"EV category needs higher consumer education, and Ather Energy is taking the lead"

Founded in 2013 by IIT Madras alumni, Tarun Mehta, and Swapnil Jain, Ather Energy is one of India’s first intelligent electric vehicle manufacturers. It is backed by the founders of Flipkart – Sachin Bansal & Binny Bansal, Hero Motocorp and Tiger Global. Ather Energy has been working for the past few years building all their products in India, while setting a benchmark for electric vehicles everywhere. It was made possible with the right product and a diverse multimedia marketing strategy for brand awareness as well as brand consideration for purchase.

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Leading the charge in truly intelligent, electric scooters, Ather Energy has launched Ather 450X. The company has been taking bold steps to educate consumers and inspire them to go electric. Initially a digital-led strategy, but with increased awareness, increase in demand for the product/test rides, followed by government initiatives and enthusiastic retail partners, Ather Energy is now moving towards a more traditional marketing mix, including sponsoring sports teams.

With a target to launch in 27 markets, Ather launched its first integrated advertising campaign across multiple media platforms to gain wider mindshare for Ather as a connected, smart electric vehicle company, where it is up against legacy brands like Bajaj and Hero.

The electric scooter as a concept is new and it will take time before it penetrates more and makes its presence in semi-urban rural markets of India. There has been a good response so far from the market for EV and the company is confident that the demand will continue and they will grow in the coming years.

Talking about the successful journey of Ather Energy, Nilay Chandra, Director Marketing & Charging Infrastructure, Ather Energy, shares his insights and views with Adgully on how they plan to tap the market and what is the road ahead for the brand in the EV category.

The launch of the electric scooter must have been a big moment for Ather Energy. What is the next big milestone that the brand is planning after the 450X launch? How has the scooter performed so far in a highly competitive market and has it met the customer expectations?

Currently, we are looking at delivering the Ather 450X across all 27 cities – Mumbai, Pune, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kochi, Coimbatore, Kolkata, Calicut, Ahmedabad, Mysore, Hubli, Jaipur, Indore, Panaji, Bhubaneshwar, Nasik, Surat, Chandigarh, Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam, Guwahati, Nagpur, Noida, Lucknow, and Siliguri. We have been talking to prospective retail partners in these markets and have already begun locating spaces to set up our fast-charging network – Ather Grid. 129 public fast charging points by Ather Energy are up across more than 18 cities in India, with more in the pipeline. Our experience centres have already opened in 8 cities and we will open the rest soon.

Electric vehicle category needs higher consumer education, and Ather Energy is taking the lead on doing this in India. The launch of our Ather 450X and setting up charging infrastructure is making consumers consider an electric vehicle and that’s a big milestone to achieve.

The Ather 450X is India’s quickest and smartest scooter available. The response we are getting from all the markets is phenomenal, there has been a strong demand from the consumers and dealerships and an exponential rise in the number of test ride requests that we have received since the launch of Ather 450X. With a 5X growth in the last 5 months, we see high demand in all the markets that we have entered as the consumer sentiment around EV is very positive and the demand will continue to grow in the coming years.

The Indian roads are rough and rugged and traditionally people prefer to go for petrol-driven vehicles. What is the kind of differentiation that you have offered to attract a different kind of customer? In terms of ruggedness, how is this scooter suited for the rough Indian roads?

Ather’s products have ridden more than 25 mn km on Indian roads. All our products have been designed from scratch in India and are customised to Indian conditions and riding sensibilities. A vehicle needs to be built and optimised for Indian market conditions, therefore Ather Energy had designed a lithium-ion battery capable of covering 75-80 km distances, developed a motor powerful enough to endure Indian roads, and created a touchscreen dashboard that would survive intense heat, dust storms, and road vibrations. The company’s product line has been designed to offer premium performance electric vehicles that provide the best user experience through intelligence.

Ather 450X is the outcome of an award winning design philosophy and is India’s quickest and smartest scooter available. We have introduced a new high-performance mode, ‘Warp’, that can go from 0 to 40 kmph in just 3.3 seconds, making it the quickest scooter in the 125cc category and the perfect choice to navigate through city traffic. The Ather 450X also charges 50% faster than before at 1.5 km per minute, making it the fastest charging rate in the electric two-wheeler category. The 450X is one of the most feature-packed electric scooters in India. The vehicle utilises Andrioid Open Source to offer features like Google Map navigation, on-board diagnostics, all-LED lighting, fast charging, and unique features like reverse parking assist, auto-cancelling indicators, guide-me-home lights, and over the air updates.

The advantage of having a premium electric scooter like Ather 450X is that it has 40+ sensors that monitor the complete health of the vehicle, right down to individual cells in the battery. Vehicle parameters are monitored using onboard sensors and are maintained at optimal levels for the best user experience and safety.

All the components in 450X are placed symmetrically, not only balancing the weights, but also centering the weight to achieve a zero-lateral offset, a near 50:50 weight distribution front and back, and a low polar moment of inertia. Suspension is handled by telescopic forks on the front side and a mono-shock unit on the rear end. The Ather 450X is not only perfectly balanced and stable on Indian roads, but is also agile and nimble to cut through dense city traffic.

What kind of distribution strategy have you followed? What is the waiting time from the day you book? During the pandemic how have you managed your supply chain challenges?

In 2020, we launched Ather 450X and Ather 450 Plus. Despite the pandemic, the demand for Ather’s products has doubled.

