At a price of Rs 54,800 for the drum version, and Rs 59,800 for the disc brake version, the CBZ is targeted at the affluent young spender in the 18-25 age group -- and who currently accounts for just 15 per cent of the 1.2- lakh motor cycle a month, market. With Hero Honda determined to ensure that the CBZ contributes to a minimum of five per cent of total sales in the very first year, consider how the company is revving up for the debut:

Turbo launch: Hero Honda has earmarked Rs 2 crore as the launch budget in addition to its spending on cricketing and yearly marketing expenses -- over Rs 25 crore in 1998-99 -- for the Hero-Honda familyof two-wheelers. Currently, the company is planning a raft of marketing activities, which capitalise on the World Cup.

The company is also formulating an advertising campaign in collaboration with HTA -- which will be rolled out nationally in mid-April. The thrust would be on television advertising, while magazines are also being considered for the first time. To woo the youth, HHML plans to take a position in music channels like MTV and Channel V. Power positioning: During the IETF exhibition in New Delhi (12-17 February) the new bike was previewed as `A bike powered with enough passion and style to make your adrenaline rush'. After the launch, the CBZ will project a sporty, trendy, and classy image. ``We're not going to show dare-devils with torn jeans and jackets. No Harley Davidson sort of image,'' says Atul Sobti, senior vice-president, marketing and sales, Hero Honda Motors.

HHML aims at broadening the appeal of the bike to include the metros as well as the rural markets, which contribute around 40per cent of its sales. ``We need to address sugar barons from Kolhapur as much as industrial magnates in Mumbai,'' says Sobti. HHML has identified cash-crop pockets like coastal Andhra Pradesh, sugar belt in Maharashtra, agri-rich areas around Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Guntur, and Vijaywada; and potato belt of West Bengal; and B-Class towns like Indore, Surat, and Chandigarh.

Distribution muscle: HHML is expanding dealership after a span of about two years. It is adding 35 dealers to take its dealership to 350 in 300 towns. Expecting 85 per cent of the demand to come from the top 200 towns, HHML plans to have a minimum of one engineer per dealer in these towns for the CBZ. ``Around 250-300 dealership mechanics have been trained on a national basis, in addition to 75 Hero Honda service engineers,'' says Sobti.

In order to give preferential treatment to CBZ customers, HHML has asked the dealers to provide a special bench for servicing the CBZ at the workshop.

The company is also firming up the servicecapabilities in both hardware and software, and working on a helpline service network for the dealers.

Next? Between April and June, HHML will study the profile of the CBZ buyers to extend them exclusive CBZ Club benefits. ``Every CBZ sold will have a profile sheet which will come back to us,'' says Sobti. ``With this we can tailormake our benefit programmes for them.'' Clearly, it's a high-powered marketing thrust, for a high-powered bike.

...And gears up for World Cup '99

Hero Honda Motors Ltd (HHML) is making the World Cup in June 1999 the centrestage for the launch of its new bike, the Hero Honda CBZ. To this end it has clinched the right of being the Official Supplier of the 1999 Cricket World Cup, and is the sole two-wheeler sponsor worldwide for the event. It is also the broadcast sponsor for Doordarshan and Star TV during the World Cup.

To commemorate the event, Hero Honda has developed a special composite logo which will appear on all Hero Honda ads and TV films during the World Cup.HHML also plans to sell 5,000 special edition CBZ bikes bearing this logo.

The company is also planning to develop and promote World Cup merchandise such as T-shirts and caps, for the Hero Honda range. The Hero Honda Countdown to the World Cup has already kicked off on Star, while for Star Sports, the company is planning contests like the Spectacular Catches.

``Our presence is going to be phenomenal from one month prior to the World Cup up to the finals,'' says Atul Sobti, senior vice-president, marketing and sales, Hero Honda Motors.

HHML has also commissioned a host of audio and video properties to be used to the hilt in World Cup promotions and advertising. These are: a Good Luck India film; a four-minute film on the making of Good Luck India; the Josh of India Song and video; the Pyar Mein Kabhi Kabhi song and video; and the CBZ song and publicity materials.

The Good Luck India Campaign -- a mix of 30 and 60 seconders -- has the victorious 1983 Kapil Dev's Devils wishing Team 1999 `Good Luck' atLord's. Brimming over with patriotism, it has images of the tri-color, the Ashok Chakra, and Kapil Dev popping open champagne. The company is also planning a pre-World Cup Good Luck contest, in which the audience will be asked to wish India Good Luck in just 20 words to win a host of spectacular prizes.

HHML has also developed a song --Jawani hai masti bhari, in Hinglish -- to lend a musical aura around the CBZ. The company plans to distribute cassettes carrying the song, around the time of the launch. Working closely with its ad agency HTA and event management company Percept, HHML is also sponsoring the title song of the forthcoming Pyar Mein Kabhi Kabhi.

The company plans to increasingly rope in newcomers to Bollywood to create excitement around its products: recently on Valentine Day in Delhi, the stars of the film -- Rinky Khanna, Dino, and Sanjay Suri -- distributed audio cassettes and CDs and later posed with the visitors to the IETF exhibition. ``We'll exploit more cost-effectiveopportunities in this field,'' says Sobti. If the media blitzkrieg works, the most spectacular catch might after all be Hero Honda's -- in terms of marketshare.