Chetak: Revitalizing a Legacy Brand from the Past to the Future

The case elaborates the relaunch of Chetak, the iconic scooter brand by Bajaj Auto Limited (BAL), from the perspective of brand identity, legacy brands, and brand extension authenticity. It traces the journey of Chetak from being the market leader in the Indian two-wheeler segment in the 1970s and 1980s to its gradual exit from the market in 2005. With the discontinuation of Chetak, BAL completely withdrew from the scooter market in India to build a motorcycle-focused business. The case locates the reader in December 2019, 14 years from BAL's exit from the scooter market. BAL had decided to bring back Chetak and wanted to launch it as a modern electric scooter in 2020. Although Chetak carried a positive legacy from the past, it needed to reconfigure its brand identity to fit with the new electric vehicle category. However, in this reconfiguration, the brand needed to be careful about not losing the authenticity connected to its past. The case focuses on the dilemma facing the protagonists regarding the brand positioning of the revived Chetak.

Learning Objectives

• Appreciate the strategic value of decoding brand identity and the systematic process of relaunching a legacy brand.
• Think profoundly about how brands travel through time-how iconic brands from the past can be strategically revived in a different era, catering to a new generation or cohort of consumers.
• Practice hands-on decoding of brand identity and repositioning.