E-booking platform, financial packages â€“ Jeepâ€™s marketing mantra for the new normal

Rahul Pansare, CMO & Head of PR, FCA India

The year 2019 was a challenging year for the automobile sector. 2020 was to be more optimistic and expectations were high on revival in this sector. However, with the continuation of lockdown in different states, even as Indian has entered the Unlock mode, there are no immediate signs for the automobile category to hit the road fast and stimulate demand.

For over 80 years, Brand Jeep has been the calling of the adventurers and the off-road enthusiasts. Brand Jeep has always been about taking on tough challenges and doing things differently. It recently rolled out ‘My Jeep Story’, a platform for owners to tell the world about the unique bond they share with their Jeep SUVs and the lives they live with it; ways of life that are unique to each owner and powered by their machines; tales that define the Jeep life.

In conversation with Adgully, Rahul Pansare, CMO & Head of PR, FCA India, speaks at length about the auto sector operating in the COVID-19 era, strategy to keep Brand Jeep relevant in times of social distancing, fortifying the digital strategy to enhance the brand experience and much more.

COVID-19 has disrupted markets the world over. The auto sector had already been under pressure when the pandemic hit. While there was optimism that the situation would improve in 2020, that is unlikely given the situation we are in now. How is the revival plan going to be for brand Jeep in the coming months?

Yes, you are right, we don’t see big recovery in business during 2020. We will do better against the previous quarter, but full recovery is far ahead. We have seen some improvement in demand for May and June, and are hopeful that the coming festival season will uplift the sentiments and bring positivity. As you might already know, we have started our manufacturing operations and over 80 per cent of our dealer showrooms across the country have reopened and business has restarted. For brands, I believe, it has put the customer back in focus. Brands are now more attentive towards customer’s safety and convenience. Our online booking portal, BookmyJeep, is live since April and we are getting a good response. We have also modified our website to help our existing Jeep owners with online service booking and provide a quick response to other emergency requirements. In the coming months, we will keep our focus on our customers, this quarter also marks our 3^rd anniversary and we have exciting plans to celebrate it in a different way this year.

With the growing spread of the virus and strict social distancing protocols in place, the prospective buyers might not visit the showroom. How are you providing a showroom experience to prospective buyers and what is your strategy when it comes to managing your showrooms?

Buying a Jeep SUV is much more than a showroom experience. When any person buys a Jeep vehicle, he is buying into a lifestyle and not just four wheels. He becomes part of our Jeep community. While I agree that the showroom experience is an important step during the buying process, I strongly believe that the real Jeep experience is outside the showroom. While our new digital retail architecture, BookMyJeep.com, is making the bookings-to-sale process easy for our customers, we are also capitalising on the increasing penetration of digital media and have remained relevant through continuous engagement with our audience. We are closely working with our dealer teams and listening carefully. India has always been very diverse, however in today’s situation it has become more fragmented. Every city and within the city there are different levels of restrictions and rules. We have completed refreshed training to all our dealer staff not only on conducting virtual vehicle demo, but also to be empathetic, follow social distancing and other norms which are now the new normal.

How is the Q-o-Q growth looking like in such market conditions?

The market is gradually opening up and customers are back to showing interest in buying Jeep SUVs. For us, the e-booking platform is helping us to move ahead positively. We have been getting positive responses on bookings pan-India through the platform. Since its launch, we have got 1.6 million visits on the site and about 65,000 leads. Our call centre and dealer teams are talking to each and every customer to understand their requirements. We are trying to make a sustainable effort to garner higher business KPIs through the e-booking platform. We have also initiated ‘Jeep for All’, a suite of financial packages that make owning your dream Jeep SUV more accessible than ever. It is innovatively crafted to deliver reduced equated monthly installments (EMI) for corporate salaried customers, lowest loan interest rates from banks, 100 per cent on-road price funding for women, coverage for job loss, critical illness and accidents, and an arrangement that assures a low EMI for the first 24 months of the loan tenure. We are positive in terms of sales picking up gradually and expect the second half of 2020 to be better than the first. We anticipate positivity returning to the market during the upcoming festive season.

