Tata Nano Brand Audit

Tata Nano Brand Audit Report
Brand Management Course Project
Arvind Raman - 1112011

Bhuvana Ramachandran - 1112017
Chandrashekar S - 1112018
Manoj Kumar - 1112030
Varkey K V - 1112064
Faculty: Prof. Preeti Krishnan Lyndem
Indian Institute of Management Bangalore
Towards partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Post Graduate Diploma in Software
Enterprise Management of the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore
Table of Contents
1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 6
2 Methodology ........................................................................................................................... 6
3 Brand Inventory ...................................................................................................................... 7
3.1 Tata Nano History ............................................................................................................ 7
3.2 Ownership ........................................................................................................................ 7
3.3 Target Customer Profile ................................................................................................... 8
3.4 Product Attributes ............................................................................................................ 9
3.4.1 Stylish and comfortable ............................................................................................ 9
3.4.2 Fuel-efficient engine ................................................................................................. 9
3.4.3 Meets all safety requirements ................................................................................... 9
3.4.4 Environment-friendly................................................................................................ 9
3.5 Brand Elements .............................................................................................................. 10
3.5.1 Brand Names and URLs ......................................................................................... 10
3.5.2 Logos and Symbols ................................................................................................. 10
3.5.3 Characters and Spokespeople ................................................................................. 10
3.5.4 Slogans and Jingles ................................................................................................. 11
3.5.5 Packaging and Signage ........................................................................................... 11
3.5.6 Evaluation on effectiveness of Tata Nanos Brand Elements ................................. 12
3.6 Brand Portfolio ............................................................................................................... 14
3.6.1 Line extensions ....................................................................................................... 15
3.7 Nano Art in Motion and the Art Nano campaign ........................................................... 15
3.8 Communication .............................................................................................................. 15
3.9 Pricing ............................................................................................................................ 18
3.10 Distribution ................................................................................................................. 20

3.11 Brand Positioning ....................................................................................................... 22
3.11.1 Points of Parity........................................................................................................ 22
3.11.2 Points of Difference ................................................................................................ 23
3.12 Competition ................................................................................................................ 23
3.13 Company Performance ............................................................................................... 29
4 Brand Exploratory................................................................................................................. 30
4.1 Customer Knowledge Structure ..................................................................................... 30
4.2 Brand Mantra.................................................................................................................. 30
4.2.1 Core brand association ............................................................................................ 30
4.2.2 Creating & communicating brand mantra for Tata Nano ....................................... 31
4.3 Sources of Brand Equity ................................................................................................ 31
4.4 The CBBE Pyramid ........................................................................................................ 33
4.4.1 Brand Salience (Medium) ....................................................................................... 33
4.4.2 Brand Performance (Low to Medium) .................................................................... 33
4.4.3 Brand Imagery (Low to Non-existent) .................................................................... 34
4.4.4 Brand Judgments (Low to Medium) ....................................................................... 34
4.4.5 Brand Feelings (Low) ............................................................................................. 34
4.4.6 Brand Resonance (Low to non-existent)................................................................. 34
5 STP and Marketing Mix........................................................................................................ 35
6 SocialMetrics Analysis ......................................................................................................... 37
6.1 Tata Nano vs. Maruti 800/Alto ...................................................................................... 37
7 Brand Management Framework Element-by-Element Analysis ....................................... 39
7.1 Brand Identity................................................................................................................. 39
7.1.1 Core Identity ........................................................................................................... 40
7.1.2 Extended Identity .................................................................................................... 41

7.2 Brand Personality ........................................................................................................... 41
7.3 Brand Positioning ........................................................................................................... 43
7.3.1 Points of Parity........................................................................................................ 43
7.3.2 Points of difference ................................................................................................. 43
7.4 Brand Communication ................................................................................................... 44
7.5 Brand Knowledge ........................................................................................................... 44
7.5.1 Brand Awareness .................................................................................................... 45
7.5.2 Brand Image ............................................................................................................ 47
7.6 Brand Equity .................................................................................................................. 51
8 Key Insights & Recommendations ....................................................................................... 57
8.1 Major Branding Issues ................................................................................................... 57
8.1.1 Lack of Differentiated Positioning.......................................................................... 57
8.1.2 Branding strategy did not align with 2012 relaunch & repositioning ..................... 57
8.1.3 Ratan Tata as brand ambassador not aligned with 2012 positioning ...................... 58
8.2 SWOT Analysis for Tata Nano ...................................................................................... 59
8.3 Brand Strategies Recommendations............................................................................ 59
8.3.1 Reposition the brand to establish more compelling PODs ..................................... 59
8.3.2 Launch a global brand Tata Europa ..................................................................... 60
8.3.3 Partner with a global automotive brand .................................................................. 61
8.3.4 Continuous product improvements and variants..................................................... 61
8.3.5 Change Tata parent brand associations ................................................................... 61
8.3.6 Cultivate distinct positioning for multibrands and improve brand equity .............. 62
8.3.7 Increase focus on experiential marketing to wipe out scooter episode ................ 62
9 Conclusions ........................................................................................................................... 63
10 Appendices ............................................................................................................................ 63
10.1 References .................................................................................................................. 63
10.2 Video References ........................................................................................................ 64
10.3 Summary of Survey Questions ................................................................................... 64
10.4 Tata Nano vs. Competition Feature Comparison .................................................... 66
Table of Figures
Figure 1Price of the different variants of the Tata Nano car in Kolkatta ..................................... 20
Figure 2 Tata Nano mental map.................................................................................................... 31
Figure 4 Captures as on 30-Apr-2013 ........................................................................................... 38
Figure 5 Ratan Tata's Nano vision - Source: tatanano.com .......................................................... 40
Figure 6 Survey Q32. Which of the following words would you most associate TATA NANO
with? .............................................................................................................................................. 43
1 Introduction
A brand audit is a comprehensive examination of a brand, involving activities to assess the health
of a brand, uncover its sources of equity, and suggest ways to improve and leverage that equity.
While Tata Nano was originally launched in 2009 as a family-oriented peoples car for semi-
urban locations, the company repositioned Tata Nano late 2012 towards the youth segment in
urban cities.
We would like to check the health of the Tata Nano brand through an audit, analyze if the
branding strategy is appropriate for the current environment and desirable for the target segment
and brand positioning, and arrive at a viable and sustainable brand strategy based on the insights
gained through this brand audit exercise.
2 Methodology
The project has been executed with data from primary and secondary sources. Secondary source
data was used to study company centric or internal brand management elements and primary
source data was mainly used to explore external or customer centric brand management
elements.
The brand audit was performed through quantitative surveys of Tata Nano and Nano brand
names. The survey questionnaire was circulated to a total of 250 people in the age group of 20-
40 years. A total of 73 responses were obtained across the two surveys, with 33 responses for
Nano survey and 40 responses for Tata Nano survey.
Chi square and ANOVA statistical tests were performed on the data collected from the survey.
The Chi square test was used to analyze the relationship between two variables and to compare
two or more populations (e.g. effect of age, gender, lifestage and income on recall, customer
purchase preference etc.) for nominal data. ANOVA (i.e. one-way analysis of variance)
parametric test allowed us to test whether there is a difference between the means of two or more
normal populations using interval data (e.g. comparison of brand judgment, performance
measures across the 2 different samples from Tata Nano and Nano survey).
The significance level for all tests was 0.05, which indicates that if the tests are considered
statistically significant, there is less than a five percent chance that the test result, or one more
extreme, occurs by chance alone.
3 Brand Inventory
3.1 Tata Nano History

It is a story very well known - Ratan Tata sees a family of four on a rainy Mumbai evening on a
two wheeler and decided he has to do something about it. He announces his vision for a small
car! Says ideal price for affordable family car should be INR 1 Lakh/lac. And with that dikat,
Tata Motors began development of an affordable car that would appeal to the many Indians who
drive motorcycles.
The small car project team was headed by Girish Wagh. The team tried out several innovation
and different design specifications and engineering changes to keep the cost under INR 1 lakh.
Every design had to cater to three key requirements Cost, Regulatory requirement and Acceptable
performance standard.
The design team initially came up with a vehicle which had bars instead of doors and plastic
flaps to keep out the monsoon rains. It was closer to a quadricycle than a car, and the first
prototype, Wagh admits candidly, "Lacked punch.".
Even a bigger engine, which boosted the power by nearly 20%, was still dismal. "It was an
embarrassment," says Wagh.
Finally after many iterations three designs were presented and finally one design was pick in
mid-2005 to further work on and bring it to reality. Tata Motors announces that the Nano will be
produced in Singur - West Bengal. While the plant was coming up in Singur Design house
I.D.E.O did the final refinement to the design and the Nano style (as is currently) was frozen in
mid-2006.
The Nano was unveiled at the Delhi Auto Expo and witnessed an explosion of media interest.
Mid 2008 the project moved from Singur to Sanand in Gujarat. In March 2009 the Nano as
Peoples car was launched at the Parsi Gymkhana in Mumbai.
3.2 Ownership1
The Tata group comprises over 100 operating companies in seven business sectors:
communications and information technology, engineering, materials, services, energy, consumer
products and chemicals. The group has operations in more than 80 countries across six
1
http://tata.in/aboutus/sub_index.aspx?sectid=8hOk5Qq3EfQ=
continents, and its companies export products and services to 85 countries. The total revenue of
Tata companies, taken together, was $100.09 billion (around Rs475,721 crore) in 2011-12, with
58 percent of this coming from business outside India. Tata companies employ over 450,000
people worldwide. The Tata name has been respected in India for more than 140 years for its
adherence to strong values and business ethics.
Every Tata company or enterprise operates independently. Each of these companies has its own
board of directors and shareholders, to whom it is answerable. There are 32 publicly listed Tata
enterprises and they have a combined market capitalization of about $93.42 billion (as on May 2,
2013), and a shareholder base of 3.8 million. The major Tata companies are Tata Steel, Tata
Motors, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Tata Power, Tata Chemicals, Tata Global Beverages,
Tata Teleservices, Titan, Tata Communications and Indian Hotels.
Going forward, Tata is focusing on new technologies and innovation to drive its business in India
and internationally. The Nano car is one example, as is the Eka supercomputer (developed by
another Tata company), which in 2008 was ranked the worlds fourth fastest. Anchored in India
and wedded to traditional values and strong ethics, Tata companies are building multinational
businesses that will achieve growth through excellence and innovation, while balancing the
interests of shareholders, employees and civil society.
3.3 Target Customer Profile

