Rolls Royce

(1)

Rolls Royce: Brand Brief and Brand Story

Sector: Car Industry

(2)

Rolls Royce: Brand Brief and Brand Story

During World War II, Rolls-Royce began to focus heavily on jet engine design. They did this successfully through the 1960s, along with continued production of their cars. In 1966, privatization efforts by the government, coupled with difficulties in the jet engine market, drove Rolls-Royce to bankruptcy. The car division of the company was purchased by British company Vickers in 1980 which was again sold to Volkswagen in 1988. Volkswagen kept the Bentley line and sold Rolls-Royce to the BMW Company, who owns the company in 2009.

Milestone :

1907 - The famous 40/50hp Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost sets new standards of engineering refinement and coachbuilt elegance

1921 - Silver Ghost made for US market in Springfield, Massachusetts

1922 - Rolls-Royce Twenty introduced, available with wide choice of bodywork styles from independent coachbuilders

1925 - Launch of Rolls-Royce Phantom I with 6-cylinder engine 1929 - Phantom II with sophisticated new suspension system 1936 - Phantom III with V12 engine and 100mph performance 1938 - Rolls-Royce Wraith, last motor car to be made at Derby

(4)

1949 - First Rolls-Royce standard steel saloon - The Silver Dawn 1950 - Phantom IV, designed for royalty and heads of state 1955 - Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud launched

1959 - Silver Cloud II acquires 6,230cc V8 engine; Rolls-Royce Phantom V introduced 1962 - Silver Cloud III

1965 - First monocoque Rolls-Royce - The Silver Shadow 1968 - Phantom VI

1971 - Rolls-Royce Corniche convertible, Formation of new company: Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Ltd. 1977 - Silver Shadow II introduced

1980 - Silver Spirit and long-wheelbase Silver Spur introduced 1993 - Silver Spirit III and Silver Spur III

1994 - Special edition Rolls-Royce Flying Spur introduced 1996 - Long-wheelbase, special Rolls-Royce Park Ward

1999 - Revised Silver Seraph with improved rear passenger accommodation and enhanced features 2000 - With an auspicious sense of timing, Rolls-Royce celebrates the new millennium with the incomparable, all-new Corniche convertible

2009 – Ghost

2010 – RR4(proposed)

2. Brand: The importance

Whenever and wherever consumers are deciding between alternatives, brand plays an important decision-making role.The brand is a byword for quality, reliability and integrity.Brand can serve as symbolic devices, allowing consumers to project their self-image. The importance of brand is reflected in the word of John Stuart, CEO of Quaker Oats from 1922 to 1956 who famously said, “If this company were to split up I would give you the company, plant and equipment and I would take the brands and the trademarks and I would fare better than you”.

The sale of Rolls Royce brand name (separate from the business itself) in July 1998 for 40 million Euros is indicator of the values attributed to Rolls Royce brand per se.

(5)

3. State of the Business

The largest markets for Rolls-Royce are North America, UK, and China with the best dealership being Beverly Hills, London and Abu Dhabi.

The largest single market for Rolls-Royce is America, which accounts for 50 per cent of all sales. Next is the Middle East, followed by Great Britain (where 100 Phantoms are sold each year), but emerging markets such as Japan and China are closing the gap.

The company’s founders wanted to build cars that would not only set speed and endurance records, but also so quiet you would not hear them coming. Beginning with the 1907 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghosts, the company has had a tradition of naming vehicles for silent things: Ghosts, Wraiths, Spirits, Shadows, Clouds and Phantoms.

Through strategic use of “family names”, it further enhances associations with the Rolls-Royce brand. It also aids the sales process by supporting the corporate objective,” Design without Compromise”

(6)

4. Target Market

Rolls-Royce is meant to appeal to a select few individuals who happen to enjoy a lifestyle commensurate with their stratospheric levels of net worth.

Rolls-Royce buyers are almost all self-employed, heirs to large fortunes, royalty or entrepreneurs. The person Rolls-Royce describes as its target customer is someone who has more than three homes; a current assets around $30 million; and around six other exotic, collectable or ultra-luxury cars, a group estimated to about 85,000 worldwide. Although some senior executives do buy a Phantom with their own money, most are bought by sports stars, celebrities, film stars, royals and entrepreneurs who want the finer things in life.

A lot of Rolls-Royce owners use the car to do business. “It is so quiet and offers such privacy even in traffic that many of our customers do business as they travel in the car”. The maharajas of yesteryears aspired to own this symbol of British engineering and craftsmanship. Now, the company is trying to reach out to the new maharajas, the billionaire enterpreneurs.

