TVS Racing focuses on experiential marketing to create a new experience, says head of premium business Vimal Sumbly

TVS Racing has been a pioneer in building motorsports in India for the last four decades. The organization has been integral in growing the racing culture and has also been pivotal in redefining the sports segment by focusing on race performances, making it a highly desirable product for sports enthusiasts.

As the world of racing moves towards an exponential shift in marketing and experience, Vimal Sumbly, the head of premium business of TVS, in an exclusive chat with Sportskeeda said the organization is now focussed on experiential marketing - to develop the brand and create a new experience for customers through marketing.

He said:

"Experiential marketing is the new route. One good thing with our brand (TVS Racing) is we going to do something which is very authentic. It is not a monologue activity. We are very clear on the kind of environment we want to be marketing and we think this is a new way of marketing. Developing the brand, developing the brand awareness, and be the first of the brand to be recalled.

"We all grew up with a set of phases, our kids grew with another set of phases, the first phase we have used, we still remember it for many years. We believe experience in marketing is true. So, that's why we are taking the experiential marketing route."

Sumbly added that TVS Racing's philosophy is learning through racing as motorsport is a strong pedigree for the organization which goes in line with the experiential marketing tag.

He explained:

"We have a strong pedigree of racing as a company as a brand. So, the philosophy is that we learn through racing, and we implement in our new product development implemented into our designs, and we learn through that.

"So, it's not for the external world domain, it's also for our internal system of how we plan to take this ahead in terms of product design. So, racing is a strong pedigree, it has played a vital role in creating products like Apache, which is from race track itself. it is a product which really created a great segment for itself as a particular type," he added.

Apache Racing Experience - a way of experiential marketing

TVS Racing - Apache Racing Experience.

The Apache Racing Experience (ARE) was started by TVS Racing in 2007. The objective of the ARE was to provide an experience to the Apache customers on the race track.

The program aims to impart riding and racing techniques and also to showcase the limits of the machine on the track.

Vimal Sumbly said the ARE was an integral part of TVS Racing's premium strategy and said it also doubles up as their philosophy and ethos of racing.

He elaborated:

"In India, we do ARE - Apache Racing Experience. So what is ARE. It is a way of a school, where we get people onto a track. And we get our professionals to train these budding guys about riding. One way to do when you're doing a safe and responsible riding is to how to use clutch as a brake, not brake as a brake.

"So, these kinds of nuances are the focus. But once we do that, some of them which we feel are good skills, intuitive skills, and our potential, we put them into the training academy. So, which is directly putting them onto the track with a real machine, and then training them and putting them on the track so that the good ones then they get the licenses, which further help them.

"And, then they can develop their careers, either through TVS Racing or elsewhere. So, it's a journey, and so full bit and it's a brand essence, which becomes an integral part. So this is an integral part of our premium strategy. It's an integral part of TVS Racing's philosophy and ethos of race."

The premium business head added that the ARE is a prime example of how experiential marketing has created a community among its customers, saying:

"We are very experiential because we are not selling just a product, but we are selling this complete 360-degree around motorcycles. So, a motorcycle and an accessory - clothing, a riding community, a connected device etc. So we have created this environment, which is to move out our motorcycle to the motorcycling world. So, thereby we are able to connect the two worlds very clearly."

We will see what we can do to fit into the MotoGP ecosystem, says Vimal Sumbly

A view of the Buddh International Circuit - venue for MotoGP in India.

MotoGP will be making its India later this year and the Indian Grand Prix will be held at the Buddh International Circuit in New Delhi from September 22 to 24.

The Indian Grand Prix will be organized by FairStreet Sports. The Indian GP will be the 14th Round in the MotoGP campaign and will commence the Asian and Australian leg of the global tour.

Commenting on how important MotoGP is for Indian motorsport enthusiasts, Sumbly said the motorsport ecosystem in India will become huge.

He stated:

"The MotoGP commitment is a very good thing for the industry. It's a very good positive news for motorcycle enthusiasts in India, which would love to see motorists happy. I think the ecosystem with Moto GP will become very big for the industry itself.

"From TVS Racing's point of view, we see this to be a very positive move by the government. We'll see what we can do to fit into this ecosystem. However, having said that TVS Racing will continue to make racing championships, we'll continue doing the one make championship, we continue to our era which we have been doing. So, that doesn't change our prospects. But, this helps us to see that there are many people who are okay about democratizing racing."

Speaking about collaborations, Sumbly said TVS Racing's partnership with Petronas to form India's first factory racing team - TVS Petronas - is expected to take motorsport to greater heights in India.

The partnership will also see Petronas provide its high-performance engine oil for all future races including the Indian National Racing Championship, Indian National Supercross Championship, and Indian National Rally Championship.

Sumbly said partnering with Petronas would be a game changer and divulged the details of how the TVS Racing community would help budding racers get a foothold in the industry.

He explained:

"In terms of collaborations, we believe Petronas is one of the best brands for racing. And, in India we live that reason, that's so very good partnership. For any collaboration, the easy part is to locate partners. But I think keeping that commitment of the partnerships to the time of execution, is a tough one.

"TVS Racing is very - as a primary peer on those partnerships - transparent, very authentic in our collaborations, and transparent in our do's and don'ts. We always stick to our core philosophy of transparency, authenticity in real genuineness."

Sumbly explained that racing is a segment where there is a lot of immersive feeling to a product that the organization has created.

He said:

"We also know that racing is becoming another segment where there is a lot of immersive feeling to a product that we have created. The experiences take a lot of time, energy and commitment. We also add that the journey which was about creating a whole community. We now have a co-platform for our community to talk to each other. We believe that as we have a rookie category in our motorcycle racing, there is great potential for youngsters want to get into that opportunity."

He added that curating an experience at the grassroots level was one of the main ideas of the TVS racing program.

Sumbly said:

"It is a great opportunity for young India. It is something that we could do for them, it is first to do for these young males and get us get a foothold into them. In the learning phase, they are getting into the thought process where they are strategizing their mind, when they are getting immersive and then we have curated an experience for them. We have the apparel, they can build their own connect with the motorcycle.

He added:

"They also get an indepth understanding of what is a motorcycle. Answers to questions like, 'Where does the engine sit?' 'What does a fuel tank do?' 'What does it tell them?' 'Why is this component required?' They can also design their bikes, the color too and get involved completely."

TVS Racing and KidZania - an experiential marketing experience

As a first in India, TVS Racing marked its foray into curating an experience zone - forming another experimental marketing experience - at KidZania in Mumbai. The experience zone aims to train and improve the riding skills of young riders, further instilling the maturity of understanding that racing is meant for the tracks.

Sumbly said at the partnership event:

"The partnership brings a first-ever motorcycle racing experience for kids in India. This partnership further fuels TVS Racing's commitment of promoting a safe yet thrilling racing culture for the young riders in India.

"Driven by the philosophy that inspiration starts young, and aspiration starts younger, we aim to offer a fun and interactive experience for children to learn and experience the joy of racing in a safe and controlled environment. We believe this unique experience will not only create a memorable experience for children but will also inspire and cultivate a passion for racing in the next generation."