Driving Tata Motors into the heart of India
By Ankur Gaurav and Rashi Bisaria UT Ramprasad, Head of Marketing Communications, Commercial Vehicles Division, Tata Motors says the company’s extensive lineup of variants of commercial vehicles has penetrated into the Indian heartland not just due to product innovation, but also effective communication to consumers through the Print medium. He cites supplements of vernacular newspapers and regional festivals as great platforms for targeted advertising in rural and semiurban markets Tata Motors’ commercial vehicle division has played a key role in the evolution of the public transport ecosystem in the country over the last 60 years. One out of every 10 trucks on the roads of India sport the Tata logo. From intense product focus, the brand has moved to focus more on consumer insights to build its product portfolio. The Prima LX range of trucks, launched early this year, has allowed transporters to upgrade to a more modern trucking system. Behind the success of Tata’s commercial vehicles business lies Tata’s deep connect with the masses. The company targets customers largely from the rural and semi-urban markets found at the bottom of the pyramid. But marketing to this segment has always been a challenge. This segment comprises 85% of the brand’s market. But Tata Motors has been able to make a mark with an intelligent mix of media geared to its own advantage. Print as a medium has become very significant for Tata’s commercial vehicles segment. “It comes with an advantage in these areas as power cuts are a major issue and any campaign running during the IPL or news bulletins may not reach the audience. The medium of Print is free from dependence on power, is accessible and can reach out to the panchayats too,” says U T Ramprasad, Head of Marketing Communications, Tata Motors’ Commercial Vehicles Division. Tata Motors has a pan India presence, but as Ramprasad says, “North and East are high selling markets for us and very significant. Our target consumer is located in every small town, village, and city of the country. However, UP, Jharkhand, Bihar are states where our relevance is magnified as the state of public transport in these regions is still shaky.” Tata Motors has been able to expand the market for utility vehicles with its varied offerings in this segment. In the past decade, they have produced some innovative vehicles like the minitruck Ace in May 2005 and the Tata Magic, its passenger carrier version - India’s first four- wheeled public passenger vehicle - in June 2007. Part of the success of these two vehicles was also due to right targeting through the vernacular media. “We used the vernacular Print medium to target our consumers. Ace was aimed at small-scale transporters and entrepreneurs in India. With the Ace, Tata Motors provided the last mile transport. The Chhota Haathi campaign worked wonders with the target group,” says Ramprasad, about the campaign with the little elephant and the tagline ‘Small is Big’, used to great effect in both Print and Television. With the promise of prosperity in people’s lives and the tagline ‘Har safar mein kahaani hai’, it became the preferred last mile public transportation across India. Magic created magic through a variety of campaigns both in Print and on TV to lure the target group. It was aimed at upgrading the travel experience in small towns and provided an effective means of livelihood to the owner. Once again, it was important to reach the man in the remotest corner of the country and news print was one of the platforms used to spread the word. On being asked about Tata’s ability to connect so well with the masses, Ramprasad explains, “The prime motto has been to engage our target group and to get more first time users. Consumer vehicles are not a fashionable entity, but we are tryingto make it more attractive for the masses.” The Ace ‘Life Ban Jaayegi’ campaign was yet another effort to win customers over and it worked. “Print media manages to connect to a wide spectrum of society. We extensively used Print in the four southern states, Maharashtra in addition to North and East India to promote Ace and Magic. Print campaigns were integrated with TVCs to spread the word about offers, and to push regional sales,” adds Ramprasad. He also stresses how supplements of vernacular newspapers provide great value for money, especially for targeted advertising. Tata Motors has also used the Print medium during regional festivals where precise targeting is required. Tata’s extensive line-up of variants of commercial vehicles has penetrated into the Indian heartland not just due to product innovation, but also effective communication to reach consumers. According to the Pitch Madison Media Advertising 2014 Report, regional dailies are expected to continue their onward march and grow at a faster rate than English dailies. For the past three years, Print has sustained its dominance, despite growing competition in the entire advertisement space available for marketers. It continues to hold its ground for the third consecutive year. Several brands have understood the power of the written word, Tata Motors being one of them. THE EDGE
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