What Tarun Garg teaches about brand purpose

I have been in Maruti for 25 years. What I see is the new people who are coming in, they have a much more dynamic approach to the whole thing. You know Maruti Suzuki recently did a dealer rebranding exercise and brand extensions with Nexa commercial and Arena. How has this entire exercise helped you win new consumers? Look, I think consumers have always been at the center of all of Maruti Suzuki's strategies. Right. And we have seen the consumers change over the past few years.

So, you know, if I talk about Arena, what we were really looking at is that customers are getting younger and they are becoming more and more digital. So it was very important to give them that kind of dynamic sporty experience in the showroom. And that is where we, you know, rebranded the showrooms as Arena. And it was not only about rebranding, but actually giving a customer a totally different experience and really making him feel very, very special.

And so that, you know, he could make a procedure much, much, much faster and also in line with what his beliefs are. When I talk about Nexa, I think it's very interesting because three years back, we realized that there are many customers who, you know, are really looking for a very, very differential kind of a buying experience. Yes, while they have bought a first car as a Maruti Suzuki, but then some of them were really not coming back to Maruti Suzuki and maybe going to competition. And because they thought, yes, is this car for me?

And I think that is where Nexa was conceptualized. And we went into these showrooms where it was a totally paperless concept because these customers were totally digital and they were evolved. It was not their first car. So they wanted their space, you know, so they did not want to be too much pressurized to buy a car. They wanted to make their own decision and they wanted a very, very premium buying experience. Right. You spoke about digital, right?

So in times like this, when a lot of my search, you know, is done digitally, what are some of the interesting things you're doing as a brand today to leverage digital, you know, for conversions? Yeah, actually, that's a very interesting question. And what we have seen is 80 to 90% customers are now digitally influenced while buying a car. And in fact, when I talk about videos, also 43% of them actually buy, you know, they look at a video before buying a car.

So they have become very important. So it's very important to see, okay, what is the customer lapping, you know, you know, because Internet has also given us an opportunity to get very, very close to the customer. Because when he's looking at an ad, say on a mobile phone, then he's totally immersed into it because it's very close. The important thing here is, are we making content, which is keeping the customer primarily in mind? Or are we just trying to jig around? I think that is where the differentiation is.

So the customer is smart. So we need to have smart videos. And that is what we are doing. That is one part of it. Second, very important part of it is that internally, we also have to be digital. So what we did is that, like I said, in Nexa, all our relationship managers have an iPad, where, you know, all the inquiries are handled, you know, through the iPad, paperless office, so that customers can really have that kind of an experience.

Even in arena, we have now product vision screens, where customers really can do it themselves, you know, they can see, okay, this is the product I want to see, I want to choose, I can personalize my product, I can fit in accessories. So he feels much more empowered, and he can take that decision. I think all these things are really playing a very important role. And we are getting much and much closer to the customers. Right. So what can we expect from the brand in 2019?

So these are very exciting times for the auto industry, I think, a lot of changes are happening. So at the same time, I strongly feel that yes, we should see where we are, we should always be very, very optimistic about the future, see the trends, the trends are very, very clearly emerging, with more and more digitalization coming in, more and more customers becoming more and more knowledgeable. So we have to be, we can't just, you know, stay static. So how do you stay creative as a marketer?

Really keep your mind very calm. I think as marketers, we are always in a very high octane kind of an environment. So to keep your mind calm, you must, I mean, at least I do, I practice yoga, have a more, you know, balanced approach to the whole thing. And also being in touch with the millennials. So like, yes, we I have been in Maruti for 25 years, what I see is the new people who are coming in, they have a much more dynamic approach to the whole thing. And I think we can learn a lot from them rather than giving to them.

And I think that is something which I do as a practice, spent two hours a week with the people who have joined last year. And I think it's mind boggling. And it really keeps your creative juices flowing. And it really keeps your creative juices flowing. And it really keeps your creative juices flowing. And it really keeps your creative juices flowing. And it really keeps your creative juices flowing. And it really keeps your creative juices flowing. And it really keeps your creative juices flowing. And it really keeps your creative juices flowing.

And it really keeps your creative juices flowing. And it really keeps your creative juices flowing. And it really keeps your creative juices flowing. And it really keeps your creative juices flowing. And it really keeps your creative juices flowing. And it really keeps your creative juices flowing. And it really keeps your creative juices flowing. And it really keeps your creative juices flowing. And it really keeps your creative juices flowing. And it really keeps your creative juices flowing. And it really keeps your creative juices flowing. !