A CASE STUDY ON HIKE

MESSENGER
 Roll No. Name
98
Abhishek Arora

100
Lalit Bramhankar

Prepared By
102
Himanshu Niwal

104
Shubham Lohakare

105
Aniket Deodhar

107
Rohit Patil

88
Rahul Nalawade

108
Shreeyash Deshpande

121
Araft Mannur
• Guided By 103
Sahiba Kaur Gujral

89
• Dr. Reena Lenka Jagriti Singh

106
Anuja Kadam
• Hike Messenger:

Hike is Indian app and essentially is a cool messaging platform for chatting with funky and killer stickers that
came in to innovate the messaging world. Hike, founded in 2012 by Kavin Bharti Mittal, was the first
messaging and social technology company made in India. Hike Messaging app is the cross platform instant
messaging app for communication on the internet.

Hike messenger app:-

Availability:-
Hike messenger can be downloaded in Google Play Store and Apple’s App Store .

Features:
Hike constantly working on user engagement and adds new features promptly according to the festivals and
famous days.

Digital Marketing Updates

Get updates on latest digital marketing & social media stories.

Some of the features of Hike are:

Two-way option
Offline messages:
Issues and findings of the case study:-

Reasons Why Hike Messenger is Shut Down

Jack of all Trades, Master of None

Unfortunately, too many features clouded the messaging app’s USP (Unique
Selling Proposition).

Hike was Evolving too Fast:-

Hike was introducing 3–4 options to its users once a year

Targeting Millennials Only

Assumption Made:-

1: Using Sticker Chat App as its USP in the Initial Times

2: Hike should have used WhatsApp’s New Data Policies in its Favor
3: Hike could have Leveraged Vocal for Local Campaign
Findings
Why Hike Messenger Failed

•Complex Navigation & High Storage Space

If we talk about user navigation, we can assume that existing users will adjust to it somehow. But what about new users or users that weren’t using
Hike actively? It was a challenge for them. The navigation was so complex that a user has to go through seven steps to post a photo on the timeline.
Moreover, the packing of such diverse features made Hike a heavy app — 75.16 MB (Android). Smartphones weren’t as affordable back then as they
are today, neither did they used to come with 3 GB RAM and 128 GB ROM. Obviously, Indian smartphone users had to avoid heavy apps to save
more space on their phones. However, Kavin addressed the issue in a Business Today’s interview with the hope of making the next version Hike
(5.0) much simpler and lighter, which was released with 25 MB space in July 2017. 

•Targeting Millennial Only

•According to the company’s sources, Hike’s primary demographics were the 16–21 age range users specifically belonging to metro cities. Their
targeting was driving them back in terms of market acquisition and Kavin didn’t realize it until 2019 — later decided to unbundle the app to target
different parts of the market, said Kavin in a rediff’s interview. The target preferences of the company advanced to the same demographics but in
small towns of India now. But again, things were already out of the hand.The Jio and affordable Smartphone storm that came in late 2016 helped
Whatsapp to become popular in urban India as well. The Whatsapp usage surged in urban India and noticed adoption in rural India.

