MUMBAI: "Building an automobile brand on long term values is a challenge. The automobile market is getting overcrowded leaving consumers confused.

"The challenge is that yesterday's luxury option is today's standard feature. Another problem is that consumer's pride of ownership is not stemming from the brand but from bargains."

This is how General Motors (GM) India president and MD Aditya Vij summed up the challenges car manufacturers have in branding their products. He spoke at the ongoing India Brand Summit. GM reintroduced Chevrolet in the country last year after a gap of nearly 30 years. "While Chevrolet was popular in Bollywood in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s when we reintroduced it in 2003 we had to address a new generation.

"The perception was that this car is from America. The challenge before us was to push the car's values of trust, performance assurance and reliability. Through our campaign which involved television, showroom displays, events we wanted to take consumers to an emotional high ground. Therefore we adopted the tagline 'for a special journey called life'."

Chevrolet used the guilty feeling that busy men have about neglecting their loved ones about work. In one TVC a wife is angry after the husband comes home late yet again. However when he takes out on a drive on his Chevrolet her mood radically changes.

"We wanted to convey the message that the Chevrolet has all that you could expect from a luxury car. We also wanted to spread the message that the Chevrolet was a great way for the busy man to indulge his loved ones. This way he can to an extent make up for not spending a lot of quality time with them."

The company also extended the emotional bond at dealer showrooms and at events like rallies. Another GM TVC showed a girl hugging a teddy bear while riding in a Chevrolet. When customers bought the car they too were given a teddy bear. GM released three models of Chevrolet Cars in just 14 months. It aimed at creating likeability for the car through price value.

He claimed that Chevrolet managed a recall value of 80 per cent. "We managed this at a time when there are so many brands out there. There is plenty of space for us when you consider that the number of multiple car homes is on the rise." Vij added that in America Chevrolet used the theme of baseball and hot dogs to connect further with the consumers.

Meanwhile ITC Lifestyle CEO Chitranjan Dar dwelt on the importance of the supply chain in boosting brand value. "Hutch's ads using the dog following the boy wherever he went worked because their infrastructure was in place. If that had not been in place then the ad would have been empty on its promise of following customers wherever they go.

"Therefore it is important that brand managers are fully aware of the entire supply chain process. Unfortunately a lot of the time brand managers and the supply chain group work independently of each other not knowing that the other is doing. Elaborate marketing campaigns get developed and then customers finds that the product is not available.

"An important issue in the supply chain is the accessibility factor. Amazon.com which delivers books, DVDs, music through the internet is a great example of a differentiated supply chain. The supply chain also needs to balance conflicting objectives. On one hand the supply chain wants to minimize inventory. On the other hand customer satisfaction must be maximised."