What Sudeep Narayan teaches about brand purpose

You know, all said and done, when you're commuting, then you might need a Uber. But when you want to drive, then you need your own car. So, you know, to start off, the automotive industry, as we know, is sort of in the doldrums right now. The economy is not doing well. Carmakers are especially in a tough spot. How does that change your marketing strategy, especially for the luxury space? Of course, budgets are obviously more constrained, right?

But does it change your plan in some way and also now, especially with relevance to the festive season on the corner, which is big? Yeah, in the sense that automotive industry is not in the doldrums yet. There is still a lot of positivity. There is still a lot of, you know, we sell about 20 or 21 cars to 1,000. So, there is still that penetration that needs to be, you know. So, if you look short term, yes, it's not doing that well. But if you look medium and long term, the prospects are really very, very green. Yes.

But then, but then it's paid to come back to life later this year, early next year. We don't know when, but sooner the better. But to come to your question about how different marketing should be in these times, I think, from our perspective, it needs to be the same. Because if it is different, then there was something wrong that you were doing before. You know, just sort of a very quick view on the, on the whole thing about how Ola and Uber millennials are going towards that is sort of leading to a drop in demand for the overall automotive sector.

From the luxury space, do you really think Ola and Uber are hurting sales? Has that any, any impact? Short answer, no. Right. Even the mainstream space, my short answer is still no. Because there are lots of people in India who want to own a car. Aspiration. It is there. I mean, it's home and then car. You might say that millennials think differently. But I don't think that's going to be the case. The behavior might change, but the attitude will not change.

And then the reason for that not to change is because, you know, all said and done, when you, when you're commuting, then you might need a Ola Uber. But when you want to drive, then you need your own car. There's a difference. There's a huge difference. And then it is those millennials who will earn that much money to buy a greener car. So, I don't see this as, you know, a certain segment of demographic changing the entire automotive industry. I don't see that happening. It hasn't happened anywhere else in the world. So, how will it happen in India?

Not in the developed markets. Nowhere. Right. Everywhere, the car market is growing. And Uber and Ola or these aggregators, they have been present in other developed economies far before us. Why do you think the industry, the electric industry has not related, vehicle industry has not really shown that growth despite so many promises at a global level? Is there a sort of a lack of concerted effort from the industry? Has it got to do with infrastructure or is it purely that consumers aren't convinced enough? I think a bit of all. All of the.

The consumer is not convinced because he or she is not getting… The right product. Yeah, the desired, you know, the expectation is not met. So, while I live in the city, once in six weeks or once in three months, I want to go to the hills and what do I do then, you know? So, if there is an electric car or if there is a charging infrastructure, if there is plug-in hybrid, you know, then all these things get sorted and end of the day, a customer will buy whatever benefit he or she derives, you know, gets from a smoother or a better or a richer experience.

So, you know, a little bit about Volvo's positioning and marketing globally, one of… you have been associated with a lot of lifestyle, premier. What is your positioning in India? What is the thought behind it in terms of where you would like to be in the mind space of a premium consumer in India? So, actually, our positioning globally is the same. Is the same consistent? It's consistent, yes. It's, you know, we want people to have the freedom to move. Right. In a safe, sustainable and personal way. Okay. So, this is… it's not a tagline but it's an ethos.

The challenge is people who know us buy us. The challenge is we need to make more people know us. Communication for luxury car brands is always targeted towards a man because a lot has to also do with performance, right? Yeah. And for some reason, performance has always been associated with men driving fast cars. Why is that so and how are brands… I mean, maybe Volvo, maybe from an industry observer perspective, how do you need to sort of break out of that mould because there are many more women today in the market for such products. True.

So, I think one of the things is… Is it a problem? Do you agree or… No, I absolutely agree. I mean, there is no disagreement on this. No, I mean, the problem is… The problem is… It's… You know… The male dominance in certain segment or certain industry sectors is also because… Not because the creators of brand or the marketers don't want to think otherwise, but they are very scared that I will become a feminine brand. Volvo is not like that. It's always been inclusive. You know, we are not just… We are not an I brand. We are a V brand.

You know, just the decision making to men because women and children are equally in the decision making process. And even more than ever before. Much more than… Much, much more than ever before.