The world has moved to a different level of quality; some Indian brands have been left behind.
Last week, I read the news, with a hint of regret, about the Ambassador
brand being sold to Peugeot. Mind you, we never owned an Amby, as it was
called, but I certainly have fond memories with it.
Good ol’ days!
Invariably, all long distance trips were made in it, whether it was the
holidays we took to Kodaikanal with its hairpin bends, the business
trips to Chittoor with my team or the pilgrimages to Tirupati in the
company of my late boss. It was dependable, could be repaired anywhere
and seat at least six people comfortably, not to mention fitting
mountains of luggage that most Indians still continue to carry.
It had literally no competition because the only other car you could own
in those days was a Premier Padmini, for which you had to wait for four
years! Of course, people less fortunate than you were waiting seven
years to get an allotment of Bajaj Chetak and invariably re-branded as
fortunate when the allotment happened.
Those whose horoscopes were special sold the Bajaj Chetak seven years
later for the same price that they had bought it for and maybe even
gifted themselves a HMT watch with the ill-gotten gains!
This was the India that some of us grew up in. A land of scarcity where
even a pair of jeans had to be imported and watches smuggled in. And I
think it is important to remember this fact, even as we look at some of
these old brands with rose tinted glasses.
Changing the game
Many brands that had lived and flourished in a protected economy,
started facing the heat in 1991, when the country suddenly (and not a
moment too soon) opened its doors to international brands. And every
foreign brand worth its name came into the country, whether it was
American, Japanese, German or Korean!
The Indian consumer, who had been starved of choice and was considering
choosing between two car brands, suddenly had a choice of 764! And this
choice wasn’t restricted to just automobiles — refrigerators, colour
televisions, mobile phones (which came a bit later) television channels,
all came flooding into the market.
And the consumer just went bananas! Many brands — like HMT watches that
proudly called itself the ‘timekeepers to the nation’, Hamara Bajaj or
BPL colour Televisions (which had once been the market leader) — no
longer ruled the roost as the consumer looked at smarter, slicker,
better advertised international brands.
Ambassador — which is the hero of this piece and had been steadily
dropping production, till the numbers dropped to laughable levels — is
now on the block, and the price is a measly ₹80 crore!
What happened to all the goodwill, the equity built over the years and
customer experiences of families that had used it for years? Why indeed
is the ‘iconic’ brand, as some refer to it, being parked in the garage
for keeps?
Being an icon is not easy
In this context, it must be said that people tend to get emotional about
brands and give them iconic status a bit too readily. It’s a bit like
calling Shikhar Dhawan great on the basis of a phenomenal debut series.
But where is he now?
It’s easy to confuse form with class, and this is precisely what
happened with the Amby, which was probably a flat track wonder that
could not manage, as foreign brands swung, seamed and reverse swung!
World icons
Let us, in the same breath, look at the truly iconic brands the world
has seen. These are brands like Volkswagen Beetle, Harley Davidson and
Apple, to name just a few. They are in a different league with
evangelists who are passionate about these brands and consumers who
don’t mind tattooing themselves with the brand’s logo!
The Amby or the Bajaj scooter never really had this sort of appeal. They
were the best available at that time and consumers have fond memories
of them. But it’s important to remember that mere happy memories do not
make a brand iconic.
What might have been?
And yet, I have an overriding feeling of regret at what the brand could
have become. Brands are like children — they cannot grow on love and
fresh air alone. They need nourishment. Brands too need sustenance and
advertising support; they need to keep pace with times and technology.
They cannot survive on outdated models and poor quality. The world has
moved to a different level of quality and sadly, some of our Indian
brands have been left far behind, as their owners were businessmen, not
visionaries.
Brands need champions and visionaries to guide and lead them and this is
precisely where Amby lost out. Birla’s loss is Peugeot’s gain.
Will they have the courage, the desire and competence to revive it to its former days of glory? I wonder!
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