The subdued response to Aria, has led Tata Motors to rework its advertising campaign for the car. The company will roll out a new campaign in two months? time, which will emphasise the features of the car in a bid to put across the ‘value for money’ proposition to potential customers.
Through its current campaign, the company has positioned the Aria as the first Indian crossover, in order to create a niche. However, Aria faced comparison with Toyota’s Innova in terms of looks and pricing, and the brand positioning has not been able to make a mark, sources close to the development said. The Aria is priced between R13 ? R15.84 lakh (ex-showroom Mumbai) and was launched last October.
Anup Chitnis, executive creative director, Ogilvy & Mather Advertising, said, ?The company wanted to harp about Aria being the first Indian crossover and create a segment for it. Currently, there are many models like Honda’s CR-V in the market that are positioned as sports utility vehicle (SUV) when they are a crossover and this is what Tata Motors wanted to bank on.
Hence, the current advertising campaign showcases it as the first crossover with the best of a sedan and an SUV. The new advertising campaign would now talk about the features it offers to put forth the value for money of the car right in front of the customers.?
He added that the current advertisement managed to attract around 30,000 enquires in the first month of the launch of the Aria. He, however, did not deny the fact that customers at first sight passed off the Aria as a competitor to the Toyota Innova and compared it accordingly.
?The customers took some time to understand that the Aria has much more to offer and belongs to a different segment than say, the Toyota Innova. We believe that we are successful in conveying the first message to the customers that it?s a new segment ? a crossover ? and now with the new advertisement we will just get the best out in the market,? said Chitnis.
Tata Motors spent around R 5- R 7 crore for the current advertising campaign. The company will be using print and television media extensively to campaign for the product.
Confirming that the company will be coming out with a new advertising campaign, a spokesperson from Tata Motors said, ?Tata Motors is progressing the Tata Aria?s sales as per its plan. In order to boost sales further, we are planning to launch a new advertisement for the Tata Aria. In its price bracket, Tata Aria is second only the Toyota Fortuner.? Crossovers priced between R12 lakh to R25 lakh sell approximately 1,800 vehicles per month.