Consumer sentiment has changed in the lockdown period. What kind of behavioural shifts are you expecting in the auto category, especially the SUV segment? How do you plan to counter and work on your strategy to face the new behaviour?

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about marked changes in consumer habits and behaviours. While the pattern differs from one category to another, it is hard for me to believe that SUV buyers will change their brand preferences, specifically for the SUV segment. There might be a delay in making the final purchase, but customers will not compromise on the fundamentals of owning a SUV. Customers will make a well evaluated choice based on their brand preference, built quality, performance of the machine and the safety features. Customers buy a car that will last for many years, which provides comfort and safety to their loved ones and on top of everything, to enjoy the thrill of driving a well-engineered vehicle. We are likely to witness a shift away from public and shared transport as the priority is physical distancing and personal hygiene.

What has been your digital strategy? You have run a series of online campaigns, what have been the objectives of these campaigns and how have they helped the brand stay engaged with your audience?

We analysed the situation early and the team realised that while work from home is going to be the new normal for few more months, there would be a rise in the penetration of digital media. Our research saw an increase in app installs and time spent on handheld devices. Time spent on smartphones has risen by 12 per cent to 3.47 hours a day. For people in the age group of 15-24 years, it is 4.07 hours a day and there was a huge spike in the use of social media.

We believe that the opportunity to get discovered is greater than ever. We wanted to increase brand awareness and stay relevant through empathetic engagements with Jeep fans. We were able to pull off quite a few good campaigns, mentioned below, during the lockdown.

#StayingIndoor was about giving the iconic seven-slot grille a homely twist for a week with seven ideas every day to make the time you spent indoors entertaining.

#WFH Heroes (Warriors for Humanity) was about a series of posts appreciating those braving it out there to treat and help those affected during the pandemic.

#IndoorAdventure was about engaging Jeep aficionados in a fun activity in which they could use their creativity and showcase it to the Jeep community.

#JeepFanatics was a three-day weekend quiz challenge on our social channels with a chance to win cool Jeep merchandise.

#MyJeepStory is the most recently released digital content that captures the life of Kartick Satyanarayan of Wild Life SOS covering a real life story. A must watch for everyone, I will say.

The SUV category is quite niche, mostly targeting the young, adventurous and outdoorsy personality. What has been your media strategy to connect with this audience, especially in the non-metros, where print and outdoor are powerful media vehicles?

Today, the market is demanding SUVs – it’s the fastest growing segment and the most demanded body style. It’s the architecture everyone is looking for. We have the pre-eminent SUV brand in the world and we are trying to meet that demand. For the past 3 months, our media focus was mostly digital and CRM.

Could you throw some light on how Jeep is performing in the overseas markets now? Any learnings from other countries that you plan to deploy in India? Any plans to launch new models in the next 6 months?

The Jeep Compass currently is being exported to over 13 international right-hand drive markets from our Rajnangaon plant. Quality and finish of the product are of international standards, but Made-in-India.

Every market has their own communication strategy, however the one common thing that binds together every Jeep marketing plan is the appetite for adventure and passion to explore new terrains. While we keep sharing our marketing plans and creatives with the global team, you will be surprised to know that some of our India campaigns have become best practices for other international markets.

Customer service plays a pivotal role for any reputed automobile brand. With lockdown restrictions, how are you attending to your customers’ grievances? Going forward how do you plan to manage as there will be several restrictions to operate the plant and your service centres in the India unlock mode?

With our service brand MOPAR and an active parts distribution centre at Chakan, Jeep owners have nothing to worry about. Even in these challenging times, the MOPAR team is extremely active, along with the after-sales team, so every customer can rest assured that we are at their service. Currently, we have 80 MOPAR touchpoints in India that include Jeep outlets where Jeep owners can have their vehicles serviced and order parts. Also, our customers can now experience MOPAR digitally and book service appointment online. With contactless interactions, daily health check-up of staff, and sanitization of SUVs, MOPAR assures complete safety without any compromise on services.