Why Tata Tea is brewing hyperlocal ads over its legacy of brand-led activism

It was back in June 2007 that Tata Tea became the world’s largest tea vendor by volume. Back then, the brand decided to leverage its new position to point advertising in this market in a new direction. Rather than going the cookie-cutter way of promoting its brand on the physical and mental platforms of taste, energy and strength, the company decided to “elevate” advertising to the next level. Here was a tea brand that, for once, looked beyond the functional aspects of tea advertising. Instead, it focused on the self-actualisation — increased civic consciousness and political awareness — that a morning cuppa could offer its consumers. This was the birth of its iconic "Jaago Re" campaign that became seamlessly associated with its brand identity.

A decade after winning over consumers with its brand-led activism, Tata Tea decided to brew a hyperlocal ads approach. Over the last decade, cause-based marketing has been adopted by many brands, leading to high levels of clutter that could have diluted the brand’s distinct positioning. Was it the reason for the change in marketing strategy?

Puneet Das, Vice President – Marketing, TATA Global Beverages told exchange4media that the change is a part of the brand’s strategy on Tata Tea Premium restage to go hyperlocal and shift the needle from not just celebrating ‘India Pride’ but to also evoking ‘Regional Pride. “The brand-led activism campaigns - Jaago Re - are umbrella campaigns for the mother brand Tata Tea. We have different brands catering to different consumer segments and taste profiles under the mother brand Tata Tea – Tata Tea Agni, Tata Tea Elaichi, Tata Tea Premium and Tata Tea Gold. The Jaago Re campaign, when it was launched in 2007, disrupted the FMCG category and brought in a new era of cause-driven advertising, establishing Tata Tea as a ‘thought leader’ brand. Re-enforcing the ‘thought leadership’ DNA of the brand, we’ve launched a multi-state, hyperlocal campaign for the brand Tata Tea Premium - the flagship brand of TGB - which will now usher in a new era of hyperlocal advertising and communication in the FMCG category,” he contended.

According to Das, Tata Tea Premium’s expertise has always been catering to local taste preferences. The brand has always offered blends, meeting consumer’s taste preferences in various geographies and making Tata Tea Premium one of the leading brands across India. The brand has now developed a state-wise communication based on local/regional-level insight and has used hyperlocal media choices to effectively target the region. “The restage our endeavour is to disrupt the category by leveraging national stature while emphasizing our regional expertise,” he stated.

While most national brands only talk about ‘connecting at a local level’, the company has taken a hyperlocal approach across all the marketing mix elements -- packaging, communication or the choice of communication medium. “To complement the regional taste expertise, Tata Tea Premium has launched a new and distinct packaging for key regions/states, which captures the elements of pride for that region. For instance, the UP pack has iconic places like the Varanasi Ghats and the Taj Mahal, and iconic aspects like the Kathak dance form featured. The pack highlights elements of pride that will resonate with the people of Uttar Pradesh. Similarly, we have packs which are designed specifically for Punjab and Haryana, which are currently in the market,” Das shared.

Moreover, Tata Tea has made hyperlocal media choices to effectively target the specific state. “In UP, the lead medium is TV whereas in Delhi we’ve used digital extensively,” he explained. The TV campaign for Uttar Pradesh will be aired on 10-12 regional channels which are a geo-targeted feed of leading GECs. Whereas in Delhi, the brand evoked Dilli's regional pride by wrapping the outside of Delhi metro in visuals that are symbols of Delhiites' pride -- pictures that depict the rich heritage of the city. And on the inside, the metros were done up with stories of the rich hearted people of Delhi. Additionally, they partnered with leading radio stations to capture the flag-off of the Tata Tea Premium ‘Rich Dilli’ Metro. To further create buzz on social, leading influencers from Delhi were roped in to create a conversation around the same.

With regards to the marketing spends, Das revealed that Tata Tea Premium contributes to over a third of the company’s India revenues and spends on the campaign are commensurate to that.
According to him, this won’t be a flash-and-gone campaign and rather something they will be building up throughout the year.

“This is the proposition for the brand and we will continue to build on it in the foreseeable future. We’ve launched this campaign so far in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh. The Punjab and Haryana ones will be released soon,” he said. The communication idea for the spots is based on the premise that most states are associated with certain ‘stereotypes’/ perceptions which are generally an outsider’s perspective about that region. “Our communication tries to showcase the ‘insider’s perspective’ and celebrates the positive truth behind these stereotypes which will evoke pride among its region/ viewers,” Das remarked. The company’s creative agency -MullenLowe Lintas has partnered the brand through this journey.