Subject: Project and Brand Management

Rolls Royce: Brand Brief and Brand Story

Sector: Car Industry

Rolls Royce: Brand Brief and Brand Story

Contents

1. The Heritage …………………………………………………………………..3

2. Brand: The importance………………………………………………………...4

3. State of the business…………………………………………………………....5

4. Target Market…………………………………………………………………..6

5. Images and Associations……………………………………………………….7

6. Brand Positioning………………………………………………………………8

7. Emotional Rewards and Owner Experience……………………………………9

8. Brand value……………………………………………………………………..9

9. Brand Story…………………………………………………………………….10

10. Competition and managing growth…………………………………………...11

11. Product Line…………………………………………………………………..12

12. Advertisement…………………………………………………………………14

13. Conclusion…………………………………………………………………….16

14. Gallery…………………………………………………………………………17

15. Sources………………………………………………………………………...18

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Rolls Royce: Brand Brief and Brand Story

1. The Heritage: Rolls-Royce over the Years

Rolls-Royce is one of the most fascinating and well known brands in the world, the

luxury motor car par excellence.

For over 100 years, motorcars of the Rolls-Royce brand have stood for truly outstanding

engineering, quality and reliability.

Rolls-Royce Limited (1906-1987)

Rolls-Royce PLC (1987-Present)

Rolls-Royce Motor (1973-1998)

Rolls-Royce Motorcars (1998-Present)

Rolls-Royce bought their great British rival — Bentley — in 1931.

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

1947 - First deliveries of Silver Wraith, made in Crewe; last Rolls-Royce motor car to be sold exclusively

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Rolls Royce: Brand Brief and Brand Story

as chassis and engine, relying on independent coachbuilders to provide bodywork

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.

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Rolls Royce: Brand Brief and Brand Story

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”

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Rolls Royce: Brand Brief and Brand Story

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.

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Rolls Royce: Brand Brief and Brand Story

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.

5. Images and Association

“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.

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Rolls Royce: Brand Brief and Brand Story

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.

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Rolls Royce: Brand Brief and Brand Story

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.

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Rolls Royce: Brand Brief and Brand Story

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.

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Rolls Royce: Brand Brief and Brand Story

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.

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Rolls Royce: Brand Brief and Brand Story

Sales Record

12121010

847 796 792

300

0200400600800

100012001400

2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003

Year

Units

Series1

The company is trying to improve the environmental performance of its products through

continuous innovation and the development of new technologies.

11. Product Line

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

model to appeal to the growing numbers of rich people in emerging markets such as

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Rolls Royce: Brand Brief and Brand Story

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.

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Rolls Royce: Brand Brief and Brand Story

2009 Prices

Model UK Eurozone Japan USA, Mexico, Russia

Near East | SR

Asia Pacific

Phantom

£233,000 ($332,000)

€345,700 ($455,000)

¥44,500,000 ($466,000)

$380,000

1,420,000 ($381,000)

$554,000 ($377,500)

Year Products Price2002 Camargue $363,990 to $363,990

Corniche2002 Limousine (Park Ward) $263,790 to $263,7902004-2009 Phantom $350,000 to $350,0002009 Phantom Coupe $400,000 to $400,0002008 Phantom Drophead Coupe $407,000 to $407,000

Silver Dawn2002 Silver Seraph $230,790 to $230,790

Silver ShadowSilver SpiritSilver SpurSilver 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 14

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Rolls Royce: Brand Brief and Brand Story

and servants. Instead, readers saw the Rolls-Royce in more common, less extravagant

settings.

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.

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Rolls Royce: Brand Brief and Brand Story

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

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.

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Rolls Royce: Brand Brief and Brand Story

14. Gallery Package

The factory at Crewe

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Rolls Royce: Brand Brief and Brand Story

15. Sources

1. http://www.slideshare.net/nermar1/rolls-royce-brand-analysis2. Strategic Brand management by Kevin Lane Keller3. http://www.wallpaper.com/cars/rollsroyce-ceo-on-the-new-200ex/31374. http://www.motorbar.co.uk/phantom.htm5. http://www.ehow.com/about_5070398_rolls-royce-car-history.html6. http://autoweb.com.au/cms/A_52160/title_RollsRoyce-Motor-Cars-Further-Product-Development/newsarticle.html7. http://indianautosblog.com/2008/09/rolls-royce-aims-to-sell-70-or-more-cars-in-india-by-20138. 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/746910. 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=hNhgSpa7HIv6kAWD8YjuDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=311. 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-fans12. http://www.rolls-roycemotorcars.com/13. www.carwale.com

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