Since the mid 1960s till the 80s, Bullet, the Royal Enfield’s super strong motorcycle was ruling the motorbike market in India. The Bullet had a massive fan following and owning the vehicle was a matter of pride and prestige. Riding the Bullet was considered to be a symbol of masculinity and particularly in the hinterland , with difficult roads the Bullet was strong and helped manoeuvre treacherous tracks. It would be fair to say that the Bullet had reached a Cult status in India.
In the 1990s, Eicher Motors merged the Royal Enfield arm with itself and the motorbike became one of the several products within the Eicher Motors repertoire. The sales of Royal Enfield unfortunately plateaued initially and then began to fall in the wake of some other brands which were much lighter, fuel efficient and cheaper than the Royal Enfield. The Bullet’s profits began to plummet and by 2000 the Royal Enfield was incurring losses. The situation had turned so grim that the senior management of Eicher Motors decided to close down the motorbike division. There were several reasons for the fall, but losing focus on the Bullet’s core competency and getting entangled with the competition outside their own turf led to the brand losing its sheen.
However, walked in Siddharth Lal in 2004, took control of the company and with a few critical but strategic actions internally to the company and some vibrant and aggressive thinking on the outside got back the glory days of Royal Enfield. Improving the quality of the bikes, developing a much larger product line thus giving more options to the consumer, a robust distribution channel were some of the important decisions taken by him.
The success story of Royal Enfield has been analysed in detail and there are several case studies published on the same. However, in my view apart from the actions taken above, there were two aspects which caught my imagination and would have surely impressed bike lovers across the country.
1. The company made a successful attempt at reviving the brand loyalty build over several years by focussing on its core competency and its strengths. The bike had no competition in the 350cc, 500cc, 650cc segment. There was still the loyal customer available which had to be tapped. The market was already there, it just had to be woken up. Enhanced features, an improved product and improved styling, was enough to awaken the loyalties and as a result of which the sales of the “ Shaan Ki Sawari “( The Pride Ride) picked up and in the 17 years since 2004, Royal Enfield is the undisputed market leader in its segment. The company stuck to its own strength and played the game on its own turf.
2. The Design and the ambience of the Dealership Outlets was amazing in my view and beyond doubt appeared both classy and rugged at the same time and was way ahead of the showrooms of the other motorbike brands in the market. The theme of the outlets, the chequered dark glass walls, the silhouette look and the big bikes emanating a masculine glow under the warm lights perfectly complimented the product. The merchandise like helmets, jackets, gloves etc. as fashion accessories further accentuated the brand. It would fair to say that this was an amazing strategy which did play a major role in the success of Royal Enfield and saved a decent Advertising expense for Eicher Motors, who very smartly hardly advertised.
The Cult of Royal Enfield has been resurrected and has made a strong comeback, by simply banking on its core competency, which is indeed a lesson learnt. Do your best in whatever you are best at and success is bound to follow sooner than later.
The Cult of Royal Enfield, is just a tale of two Bests only.