BackHero goes global; to unveil new brand identity in London
Hero goes global; to unveil new brand identity in London
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New Delhi: Hero Honda Motors Ltd will reveal its new brand identity on 9 August—on the eve of third cricket test match between India and England—in London, according to two persons familiar with the development who requested anonymity.
“It is a global launch and a first such step taken by the company to become global," one of them said.
“If you are following the ongoing India-England test series, they have already started giving teasers to what is going to come," said the second person.
The company’s promotions on hoardings at Lord’s stadium in London read: A new Hero will rise.
London-based branding firm Wolff Olins has created Hero Honda’s new identity after India’s largest motorcycle maker split from its Japanese partner Honda Motor Co. Ltd in December. It will be renamed HeroMoto Corp. Ltd shortly.
The Hero group, which sells the Splendor, Passion and Karizma bikes, has said it will evolve its own brand after the split with Honda and enter markets such as Latin America, Africa and West Asia with a new logo. The company will unveil its new branding strategy by the end of July or early August, Mint reported in March.
Hero can use the Honda brand till 2014, according to an agreement between the two erstwhile partners, but the Indian group wants to a new identity soon to maintain pole position.
The new identity will not only help Hero group venture overseas but will also allow it to source components from alternative vendors, say analysts.
“As long as the name of Honda exists on the product, component sourcing can be done from the approved vendor list. Once the re-branding under Hero name happens, Hero honda will be free to scout for alternative vendors, if there is need," Chirag Shah, a sector analyst with Mumbai-based brokerage Emkay Research, wrote in an 8 April report on Hero Honda.
amrit.r@livemint.com
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