(7)

Graeme Grieve, director of sales and marketing at Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. “Typically, our customers have offices and homes at multiple locations in the world, and they like to have a Rolls-Royce at each location.”

So, the companies looks for it dealer not only take care of the requirements of local customers, but also the local requirements of its global customers.

“The Best Car in the World” “Trusted to Deliver Excellence” “Design without Compromise” Rolls Royce Enthusiasts Club

The Rolls Royce Owner’s Club (www.rroc.org) is open for all who would like to enjoy the experience of owning a Rolls-Royce motorcar or even just to admire the marques.

(8)

Rolls-Royces have often been used in popular culture as a stereotype of wealthy people, particularly millionaire.

Logo: The Rolls Royce logo consists of two ‘R’s. The name “Rolls Royce” in the Rolls

Royce logo is always written complete with a hyphen. That’s because ‘the hyphen’ symbolizes the partnership or the link between the two founders.

Slogan: No Rolls Royce Has Ever Worn Out | the Spirit of Ecstasy 6. Brand Positioning

Rolls-Royce is considered as crown jewels of the global automotive industry. It is the niche player in the global car market. Its niche is premium product and premium price. It is positioned as a luxury car brand.

In the below competitive matrix of “Price” against “Quality/Service”, Rolls Royce would be in the top right quadrant.

(9)

Rolls Royce is positioned within a niche in the overall market of cars. It is positioned as a luxury car brand, and its product and communication must be in unison to ensure its brand values and brand personality.

7. Emotional Rewards and Owner Experience

Purchasing a Rolls-Royce is an exceptional experience. The cars indulge and delight owners, passengers, and passersby alike with their unique blend of opulence, refinement, dynamism combined with the finest material and hand-craftsmanship.

The Rolls-Royce Company maintains its own forest in Italy, the burled walnut from its trees used for its classic Rolls dashboards.

Sensorial branding:

"People spend money when and where they feel good" --- Walt Disney.

Consumption today is a form of "being". Just like any leisure activity, it becomes a place to express a piece of your personality. Sensations, new experiences and emotions are the part and parcel of the brand experience.

To recapture the feeling of older "rollers" and maintain the luxurious aura surrounding the brand, Rolls Royce analysed and recreated the unique smell made by materials like mahogany wood, leather and oil that permeated the interior of the 1965 Silver Cloud Rolls-Royce. Now every Rolls Royce is equipped with a diffuser in the underside of the car's seat to convey this unique identity of the brand.

8. Brand values

“The image of a brand is what exists in the minds of the consumers”

The name is a legend. The reputation is unique. Throughout the company's proud history, Rolls-Royce has been dedicated to the handcrafting of supremely refined motorcars, commissioned to reflect the personal needs and tastes of individual discerning owners. It is a fact that there is no more universally recognized and admired blend of advanced technology and timeless craftsmanship than a Rolls-Royce.

(10)

Reputational Values- Rolls-Royce has prospered for more than 100 years because of

its attention to details. Each car has a history book created as it being assembled. The person responsible signs for every major assembly, test and inspection. Once bought it will bear the name of the owner, and is a complete record of every stage of the manufacture of the Rolls-Royce.

“Buying a Rolls-Royce is not a rational thing,” “It’s psychological.

You buy other cars for how you want to be seen. Your Rolls is how you are.”

Experiential Values – Among the world’s most exclusive automakers, two brands

towers above the others: Ferrari for performance and Rolls-Royce for comfort.

Symbolic Values – Rolls-Royce in itself is the ultimate icon representing a person’s

status. “There is no status symbol in the world quite like a “Rolls-Royce”.

9. Brand Story

The most luxurious classic car in the world was the brainchild of a business partnership forged over 100 years ago by Charles Rolls and Henry Royce. Their aim was nothing less than the best.

Around 100,000 Rolls-Royce motor cars have been built over the past 100 years and experts speculate that at least 60 per cent of them are still in existence, amazing — especially when we consider that many vehicles saw action in both world wars.

(11)

10. Competition and managing Growth

The biggest challenge for Rolls-Royce, though, is not the recession but other luxury items."There are so many competitors for R-R that are not necessarily cars: a second car, a helicopter, replacing the yacht," Rolls-Royce chief executive Tom Purves says. "In our customers' minds those are all things that could prevail."

The Luxury car market of the future seems to be having more sporting and SUV models type, but Rolls Royce is adamant that Rolls-Royce will not join the fray. 'Where the field is more open is in the cross between comfort, silence and presence,' Purves the company CEO says, placing the most emphasis on the latter, that indefinable quality that is at the core of the modern Rolls-Royce experience.

