Ola: The hot-selling meme that confuses everyone

Wheel in motion? ͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­ Forwarded this email? [Subscribe here]() for more Get 1% smarter everyday with NextBigWhat subscription! Refer a friend and get access to premium content. [Refer a friend]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [Ola: The hot-selling meme that confuses everyone]( Wheel in motion? Aug 21   [READ IN APP](   The Internet is full of memes on Ola founder, Bhavish’s claims that Ola is the world’s fourth largest EV company in the world* (* = excluding China). This has become a meme, but here are some harsh truths about Ola business [Upgrade to paid]( - The main product, i.e. Ola cabs is literally a non-existent one now. - Ola EV had a very high burn rate. Most of the earlier incidents around EV catching fire were from Ola (curious: what’s the latest data?) - Ola’s customer service is really a fictitious story. The Internet is full of tweets/videos about one’s bike being lying idle and no help from Ola’s customer care. - Ola is being sued by MapMyIndia for copying its data - Ola is accused of copying images from Hero Tech’s Germany website (btw, this isn’t anything new for the company - they even copied their [splash screen]( in the first version of the product) [Abrar Bin Ayub Product Manager at Zero Electric Motorcycles Accuses Ola Electric]( - Krutrim / AI stack is..meh (though I like the fact that Bhavish is moving away from consumer play, i.e. chatbot to infra play - i.e. Krutrim cloud). But in spite of all this: - Ola sells well. - Ola EV’s market share is bloody good (~50% market share / has beaten the early movers like Ather, the incumbents like Bajaj, Hero etc) - And the share price is nearly double of its debut (as of today) - Deeply integrated with its product stack - right from UX (one app does the work) to its fintech arm, i.e. Ola finance. [Share]( So, what gives? Why is it that a brand which is being laughed upon by everyone - still sell? Well, here is what is happening: Nationalism as a GTM play always works Right from ‘Make America Great Again’ (Trump) to ‘The Chinese Dream’ (Xi Jinping), nationalism card has always worked and Bhavish has been playing this [very well](. But unlike others who just do a lip service, he seems to be acting on it as well - moving out of Azure to Krutrim is a great case study on that (I don’t know how real/practical was this entire transition so won’t comment). The nationalistic sentiments works best to get free PR / media coverage + build a nationalistic brand (top of the mind recall) - which creates a positive sentiment among customers (of Ola products + stock). While competitors are playing the feature-benefit game, Ola has definitely upped the play with its nationalistic game After all, what do you recall about Bajaj or Hero’s EV promos? I am sure: NOTHING. --------------------------------------------------------------- Ola has cracked the price point The real buyers of Ola are value-for-money seekers. They may not care much about nationalism or burn rate - they just want a great looking bike at an affordable price point (and of course, should work as expected). [Share NextBigWhat: Startups, AI and You]() No doubt, Ola has figured out the right pricing strategy - unlike Ather, which is too premium (simply put, Ola is enjoying the lower BoM (Bill of Material) and is passing the discount to customers). Importantly, it is present in all 3 segments - commuter, mid-market, and super premium (which were literally owned by Bajaj Auto, Hero MotoCorp, and TVS) Even the recently announced bike Roadster is priced at a crazy price point (75K), which I am sure will disrupt other’s plans. --------------------------------------------------------------- Single-Category focus Imagine this. You are sales manager at TVS, Hero or Bajaj’s showroom. You have two options - Sell what you know (i.e. petrol vehicle) - Sell EVs. You will always be confused which vehicle to sell/promote - and that reminds me of Siebel (yeah, the CRM OG) which badly lost to salesforce because the sales team was often confused which product to sell - the on-premise CRM (huge $$) or much cheaper, CRMOndemand product (subscription product)- selling the latter meant very lesser incentive$$. This confusion is very much rampant in dealers, and they often end up selling what gives them better margins (translates to better incentives) and importantly, closes the deal better - i.e. petrol vehicle. Being an EV native brand helps Ola build a clear narrative as opposed to the incumbents. --------------------------------------------------------------- Face of the brand - always works. Bhavish has done a remarkable job of PR and that too, driving the PR machinery on his own name / personality. Given the new age audience they (probably) relate better with Bhavish than no-face-Bajaj or TVS or similar companies. Others like Ather have been executing silently ( that’s Tarun’s style, each founder has his/her own personality, and I am not judging). --------------------------------------------------------------- What’s your take? A guest post by [Ashish Sinha](ashishsinha237246?utm_campaign=guest_post_bio&utm_medium=email) Founder, NextBigWhat You’re currently a free subscriber. For the complete experience, upgrade your subscription. [Upgrade to paid]( India based subscribers can subscribe using the Razorpay link below (as Stripe doesn’t work with all Indian cards). [Subscribe with Razorpay]( Follow us on [Twitter]( | [LinkedIn]( | [YouTube](   [Like]( [Comment]( [Restack](   © 2024 Zakti Inc 677, HSR Layout, Bangalore-560102 [Unsubscribe]() [Get the app]( writing]()