If online polls are an indication, majority of the buyers are unlikely to be the "hum-do-hamare-do
families," who were the main inspiration behind the Nano. If online polls at social networking
sites are some indication, a significant portion of the potential buyers for the Nano are
predominantly male. And, they will be less than 25 years. In one online poll, 39% of the
respondents felt that the average Nano buyer will be under 25 years of age while 81% agreed that
the Nano buyer will be less than 40 years [1]. This is in alignment with the tradeoff in terms of
pricing that college going respondents were willing to make upgrade to a Nano as against
purchasing a two wheeler.
Given the low price tag on the car, the company had expected that it would find its potential
customers among first time buyers who hitherto had kept cars out of their consideration set.
However, during the initial rounds of booking, the company found that nearly 80% of the buyers
already owned a car [2]. This though has apparently started to change, now that the company has
fixed issues with some of its marketing mix elements. For instance these days the company sees
the proportion of first time buyers to be anywhere between 50-80% month on month.
3.4 Product Attributes
3.4.1 Stylish and comfortable

Nano is designed with a family of four in mind. It has roomy passenger compartment with
generous leg space and headroom. Four doors with high seating position make ingress and egress
easy. Yet with a length of 3.1 meters, width of 1.5 meters and a height of 1.6 meters, with
adequate ground clearance, it can effortlessly maneuver on busy roads in cities as well as in rural
areas. Its mono-volume design, with wheels at the corners and the power train at the rear, enables
it to uniquely combine both space and maneuverability, which will set a benchmark among small
cars.
3.4.2 Fuel-efficient engine

Nano has a rear-wheel drive, all aluminum, two-cylinder, 523 cc, 33 PS, multi point fuel
injection petrol engine. This is the first time that a two-cylinder gasoline engine is being used in
a car with a single balancer shaft. The lean design strategy has helped minimize weight, which
helps maximize performance per unit of energy consumed and delivers high fuel efficiency.
Performance is controlled by a specially designed electronic engine management system.
3.4.3 Meets all safety requirements

Nanos safety performance exceeds current regulatory requirements. With an all sheet-metal
body, it has a strong passenger compartment, with safety features such as crumple zones,
intrusion-resistant doors, seats belts, strong seats and anchorages, and the rear tailgate glass
bonded to the body. Tubeless tires further enhance safety.
3.4.4 Environment-friendly
Nanos tailpipe emission performance exceeds regulatory requirements. In terms of overall
pollutants, it has a lower pollution level than two-wheelers being manufactured. The high
efficiency also ensures that the car has low carbon dioxide emissions, thereby providing the twin
benefits of an affordable transportation solution with a low carbon footprint.
Some of the other innovative features:
- No boot in the traditional sense. The access to boot is via the (folded) rear seat
- Single windscreen wiper, instead of two
- Only driver side view mirror
Thus on Nano, Tata Motors give a warranty of 4 years/ 60,000 km, the highest in its category.
3.5 Brand Elements
3.5.1 Brand Names and URLs

The company aptly named the small yet innovative car Nano to convey both its small size and high
technology2. It was nicknamed the Peoples Car as it was intended to bring automotive
transportation to the mainstream Indian population, given its affordability in terms of vehicle
price and fuel efficiency. http://www.tatanano.com/ is the official website for the car.
3.5.2 Logos and Symbols

The company has opted for literal representation of the brand name as the logo, enhancing brand meaning
and awareness, though in a stylized manner. The reliable Tata logo is always displayed along with Nano
to indicate origin, ownership and association.
3.5.3 Characters and Spokespeople

There are no human or animated characters associated with Tata Nano, in advertising campaigns
or package designs. However, the car is strongly associated with the Tata Group chairman Ratan
Tata, who conceived the car in 2003.
2
http://pd.cpim.org/2008/0120_pd/01202008_nano.htm
3.5.4 Slogans and Jingles
Tata Nano is associated with the tag line of Khushiyon Ki Chabi (Key to Happiness) indicating
that the small dream car would open the door to happiness and bliss. The messaging is well
aligned with its target audience of middle class Indian families who consider car purchase to be a
family event and a distant dream that would bring in great happiness.
3.5.5 Packaging and Signage

The company has been able to communicate style, safety and comfort3 through the cars unique
body and interior design characterized by its snub nosed bonnet, length of just 3 meters, tall
seating position through raised roof, roomy passenger compartment with generous leg space and
a wide range of bright body colors rouge red, aqua blue and sunshine yellow.
3
http://www.infibeam.com/static/tata-nano.html
.
3.5.6 Evaluation on effectiveness of Tata Nanos Brand Elements

Brand Names and Logos and Symbols Slogans and Packaging and Signage
URLs Jingles
High memorability, given Use of reliable Tata Tata Nanos Unique body design has
the short brand name. symbol for sub commercial helped in visual appeal
High on meaningfulness brand Tata Nano has based on and brand recognition.
given the relevance with helped in drawing Kushiyon ki
key product attributes upon parent brand chaabi has
associations helped reinforce
in
communication
of the tag line
message4
4
http://www.mbaskool.com/business-articles/marketing/152-tata-nano-khushiyon-ki-chaabi.html
3.6 Brand Portfolio
To analyze the brand portfolio we have to look at the parent brand of Tata Nano, the Tata Motors
umbrella under which all automotive products of Tata house are sold. We will only look at the
car segments of the Tata Motor family and not the commercial & heavy vehicles arm that Tata
Motors has.
In this hierarchy we can see that the Tata Nano stands at the lowest end of the spectrum as the
economy brand offering and aria at the other end as a luxury brand. Within the Car & Utility
vehicle umbrella, we can group the brands with respect to the category membership mainly as
Small car - Nano
Medium hatchback - Vista, Indica
Sedan - Manza , Indigo
SUV - Safari , Sumo , Aria
Other Utility - Xenon , Venture
Its clear that with the introduction of the Nano brand, Tata was seeking to address a segment of
the market that was previously unaddressed and hence possibly creating a new category by itself.
The nearest competing brand at that time was the Maruti 800 and was probably priced 1.5L
higher than the Nano. But feature wise like engine size, it was the closest logical competitor. The
800 has now been discontinued by Maruti. Pressures from the introduction of Nano were
probably one factor apart from internal cannibalization by the Alto brand.
3.6.1 Line extensions
The Tata Nano brand has line extensions which are essentially used for the 4 different product
variants of the Nano as listed below. These product variant brand extensions form the brand
portfolio for the Tata Nano brand. These extensions serve to target specific segments in the
intended market for the Nano. With ex-showroom prices ranging from INR 1.5 Lakhs to 2.1
Lakhs we observe that the brand extensions and the products they represent serve a price range
of INR 60,000. This is a small range but given the extremely price sensitive market that the Tata
Nano is catering to this range of prices and the brand extensions associated makes some sense.
Nano BS
Nano CX
Nano LX
Nano Special Edition
3.7 Nano Art in Motion and the Art Nano campaign