Purves stresses that 'we want a sense of dignity, presence and power – performance is not high on our list of priorities.' In this respect, Rolls-Royce are well-placed to capitalise on the next generation of powerplants, unlike perhaps their most performance-focused competitors.

'Our customers are interested in how the cars go, rather than what's under the bonnet,' he stresses, adding that Henry Royce's Silver Ghost 'had a 6-cylinder engine because it was perfectly balanced.'

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars recorded strong sales volume growth of +20% in 2008. The Rolls-Royce brand therefore achieved its fifth successive annual sales volume increase and remains the most successful manufacturer in the super-luxury segment.

(12)

Rolls Royce: Brand Brief and Brand Story Sales Record 1212 1010 847 ₇₉₆ ₇₉₂ 300 0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 Year U n it s Series1

The company is trying to improve the environmental performance of its products through continuous innovation and the development of new technologies.

Even when you're at the very top of your game, it's still important to improve and innovate.

RR in extending its product range and moving into new markets.

Electric Rolls Royce: The CEO if the company Tom Purves expressed his view to make

an electric-powered Phantom. He says ‘Many of our customers do small mileages exclusively in the city’.

European customer - European customer are now looking for something less formal to

drive in cities Therefore, the company began the process of creating a smaller Rolls-Royce, that would lose none of the sense of occasion, quality of materials and craftsmanship and innate power of the larger car. So the company is launching RR4 model which will arrive in 2010.

Market research by Rolls-Royce in Britain shows the average Rolls owner has four or five cars.

Russian and Chinese market - The company is in the process to launch a new Ghost 11. Product Line

(13)

Russia and China, even if 'mature' western markets move away from ostentatious displays of wealth. This new model will come into the market at the end of 2010.

Indian Market: The company is eyeing into the Indian market as it see a massive rise in the number of ultra-high net worth individuals in India. It finds India a very impressive market. As an exclusive brand, the company is looking at the top end of the personalized car market and expects India to emerge as the largest market in the Asia-Pacific region in the next five years. Rolls Royce claims that it aims to sell 70 or more cars by the year 2013.

Rolls Royce re-entered the Indian market in 2005 after a gap of 50 years. But the company believes its dealers in Mumbai and Delhi are well-connected to the class of people who buy Rolls-Royce and have represented it very well. The owners of the company, BMW, have sold 30 Rolls-Royce in India since taking over the company in 1998.

Rolls Royce products in India

Product Mileage (kmph,petrol) Price @Mumbai

Phantom Drophead Coupe 5.7 Rs. 4,20,00,000

Sedan 4 Rs. 3,50,00,000

A Brand for younger generation: RR4

This product is relatively smaller. This car is designed to attract new people, and potentially the younger ones worldwide It will significantly improve our volumes. In the medium term, in five years, it will help the company to increase its share in global volume from the present one per cent to three per cent.

Prices

Pricing strategy is a major factor in competitive advantage because it will significantly alter the basis on which companies can compete.This helps the company in positioning of product in the market place. When we see the Rolls Royce, we find that there are no cheap Rolls Royce cars.

(14)

Rolls Royce: Brand Brief and Brand Story Russia Phanto m £233,000 ($332,000 ) €345,700 ($455,000 ) ¥44,500,00 0 ($466,000) $380,00 0 1,420,000 ($381,000 ) $554,000 ($377,500 )

Year Products Price

2002 Camargue $363,990 to $363,990

Corniche

2002 Limousine (Park Ward) $263,790 to $263,790

2004-2009 Phantom $350,000 to $350,000

2009 Phantom Coupe $400,000 to $400,000

2008 Phantom Drophead Coupe $407,000 to $407,000

Silver Dawn 2002 Silver Seraph $230,790 to $230,790 Silver Shadow Silver Spirit Silver Spur Silver Wraith 12. Advertisement and Marketing

It is considered as an icon of "nothing-to-prove" magnificence in motoring.

Never a mass-produced vehicle, Rolls-Royce had always catered to the luxury market. Ogilvy & Mather's ads sought to broaden that market a bit. Ogilvy wanted ads that would assume a posture of supreme leadership of Rolls Royce.

To better attract more American buyers of luxury cars, the Ogilvy & Mather ads addressed two problems.

 One was that the Rolls-Royce name was associated with cars that were too pricey and required a chauffeur.

 The other was the consumer's view that buying a Rolls-Royce was an ostentatious act of snobbery.

The ads tackled these concerns directly with statements like "It is very easy to

drive and park. No chauffeur required" and "A good part of the cost can be written off in five years or less. The car will then be in the infancy of its usefulness." The

advertisements also avoided showing the car next to grandiose palaces or with footmen and servants. Instead, readers saw the Rolls-Royce in more common, less extravagant

(15)

The firm's early success sprang from its famous advertising slogan: "The quality will

remain when the price is forgotten."

