Tata Nano Brand Audit - Final Project Report (1).docx

Tata Nano – Brand Audit Report Brand Management Course Project

Arvind Raman Bhuvana Ramachandran Chandrashekar S Manoj Kumar Varkey K V

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1112011 1112017 1112018 1112030 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 Nano’s 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

4

3.12

Competition ................................................................................................................ 23

3.13

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

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

7

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

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 8

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

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 people’s car for semiurban 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 2040 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 “People’s 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 world’s 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 Nano’s 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 Nano’s 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 “People’s 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 car’s 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 Nano’s Brand Elements Brand Names and

Logos and Symbols

Slogans and

Packaging and Signage

URLs

Jingles

High memorability, given Use of reliable Tata

Tata Nano’s

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

It’s 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 Tata’s launched in October of 2012. Trying to draw this parallel in the customer’s 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 Nano’s 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 it’s finally arrived. Tata Motors’ ad agency Rediffusion Y&R and media agency Lodestar are responsible for Nano’s 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 consumer’s 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 Nano’s 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 Nano’s 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 man’s 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 Mahindra Toyota

&

8% 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 reengineer 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 Maruti’s 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 maker’s 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 it’s 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 People’s 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 costcompetitive 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.

Tata Nano

Emotional modifier

Descriptive modifier

Brand function

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 hasn’t 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 4P’s strategies in the table below: STP

2009 Launch Strategy

2012 Re-launch strategy

Segment Target

-Lower middle class -At rural India -People wanting to upgrade from a 2 wheeler -Cheap yet safe car

-Urban Middle class -Youth -2nd/3rd car for urban families

Positioning

-Emotional appeal – “Aapki Khushiyon

Branding

-People’s car -Family car -‘Branded house’ strategy -Leveraged Ratan Tata’s Equity

Ki Chabi” Key to happiness -Continued with Branded house given Brand high awareness

Functional Strategy 2009 Launch Strategy Product Strategy

-3 variants : Standard, Cx (AC), Lx (Power windows) - Adopted platform strategy to enable easy launch of variants -Meets all emission standards, infact less polluting that two wheelers

Price Strategy

-First 1 lakh cars sold @ 1L -Beyond that variants sold between 1.2L - 1.7L -Value pricing -Targeted at rural & semi-rural India -People wanting to upgrade from a 2 wheeler -Incentives offered -Limited promotion spend

Promotion

Place

2012 Re-launch strategy -3 variants : Standard, Cx, Lx with improved power, fuel efficiency, and 8 new colors. -Platform strategy continues -Reverse innovation with Europa -Suggestion from customer incorporated -Improved warranty: 4yr/60Km -Encirclement plans with Nano 800 -1.6 to 2.3L range

-Repositioned as “Key to happiness”. -Tie up with MTV and created a FB page with 1.6M users -Nano merchandise on e-bay - Experiential marketing: - Nano mileage rallies - Nano floats in tier-II and III cities - Full Throttle Experience -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 “people’s 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 4wheeler 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. Nike’s 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%

15.00% 10.00%

14.71%

City Figo

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)

Let’s 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 31%

Married w/ kids 22%

Unmarried 25%

Married 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% 6%

10%

3%

0% Strongly disagree

Disagree

Neutral

Agree

Strongly agree

Q25: TATA NANO is one brand I would prefer to buy or use. 35% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0%

33%

22%

25% 17%

2% Strongly disagree

Disagree

Neutral

Agree

Strongly agree

Q26: I really identify with people who own TATA NANO. 45% 40% 35% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0%

42%

23%

23% 13% 0%

Strongly disagree

Disagree

Neutral

Agree

Strongly agree

Q27 : I feel as if I almost belong to a club with other users of TATA NANO. 50%

40%

39% 31% 26%

30% 20% 10%

5% 0%

0% Strongly disagree

Disagree

Neutral

Agree

Strongly agree

Q28 : TATA NANO is a brand used by people like me. 40% 35% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0%

35% 27%

29%

10% 0% Strongly disagree

Disagree

Neutral

Agree

Strongly agree

Q29 : I really like to talk about TATA NANO to others. 35% 30%

30% 26%

26%

25% 18%

20% 15% 10% 5%

0%

0% Strongly disagree

Disagree

Neutral

Agree

Strongly agree

Q30 I am/would be proud to have others know that I use TATA NANO. 45% 40% 35% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0%

40% 29% 21% 11% 0%

Strongly disagree

Disagree

Neutral

Agree

Strongly agree

Q31 : I would recommend TATA NANO to others. 45% 40% 35% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0%

42%

19%

18%

19%

2% Strongly disagree

Disagree

Neutral

Agree

Strongly agree

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 people’s 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 ‘people’s car’ and the scooter episode does not chime well with the target segment, post Tata Nano 2012 repositioning. Scooter episode and Ratan Tata’s 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

- Strong brand awareness for both Nano and parent Tata brand - Corporate with deep pockets to make sufficient capital investments for product development, and marketing investments for brand building

OPPORTUNITIES - LCV segment to double by 2015-16 and CAGR of 18.5% for next 5 years - Growing and relatively high disposable income among youth in early 20s, in comparison to earlier decades - Increasing urbanization and willingness to spend - Frequent replacement purchases in comparison to earlier decades

WEAKNESSES

- Low brand equity for Nano - Unfavorable brand associations/image such as 'cheapest car' - Tata Motors 'trust' and 'affordability' positioning losing relevance given hedonistic needs of product category

THREATS

- Increasing competition in hatchback segment, as global car manufacturers have also entered this segment given its huge potential - Short product lifecycle and ensuing need to refresh models and remain relevant to consumer through continuous innovation

8.3 Brand Strategies – Recommendations We recommend the following long term branding approaches given our understanding of Tata Nano’s 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-middleincome 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 ‘people’s 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 2025kmpl) 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 company’s 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 multibrands. The company would do best in trying to arrive at distinct positioning for these multibrands, 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 Tata’s 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-buyermotors-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-businessnews-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-beginsecond-phase-of-delivery.html 12. http://www.tatanano.com/price_list.php 13. http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/opinion/rough-ride-for-tatamotors/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-tata295402 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