We would like to quickly look at the Tata Nano Art in Motion initiative as a brand extension,
where Tata is trying to marry the innovation that went behind the creation of the 1 Lakh car with
the creativity that is inherent in the arts. The Tata Nano Art in motion is a creative branding
exercise that Tatas launched in October of 2012. Trying to draw this parallel in the customers
mind that the Tata Nano is creative and innovative is a great idea in our opinion, and is
possibly aimed to form the subconscious link in the customers mind about the Tata Nanos
image as an innovation rather than a strip down low priced car. This branding initiative seems
like a promising and creative effort from the Tata Nano brand.
3.8 Communication
Not many cars in automotive history have generated the pre-launch hysteria that the so called
INR 1 lakh-car has generated. The Google search of Nano throws up close to two million
entries and two million images in Nano seconds! A fact that left even the Chairman of the Tata
group, Ratan Tata, rather nonplussed. At the launch of the Nano in Mumbai, Tata said as much
on the global attention the car has drawn, We had no idea that we would attract so much
attention in India and abroad.
Those in the communications agency of Tata Motors say that since the unveiling of the car at the
Auto Expo in Delhi in January 2008 to the actual launch this week, more than 50,000 articles
have been written about Nano in newspapers worldwide. Thanks to an engineering revolution
that the Nano sparked within its large base of suppliers of components, the publicity for the Nano
was, by and large, fuelled by the media. Nano is hot not only on traditional media but also on the
Web as evidenced by 378 Nano communities on Orkut and their tens of thousands of members.
The official Nano Web site had received more than 30 million hits till the launch and hung
following the heavy traffic immediately after that!
Clearly, Nano has been a mega success in generating public interest. At present, an estimated 27
million people can afford a car while the actual number of car owners is nine million. With the
introduction of Nano, the number of potential customers will rise to 41 million, says Sachin
Mathur, Head of Research, Crisil.
Nano will capture share from the two-wheeler market. If it captures just five per cent of the
two-wheeler sales, which is 80 lakh per year, four lakh units will be the annual sales, explains
Vaishali Jajoo, auto analyst with Angel Broking Ltd. If it performs well, it can also cannibalize
from the small car market. Typical Maruti 800 and Alto customers are not looking for power or
performance. They are generally utility-oriented and Nano may fit the bill, she adds. Capturing
market needs marketing communication to be effective. There are a number of campaigns that
Tata group has launched for promoting Nano. One such is shown below.
All its communications are targeted towards potential two wheeler segment which can afford
Nano. The company has adopted a tagline Tata Nano: Now within Reach, indicating the
affordability of the car as well as the fact that its finally arrived. Tata Motors ad agency
Rediffusion Y&R and media agency Lodestar are responsible for Nanos communication
campaign and advertising. The emphasis is clearly on print media, especially the regional
language press, and radio to reach out to the masses.
Unlike a classical product launch, Nano has got so much unpaid coverage. In normal media
buying terms the unpaid coverage for the launch day would be worth INR 100 crore. Going
forward, we would be using different forms of communication at different stages. Online is a
fairly big medium for us, says Mahesh Chauhan, Group CEO, Rediffusion Y&R.
And, a more subtle strategy is to make Nano part of everyday lingo through word-of-mouth
publicity. Newspapers are now calling brief news items Nano news and news anchors on
television say We will come back after a Nano break, says Rajiv Dube, President, Passenger
Car, Tata Motors.
Nano is not just a disruptive innovation in manufacturing. The way it is marketed is equally
innovative. No other car might have generated such a huge customer interest online as well as
offline the way Nano has generated, says Mohit Dubey, Managing Director of the online car
portal Carwale.
Diesel and Motor Engineering PLC (DIMO) arranged a "Nano Mileage Rally" to consolidate the
TATA Nano as the most fuel- efficient family car in the market. Almost 50 Nano owners took
part in the rally, which covered a distance of 70km from Colombo to Negombo and back.
3.9 Pricing
Ratan Tata, the chairman of Tata Motors had announced to manufacture an affordable car for the
masses. Ironically though, he had never committed to delivering the car at the 1 lakh price point
and had only mentioned that it would be around this mark. However, when news spread like
wild-fire he decided to take this as a challenge and do whatever is required to lower the cost to
meet the price.
The Tata Nano car has 3 major variants - BS, CX, LX with each of these variants being either
compliant to the BSIII or BSIV emission norms. Additionally, the car is sold with metallic or
non-metallic bumpers. The price of the car varies based on each of these factors in addition to the
place from where it was bought.
Tata Motors launched Nano on 23rd March 2009 and received booking for 260000 cars. But
because of constraints of the production capacity it chose 100000 of those customers through a
computerized draw of lots. To these customers the car was sold at an ex-showroom price of 1L.
Tata Motors had however made it clear that the price of 100000 would hold good only for the
first 1L cars. In 2010, Tata Motors increased the price of the car by around 3% - 4% [1].
Given below are the price points for different variants of the Tata Nano models in major cities in
India. As on date, the most basic version of the car BS with non-metallic bumpers starts at
1.53L, while the most advanced version of the car LX with metallic bumpers costs as much as
2.1L [2].
Figure - Price of the different variants of the Tata Nano car in Delhi
Figure - Price of the different variants of the Tata Nano car in Bangalore
Figure - Price of the different variants of the Tata Nano car in Chennai
Figure - Price of the different variants of the Tata Nano car in Mumbai
Figure 1Price of the different variants of the Tata Nano car in Kolkata
3.10 Distribution
The key innovation bit in the design of the Tata Nano is its modular design. This incidentally
also has an impact on the way the car is distributed. Just like a bicycle, the Nano is sold in kits
that are distributed and serviced by local entrepreneurs who assemble it for the consumer. The
idea of doing so is to try and remove layers in distribution and service network to make Nano
available throughout India without a large dealership network [1].
The same distribution model is being applied to the export market as well. For instance, in
Malaysia, the cars are assembled in predefined locations using these kits. Such assembly lines
have been established in Shah Alam and Pasir Gudang in Malaysia. [2]
It can therefore be said that Tata Nano is using the hub and spoke model for distribution. The
hubs mass manufacture the different components required for the car, while the spokes assemble
it for their customers in the local market. Tata Motors uses Clearing and Forwarding (C&F)
agents who collect these kits from the hubs and distribute it to the different assembly points (the
spokes) across the nation.
This phenomenon of distributing the car in easy-to-assemble-bits is being referred to as the
Open Distribution innovation. This approach mobilizes large number of third parties enabling
the firm to reach remote rural customers, tailor the product and services to more effectively meet
the target consumers needs and additionally add value over and above the core products and
services offered by the firm. This is touted to be a better approach than customer co-creation
since this approach enables the firm to establish long-term relationships with customers, enriched
by the specialized capabilities of the broad network of third parties that generate much deeper
insight into customer needs. This approach is quite in contrast with the strategy followed by
other automobile manufacturers given the tight integration and most of the functionality
embedded in electronics that more of less becomes a black-box to the customer. [3]
While Tata Motors had worked out their hub and spoke model to perfection, the same was not
true with the place element of the marketing mix. Tata Nanos was originally exclusively
displayed with other Tata cars in Tata Motors showrooms. However, the lower income
customers felt apprehensive and hesitant to walk into these large showrooms. The firm therefore
initially failed to bridge the last mile to the lower income customer group for whom the car was
originally built.
Realizing the issue with the distribution strategy Tata Motors formed a crack team under the
leadership of R Ramakrishnan. Under his leadership the company adopted a two pronged
strategy.
First up, the company set up F Class Showrooms in smaller towns. These showrooms were
only about 500 square feet in size and stocked a single car for display. Tata Nano dealers make
2.5% on the basic price of the car. In addition, Tata helps design these outlets and setup practices
to give customers a uniform experience across dealer outlets [4].
Secondly, it tied up with value retailer Big Bazaar to get in touch with the 150 million footfalls
that the store receives from value conscious customers each year.
Both these initiatives were done in addition to the 619 regular sales outlet that Tata Motors had
in various cities across the country, which greatly helped the firm get in touch with their target
customer base and helped establish the growth in the sales of the Tata Nano cars. As per Tata
Motors annual report, while the sales of the passenger segment declined year on year, sales of the
Tata Nano car followed the reverse trend. Sales of the Nano car increased to 74,521 units
representing a growth of 5.8% over the previous year. [5]
3.11 Brand Positioning

The positioning of the Tata Nano car was somewhat decided at the moment when Ratan Tata
announced his vision of what a small affordable car should be. In his vision for such a car, he
announced that a car which is priced at INR 1 Lakh or US$ 2500 is an affordable family car.
With such a vision statement, the segment/market of this product was pre decided. The
underlying fact behind his vision was probably the fact that there are millions of two-wheeler
owners in India who aspire to have a more comfortable means of travel that is within the reach of
their limited earnings. This aspirational energy is what has fuelled the vision for the INR 1 Lakh
car. With this vision in mind at the onset, let us look at what the Nano has aspired to be different
from just an economic car.
Khwabon ki Chaabi - the tagline of the Tata Nano aims to position it as the dream come true
for the many who have aspired to own a car. The launch video of the Nano, speaks of the 5
member family seated on a scooter, which is a familiar sight in most Indian towns/cities. For a
family like that, Tata Nano was fulfilling their dream. In the advertisements and communication
the Nano is portrayed as a youth friendly urban vehicle rather than belonging to the working
middle class.
3.11.1 Points of Parity

Skeptics raised questions about factors like safety and feasibility of the 1 Lakh car when Ratan
Tata announced it initially in his vision for a 1 lakh car. Being an automotive product, certain
category points of parity had to be met, like safety standards and approvals from testing
agencies. Other features like having 4 doors are also a point of parity. The only thing that is
probably missing is the missing hatch at the back which was done to reduce cost of an operable
hatch. The boot space is accessible only from inside the car unlike cars like the Alto or the 800.
3.11.2 Points of Difference

The Tata Nano apart from being the 1 Lakh car touted many differences from its nearest
competitors, possibly even with cars in higher segments.
21 % more interior space - this was one of the major unique selling points that the Tata Nano
brand has been using to gain the customers mind share. With cramped up interiors like the
Maruti 800 and the Alto, the Nanos interior space was quite unbelievable to many.
Mileage - Tata has highlighted the best-in-class mileage of 25 kmpl as a major point of
difference compared to its competitors like the Maruti 800, which touts 22 kmpl and the Alto
which touts 20 kmpl.
Psychological - With the Khwabon ki Chaabi tagline, and being branded as the common
mans car by the media, the Tata Nano has gained an intangible difference from other cars in
this segment by promising to be a dream rather than just a car. The youthful and lively ad
campaigns were in fact trying to pitch the Nano as a dream come true rather than just a car.
This cannot be said true for the branding strategies that have been pursued by Maruti for its
Alto or 800 in the same segment.
3.12 Competition
Today in the small car segment, we could see a number of different brands and its variants. The
market is divided among multiple players each taking a slice of pie. Market share of top
automobile manufacture in India by the end of year 2012 was as following:
Brand Market Share
Maruti Suzuki 40%
Hyundai Motors 14%
Tata Motors 13%
Mahindra &
8%
Mahindra
Toyota 6%
Honda Siel cars 4%
Ford 3%
Volkswagen India 3%
Nissan < 2%
Skoda < 2%
Others 5%
Tata with 13% market share has a greater chance of success if it comes up with an innovative car
in any category. When it comes to small cars, Nano has struggled to make its mark. Indica was a
hit but is perceived as a vehicle suitable for cab.
Nearest competition to Tata Nano is Maruti 800 which is now no more produced. Industry
analysts say that at the price range of Nano there is no competition. However, for analysis sake,
we could consider low end automobile from other companies.
When the specifications are compared, they are almost the same. However, Maruti 800
commands a premium over Tata Nano. It could also be said that Maruti was unable to re-
engineer 800 to bring down the cost to the level of Nano, something that Tata was successful in.
However due to various other issues, Tata never was successful in making a mark in passenger
vehicle segment. (Could it be because Tata is much known in the manufacture of commercial
vehicles and are perceived to be old fashioned?)
Here is the comparison of Maruti 800 and Tata Nano in terms of the differences in specification:
Some other competitors for Tata Nano and their profiles are as follows:
Maruti Alto - Maruti alto is the next version of Maruti 800 which was a hit in 90s in Indian and
emerging markets. Maruti alto sells at 2.5 lakh to 3.5 lakhs in Indian market. This is a direct
competitor to Tata Nano when it comes to price, performance and affordability.
Maruti Alto 800 - Maruti Alto 800 Base seems to have extended the design language of its
predecessor. The new generation Alto 800, has an edge with the striking the design lineage of its
predecessors but also having that modernity essence in it. The simplicity factor has especially
taken care off, that is the signature aspect of Maruti, which ultimately turns out into
overwhelming sales response. The new Alto 800, has been an overall Indian development and
has been made specifically for emerging market. The car does not showcase all those smooth
character lines and finally mold body designing. The styling is much distinct with prominent
character line, and definite features.
Maruti Wagon R - The Maruti Suzuki Wagon R is a key car in which the R stands for Radical.
It is one of the first cars to use the "tall wagon or tall boy" design in which the car is designed to
be unusually tall with a short bonnet and almost vertical hatchback and sides in order to
maximize cabin space while staying within the key car dimension restrictions. Maruti Wagon R
LX is the base model for the new Wagon R, packed with 1.0L petrol engine and 5 Speed manual
transmission gearbox and many comfort features. Wagon R LX is an extremely reliable model
from Maruti Suzuki, one of the oldest and best car manufacturers of India. Despite slow car sales
when it was initially launched, Maruti Wagon R has found a market for itself now, especially
among young Indian urban professionals who don't mind its boxy slab-sided looks, but value its
Maruti lineage. The car is currently India's second largest selling car, after Maruti Alto.
Maruti A-Star - Maruti A-Star is one of the small cars from Marutis stable, which is
technically sound and is offered at a very reasonable price. Maruti A-Star LXi is the base variant,
which would not be heavy on your pocket. The car comes with the 998cc of K10B petrol motor
that delivers great power of 67 PS at 6200 rpm along with generating 90 Nm of peak torque at
3500 rpm. The flat torque comes in handy and facilitates a smooth drive in heavy traffic
conditions too. The engine has been smartly coupled with five speed manual transmission, which
allows the car to deliver impressive fuel economy of 19 km per liter.
Chevrolet spark - Chevrolet Spark facelift version an unchanged price of Rs.3.16 lakh. The
entry level car market is hot and to counter attack the Spark hatch has been adorned with a wide
array of changes. On the exteriors 2012 Chevrolet Spark gets all new front and rear bumpers,
roof rails, revised fog lamps and newfangled head and tail lamps. The front fascia look is
accentuated with all new split front grille with aggressive lines while the cabin area ambience
gets more modish with the new dual-tone finish, double -DIN audio system with AUX-in and
USB facility and refreshed fabric upholstery.
Chevrolet Beat - Chevrolet Beat diesel is now accorded the title of Most fuel efficient car by
delivering 25.44 kmpl, thus surpassing the Tata Indica eV2 which was until now claimed to be
the small car associated with highest mileage of 25 kmpl in the country. The body International
Center for Automotive Testing (ICAT) has acknowledged Beat diesel as the most fuel efficient
car in India after the auto major has endowed the car with a minor engine overhaul to see such a
huge improvement in the mileage numbers from the original 24 kmpl to 25.44 kmpl. It is more or
less the similar case as seen with Tata Indica eV2 which was later introduced with a similar
improvement in the 1.4 L diesel engine to emerge out to be the most fuel efficient car.
Reva - Reva Electric Car Co. is currently world's largest electric car manufacturing company.
Based in Bangalore, the company launched its first product on May 11, 2001 after 7 years of
R&D. The electric car Reva can accommodate two adults in the front and two children in the
rear. Of late the company has also exported electric cars to the UK and some other countries. The
company received ISO 9001:2000 Certification by the Det Norske Veritas (DNV) in 2002.
Hyundai Eon - Priced between 2.7 and 3.7 lakhs, Hyundai Eon is certainly the most stylish car
in its segment. Hyundai EON is certainly enjoying the response people are endowing it with. The
small and cute looking hatchback has literally switched ON the senses of Indian small car
buyers. The emotions deliberately attached with the car by Hyundai India, are striking a chord
with the aam aadmi of the country. Hyundai EON is a clear answer to those car makers who
think that a low cost car cannot look beautiful and spending on design is essentially luxury car
makers cup of tea.
Competitive advantage for Tata Nano over other competitors
Design is futuristic, best in class and low cost as compared to others in market.
Each car could be easily assembled, even in a normal workshop.
Price is the least compared to any other car in its segment which attracts the two wheeler
segment.
Some of the disadvantages of Tata Nano with respect to its competitors are as follows:
It is perceived as a cheap, low quality car and hence its very difficult to convince middle
class customers to buy the product. People perceive that buying this car is a shame (survey
depicted the same). Tata has to overcome this to make best of the innovation in Tata Nano.
3.13 Company Performance

