THE MARKETING STRATEGIES OF TATA MOTORS Tata Nano's marketing strategy in particular is to use conventional media outlets, but

use them in unconventional ways. The Nano campaigns rely on innovative use of printed media, radio spots and other media such as the Internet. Marketing strategies of Tata Motors include the usual stuff like incorporating Tata Nano news into newspapers and creating Nano newsbreaks on the radio. Some of the more interesting marketing strategies of Tata Motors includes Tata Nano news crawling across as ticker messages at the bottom of your TV as well as new online Tata Nano games, Tata Nano Internet chat rooms , irritating Tata Nano pop-ups on major websites and even some in-depth Tata Nano conversations for users to join in on Facebook, Orkut and other blog spaces. Ad industry know-it-all say the marketing strategies of Tata Motors is to be "cost-effective and innovative so that the Tata Nano becomes synonymous with anything small, cute and brief. The idea is to make the Nano part of our everyday lingo like, 'see you after a nano break.' We can say its a totally word-of-mouth campaign. Tata Motors has appointed Rediffusion DY&R with creative content design for the Tata Nano campaign. The Economic Times has quoted Mahesh Chauhan, Group CEO, Rediffusion DY&R as saying, The Nano is a collective dream of the Tata Motors team and millions of Indians. We feel privileged that Tata Motors has selected us to partner this dream and share it with India. It is one of the most exciting brands in the country to be associated with. Thinking outside the patent box How could Tata Motors make a car so inexpensively? It started by looking at everything from scratch, applying what some analysts have described as 'Gandhian engineering' principles deep frugality with a willingness to challenge conventional wisdom. A lot of features that Western consumers take for granted - air conditioning, power brakes, radios, etc - are missing from the entry-level model. More fundamentally, the engineers worked to do more with less. The car is smaller in overall dimensions than the Maruti, but it offers about 20 per cent more seating capacity as a result of design choices such as putting the wheels at the extreme edges of the car. A modular design revolution Nano draw a lot of attention to the most innovative aspect of it that is its modular design. The Nano is constructed of components that can be built and shipped separately to be assembled in a variety of locations. In effect, the Nano is being sold in kits that are distributed, assembled, and serviced by local entrepreneurs. The Nano is also much lighter than comparable models as a result of efforts to reduce the amount of steel in the car (including the use of an aluminum engine) and the use of lightweight steel where possible. The car currently meets all Indian emission, pollution, and safety standards, though it only attains a

maximum speed of about 65 mph. The fuel efficiency is attractive - 50 miles to the gallon. Tata Motors has filed for 34 patents associated with the design of the Nano. Pricing strategy Though the one lakh price tag is not fixed by TATA group, it was the word of mouth of people which fixed that range. This expectation of people creates a big challenge for the company. To accept this challenge they used strategies target costing method, penetration pricing, low pricing policy with minimum profit margin. Tata Nano Standard (BSII* and BSIII*): The standard version, in three color options, single-tone seats, and fold-down rear seat. Tata Nano CX (BSII* and BSIII*): In five color options, with heating and airconditioning (HVAC), two-tone seats, parcel shelf, booster-assisted brakes, fold-down rear seat with nap rest. Tata Nano LX: (BSIII*) With the features of CX plus complete fabric seats, central locking, front power windows, body colored exteriors in three premium colors, fog lamps, electronic trip meter, cup holder in front console, mobile charger point, and rear spoiler. Many of these features are not available on current entry-level small cars in the country. At about $2,500 retail, the Nano is the most inexpensive car in the world. Its closest competitor, the Maruti 80 , made in India by Maruti Udyog , sells for roughly twice as much. To put this in perspective, the price of the entire Nano car is roughly equivalent to the price of a DVD player option in a luxury Western car. The low price point has left other auto companies scrambling to catch up. Promotion activities Enough use of one of the most important element of promotion mix i.e. publicity. It reduces the necessity of other promotional devices for nano. Nano got publicity as One lakh car by word to mouth, Auto expo 2008, New Delhi & Geneva, publicity through print & electronic media and Singur violation. For other type of promotional activities, cost factor that is 1lakh price tag is to be keep in mind, TATA is going to launch its nano mobile for indicom user, nano watch , nano T-shirts available in Westside stores . For Advertising they never used TV & other mass media effectively , thus too much money will not be invested in this regard .Mainly word of mouth advertising will get more emphasis. Internet will be a major media for advertising. Nano has gone beyond the traditional methods of advertising and promotion online and has created Online buzz . It is present on various Social Media communities like Official Orkut community has 6,906 member , Facebook Group has more than 42100 fans , highest View Count on You Tube is 3030060 and no. of blog posts are more than 616640. TATA have a blog on the official website also where they have been discussing quite interesting topics and generally maintaining an active community. Nano game by Zapak was a great move to spread word about the car and it seems to have really worked well in doing it's job. There are a lot of claims that the game has been played millions of times since its launch. It's a simple and easily accessible game, which anyone with a browser and internet connection can play. Online advertisements in blogosphere and Indian media sites were inundated with ads for Tata Nano. The ads came in all shapes and sizes and were definitely noticed. Though not directly a part of marketing, it's an important aspect of Nano's promotional campaign.

Offline marketing 1) Collaborations: As a part of their strategy to avoid premium for booking Nano, Tata partnered with a few banks for releasing application forms. Though the reason behind the move was different, it did help a lot in marketing Nano as the banks used their resources to market their collaboration with Tata to attract more and more applicants. ICICI bank for example initiated a whole campaign to get noticed and spread the word. Icicibank.com had a banner ad on their home page for booking Nano, and also ran links inside the site for the same. Not only this, the banks hired extra part time staff to book the Car. Roping banks like ICICI and SBI helped in also offering loans for total payment of car and in fact to surprise of sum Tata announced a bank interest on the applications for Nano which will be rejected in lucky draw. 2) Mall Promotions: As is the case with most automobile companies, Tata too ran a series of promotional activities on Malls to get Nano in front of perspective buyers. 3) Leveraging Existing Infrastructure: Tata, a giant brand that it is has also leveraged it's umbrella groups to market Nano. Now you can find Nano merchandise, application forms and demo cars in Tata Indicom, Titan, Croma and Westside stores. Tata Indicom is also offering a money back offer with every application form. 4) TV Though Tata didn't invest heavily into TV commercials; they did get a few channels to use the word nano instead of small wherever possible. For instance, instead of anchors saying well be back after a short break on TV channels, theyre saying, Well be back after a nano break.

Distribution Strategy TATAs business has been extended to the overseas i.e. to the Europe, Africa, U.S & Australia hence it has n-number of showrooms in India & outside of India. The exclusive showrooms are the best distribution channels for TATA itself. They also support 'open distribution' innovation because it mobilises large numbers of third parties to reach remote rural consumers, tailor the products and services to more effectively serve their needs, and add value to the core product or service through ancillary services. Three innovations in products and processes come together to support 'open distribution that are increased modularity (both in products and processes) ,aggressive leveraging of existing third-party, often non commercial, institutions in rural areas to more effectively reach target customers, and creative use of information technology carefully integrated with social institutions to encourage use and deliver even greater value. They are building long-term personal relationships with customers, enriched by the specialised capabilities of broad networks of third parties that generate much deeper insight into customer needs and afford opportunities to tailor value.