Messi will still be the face of Tata Motors

Lionel Messi will continue to be the brand ambassador of Tata Motors even though he has announced his retirement from intentional football.

“Our association with Messi will continue, there is no change,” a company spokesperson told BusinessLine.

The Argentine superstar stunned the world when he made public his decision to quit the football arena. This was soon after his country lost to Chile in the Copa America final on Sunday.

It was last November when Tata Motors had announced its decision to rope in Messi as its global brand ambassador for passenger vehicles over the next two years.

The top management said this was an important initiative to connect with buyers through the #madeofgreat campaign featuring the football icon. The core message within was: ‘What drives us from within is what makes us great’.

With Messi, Tata Motors wanted to connect with young people as he was seen to be cool, inspiring and confident apart from being hugely self-driven. During its survey, the company also realised that soccer was the new cool in India while cricket was seen more as a desi sport among today’s youth.

In April, the commercial featuring the Tiago hatchback and Messi made its debut and the ‘fantastico’ theme quickly struck a chord with viewers.

The new offering has had a reasonably good market response and is a critical takeoff point to revive the company’s passenger car business. Other launches will follow in the coming months and this is where the Messi connection could become even more relevant.

Yet, it remains to be seen if he has lost a bit of the halo following the decision to quit.

There is no doubt that Messi will still be a recognisable face but the divorce from international football may just weaken a bonding which Tata Motors would have ideally liked to leverage better.

After all, the game is gaining traction among India’s youth who, in turn, revere Messi. They will be hoping he changes his mind about retiring!

These are early days yet on the Tata script with Messi but in the auto space, it is the product that needs to deliver. There is only so much a brand ambassador can do in terms of bringing to the table a familiar face but the customer has to be convinced eventually that he has a value-for-money proposition in the product.

Shah Rukh Khan, for instance, has had a two-decade long association with Hyundai but it is the Korean automaker’s i10, i20, Xcent, Verna and Creta that have an overwhelming presence in the market. To solely bank on the Bollywood superstar for success would have been naïve.

Renault, likewise, did its homework thoroughly on the Kwid while Ranbir Kapoor did his bit as brand ambassador. There are many other instances where heavyweight celebrities could do precious little in bolstering a brand’s sales.

Tata Motors, similarly, will only be too aware that the Tiago will work only if it strikes the right chord with buyers. The Messi association is doubtless helpful to pave the way but long-term sustainability will depend on the product and after-sales service.

COMMENT NOW