‘IPL enjoys a fairly uniform reach across the country unlike GECs’

Tata Motors’ IPL association began in 2018 at a time when the company was in the middle of a turnaround with regard to the overall and individual brand positioning. IPL TV with its vast reach and regional targeting abilities, the two most significant factors according to Vivek Srivatsa, Head – Marketing, Passenger Cars at Tata Motors, became the medium of choice to execute this plan. The company also had some new products on the anvil at that time, all of which were launched in successive IPL seasons – Nexon in 2018, Harrier in 2019 and the Altroz in 2020. 

While new launches happen on a regular basis, Srivatsa believes that those with IPL are always “bigger and better, given its broad yet deep reach among the brand’s TG.” “Not only did IPL prove to be a great launchpad for our offerings, but it also accelerated the transformation in terms of brand perception which was one of our main objectives in addition to driving market share for the new products,” he says commenting on the expectations from Tata Motors’ IPL association.  

In addition to the large viewer base, the regional targeting ability being offered by Star Sports was another important consideration that led to the brand’s picking up television advertising on IPL. “Star sports approach towards IPL has been very different since it got the broadcast rights for the mega tournament. Particularly impressive is the fact that they focus a lot on regional. There are seven streams of transmission, four for different South Indian languages and one for Bangla, Gujarati and Marathi each. This helps in deepening the reach in specific geographies/markets while attracting a diverse viewership. Cricket which predominantly attracted male viewership has become a family viewing experience today, thanks to IPL and specific strategies for regional markets such as that of Star Sports. There are also elements like visual editing and locally sourced commentary teams which make the approach quite comprehensive,” explains Srivatsa.

Comparing the reach of IPL with that of GECs he adds that the latter’s dominance is “slightly restricted to the north and east markets, whereas IPL is a great combination of entertainment and sports that enjoys fairly uniform reach across markets.”

Tata Motors works with different agencies for the brands that were advertised on TV during IPL (2018-2020). These include FCB for Nixon, Ogilvy for Harrier and Lintas for Altroz. Srivatsa shares that IPL alone accounts for 20% of his television ad spend. Considering the huge investment in a media property that is known to be ‘crowded’, all his brand campaigns are tailored for the event. “We have about four to five spots for every match, which means that through the 70-odd matches that are played, a customer will be exposed to my ad nearly 280-300 times. So we have to keep it crisp - 15-20 seconder- and contextual. So while we had Nexon’s performance equated with a player’s skills, for Harrier we took a different route where the story was narrated like a novel with each ‘chapter’ unfolding in the next match. This way we could keep the excitement going. The approach for Altroz was also similarly IPL oriented; we highlighted its performance and features in relation to cricket. We also integrated the IPL tune with the ads. The approach has worked well for us.”   

Coming to the impact that the campaign had on the brand and business objectives Srivatsa remarks that while he does evaluate it on metrics such as awareness and consideration, the focus is on NPS (Net Promoter Score) which he thinks is a more comprehensive KPI covering all of aspects of brand salience. “Tata Motors has been consistently growing on NPS, but with IPL this growth was turbocharged; our ranking moved up from seven to three. While there may have been other factors also at play, what I can certainly say is that IPL has added a hint of aspiration and speed to our brands.”

Tata Motors began advertising the umbrella brand only in January 2020 with the launch of the ‘New Forever’ TV campaign which was also showcased during IPL. “This was the time when India was embracing BS6 emission norms and we upgraded our portfolio in compliance with it. The entire range of cars was refreshed and from that sprung the philosophy of ‘New Forever’ where we spoke of the overall brand pillars of safety, design and driving pleasure. Few years ago, Tata Motors was known as a manufacturer predominantly in the commercial segment. Today customers know us as the makers of the safest, best designed and entertaining to drive cars in the country. These are the three aspects around which we achieved the premiumisation of the brand, and IPL has contributed to it significantly. Every product that we make today delivers good volumes, has great awareness and is well appreciated by the customers.”

Apart from effecting a change in brand perception, Tata Motors also set out with an objective of gaining market share for its newly launched products through the IPL TV campaign. Sharing the outcomes, Srivatsa remarks, “We look at IPL as an awareness building platform, and seeing the increase in inquiries, bookings, Google searches and web visits, we can clearly say it delivered for us. Every product that was associated with IPL – the Nexon, Harrier and Altroz – has become a pillar for our business today. Having consistently grown for three years, today we claim around 8.5% market share.”