According to online reports, both Nano and Indica from Tata motors are facing huge challenges.
Nano, which was introduced almost 3 years ago, has not achieved volume sales yet. Brand image
of Nano has been adversely impacted, since its launch in 2009, due to multiple incidents of fire
and other quality issues. Customers do not want to be associated now with a cheap or unsafe car
and have moved on to buy the premium hatchbacks. There was no reason to fail for the Nano, as
a low-cost Peoples car. Nano was being branded as the INR 1Lakh car. Sanand plant was
designed to manufacture around 30,000 Nano vehicles per month in three shifts, but at present
Nano sales are not averaging even 10,000 units per month. Valuable time was lost in re-locating
the manufacturing facility from Singur (W.B) to Sanand (Gujarat), which had affected the
marketing plan, in which real customers for the Nano were expected to come from smaller cities
and towns. Auto industry experts believe that, if Tata Motors Ltd. (TML) had not faced problems
at the West Bengal Singur facility it might have just clicked, since a loyal base of customers was
waiting to buy the Nano. There is no doubt that TML has a huge advantage in its cost-
competitive manufacturing base, which can be leveraged to quickly roll out new models of cars.
A contemporary shaped Nano fitted with a diesel engine in tune with the market trends could
likely to achieve volume sales in India. By using their experience in brand image building and
marketing, Mr. Karl Slym and Mr. Ranjit Yadav can reposition the Nano as a smart car and
project its lower price as an important factor in its favor. Sales are gradually increasing and
satisfied customers experiences over the years will further enhance the Nano sales.
4 Brand Exploratory
4.1 Customer Knowledge Structure

Tata Nano has leveraged the excellence and innovation focus of Tata, while still being wedded to
traditional values and strong ethics, to create a disruptive innovation through strong technology
oriented development for the local market.
Customers must be persuaded that the brand possesses the features and attributes satisfying their
needs. This will lead to customers having a positive impression about the product and thereby
improving brand association.
As for Tata Nano, we could see similar brand association with the consumers. Nano was
successful in gaining popularity among Indian consumers because its makers were Tata. Had it
been any other company, Nano would not have been as popular as it is today. Reva, the electric
car which came into market at the beginning of the 21st century could have been popular if its
parent company was as popular as Tata.
4.2 Brand Mantra

Brand Mantra for any product, is a three to five word phrase that captures the irrefutable essence
or spirit of the brand positioning. It is not a slogan that is used for brand communication. It is
also not very publicly used. Brand mantra is something that represents what a brand truly is.
Brand mantra is the true brand association to capture the important dimensions of brand meaning
and what the brand represents. It reflects the heart and soul of the brand.
4.2.1 Core brand association

Core brand associations are those abstract associations that characterize the most important
aspect or dimensions of the brand. First step towards that is the creation of mental map. A mental
map accurately portrays in detail all salient brand association of a particular target market. The
following figure captures the mental map for Tata Nano.
Figure 2 Tata Nano mental map
4.2.2 Creating & communicating brand mantra for Tata Nano

Brand mantra could be derived from important elements emotional modifier, descriptive
modifier and brand function. Brand function describes the nature of product or service or the
type of experience that the brand provides. Descriptive modifier clarifies its nature. Emotional
modifier provides another qualifier in terms of how exactly does the brand provide benefit.
Emotional modifier Descriptive modifier Brand function

Tata Nano Warm Youthful Value for money
So the brand mantra for Tata Nano is Warm youthful value for money.
The current positioning of Tata Nano is for youths who care about money. Hence this brand
mantra would help them position the product and communicate to the target segment in the right
way.
4.3 Sources of Brand Equity

Ratan Tata with his well-known personality is the brand ambassador for Tata brand. Question
could be asked if the product is good enough to stand by itself and does not need any brand
ambassador to support the brand. In this case, it is the vision of Ratan Tata which matters. It is
one lakh price tag that adds to its popularity and that increases the brand equity.
Another important element for the brand equity of Tata Nano is the trust of Tata brand. Tata
brand is one of the oldest brand in the country. Tata Motors Limited (formerly TELCO) is an
Indian multinational automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Mumbai,
Maharashtra, India and a subsidiary of the Tata Group. Its products include passenger cars,
trucks, vans, coaches, buses and military vehicles. It is the world's eighteenth-largest motor
vehicle manufacturing company, fourth-largest truck manufacturer and second-largest bus
manufacturer by volume.
Tata Motors has auto manufacturing and assembly plants in Jamshedpur, Pantnagar, Lucknow,
Sanand, Dharwad and Pune, India, and in Argentina, South Africa, Thailand and the United
Kingdom. It has research and development centers in Pune, Jamshedpur, Lucknow and Dharwad,
India, and in South Korea, Spain, and the United Kingdom. It has a bus manufacturing joint
venture with Marcopolo S.A., Tata Marcopolo, and a construction equipment manufacturing
joint venture with Hitachi, Telcon Construction Solutions.
Founded in 1945 as a manufacturer of locomotives, the company manufactured its first
commercial vehicle in 1954 in collaboration with Daimler-Benz AG, which ended in 1969.Tata
Motors entered the passenger vehicle market in 1991 with the launch of the Tata Sierra and in
1998 launched the first fully indigenous Indian passenger car, the Indica. Tata Motors acquired
the South Korean truck manufacturer Daewoo Commercial Vehicles Company in 2004 and the
British premium car maker Jaguar Land Rover in 2008.
Tata Motors is listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange, where it is a constituent of the BSE
SENSEX index, the National Stock Exchange of India and the New York Stock Exchange. Tata
Motors is ranked 314th in the 2012 Fortune Global 500 ranking of the world's biggest
corporations
Its innovation in small/passenger car segment is one other source of brand equity. After having
successfully launched the low cost Tata Ace truck in 2005, Tata Motors began development of
an affordable car that would appeal to the many Indians who drive motorcycles The purchase
price of this no frills auto was brought down by dispensing with most nonessential features,
reducing the amount of steel used in its construction, and relying on low cost Indian labor, as
well as a new design concept called Frugal Engineering. Such kind of innovation in cost was not
new in Tata and country acknowledges this fact.
4.4 The CBBE Pyramid
Customer Based Brand Equity (CBBE) is the differential effect that brand knowledge has on
consumer response to the marketing of that brand. Brand equity is a good barometer to
understand about the past action and the future course of action of for market. Customer based
brand equity is the result of strong awareness about the brand and strong imagery of the brand in
the minds of the customer. It all starts with the need identification and satisfying it. When a
brand targets a particular segment of customer and their need is satisfied, a strong identity is
established from the firms side that is accepted by the consumer. To improve the brand equity,
the brand has to evoke the desired positive knowledge structures: thoughts, feelings, images,
perceptions, attitudes.
We used the survey inputs on the building blocks of Brand Performance, Brand Imagery, Brand
Judgments, Brand Feelings and Brand Resonance, to construct the brand or CBBE pyramid
captured below for Tata Nano.
In this section, we will analysis the Brand Equity for Tata Nano as of today i.e. post its
repositioning in 2012 targeted towards the youth segment.
4.4.1 Brand Salience (Medium)

Brand salience forms the foundational building block in developing brand equity and performs
important functions of influencing the formation and strength of brand associations that make up
the brand image and given the brand meaning, and aiding in category identification and thereby
the influencing the likelihood that the brand will be a member of the consideration set.
Survey results indicate that high brand awareness exists for Tata Nano and category
identification is present. However, target customers do not perceive the brand as being able to
meet their utilitarian and symbolic needs. So, we conclude that brand salience exists but can be
enhanced by addressing unmet needs that are characteristic of the product category.
4.4.2 Brand Performance (Low to Medium)

Survey questions Q14-Q17 were posed to understand the current brand performance. Survey
results indicate that the product is considered trustworthy, given the mean score of 3.43, but is
lower on good quality with a mean score of 3.11. This indicates that the relaunch of Nano in
2012 to address quality and safety issues has paid off to a limited extent and points to the scope
for improvement.
The product has also been ranked mediocre on product appeal which is highly important for the
given product category, and undesirable w.r.t style.
4.4.3 Brand Imagery (Low to Non-existent)