Our early adopters had to wait for as long as 8-9 months to get the product. But now, we have dramatically improved our waiting time. For a customer who books a vehicle now, there is no waiting time and the deliveries are scheduled within 5-15 days of payment, depending on the city.

The pandemic had certainly disrupted the local supply chains and manufacturing. For a lot of OEMs, supply was the challenge, especially those that are dependent on international suppliers.

Whereas, Ather Energy has a strong local supplier base for nearly 90% of the products are being indigenously built and sourced. In fact, not only are the batteries that we use designed by us, but we also manufacture them in-house.

Who, according to you, is the typical audience who will go for an electric scooter? Can you elaborate your audience?

An electric scooter consumer is not a new segment. A scooter owner seeking an upgrade from their existing vehicle finds Ather 450X as a better product and prefers it. Of course, the usage is within city limits for an average travel distance of 40-50 km per day which is the usual distance travelled for more urban markets. Their heavy usage of categories makes them understand and appreciate the product features better, be it the reverse or the navigation. Aged between 25-45 years, these consumers are futuristic and love the experience owning an Ather Energy vehicle provides.

In the urban landscape, two-wheelers and specifically scooters hold very high appeal. They offer comfort, utility and the performance for day to day commute. Ather’s USP has always been great performing, tech powered products backed by a delightful consumer experience. And our customers appreciate the long term value our product line offers them. They want their vehicles to also reflect their choices and tastes in other parts of their life – high quality, tech powered with seamless integration into their daily life.

There is always some scepticism about new products and new technology. How do you handle customer centricity and what kind of support do you provide for after-sales service?

We care deeply about the ownership experience of our customers. Therefore, we ensure that every aspect of the customer ownership journey – from purchase to after-sales – is hassle-free.

Ather Space, the experience centre, provides a unique purchase experience along with complete service and support for the owners. It is designed to educate customers about electric vehicles while providing a holistic experience in an interactive space and get an in-depth view of the product and its features before purchasing the vehicle. We also have a community, Ather Forum, which has more than 14,000 members and is one of the largest EV communities in the country. It is a platform used to educate and engage with like-minded folks who discuss everything and anything electric.

Another common concern that we have addressed is range anxiety. Ather has a network of 120+ fast charging points – called Ather Grid – at hotspots in 18 cities. Ather Grid solves the critical need for public charging for all electric vehicles and provides smooth and stress-free rides for owners.

A connected scooter allows us to monitor the health of the vehicle and all key components remotely. It has also allowed us to roll out Over-the-air upgrades to improving existing features, while adding new ones. For in person after-sales, we have a dedicated service team in every city. Service appointments can be scheduled via call or through the Ather app. At Ather Energy, we inspect the customer’s vehicle once every 5,000 km at their doorstep and complete service at the service centre once every 10,000 km.

We offer service plans to our customers such as Ather Service Lite and Ather Service Pro on a subscription basis. The Lite plan covers labour and consumables expenses for all servicing interventions and 24x7 unlimited roadside assistance. The Pro plan, in addition to what’s covered in Ather Service Lite, offers the added convenience of doorstep pick-up/return, where customers don’t have to worry about paying a visit to the service center and planning things around it.

What is the thinking behind the brand name Ather? How did it come up and what is the core positioning of the brand in all your communication strategy? How will the product help the environment with its advanced technology?

The founders Tarun Mehta and Swapnil Jain had come up with the name ‘Ather Energy’, which represents the purest form of air in Greek mythology. Their initial idea was to create a clean power generation engine by developing batteries for electric vehicles, but soon decided to build the entire vehicle. The mission was to position the vehicle as a viable alternative to ICE counterparts.

The core message of the Ather 450X campaign is that in order to transform our lives, we need the actions and choices that move us ahead in leaps and bounds. Not the familiarity of old legacies, not settling for dusty convention. Because the next big leap is for those who take it. Here’s to breaking through to the next.

The new Ather stands as example and testimony. A first of its kind, designed for the best of us. All brain, all power, all electric. Packed with surprises like rapid charge, lightning moves, self upgrading software and so much more that hadn’t been thought of before. A path-breaking automobile that breaks through every convention in the book.

Our electric vehicles produce zero direct emissions, which specifically helps improve air quality. However, EVs typically produce fewer life cycle emissions compared to the widely used conventional vehicles because most harmful emissions are lower for electricity generation than burning petrol or diesel and will be even lower as the electric power sector cleans up over the next few years.

Finally, how are you engaging with your potential audience and what is your overall media strategy for the brand to stay top of mind?

Our communication with the consumer is optimised for their engagement and experience. Of course, we create mass awareness through TV ads, newspaper and digital ads. But we are also focused heavily on building a strong community, which allows consumer engagement. Owner rides, consumer meets or AMAs are still important ways of engaging our consumers. There is a higher focus on digital medium considering the consumers we target and our understanding of the category.

We understand the ability of content marketing in driving adoption and hence, our focus on influencer strategy, social media presence and content collaborations are unique to this category. Our retail itself is an experience centre and not a typical shop floor, our website isn’t a pushy salesman – overall, our strategy is to educate and engage the consumer so that they can confidently own an electric vehicle.

Our products are a great recall tool. Their distinctive styling and even their unique sound has become a tool to build recall and awareness on a day-to-day basis.

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