Chal meri Luna...

I just witnessed a defining moment of my life in the parking lot. I saw a Kinetic Luna. N u bet was I nostalgic or what. Suddenly the good old memories came rushing by, how a Luna always has its rear seat pulled out to accomodate sacks full of some thing or the other. Now hardly we get to see them on the roads. Guess more suave Mobikes have taken precedence in the wish lists of yougsters nowadays. Trying to relive the marketing campaign that would put many a marketing gurus to shame-The saga of Luna.

Kinetic Luna was first launched in 1974 nad was among the very few automatic models available in India then. So it was designed for the upmarket office going ladies who wanted better ways of commutation n were finding bikes n hamara bajaj hard to maneover. In its haydays Luna was endorsed by the likes of serious actors like Smita Patil and Shabana Azmi. Later on as it was lauhced with the college going kids in mind the then young Sachin Tendulkar and Mohd Azharuddin were roped in as well. Among its famous campaigns was a race against the Deccan Queen train between Mumbai and Pune. Luna was so hot as a Tv campaign brand that it was really a sought after ad by the audiences. Prahlad Kakkar and Piyush Pandey both started their careers on the back of their successful ad campaigns for Luna. Among the 1st characters of the Luna ads was The "ram murari" from the very popular "chal meri luna" ad played by none other than Raj Kumar Hirani. It started many careers but was forgotten by all. Sachin, Azhar, Piyush Pandey, Raju Hirani, Kakkar et al.

Luna was among the first brands which started the innovative trend of gifting bikes as a part of their ad campaigns. Before Man of the matches got Audis n Mercs as a prize for man of the matches n series Luna was the much adored prize. Luna also co branded itself with the SSC results where in the SSC topper used to be given a Luna as the prize. 1 more innovation was incorporated for the students who could never dream off topping the exams neither would ever dream of getting a Luna as a prize from their dads for scoring high. For them kinetic also used to felicitate a student with a Luna as prize who would pass with exactly 33% of marks in SSC.

Such was the strong campaign it made Luna the soul flag bearer for more than 2 decades in its category and never could no other brand infringe the moped category what now became a generic term. The Luna category. Thats what we call marketing.