Survey questions Q18-Q21 were posed to understand the current brand imagery. The
predominant brand associations are value-for-money, small-car, cheap, low-quality, Indian and
affordable. The target segment was also split in defining the typical Nano customer, in terms of
the age group, lifestage and current bike/car ownership. Survey results indicate that Tata Nano
brand has not been successful in building an emotional appeal for its brand, and hasnt explored
the emotional route to create Brand Resonance.
4.4.4 Brand Judgments (Low to Medium)

Survey questions Q8-Q13 were posed to understand the current brand judgment. Survey results
indicate that the brand is moderately favorable (mean score of 3.39, with the target segment split
across the entire range of favorability), low purchase intention (mean score of 2.74), very low
perception of need satiation, low self-confessed WoM effects and brand preference w.r.t
competition.
4.4.5 Brand Feelings (Low)

Survey questions Q22-Q23 were posed to understand the current brand feelings. Survey results
indicate that there is very low on youthful emotions of fun, excitement, joy or confidence.
Instead, the brand is predominantly seen as offering economy and a sense of satisfaction, sense
of security and mediocre warmth.
4.4.6 Brand Resonance (Low to non-existent)

Starting with the base of the pyramid and moving to the top, we can see how Tata Nano brand
has been progressing. It has clearly taken the rational route to brand building which is not a
recommended approach for the given product category, as a car purchase decision is a mix of
thinking and feeling for target customers. Tata Nano seems to have moved up two levels where
salience and performance are present on a medium level in the minds of the customer. However,
the conversion rate from that stage to the next which is judgment or positive feelings and to
subsequent stage, i.e. brand resonance is lacking. This could be the major cause for low purchase
behavior, and lack of good word of mouth.
Our analysis indicates that Tata Nano should start by strengthening the foundational brand
salience through a more relevant brand identity and lay down the path to brand resonance via the
emotional route, while atleast slightly exceeding the hygiene factors of the given product
category, on the rational route.
5 STP and Marketing Mix

We summarize and contrast the 2009 and 2012 STP and 4Ps strategies in the table below:
STP 2009 Launch Strategy 2012 Re-launch strategy

Segment -Lower middle class -Urban Middle class
Target -At rural India -Youth
-People wanting to upgrade from a 2 -2nd/3rd car for urban families
wheeler
Positioning -Cheap yet safe car -Emotional appeal Aapki Khushiyon
-Peoples car Ki Chabi Key to happiness
-Family car
Branding -Branded house strategy -Continued with Branded house given
-Leveraged Ratan Tatas Brand high awareness
Equity
Functional Strategy 2009 Launch Strategy 2012 Re-launch strategy

Product Strategy -3 variants : Standard, Cx (AC), Lx -3 variants : Standard, Cx, Lx with
(Power windows) improved power, fuel efficiency, and 8
- Adopted platform strategy to new colors.
enable easy launch of variants -Platform strategy continues
-Meets all emission standards, infact -Reverse innovation with Europa
less polluting that two wheelers -Suggestion from customer incorporated
-Improved warranty: 4yr/60Km
-Encirclement plans with Nano 800
Price Strategy -First 1 lakh cars sold @ 1L -1.6 to 2.3L range
-Beyond that variants sold between
1.2L - 1.7L
-Value pricing
Promotion -Targeted at rural & semi-rural India -Repositioned as Key to happiness.
-People wanting to upgrade from a 2 -Tie up with MTV and created a FB
wheeler page with 1.6M users
-Incentives offered -Nano merchandise on e-bay
-Limited promotion spend - Experiential marketing:
- Nano mileage rallies
- Nano floats in tier-II and III
cities
- Full Throttle Experience
Place -Initially displayed in flagship Tata -No changes
Motor showrooms only
-Later
Nano exclusive dealers
Low-investment dealerships in
interior towns
210 F Class Showrooms each
only 500sft, stocking only 1 car
and a total of 1200 people to
man them
Tied up with Big Bazaar to
target the 150 million footfalls
6 SocialMetrics Analysis
In this section, we take a look at how Tata Nano and Nano fare on the social media as
reported by socialmention.com as compared to competition.
6.1 Tata Nano vs. Maruti 800/Alto

On April 30th when the socialmention.com portal was used Tata Nano had 0% strength, but
15x positive sentiments. Passion was 29%, which indicated that almost 1/3 people who talk
about Tata Nano on the social media are likely to do so repeatedly. The 15x positive sentiments
is probably a good thing to have in this era when negative sentiments on the web can badly
damage brands.
The search result using Nano was ignored since on an international social network analysis this
yielded lot of hits related to iPod Nano and so on. This had 10% strength and 11x positive
sentiment.
We did an interesting search with Maruti 800 and the results were very insightful. It had 4%
strength and an overwhelming 44x positive sentiment. But a 21% brand passion reveals probably
that the brand is dying especially since Maruti has discontinued the 800.
The Maruti Alto was found to have 2% strength, 12x positive sentiment, but only 39% passion.
This passion score is probably indicative that Tata Nano has been more actively promoted and
talked about in online social media than the Maruti Alto.
Caveats
In a snapshot taken by us during the social metrics lecture session, it was found that the Tata
Nano keyword produced a result with 32% strength, 2X negative sentiment and 38% passion.
This is to tell that online media is very dynamic and without time window analysis and detailed
filtering of the type of forums analyzed by the tool, it is difficult to infer with confidence, as to
what exactly is happening.
One hypothesis about the positive sentiments that were seen today by us is that the Brand trust
report 2013 released a study that mentioned Tata Nano as the most trusted brand in February
2013. Also Tata Nano's campaign for the special edition Nano has been strong as well. We do
not know for certain if these campaigns have turned the online tide for Nano. Probably paid
analytics can produce more accurate and reliable information that can be observed over time
horizons.
Figure 3 Captures as on 30-Apr-2013
7 Brand Management Framework Element-by-Element Analysis
In this section, we provide our evaluation of the elements in the Brand Management Framework,
along with an insightful review of the survey results for applicable elements.
7.1 Brand Identity

In defining a brand identity, a company in fact answers to itself the question of Who am I? and
this forms the foundation of the brand resonance pyramid that is quite popular in brand
management literature. At the inception of this project itself, Ratan Tata referred to the Tata
Nano as an eco-friendly peoples car. It is very evident from press statements and other
company literature that one of the core identities of the Tata Nano was to be that of a family
car or a car for the people which was probably an abstract way of stating the targeted price
point of this car. It has always been a target of Ratan Tata to come up with an affordable car
for the masses and it was announced by him that it would be a $2500 car. From the inception
phase itself, the core identity of the Tata Nano as the most economical car for the masses was
formed. As literature (De Chernatony 1999) suggests, the vision and culture at inception forms
the basis of all subsequent relationships. Vision of a family owning a 2 wheeler migrating to a 4-
wheeler are prevalent in the company web site as well as shown in the screenshot below. This
induces the core vision of affordability and the car for the masses core identity. Several other
timeline snapshots on the company website also show how cost management was the primary
concern of the product development division of the Tata Nano as well, and at the same time to
meet acceptable standards.
Figure 4 Ratan Tata's Nano vision - Source: tatanano.com
7.1.1 Core Identity

We thought that the core identity or value system of Tata Nano revolved around 2 major points
as inferred from the vision statements released at the inception of the project.
1. Economy value for money and the targeted pricing of 1 Lakh or $2500 from its inception
has set this part of its identity quite deeply.
2. Family All picture elements and statements revolved around the financially struggling
family who aspired to own a 4 wheeler, or would be aided by being able to own a 4 wheeler.
3. Genuine the parent Tata's trust or reliability also comes through from the vision statements
for the Nano project.
7.1.2 Extended Identity
Even though the initial statements about the Tata Nano revolved around being economical and
the affordable car for the masses, towards the time of the release the Tata Nano acquired a
youthful style statement. The extended identity elements like the logo and other visual
elements of the Nano seemed to portray this sense of youthfulness and joy element which
perhaps was not so evident during the vision phase of this project. Even the Nano font
appeared in youthful small-case letters without any classic or elderly styling attached to it.
7.2 Brand Personality

Formally defined by Aaker as the set of human characteristics associated with a brand, it is
sort of a pseudo human persona that represents a brand.
From the initial vision and the identity portrayed by Ratan Tata as discussed earlier in the Brand
Identity section, it seems that Tata Nano should have been a lower middle class family man, who
has many family commitments and believes in the traditional trustworthy name of Tata.
He is a hard-working human being who aspires to give his family the best that is within his
reach. During rainy seasons and during longer trips within the city, he struggles with his family
of 5 on a two wheeler. Buying a Maruti 800 is beyond his financial reach. Having a car would
definitely be a blessing for my family during harsh weather conditions and a very safe mode of
travel.
From the intuitive portrayal developed above, we can hope to derive a proposed set of attributes
on the 5-dimensional framework given by Aaker.
In our opinion based on the initial vision of Ratan Tata, the brand personality should have looked
like the following, on a ranking scale:
1. Sincere the vision portrays a down-to-earth, matter of fact product.
2. Ruggedness The conditions in the rural and semi-urban are seen to be tough so maybe the
initial personality needed to be this
3. Competence The Nano had to be reliable and no less intelligent than close competitors.
4. Excitement probably the priority of a consumer in the above portrayal would not have been
adventure, could be aspirational but still the overall vision stated otherwise.
5. Sophistication
But relaunch of the Tata Nano and currently available advertisement campaigns portray a
personality which is different and probably is - I am young 21 year old, who aspires to drive
around in a car with my friends. I aspire to go on trips outside the city with my friends in a
limited budget, but in style.
It does seem like the personality of this re-invented Tata Nano has a different dimensional mix
based on the analysis of the company centric efforts. This is expected to boost the fun and
excitement dimension of the personality of Tata Nano.
1. Excitement
2. Competence
3. Sincere
4. Ruggedness
5. Sophistication
However, survey results indicate that the updated brand personality and related brand
communication efforts of the company is yet to have a wide ranging impact and transform the
brand image in the minds of the target segment. This understanding calls for the need for
consistent and focused efforts in communication over a period of time.
Figure 5 Survey Q32. Which of the following words would you most associate TATA NANO with?
7.3 Brand Positioning