•As the smart phones and Internet coverage unfolded after 2016, the user acquisition improved and the bracket of 25+ started picking up Whatsapp.
The launch of Whatsapp Business in 2018 helped the company in creating more market dominance — by including small businesses and corporate
audience segments — in the upcoming years. Sooner than later, Hike lost more opportunities with time.
 Facts about Hike Messenger
1.Hike, founded in 2012 and launched
on 12-12-12 by Kavin Bharti Mittal, it
was the first messaging and social
technology company made in India
2.In just one year of launching, Hike Parameter Hike Whatsapp Telegram
was rated #1 App on Android Play
Store, iOS Appstore, and Windows M o nt hly Us ers
10 0 2000 50 0
Store and had a customer base of 15 (in millio ns )
million Yes
3.100 million users, exchange 40 billion End -t o -End (Had it b efo re
Yes Yes
messages per month and spent over 120 encryp t io n Whats Ap p and
minutes per week on Hike Teleg ram)
4The Indian start-up was valued at $1.4 Has s creens ho t
No No Yes
billion and achieved the “unicorn” d etectio n
status in the year 2016 Yes
5.It was the first Indian messaging app Send ing d o cuments (Hike can s hare any Yes Yes
to launch digital payments with Hike t yp e o f files )
Wallet Larg es t file s ize
25 MB 64 MB 1.5 GB
6.Hike also tied up with various brands allo wed fo r s haring
like Dominos, CCD, Pizza Hut for Hid d en M o d e Yes No No
discount coupons. This intrigued the
actual customers and brought potential
customers on board
Hike was most certainly the best & biggest competitor of other
widely popular Instant Messaging apps. Then came Jan 2016, when
Hike revealed to press that Facebook blocked an option in its ads
which allowed users to visit Hike website. Facebook gave no
confirmation, but it admitted that certain products & services can’t
be advertised on its platform. Smart business decision you’d say
but cutting out competition from a Co-born on the land you’re
doing business in puts the blame on the state’s unfavorable policies,
inadequate regulations & not-so-friendly business environment yet
more than it does on the company. But all is not so grim, Indian
start-up community has begun to get its fair share of financial,
policy boost. On January 6, 2021, Hike informed its users that it
will be shutting down its messenger and were given a deadline till
January 14 to migrate their data. Kavin Bharti Mittal, Founder of
Hike Messenger did not clearly mention the reason behind this
move but tweeted on Jan 10, 2021, about it vaguely as follows-It is a
fact though, given the dominance of American tech giants globally.
There isn’t another China in the world, to refuse to bow down to
USA’s shrewd business practices, as yet. Even Hike's marketing
team has to share the blame for its failure. All in all, the fall of Hike
is as remarkable as its rise. Needs detailed study, if the start-up
scene in India has to improve.
 Discussion

• Major problems faced by Hike messenger.

1 Jack of all Trades, Master of None: -

•Hike took off with some phenomenal features — regional slang stickers, two-way chat theme, hidden chat, and free text
messaging — which none of the popular messaging apps had at that time, especially WhatsApp.
•Later, it developed news updates, Hike Wallet, online games to lure the users. Unfortunately, too many features clouded the
messaging app’s USP (Unique Selling Proposition).
•It became hard for Hike to gain users’ attention eventually.

 
2: Hike was Evolving too Fast:-

•Hike was introducing 3–4 features for its users every year. Indeed, they were moving fast. In the time span of ten months in
2015, Hike introduced four features such as voice call feature, group call feature, news feed in Hindi, and Hike Direct for its
users.
•At one end, where some users were enjoying the features, others felt overwhelmed. Before users could get a hang of a feature,
Hike offers them with another feature.
3. Complex Navigation & High Storage Space:-
The navigation was so complex that a user has to
go through seven steps to post a photo on the
timeline. Moreover, the packing of such diverse
features made Hike a heavy app — 75.16 MB
(Android).
Smartphones weren’t as affordable back in and
before 2015 as they are today, neither did they
used to come with 3 GB RAM and 128 GB ROM.
Obviously, Indian smartphone users had to avoid
heavy apps to save more space on their phones.
4. Targeting Millennials Only:-
•Hike’s primary demographics were the 16–21
age range users specifically belonging to the
metro cities. The target preferences of the
company advanced to the same demographics
but in small towns of India now.
•Jio and other affordable smartphones captured
the market in late 2016 helped Whatsapp to
become popular in urban India as well.
ADVANTAGES OF USING HIKE MESSENGER

1.Supports national and international messaging.

