi and now this and having had a ride in all of them, the old one still is the best…Not the product ,its evolution is wonderful, I am here talking of the communication..... Not because I have suddenly joined the old school of advertising but cannot understand why a brand should oscillate its positioning and confuse people, with no valid reason.

If competition from the likes of YZF-R15 and the FZ-16 TVS and Apache RTR 180 etc is the reason, I would say… take a break and take a long walk.. Oscillation is not the answer….

As a product Pulsar is doing well and is constantly upgrading itself … and I love Pulsar than the Yamaha FZ that I get to drive from my brother every time I want to feel young… and why not? Bajaj Pulsar 220 cc with 21.04 PS of power and priced at Rs. 70,000 is nothing less than a wonderful product (Mind you FZ will take some 74000 Indian rupees..)…. It is the communication that is screwed up …

Where is the product shown?
Why not the product which is the best and hence showable..
Why not the product which the market would love to see at least in a frame running for 5 seconds?
Why the Psychological positioning which totally ignores the added features of the product that makes it class apart?

The ad that we saw here makes no sense… it may get a metal in some ad fest where equally arrogant creative guys will celebrate their ignorance but for the common man, who has to buy his bike, this is simply a non seller….. the tag line rocks- the fastest Indian -but clubbed with the ad it fails… it doesn’t connect .. it simply evades my common sense…. From Pulsar mania to Pulsar vacillation?

In spite of the ad screw up’s Pulsar sales are still on the high side… the proof…? Read this latest industry review …..

Bajaj Auto, which recently launched their flagship product, revamped Pulsar 220 DTSi, which is India’s fastest bike currently, along with revamped Pulsar 150 and Pulsar 180, are also going great guns selling 1,68,471 two wheelers this month (June 09) . Although there was a decline of 4.52 percent in sales compared to June 2008 sales (which were 1, 77,112), the sales are growing month after month. The company sold 1,65,697 two wheelers last month and the sales grew 29 percent Quarter on Quarter, primarily due to the successful launches since February 2009 of the XCD 135 DTS-Si, Pulsar 150 and Pulsar 180 DTSi 2009 editions.

Moral of the story…..?

Advertising beware….

People don’t essentially buy seeing ads… and worse they buy in spite of seeing bad ads.. They buy in spite of your screwing up and offering funny reasons for the screwing up….

Isn’t that a bad news for the industry?

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also read :- the b school blog and continuous confusion...