The goal of positioning is to find gaps in the market unfulfilled by current competitors, or to
create an untapped position in the market (or consumers minds and hearts). The purpose of
brand positioning is to ensure that the consumer instantaneously associates a certain functional
benefit (or a few functional benefits) with the brand in question.
Effective brand positioning relies on identifying which functional, emotional and self-expressive
benefits the target market values as important and then ensuring that the organization is able to
deliver (at least one of) these benefits to them.
Category membership forms the basis for any positioning exercise for a new brand. From the
inception of the Tata Nano project it was clear that the Nano belonged to the entry level small car
market. It can probably be even argued that it created a new target segment, one in price bracket
between the 2 wheelers and the cheapest comparable 4 wheeler at that time which was the Maruti
800.
7.3.1 Points of Parity

Safety and other standards had to be at par with existing vehicles and for getting approved by
government standards agencies.
Air Conditioning , Number of colors , variants
7.3.2 Points of difference

Nano boasted of the best-in-class mileage of 25kmpl
It boasted of the highest in class interior space.
Stylish design and youthful look
4 year/ 60,000 Km Warranty
It seems so to us that the dual identity/personality trait has propagated into the positioning aspect
of the Tata Nano as well.
The Interior space and the warranty could be more favoring the family personality
The mileage point probably caters to both segments since India is generally known to be a
mileage sensitive market in automotive.
The youthful looks and other appearance tailored towards the younger consumer
7.4 Brand Communication

In this section, we evaluate the degree of consistency of brand identity, brand positioning and
brand personality across all forms of brand communication and customer touch-points, including
advertising, product design and packaging, pricing, brand ambassadors or champion, distribution
channel etc.
In an effort to popularize its Nano brand, Tata Motors has entered into collaboration with
shopping portal EBay to sell various Nano merchandise. The merchandise includes Nano
branded Titan watches and dry-fit T-shirts for men and women. Nano shaped pen drives, mouse,
scale models, caps and key-chains among others can also be purchased from the portal. This is
aligned with the 2012 relaunch positioning.
Ratan Tata being the brand champion would however not align with the post 2012 positioning
and hence the company has to bring in more youth communication through Art in Motion and
other such campaigns and events.
As commented upon earlier on the external identity, the vibrant colors and body design of the car
is quite appealing and aligned with the youthful positioning. The distribution strategy has been
changed over a period of time to have Nano specific dealer outlets and this should aid rather than
hinder communication of the identity, personality or positioning.
7.5 Brand Knowledge

Brand knowledge consists of brand awareness and brand image and is a major driver of brand
equity. The brand knowledge a consumer has could have been obtained through advertising,
brand design and identity consistency, previous brand experiences and brand building strategies.
7.5.1 Brand Awareness
The ability for people to name a brand when referring to a product category or being able to
identify a brand correctly when faced with some or the other brand identities is referred to as
brand awareness. The marketing efforts of creating brand awareness are directed at registering
the brand in the minds of the target consumers. Given this, we review the survey results to
understand if Tata Nano marketing efforts thus far have reached the target consumer segment.
Possible activities to increase brand awareness include wide-spread advertising in which
repetition of the logo and slogan becomes ubiquitous (e.g. Nikes tagline is Just do it),
publicity, sponsorship of community activities (e.g. sponsoring a sports tournament), brand
extensions as well as increasing the number of distribution channels.
The first brand characteristic that we investigated in the Tata Nano surveys was Brand
Awareness. Brand Awareness measures the accessibility of the brand in memory. Brand
awareness is a precondition for the existence of brands (Franzen and Bouwman, 2001:171). If
people are not aware of brands, they cannot become consumers / users thereof.
We used two approaches (Brand Recall and Brand Recognition) to elicit responses. For the
Brand Recall part, we asked three unaided and open ended questions (Q1-Q3 in the survey).
7.5.1.1 Brand Recall

Brand Recall reflects the ability of the consumer to retrieve the Brand from the memory when
given the product category. The total extent of Brand Recall as measured by the percentage of
the respondents who were familiar with the brand Tata Nano is depicted below. As can be seen,
14.71% of the survey sample (n=73) were aware of the Tata Nano brand. A consolidated analysis
of the 2 survey samples were done as brand awareness questions were posed without revealing
the brand, but only by providing various cues.
% of recalls on eliciting 'small car' brands

45.00%
40.00% 800
38.24%
35.00% Beetle
30.00% Alto
25.00% Brio
20.00%
14.71% City
15.00%
Figo
10.00%
5.00% i10
0.00% i20
Nano
If we analyze from the STP perspective for the initial two wheeler/bike target segment, the
survey data gives a very interesting picture. 44 survey respondents owned no bike or 1 bike and
the Brand Recall amongst that group is 4 i.e. a 9% Brand Awareness level. Whereas 6
respondents owned 2 or more bikes and all 6 were able to recall the Tata Nano brand i.e. a 100%
Brand Awareness.
Of the total responses, only 5 could recall the Tata Nano advertisement in some form which is
about 7.35% recall. If 64.7% of the respondents form the target market (0 or 1 bike) and the
advertisement Recall of the Nano is 7.35% for that segment, it makes us question the
effectiveness of earlier launch communication in reaching the target segment.
7.5.1.2 Brand Recognition
Brand Recognition reflects the ability of the consumer to confirm prior exposure to the brand.
We asked four aided and close ended questions (Q4-Q7 of the survey) to evaluate brand
recognition.
Tata Motors had run two campaigns with the tagline, first being Art in Motion and the second
one being Aapki Khushiyon Ki Chabi. 20.97% of the respondents were able to correctly
recognize the Art in Motion tagline and 30.65% had no idea about which brand this is
associated with. What is more interesting is 19.35% associated it with high end car like
Mercedes, Jaguar, Mini Cooper etc. However when Tata Motors ran the campaign with Aapki
Khushiyon Ki Chabi the Brand Recognition jumped to 54.10%.
Fortunately for Tata Motors, the brand recognition is distinct from competitors. When a cut out
of Nano was shown to the respondents, 57.81% were able to recognize it as Tata Nano with no
other Brand score greater than 6.25%.
One other dimension we measured was with respect to Competition (Q6 in the survey) on how
Tata Nano fares when it comes to competition in terms of Brand Recognition. Below table
summarizes the results:
Tagline (Car) Aided Awareness (%Respondents)

Lets go (Alto) 66.04%
Aapki Khushiyon Ki Chabi (Nano) 57.41%
Sunshine Car (Santro) 52.94%
7.5.2 Brand Image

Brand Image is defined as consumer perception of the brand and is measured as brand
associations held in memory. These are the perceptions, attitudes and associations that
consumers have formed of the brand through the brand identity elements, advertising campaigns,
and community programs, past experiences, word-of-mouth etc.
For the Brand Image part, we asked four open ended questions (Q18-Q21 of the survey). We
followed the Qualitative approach to analyze this dimension of the Brand element. We collected
all the responses and ran it by wordle to see which of the words were used most frequently by the
respondents. Below are the results:
For Q18: What comes to your mind when you hear TATA NANO?
Q19: Which words would you use to describe TATA NANO?
From the responses to Q18 & Q19, we see that typical imagery that is formed of the Tata Nano is
- Small, Indian, Car, Autorickshaw, Cheap, Value-for-money etc. No surprises there. However
the eye popper was Potential.
Q20: What kinds of people purchase TATA NANO?

Elderly Unmarried
31% 25%
Married
Married w/ kids
22%
22%
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
When we analyze this chart in conjunction with the words respondents used to describe the
Brand Personality like in the bar chart above, we clearly see that the Nano is a Family Oriented,
Sincerity, Genuine and Youthful (with Pretentious being the odd one out), the congruence is
striking. The Personality associated with Nano is predominately that of Sincerity. It is the vibrant
colors of the car body that has caused Youthful to get high marks, which indicates that Nano is
better aligned with the target segment and positioning atleast on certain attributes.
Thus when we asked the question Which kind of people purchase Nano?, 31% said elderly and
44% said Married and Married with kids. The results were clearly not unanimously pointing to
the youth segment. This indicates that mixed concurrent campaigns such as Art in Motion
targeted towards the segment, and Aapki Khushiyon Ki Chabi for the family oriented segment
creates confused positioning in the minds of the customer. This also brings out that repositioning
is a costly and time consuming activity. The company should phase out the old campaigns of
family oriented positioning and use a consistent communication to target the youth core segment
only.
It is interesting to note that the parent brand Tata has mostly all positive emotions associated
with it whereas for the Tata Nano brand the negative emotions like disappointment, shame ,
irritation figure as well. The economy perception seems to be well inherited by the Tata Nano
brand from its parent Tata.
Word association results for both Tata Nano and Nano surveys show that the top 3 associations
made are for:
Family oriented
Youthful
Genuine
7.6 Brand Equity

Brand Equity is the differential effect that brand awareness and brand associations have on
consumer response to the marketing of the brand (Keller, 2013, Ch.2). Positive customer based
brand equity is seen to provide one or more of the following benefits:
Make customer more accepting of new brand extension

Make customer less price sensitive
More likely they are to pay a price premium for the brand
More likely they would recommend it to friends
More likely they would are to remain loyal if it is out of stock
More likely they would take the time to search for it and
More likely they are to purchase other products / services related to the brand name
From the analysis of the responses to Q24-Q31 in the survey, we see that the brand does not
resonate with the target segment and the opinion is largely neutral to negative. 30%-42% of the
target segment has a neutral attitude towards Tata Nano in terms of loyalty, recommendation or
the likelihood of purchase and 37-59% has a negative to strongly negative attitude towards the
brand, which calls for immediate replaning of the branding and marketing strategy and consistent
execution over a period of time to realize the benefits.
Q24: I consider myself loyal to TATA NANO.
50%
41%
40%
30% 27%
22%
20%
10% 6%
3%
0%
Strongly Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly
disagree agree
Q25: TATA NANO is one brand I would prefer to buy

or use.
33%
35%
30% 25%
25% 22%
20% 17%
15%
10%
5% 2%
0%
disagree agree
Q26: I really identify with people who own TATA

NANO.
45% 42%
40%
35%
30%
25% 23% 23%
20%
15% 13%
10%
5% 0%
0%
disagree agree
Q27 : I feel as if I almost belong to a club with other
users of TATA NANO.
50%
39%
40%
31%
30% 26%
20%
10% 5%
0%
0%
Strongly Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree
disagree
Q28 : TATA NANO is a brand used by people like me.