2.No messaging cost i.e. free for all.
3.Hike has a lot of interesting and useful stickers along with emojis of almost every type.
4.Group messaging and broadcast messaging are supported.
5.Gives rewards for every referral.
6.It has some very interesting extra features like Games on hike, Match Up!, Cricket on hike, News on hike and Hike
Daily which gives awesome quotes, facts and more once every day.
7.It provides free coupons and offers also from your favourite brands.
8.It has a very good and unique feature of offline SMS sending.
9.One major likeable feature of hike is that transfer of every type of file is supported whether it is doc, pdf or any other
file

DISADVANTAGES OF USING HIKE MESSENGER

1.No video calling feature is there on hike.

2.They should upgrade their user interface a little bit because it lags sometimes
 Conclusion
From above data we conclude that Hike come off with some
phenomenal features like regional slang stickers, two-way chat theme,
hidden chat, and free text messaging, which none of the popular
messaging apps had at that time, especially What’s app. But by the
changing time there is huge competition, and that time hike is failure to
take that place in people in mind.
Hike are bound to miss an important development or phase that must
have contributed to it. and there are some key points for failure of hike.

Selective Targeting: They have kept their targeting very selective.

When any company targets their consumers then some factors play role:
Value propositions-means ultimately what value you are providing to
your consumer.
Pricing-It plays very important role that you are selling a expensive
product or at cheap price.
 
Specific Target Audience: Hike makes there customer specifically the
people who are in age group of 18-23 age. Now you may ask that where
the problem occurs. The problem occurs when they were doing this
thing then at that time, they have ignored all the other population.
Because of that there all decisions either it is of marketing or product
innovation all those get very specific. But we all know that messenger is
need of everyone, it is a mass product and if you are trying such thing
with mass product then many problems get created.
• Too Many Features: Many features hike have put up in their app. If you have seen Hike applications then
they have put games, checklist, messaging payment option is also available. Hike was famous because of its
stickers; they have done so much of innovation and develop very good product also. They continuously keep
on doing up the innovation and keep on adding up new features after one time Hike become super app. Then
you must be thinking that where the problem arises. The problem was that somehow Hike made himself
Super App but people didn’t understand that how to use. Its get very much complex for people to use so
much features at once.

• Large Application Size: Now if in small application you will put so much features then obviously the
application size will increase. But Hike never focus on these things and they keep on putting many features
one by one. If we talk about What’s app who is competitor of Hike its application size its only 28 MB. On the
other hand Hike App size is 75 MB. Now you may say that 75MB is nothing yes its very small no difference.
But we are talking about in 2012 at that time in India there was not such Advance technology, all people
don’t have 4G phones 128GB memory was also not there phones. So many of the people at that time stop
using up Hike and there user base start decreasing slowly. Many of the people prefer what’s app at that time
because less data was used in it
Recommendation 
What Hike management team Could Have Done Instead of shutting down
•Even though Hike used great ad campaigns such as ‘Hike Up Your Life’ and ‘No more Whatscrap’ along with its unique features to acquire
users, it could have made a great comeback after 2020 if they would have used the following strategies.
•However, these strategies are assumptions only as these haven’t been tested in the real world. But we believe that these could have made an
impact on Hike’s growth if tried.

1.Using Sticker Chat App as its USP in the Initial Times

Indeed, Hike was experiencing phenomenal growth in its initial days, but today’s growth does not guarantee tomorrow’s bright future.The
company had to cost its DAU/MAU in later years to realize that the company was missing with a USP — later developed in 2019. Hike
Messenger became Hike Sticker Chat App. Also, WhatsApp and Telegram’s sticker adoption confirms that stickers have a crucial role in
engaging and retaining users.The story could have been different if Hike would have changed its approach in the next one or two years instead
of cloning WeChat.

