Vida but sans the 'Hero' brand name: Can Hero MotoCorp make it work?

Country’s largest two-wheeler manufacturer Hero MotoCorp on Friday unveiled a new brand Vida for its emerging electric mobility products and solutions. The company’s first electric vehicle (EV) in July will not only mark the brand’s foray into the largest growing EV segment in the country but also answer the question on everyone’s mind right now: what’s in a brand?

 

A 2010 family settlement barred Pawan Munjal, the Chairman and CEO of Hero MotoCorp, from using the ‘Hero’ brand name for any EVs made by his firm while the global rights for Hero’s EVs were given to his cousin Naveen Munjal.

 

‘Vida’ in Spanish means life. “The brand’s sole purpose is to create a positive impact on the world and move us all forward in meaningful ways. We believe the name is perfect for what we are building for our children and the next generation,” Pawan Munjal said while unveiling the new brand logo and visual identity which symbolises ‘sunrise’.

 

But will the inability to use the Hero brand name hurt the new sub-brand Vida? “Hero is a highly trusted brand in India. Not being able to use Hero as the brand name for a new category of automobiles is certainly a setback. But, at the same time, the legacy of an old brand name does come in the way of projecting a young, modern image, which is required for this new category of vehicles,” Prateek Srivastava, Co-Founder, Chapter Five Brand Solutions said.

 

“Let’s hope the inability to use the Hero name turns out to be a blessing in disguise for the company,” he adds.

 

Last month, the Delhi High Court had formed an arbitral tribunal to decide whether Hero Electric will have the exclusive rights to use the brand name for EVs. “A petition was filed by Hero Electric to refer the disputes to arbitration which was strongly opposed by Hero MotoCorp. The Court, while rejecting all contentions of Hero MotoCorp, has referred all the disputes under the family arrangement to a three-member arbitral tribunal,” Hero Electric had said in a statement.

 

It seems like the new brand Vida will finally help resolve the age-old family dispute. “It's prudent to settle and move on as no one benefits from the litigation. Most family disagreements are settled out of court, as in this there was a pre-existing agreement for the use of the brand names so it is a step in the right direction,” Sonam Chandwani, Managing Partner, KS Legal & Associates said.

 

Vida will now be competing with Hero Electric, India’s largest electric two-wheeler company which sold over 50,000 EVs last year and other well-established players like TVS iQube and Bajaj Chetak, and is expected to be priced under Rs 1 lakh.

 

“In only 17 weeks from today we will unveil our Vida platform, products and services to make the world a better place,” Pawan Munjal said.

 

Hero MotoCorp also announced a $100 million Global Sustainability Fund. The fund will aim to establish global partnerships, spearheaded by the BML Munjal University (BMU) and Hero MotoCorp, with the objective of nurturing more than 10,000 entrepreneurs on ESG solutions that have a positive impact on the planet, the company said.

 

Experts say that while it’s too soon to say whether not being able to use the brand name will hurt the new brand but at the end the product will have to speak for itself.

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