40% 35%
35%
27% 29%
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
10%
5% 0%
0%
disagree agree
Q29 : I really like to talk about TATA NANO to others.
35%
30%
30% 26% 26%
25%
20% 18%
15%
10%
5%
0%
0%
disagree
Q30 I am/would be proud to have others know that I use

TATA NANO.
45% 40%
40%
35%
29%
30%
25% 21%
20%
15% 11%
10%
5% 0%
0%
disagree
Q31 : I would recommend TATA NANO to others.
45% 42%
40%
35%
30%
25%
18% 19% 19%
20%
15%
10%
5% 2%
0%
disagree
To elaborate further, the disconcerting statistics for Tata Motor Brand Manager would be the
strong swing towards the negative territory (Strongly Disagree and Disagree) on key parameters
of:
Loyalty: with 49% respondents saying they Strongly Disagree/Disagree that they are loyal
towards Tata Nano
Purchase intent : with 48% respondents saying they Strongly Disagree/Disagree that they
are considering a purchase of Tata Nano
Pride : Even if they were to purchase, 49% respondents felt they Strongly Disagree/Disagree
that they would be proud to let other know they use Tata Nano
Given the above facts we can conclude that Tata Nano has a very weak Brand Equity in the
minds of the consumer.
The above needs to be evaluated in light of the pre-launch mania that the Tata Nano had
Consumer paying Application amount of Rs.500 to book the Nano
Consumers willing to wait 6 months and more for deliveries
Pride of ownership amongst the first few customers
It could be opined that there was considerable interest in the target segment. However, the
product quality and user experience did not match the target segment expectations and thus did
not aid in building brand equity.
8 Key Insights & Recommendations
8.1 Major Branding Issues
8.1.1 Lack of Differentiated Positioning

The original 2009 Tata Nano launch targeted the low and middle income families in semi-rural
and rural areas, and positioned the car on safety and affordability attributes. However, incidents
of Nano catching fire indicate that the car did not meet the basic utilitarian needs of safety and
reliability. Also, the brand positioning and communication did not address hedonistic needs of
consumers given that most car purchasers believe that driving a car says something about their
personality. Given the family centric positioning, the company could have stressed on sociability
aspects which it failed to. Analysis also indicates that the company failed to validate its company
assumptions on willingness and ability to pay of the target segment through market research, and
thus did not target the right segment. Instead, an inside out approach was taken to launching a
new product, given that Ratan Tata decides to launch a product post the scooter episode
outlined in the following sections, and was misquoted as working on a INR 1Lakh car. In
building Nano to a price, it also made too many errors were made with perceived quality.
Price based positioning is not ideal given that it is not sustainable and in the given product
category was not appealing adding to current baggage through brand associations in the minds of
the target segment.
The 2012 Nano relaunch targeted the youth in urban locations and positioned itself on Key to
Happiness. However, the brand associations from the earlier launch period and the associations
for its commercial vehicles and other passenger cars continue to haunt the company.
8.1.2 Branding strategy did not align with 2012 relaunch & repositioning
Given the original affordability and family-oriented peoples car positioning, it was logical for
the company to leverage on the Tata parent brand associations given the branded house based
brand architecture.
Nano was repositioned in 2012 for the youth segment with an upgraded product that addressed
safety concerns and quality issues, due to 3 years of disappointing revenue performance and
growing gap between production and utilized car manufacturing capacity. The company had
failed to realign its branding strategy during this repositioning exercise. In our opinion, the
company could have attempted a Titan/Fastrack approach in branding Nano, given that the
parent brand associations do not align with the updated 2012 positioning strategy. However, we
also suspect that the brand was limited by the high brand awareness of Tata Nano and its
unique product design, though with low brand equity. Given the challenges involved in
repackaging i.e. redesigning the body design, the company could have been limited to retaining
the brand as a sub-brand with any extended identity changes.
8.1.3 Ratan Tata as brand ambassador not aligned with 2012 positioning
Ratan Tata as brand ambassador given his reference to peoples car and the scooter episode
does not chime well with the target segment, post Tata Nano 2012 repositioning.
Scooter episode and Ratan Tatas vision of a safer form of transport - Two-wheelers with the
father driving, the elder child standing in front and the wife behind holding a baby is very
much the norm in this country. In that form, two-wheelers are a relatively unsafe mode of
transporting a family. The two-wheeler image is what got me thinking that we needed to create a
safer form of transport.5
5
http://tata.in/article.aspx?artid=Sd75BUBmzSM=
8.2 SWOT Analysis for Tata Nano
STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES
- Strong brand awareness for both Nano

- Low brand equity for Nano
and parent Tata brand
- Unfavorable brand associations/image
- Corporate with deep pockets to make
such as 'cheapest car'
sufficient capital investments for product
development, and marketing investments - Tata Motors 'trust' and 'affordability'
for brand building positioning losing relevance given
hedonistic needs of product category
OPPORTUNITIES THREATS
- LCV segment to double by 2015-16 and

CAGR of 18.5% for next 5 years - Increasing competition in hatchback
- Growing and relatively high disposable segment, as global car manufacturers have
income among youth in early 20s, in also entered this segment given its huge
comparison to earlier decades potential
- Increasing urbanization and willingness - Short product lifecycle and ensuing need
to spend to refresh models and remain relevant to
consumer through continuous innovation
- Frequent replacement purchases in
comparison to earlier decades
8.3 Brand Strategies Recommendations

We recommend the following long term branding approaches given our understanding of Tata
Nanos current STP and marketing mix, and the environment faced by the brand through
situation (5C) analysis.
8.3.1 Reposition the brand to establish more compelling PODs

Tata Nano has been targeted towards the youth segment since the product relaunch in 2012.
However, given the lack of compelling points of difference w.r.t competition in the compact car
segment, survey results indicate that the negative brand associations (e.g. cheap, low-middle-
income group, rugged, less-power, made-for-small-towns) related to the original launch in 2009
persist till today. Also, it has been observed that remnants of the original brand positioning of
family-oriented and peoples car continue to linger in the minds of the target segment.
We recommend that Tata build on its functional benefit of better fuel efficiency (of nearly 20-
25kmpl) and lowest carbon emissions, to create a symbolic positioning of a green car targeted
towards environment conscious and responsible youth. While car buyers in other age groups
might relate to the environment sustainability value proposition of Tata Nano, as is always the
case, branding efforts would have to be targeted towards the core segment, which is the youth
segment for the brand under study. This distinct POD would also create a sense of pride in
potential and current Tata Nano owners increasing its brand image and thereby brand equity. The
brand communication should also build sociability appeal by demonstrating car-pooling with
friends through ads.
8.3.2 Launch a global brand Tata Europa

Typically, companies are not recommended to take an existing brand global until it is successful
in the local market, or create a new global brand. We summarize below the current position of
Tata Nano as a brand, to evaluate the proposal of creating a global brand around this disruptive
innovation.
- Tata Nano has demonstrated engineering feasibility in creating a car at this price range,
while ensuring safety, meeting emission standards and providing high fuel efficiency.
- Tata Nano has high brand awareness but low brand equity given its unfavorable
associations on certain aspects
Tata has had plans to deploy reverse innovation strategy and thus take the Tata Nano innovation
to the European market under the brand name of Tata Europa. [Given the iPod Nano association
in major parts of the world, it is recommended that Tata does not use the Nano brand name
worldwide.] European countries are known to be ahead of the rest of the world in adopting
environment friendly solutions, even if they come at a slightly higher cost. We recommend that
the company make minor product modifications to Tata Nano as needed to adhere to the
increased environmental regulations in Europe, and launch Tata Europa based on global values
of environment friendliness and sustainability. Tata should then bring the Tata Europa to the
Indian market and position it as a flanking product to Tata Nano. This strategy would provide a
range of products that Nano customers can upgrade to, over a period of time. Having aspirational
brands within the product portfolio would allow for repeat purchase during subsequent car
replacement. This in combination with emotional attachment built through relevant positioning
and ongoing customer satisfaction through customer service could help build a loyal customer
base.
8.3.3 Partner with a global automotive brand

The typical urban Indian consumer of cars has gone global and thus evaluates a portfolio of
global brands in making a car purchase decision. As perceived quality is a hugely influential
factor in the car buying process, and global brands are associated with better quality in the minds
of consumers, we recommend that Tata enter into partnerships with global automotive
companies to garner better brand image for its hatchback and sedan product lines. We opine that
the lack of high brand equity for the companys other products such as Indica, Indigo and Manza
models have also contributed to the low image of Tata Nano. A disruptive innovation such as
Tata Nano would have been touted as engineering marvel had it been launched by a global player
with high brand equity for its high end even if not premium cars. Thus, it is imperative that Tata
target to increase the brand equity of its entire portfolio of cars to leverage synergistic growth.
Being known as a successful vendor for the entire range of light and commercial vehicles would
allow the company to leverage the high brand equity of purchased brands such as Jaguar and
LandRover, without diluting the brand equity of such luxury or premium brands.
8.3.4 Continuous product improvements and variants

Given that the branding strategy determines the marketing mix i.e. individual strategies of
product, pricing, distribution and promotion, it is important to continuously renew the product
through product variants, to be seen as a happening and target segment relevant brand, given the
short product lifecycle for cars, and increasing global competition in the market. Thus, we
recommend quickening the development of newer, more modern variations of the Nano and
parallel improvements in interior design and fit and finish quality. This will also bring out the
long term commitment of Tata to this product line. In addition, we recommend that Tata increase
the price of the car of the renewed Nano variants.
8.3.5 Change Tata parent brand associations

Tata has long been associated with trust and quality. Tata Motors however has been limited to
the value proposition of trust and affordability, and not building sufficiently on the quality
attribute. Overemphasizing on practicality and affordability is always a dampener in the auto
industry. Thus far, the company has not appealed to the hedonistic needs of a car purchaser
through relevant positioning and experiential marketing. We suggest that Tata make concerted
efforts to revitalize its existing stable of car brands by roping in the strong technology expertise
of its global purchases such as JLR, and informing the market of its renewed focus on global
engineering to build a positive brand image.
8.3.6 Cultivate distinct positioning for multibrands and improve brand equity
While Tata Motors has been good at identifying market segments in terms of size and growth
potential to target, we see that the company has taken a shortcut in leveraging its parent brand
house association, and not identified distinct positioning for various brands in the car product
category. This could be attributed to either an overpowering corporate brand, given its branded
house based brand architecture, or the lack of sufficient brand focused teams within the
organizational division. We recommend that clear brand performance goals be set for internal
branding teams to reap the benefits of investments made towards creating such varied multi-
brands. The company would do best in trying to arrive at distinct positioning for these multi-
brands, though they are technically sub-brands for the corporate brand.
The company currently seems to demarcate the various customer segments solely based on the
price range of the product. The original reliability and quality based positioning of the parent
brand are no longer relevant differentiators as these are now hygiene factors as against key
success factors in the car industry, given the global nature of competition, improving urban road
conditions and technological improvements that provide top notch quality.
8.3.7 Increase focus on experiential marketing to wipe out scooter episode

