• Investment World
• eWorld
• Catalyst
• Mentor
• Life
• Canvas
• Praxis
• Urban Pulse
• Brand Quest

Ramesh Narayan

Both the Indica V2 and Indigo campaigns seem to be scoring well.

A lot has gone into making the Indica a success.

I STEPPED out of my cottage at the Taj Aguada, and there she was. Standing by herself, all wet and lovely. I loved her shape. I walked around her taking in the shape of her headlights and the attractive rear light cluster. I didn't know who she was. I just had to make her acquaintance. I waited and asked the men who had come with her. They smiled smugly and said this was the new car from Tata Engineering and they were on a test drive around the country. No, she hadn't been named.

This was how my association with the Tata Indica began on a rain-swept day in Goa, many years ago.

An unabashed auto buff, and a devout Indian, I could barely conceal my delight. Here was an Indian car that could hold its own against any import. I actually felt Ratan Tata had done to the auto industry what J. N. Tata had done to the hospitality industry a hundred years ago. We had another Taj.

Let me fast-forward through the launch of the Indica and the depressing couple of years that followed. I felt severely let down. Nothing was wrong with the advertising. Nothing was wrong with the way the car looked, it just was not living up to the promise of quality.

Then came the Indica V2. Tata Engineering learned from the mistakes and promised to deliver a cracker of a car. FCB Ulka came with the baseline `More car per car'. More car per car almost became a buzz phrase to be adopted, adapted or mutilated. Food critics wrote about restaurants serving more steak per steak. A lovely lady wrote about my term as President of the AdClub Bombay as being more President per President. Not many baselines get to be used or misused like this. The Indica V2 was positioned as a "value" car with more space, more savings, more efficiency, more everything. The TV commercial with its pounding background score emphasised the fact that it was tested, and respected. The forgiving customer decided to give it another chance. They did not regret it. My peculiar (I might call it unique) lighter vein in which I wrote about the Indica and Indigo campaigns drew a fair share of comments. A more serious look now.

The latest print campaign uses a "different visual metaphor" to drive home the brand promise. A hundred rupee note in the background with the headline in the typography of a currency note reading "Imagine throwing away 30,000 rupees year after year after year. Go ahead. Be wasteful, don't buy the Indica V2." Another advertisement has a tin gasoline can on which is the headline "Issued in the public interest. It's a free country. So go ahead, Be reckless. Don't buy the Indica V2. Buy some tin can on wheels and hope you don't get into a crash." Yet another shows a jam bottle with the label carrying the headline "Why jam your family into a pint sized car when you can spread them out in the Indica V2?"

So there you had the Indica V2 cruising along smoothly, and Tata Engineering had also launched the Indigo. "India Go!" I am told, was the inspiration for the name of the car.

Comfort and luxury were the promises from this sedan. The baseline appropriately read, "Spoil yourself". A series of luxurious sofas formed the visual for the launch of this car. An angled top shot of the car formed the equivalent of a "pack shot" placed along with the logo at the bottom corner of the advertisement. This evolved into a series where the car took centre-stage. Large visuals of the car from all angles. If you have a good looking car, show it. The headline approach changed to "rewarding oneself".

"When it's this long overdue, make sure the pat you give yourself on the back is a really huge one." Similar headlines followed. Evidently the advertising is working. The Indigo stormed to the top of the pack in the `C' segment in the first month of the launch itself.

I am told that independent research seems to reveal that the Indica V2 and the Indigo campaigns are scoring well.

Maybe the fact that both campaigns run simultaneously with large full-page advertisements made me blur the difference in the positioning statements.

The ultimate test is in the market. And both brands seem to be doing very well, thank you.

A case of more brand per brand.

Dettol versus Ayush.

The Delhi High Court has vacated the injunction sought by Reckitt Benckiser on the advertising of HLL's Ayush soap. It has declared that Ayush is indeed an ayurvedic medicinal preparation with antiseptic properties. It has also said that the Reckitt Benckiser product Dettol soap was found to be totally devoid of antiseptic properties and qualified just as an ordinary cosmetic soap.

I am heart-broken. Dettol is a legend. I was convinced that the "antiseptic" fragrance in Dettol soap was the guarantee of freedom from germs. I am taking it off my shelf immediately.

(The author heads Canco Advertising. Feedback can be sent to bleditor@thehindu.co.in)

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication

Stories in this Section
Sumeet hopes to scale a summit

Copyright © 2003, The Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu Business Line