2. Hike should have used Whatsapp’s New Data Policies in its Favor
Remember how Signal picked the pace up when Whatsapp’s new data-sharing policies emerged. I wondered why nobody paid attention to
Hike until Kavin’s tweet showed up in January 2021 about shutting the messaging app down.If Hike would have used a strategy to upsell itself
in the name of encryption, the users who gave up on Hike earlier might have come back again.
3 Hike could have Leveraged Vocal for Local Campaign

•After the novel coronavirus hit India’s economy, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi introduced a campaign Vocal for Local (to purchase and use the country’s manufactured items over other
alternatives) to recover the country’s economic health.
•If Hike would have leveraged the campaign, the sticker chat app would have a different story. Moreover, Hike also found a surge in its active users during the country’s lockdown in 2020. The
incident confirms that there was a scope for Hike to come back. 

4. Hike should have use USP (unique selling point)

•Should have concentrated on one specific feature or unique selling points. Hike has many features which are great and good for their old customers but for new customer base, it was confusing.
•As compared to hike competitors
•WhatsApp – messaging,
•Snapchat- shot videos,
•Instagram – Images.

5. The hike should have decreased its size.

•Due to its features like file share, live cricket, payments, split, gamming the size increased to 75MB.
•On another side, WhatsApp is 25MB.

6. Hike should have targeted all age categories.

•The main focus targets of the hike were young people which are bad. Their target should be all the people of India.

7. Hike should have more concentrated-on MOAT.

•MOAT means an advantage over the competition which protects the business from the competition. It is also known as a competitive advantage.
•By using IP (intellectual property) and patents.
Implementation 
• Hike messenger from the days of its inception in 2012, back when it was a simple lightweight messenger, we have observed all the changes, good
and bad, that the app has gone through all these years. Hike began its journey being the innovative new kid, adding disruptive features we all
drooled about. As the years passed, the innovative features gave way to bloat and the user experience started to take a toll.
•Today, the overall experience of the app is not smooth and does not feel optimized for lower to mid-range mobile devices. Hike is still missing
many important features and at the same time has managed to find a place in our hearts by coming up with all the unique features throughout these
years. But it was npt able to survive in the market and the reason we have already discussed.  
•Now for the implementation of the recommendations given that hike messenger should have focused on are :

1. By expanding target audience :

• The marketing department like marketing manager, advertising manger and other members should make changes in there strategies of
marketing. As they have keep there targeting very selective. They have kept there specific age group target of 18-23, this is the place where
they have done very big mistake. They should focus on targeting everyone not any specific age group. There software was very much easy to
use. By expanding the age group of there their target audience and making the app for everyone they should design the app and do the
marketing in such a way that every age group gets excited and attracted to use it.  

2. Have a specific features in place of too many :

• In place of many features which hike have put up in there app or continuously keep on adding up new feature people didn’t
understand that how to use made himself SuperApp they should have a focused on making a specific app feature which makes
the app different from other apps, a feature which becomes identity of hike
  
3 By keeping their application Size to be small :

• As hike have put so much features in their app due to which the application size
increased to 75 MB. And this was the reason many of the people at that time stop
using up hike and their user base start decreasing slowly. So, they should have also
focused on the size of the application and would have asked their software engineer
to keep it of small size as people want to use apps that takes less data in it.

4. Use of USP :

• Unique Selling Proposition should be their main focus like unique your company is
giving which other people are not giving. As Hike then it has all app features in One
app only, but they don’t have their own unique features because of that Hike was not
able to create particular image in minds of consumers. So, they should have focused
on having something different and new feature in there app so that more people
could get attracted to it a features of they would have try to gets consumers reviews
they could have got the idea what they can include in their app.
 
5 Should have plan for proper Revenue Model

• They never thought that from where the money comes in. Hike earn money through
Data, the data which was been used in hike to send messages that money telecom
companies give to Hike. But after some time when in India Jio data become free
Hike was not able to survive or earn money through telecom sectors. At one time its
download was more than 100 million but in current scenario their user base is less
than 2 million user and now its totally shutdown. This shows that they didn’t have
any plan for how they would bring money to their company to run the company they
should have planned these things properly and should have changed their revenue
model after there was change the in market, they should also have so other backups
and strategy which would have helped it to survive.
 
•From All of these many things become clear that Only innovation is not enough in order
to run Business.