We recommend that the company focus on brand communication through experiential marketing
to create a buzz around Nano. Over a period of time, such activities could replace the 2009
launch associations with Ratan Tata as untitled brand ambassador and the surrounding scooter
episode that triggered the vision of a Tata Nano. The company should increase the frequency and
build on the popularity of its recent experiential marketing activities such as Nano Mileage
rallies, Nano floats in tier-II and III cities, Tata Motors Full Throttle Experience etc.6
6
http://pitchonnet.com/blog/2012/05/14/tata-nano-kickstarts-experiential-drive-for-revival/
9 Conclusions
Our analysis indicates that Tatas flanking strategy for the compact car segment is relevant in the
given market conditions. Given the wide price difference between Tata Nano and the entry level
car of competing brands, Tata Nano would do better if it could slightly move up the price
spectrum and allow for improved product quality within its operating range, to better position
itself to the youth target segment through a eco-friendly green car positioning. The low brand
equity of Tata Nano should not deter its top management, branding strategy formulation and
implementation teams from investing to turnaround this brand by changing unfavorable brand
associations, given the existing high brand awareness of Tata Nano, considerable market
potential and increasing revenue performance as witnessed post 2012 repositioning.
10 Appendices
10.1 References
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tata_Nano
2. http://www.tatanano.com/news.htm
3. http://www.rediff.com/money/2008/may/14tata.htm
4. http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2009-03-24/news/27649428_1_tata-nano-nano-buyer-
motors-md-ravi-kant
5. http://www.deccanherald.com/content/162053/a-big-u-turn-small.html
6. http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/NussbaumOnDesign/archives/2008/01/new_distribution_syst
em_for_indias_nano_car_from_tata.html
7. http://www.srmuniv.ac.in/downloads/marketing-plan-for-tata-nano.pdf
8. http://www.businessweek.com/stories/2008-02-27/learning-from-tatas-nanobusinessweek-business-
news-stock-market-and-financial-advice
9. http://wardsauto.com/ar/tata_nano_innovations
10. http://tatamotors.com/investors/financials/67-ar-flipbook/index.html
11. http://www.livemint.com/Companies/r4YRuhZjMNhggGI2e981GN/Tata-hikes-Nano-price-to-begin-
second-phase-of-delivery.html
12. http://www.tatanano.com/price_list.php
13. http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/opinion/rough-ride-for-tata-
motors/article4610740.ece#.UWkHzWeZr8A.gmail
14. http://www.sundayobserver.lk/2012/05/27/fin33.asp
15. http://pitchonnet.com/blog/2012/05/14/tata-nano-kickstarts-experiential-drive-for-revival/
16. Hierarchy of effects - Robert J Lavidge and Gary A. Steinerg
17. Http://profit.ndtv.com/news/corporates/article-did-not-get-nano-marketing-strategy-right-ratan-tata-
295402
18. http://mktg.uni-svishtov.bg/ivm/resources/CustomerBasedbrandEquityModel.pdf - Building
Customer-Based Brand Equity: A Blueprint for creating strong brands by Kevin Lane Keller
10.2 Video References

1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WB87eo_obU
2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=fvwp&v=U7K9UlIDbLo&NR=1
3. http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=PDL52FiGd0o&feature=fvwp
4. http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=HkkV_TkjFxE&feature=endscreen
5. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gj2D3taMHBE
6. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uc1x8LY1yVg
7. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDU0aLO6_wQ
8. http://www.tata.com/company/Media/inside.aspx?artid=nb+71DBjCQs=
9. Khushiyon ki Chabi ad http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WB87eo_obU
10. Video by actor Dhanush http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDU0aLO6_wQ
10.3 Summary of Survey Questions

Brand Awareness Recall Q1-Q3
Q1. Which brands of car on the Indian roads come to your mind when you think of small cars?
Q2. Can you arrange the above brands in the increasing order of their price?
Q3. Can you describe any interesting advertisement of any small car brand that you recall?
Brand Awareness Recognition Q4-Q7

Q4. To which car brand would you associate "Art in Motion"?
Q5. Which car brand comes to your mind when you hear Aapki Khushiyon ki Chabi?
Q6. Can you identify the brand of cars associated with these taglines?
Q7. Which car comes to your mind when you see this cutout below?
Brand Judgment Q8-Q13

Q8. How favorable is your attitude towards TATA NANO as a Brand?
Q9. Given a chance, would you intend to buy a TATA NANO?
Q10. If you are owner of TATA NANO, how well does it satisfy your need?
Q11. I would recommend TATA NANO to others.
Q12. In cars, how well does TATA NANO score over other comparable cars?
Q13. Which brand would you prefer over TATA NANO?
Brand Performance Q14-Q17
Q14. To what extent do you agree/disagree with the following statements about TATA NANO?
Product is Trustworthy
Q15. To what extent do you agree/disagree with the following statement about TATA NANO?
Product is of Good quality
Q16. TATA NANO is Un Appealing ----- Appealing
Q17. TATA NANO is Not stylish ----- Stylish
Brand Imagery Q18-Q21

Q18. What comes to your mind when you hear TATA NANO? Eg. Small car, Indian, value for
money
Q19. Which words would you use to describe TATA NANO?
Q20. Which kind of people would want to purchase NANO?
Q21. What category of people do you think would buy a Nano?
Brand Feelings Q22-Q23

Q22, Which emotions does TATA as a brand bring out in you?
Q23. Which emotions does "TATA NANO" as a brand bring out in you?
Brand Resonance Q24-Q31

Q24. I consider myself loyal to TATA NANO
Q25. TATA NANO is one brand I would prefer to buy or use
Q26. I really identify with people who own TATA NANO.
Q27. I feel as if I almost belong to a club with other users of TATA NANO.
Q28. TATA NANO is a brand used by people like me.
Q29. I really like to talk about TATA NANO to others.
Q30. I am/would be proud to have others know that I use TATA NANO.
Q31. I would recommend TATA NANO to others.
Brand Personality Q32

Q32. Which of the following words would you most associate TATA NANO with?
Draw a histogram of responses and arrange the responses in descending order
For the sake of aesthetics create a word cloud
Demographics Q33-Q37
Q33. Gender?
Q34. Age?
Q35. Marital Status?
Q36. How many children do you have?
Q37. Income range?
Misc Q38-Q45
Q38. How many cars do you own?
Q39. How many 2 wheelers do you own?
Q40. Which car brand do you own?
Q41. Do you own a Tata Nano?
Q42. In which year did you buy the Tata Nano car?
Q43. Why did you buy the Nano?
Q44. If you could go back in time, would you buy Nano again?
Q45. If the answer to the above question was NO, which other brand would you have bought?
10.4 Tata Nano vs. Competition Feature Comparison

Tata Nano Brand Audit

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Tata Nano Brand Audit Report

Brand Management Course Project

Arvind Raman - 1112011

Faculty: Prof. Preeti Krishnan Lyndem

Indian Institute of Management Bangalore

3 Brand Inventory ...................................................................................................................... 7

3.1 Tata Nano History ............................................................................................................ 7

3.2 Ownership ........................................................................................................................ 7

3.3 Target Customer Profile ................................................................................................... 8

3.4 Product Attributes ............................................................................................................ 9

3.4.1 Stylish and comfortable ............................................................................................ 9

3.4.2 Fuel-efficient engine ................................................................................................. 9

3.4.3 Meets all safety requirements ................................................................................... 9

3.5 Brand Elements .............................................................................................................. 10

3.5.1 Brand Names and URLs ......................................................................................... 10

3.5.2 Logos and Symbols ................................................................................................. 10

3.5.3 Characters and Spokespeople ................................................................................. 10

3.5.4 Slogans and Jingles ................................................................................................. 11

3.5.5 Packaging and Signage ........................................................................................... 11

3.5.6 Evaluation on effectiveness of Tata Nanos Brand Elements ................................. 12

3.6 Brand Portfolio ............................................................................................................... 14

3.6.1 Line extensions ....................................................................................................... 15

3.8 Communication .............................................................................................................. 15

3.9 Pricing ............................................................................................................................ 18

3.10 Distribution ................................................................................................................. 20

3.11.1 Points of Parity........................................................................................................ 22

3.11.2 Points of Difference ................................................................................................ 23

3.12 Competition ................................................................................................................ 23

3.13 Company Performance ............................................................................................... 29

4.1 Customer Knowledge Structure ..................................................................................... 30

4.2 Brand Mantra.................................................................................................................. 30

4.2.1 Core brand association ............................................................................................ 30

4.3 Sources of Brand Equity ................................................................................................ 31

4.4 The CBBE Pyramid ........................................................................................................ 33

4.4.1 Brand Salience (Medium) ....................................................................................... 33

4.4.2 Brand Performance (Low to Medium) .................................................................... 33

4.4.3 Brand Imagery (Low to Non-existent) .................................................................... 34

4.4.4 Brand Judgments (Low to Medium) ....................................................................... 34

4.4.5 Brand Feelings (Low) ............................................................................................. 34

4.4.6 Brand Resonance (Low to non-existent)................................................................. 34

5 STP and Marketing Mix........................................................................................................ 35

6 SocialMetrics Analysis ......................................................................................................... 37

6.1 Tata Nano vs. Maruti 800/Alto ...................................................................................... 37

7 Brand Management Framework Element-by-Element Analysis ....................................... 39

7.1 Brand Identity................................................................................................................. 39

7.1.1 Core Identity ........................................................................................................... 40

7.1.2 Extended Identity .................................................................................................... 41

7.3 Brand Positioning ........................................................................................................... 43

7.3.1 Points of Parity........................................................................................................ 43

7.3.2 Points of difference ................................................................................................. 43

7.4 Brand Communication ................................................................................................... 44

7.5 Brand Knowledge ........................................................................................................... 44

7.5.1 Brand Awareness .................................................................................................... 45

7.5.2 Brand Image ............................................................................................................ 47

7.6 Brand Equity .................................................................................................................. 51

8 Key Insights & Recommendations ....................................................................................... 57

8.1 Major Branding Issues ................................................................................................... 57

8.1.1 Lack of Differentiated Positioning.......................................................................... 57

8.2 SWOT Analysis for Tata Nano ...................................................................................... 59

8.3 Brand Strategies Recommendations............................................................................ 59

8.3.1 Reposition the brand to establish more compelling PODs ..................................... 59

8.3.2 Launch a global brand Tata Europa ..................................................................... 60

8.3.3 Partner with a global automotive brand .................................................................. 61