During the early part of the 20th century, young people never having been exposed to images of the Rolls Royce ultra-luxury cars. The car company and their cars have become quite mysterious, unable to be identified by many.

Rolls Royce and Repeat Business: In US nearly a third of business comes from repeat

customers. To get and keep the customers, Rolls Royce employs a series of unique marketing approaches. Customers are invited to exclusive dinners where contacts are made and deals struck. Buyers receive surprises in the mail, like a personalized letter from the CEO or a coffee-table book about the brand. This could be anything to make the customers feel special, in the hopes that they will replace their Rolls Royce with another at the right time.

Non-traditional ways to reach out to the super rich- The customers of RR are very

successful and busy individuals who are difficult to reach. The company finds that a personalized approach is appropriate and the dealers, who themselves are successful and connected to this group, are best placed to forge and maintain relationships with the potential and current customer base. Rolls-Royce Motor Cars communicates with its customers on a regular basis via personally signed letters from its chairman Ian Robertson to present a customer yearbook or special portrait of company’s new models, to an owner's magazine.

Organizing events - Many of Rolls Royce customers are discreet and maintain a low

profile in public. Such events are therefore exclusive and special, to justify its customers' precious time. Whether they are dinners, customer previews of new products or

showroom launches, each is carefully tailored to meet its customers' needs and presented in a manner which befits Rolls Royce brand -- while they are of a high standard, these are neither opulent nor flamboyant.

Michel Jackson’s Funeral: The Southern California Rolls Royce dealership loaned a

fleet of Rolls Royce cars to be used to drive the Jackson family and close personal friends in the funeral procession from the Staples Center to the Forrest Lawn Cemetery. It was

(16)

done as part of a targeted marketing strategy as much as from a client favor type bit of altruism.

As a result of their successful placement in front of the media and press, the Rolls Royce brand, a car little known about by individuals under the age of 40 and not directly involved with the high line luxury and exotic car business, made it's first real media splash appearance to a new generation -- one that thinks of the traditionally know "ultra-luxury car" as an exotic primarily due to scarcity.

13. Conclusion

Rolls Royce and Country Economy:

Sales of Rollers are an indicator of a country’s economy. The most Roller-loving country in the world is the US, which makes up a quarter of the world’s GDP. Last year, nearly 400 of the about 1,000 Rollers sold across the world were sold in the USA. Of those 400, a little less than half were sold in one city alone — Los Angeles, Hollywood’s home.

Technology:

Like other high-line luxury manufacturers, Rolls is well aware of the shift towards “green” technology, both in terms of regulatory demands and consumer desires.

Recession Effect :

Desperate times call for desperate measures.

Keeping in view of the global recession Rolls Royce previewed an experimental car “Rolls-Royce 200EX”.We can call this as “Recessionary Rolls”. It is smaller, lighter and about $100,000 less expensive than the company’s hulking Phantom models.

(17)

14. Gallery Package

(18)

15. Sources

1. http://www.slideshare.net/nermar1/rolls-royce-brand-analysis

2. Strategic Brand management by Kevin Lane Keller

3. http://www.wallpaper.com/cars/rollsroyce-ceo-on-the-new-200ex/3137 4. http://www.motorbar.co.uk/phantom.htm 5. http://www.ehow.com/about_5070398_rolls-royce-car-history.html 6. http://autoweb.com.au/cms/A_52160/title_RollsRoyce-Motor-Cars-Further-Product-Development/newsarticle.html 7. http://indianautosblog.com/2008/09/rolls-royce-aims-to-sell-70-or-more-cars-in-india-by-2013 8. http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/News/Search-Results/Motoring-issues/Environmental/Rolls-Royce-wants-to-make-an-electric-Phantom/ 9. http://www.marketing-interactive.com/news/7469 10. http://books.google.com/books?id=1RUI-MVi2OEC&pg=PA49&lpg=PA49&dq=Strategic+branding+of+Rolls+Royce&source=bl &ots=W8Vgj9CzMP&sig=6CrGKi2mGUwQZBbku5cTaLmblyY&hl=en&ei=hNhgSpa7 HIv6kAWD8YjuDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3 11. http://www.examiner.com/x-9044-Exotic-Car-Examiner~y2009m7d17-Exotic-Cars-101-Is-the-Rolls-Royce-a-luxury-car-or-an-exotic-car-Asking-Michael-Jackson-fans 12. http://www.rolls-roycemotorcars.com/ 13. www.carwale.com

Rolls Royce

Rolls Royce: Brand Brief and Brand Story

Sector: Car Industry

Contents