Tata Motors’ Vinay Pant on the marketing strategy adopted by the automotive brand

The automotive sector has evolved by offering products at every price point. Today, there is a car for everyone, and to meet everyone’s needs from luxury to economy. The Indian automotive market was valued at $100 billion in 2021 and is expected to reach $160 billion in 2027, thereby registering a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.1% over the forecast period (2022-2027), as per a report by Mordor Intelligence, a business intelligence platform.

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Tata Motors posted a consolidated net profit of R3,764 crore in Q2,FY24 when compared with a net loss of Rs 944.61 crore, during the same period in the preceding year. The company’s revenue from operations rose 32% to Rs 1,05,128 crore from Rs 79,611 crore. In a conversation with BrandWagon Online, Vinay Pant, head – marketing, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles, shared his insights on the advertising and marketing strategy of the brand. (Edited Excerpts)

According to the consolidated RoC filings, Tata Motors’ advertising spending increased by around 25% in FY23 to Rs 6,000 crore. How is the fund deployed to bag the maximum return-on-investment (RoI)?

Advertising spending depends upon the kind of year that is if we have too many launches or a few launches. For instance, we launched a new variant of Harrier and Safari in the last two-three months. The ad-spends for launches are very different when compared to regular spending.

Usually, the split for advertising spend is 35-35-35, which means 35% on television, 35% on print and 35% on digital mediums. But when there is no new launch, spending on print and digital mediums tends to increase. However, at the time of new launches, spending on digital reduces, while print and television take precedence.

Offlate, out-of-home (OOH) advertising is becoming interesting. Not to mention, digital OOH and billboards are in vogue. So, we tend to spend five to six percent of our spends on premium OOH properties.

How does Tata Motors measure the effectiveness and RoI (Return-on-Investment) of its advertising efforts across various media channels?

RoI depends on how you define that, for instance, if I am talking about a new launch, then it is more about awareness. For instance, if consumers are aware of the new launch, then in that case we measure RoI on the basis of the number of inquiries or leads generated, which ultimately needs to translate into leads. It works in a way that if awareness increases, it leads to an increase in visitors to our site, thereby resulting in leads, who then visit our showrooms to book.

You have been working on consumer insights since 2007, how has the demand of Indian consumers in the automobile segment changed over the years?

I have been in this industry for about 15 years now, and close to 30 years when it comes to consumer insights, and over time things have changed. Initially, consumers bought a car largely based on factors such as mileage. Next, came a phase when the interest level went up to features. Interestingly, those features also kept on changing from time to time, for example, AC has now become a creature comfort, whereas earlier only some models had that feature. Covid has also affected the mindsets and now people are willing to go out, which means demand has increased.

What we have been seeing is that while some consumers can afford the top-end model but don’t want it, they are fine with the mid-end. However, there is also a set of consumers who want specific features yet do not want to spend extra money on personalisation. So, depending on the person you are, you buy a car as per your requirements. I feel this will become bigger in the coming times. Another big change is the availability of a car at every price point.

People are not shying away from taking loans, which eventually results in increasing their budget. Due to this, the average ticket size of a car has now increased to around Rs 10 lakh in the past four or five years from Rs 4-5 lakh.

How does Tata Motors integrate digital marketing and traditional advertising methods to strengthen brand engagement and loyalty? How does influencer marketing help an automotive brand?

When the influencer marketing game started, it was only about auto-influencers as this is how the industry works. Today things are changing, because it’s not just about the car. Though auto-influences will continue to be an important part but at the same time, some people have fashion as an interest. So, auto brands can be seen working with fashion influencers who can talk about interiors because the way they describe interiors is different from the way a car enthusiast would describe them.

With digital becoming bigger and the various kinds of influencers joining the bandwagon, the scope is also changing for us. We had done a campaign with Kusha Kapila for Tata Punch, that was from a perspective of how Punch is fun to drive. We also did a Durga Pujo campaign with a celebrity from Kolkata.

How does the colour of the product play a role in attracting consumers and marketing the product?

India’s always been about colours and it comes very naturally for us. In the case of some categories, especially SUVs (Sport Utility Vehicle), colours such as black and white have worked. India, as a market, lacked cars with dark colours and it is here we changed the game. We have dark series in Safari, Harrier, Nexon and Altroz. So it’s about how you create that buzz.

The other thing about colours is that when you’re showcasing a car, white or light colour does not allow you to show curves. So, you need to have colours depending on the kind of car. Thirdly, I think people now are much more experimentative than ever before.