Mktg - Tata's new positioning

If Vodafone’s the network that follows you around, Tata Indicom wants its subscribers to do the following bit. Following their hearts, that is.

The brand has recently undergone a major repositioning exercise, centred on a new punchline, ‘Suno Apne Dil Ki Awaaz (‘Listen to Your Heart’). In 2005, McCann Erickson had won the account, creating ads featuring actors Kajol and Ajay Devgan around the premise ‘Do More, Live More’, a positioning that had a rather long shelf life.

After the account moved to DraftFCB Ulka, the ‘Switch to Tata Indicom and Experience the Difference’ ads, which featured endorser Kajol, broke on television. These seemed to be more tactical in nature, urging trial of the service.

“After garnering over 27 million subscribers, it was time for us to adopt an emotional approach,” Abdul Khan, president, marketing, Tata Indicom told afaqs!. The account now lies with Contract Advertising and the repositioning is the first exercise the agency was given after the win.

What, where, why
As is known, Tata Indicom is currently into CDMA offerings, with prepaid, postpaid and VAS (value added services) as its major offerings. Almost 85 per cent of its market share comes from prepaid subscribers, residing in what Khan puts across as “emerging India”. Translated, this means small towns, mini metros, etc., while the postpaid and VAS user belt is concentrated in the metros. First, the core target group of prepaid users in small towns will be addressed, followed by the rest of the belt.

The repositioning was arrived at after extensive research by the Anand Halve founded outfit, Chlorophyll. “Chlorophyll helped us identify our core TG set,” says Khan. “We realised we wanted to target the ambitious lot in smaller towns, for whom the world is not enough.” There, Tata Indicom found an opportunity for empowerment.

The ad
Contract has created a TV commercial that went on air on August 10. It depicts the story of a small town girl who aspires to be an athlete (a sprinter). While the narration (a female voiceover) gives wings to the girl’s thoughts, she wonders when she will be able to break free of narrow mentality and limitations. One sees her get up early in the morning and head for her daily run. She pushes the odds and keeps at her dream, believing that one day it will become a reality, because that’s what the voice in her heart tells her.
Practice and persistence pay off when one day, she gets a call from her coach (who stays in a big city), telling her that she has been selected for a big championship and should pack her bags. Just as she sits atop a truck, all set to follow her heart, the voiceover concludes, “Tata Indicom. Taaki aap aur aapke sapno ke beech kuch bhi na aa sake. Aur aap sunn sakein apne dil ki awaaz.” (For the narrative in the ad, click here.)

This ad will be followed by two 20 second TVCs that will carry the budding sprinter’s success story forward. She will be seen reaching the city and making it big as an athlete. These ads will be followed by some more adverts targeting existing and potential postpaid and VAS subscribers. In VAS, for instance, the same thought (Suno Apne Dil Ki Awaaz) can be leveraged in the sense that VAS allows the public to stay in touch with their desire to experiment on a mobile phone.

All about simplicity
According to Khan, Kajol is still a part of the Tata Indicom family and can be spotted in the ads for the metro populace. Cricketers MS Dhoni, Irfan Khan and Yusuf Khan can also be seen narrating their own ‘Listen to Your Heart’ experiences in future ads.

The sprinter story was crafted by Manish Bhatt, Raghu Bhat and Anshumani Khanna of Contract Advertising; Khanna was the one who devised the basic plot. “We wanted a simple, open plot that showed the role of a mobile phone in a person’s life,” says Manish Bhatt, vice-president and executive creative director, Contract Advertising. The role of Tata Indicom, Contract deduced, was that of an enabler in the lives of its users. “A phone is an important tool that helps a small town guy make it big… it helps him keep in touch with the world outside of his own.”

The subtler message in this ad (which was shot in a small town) is that the brand’s CDMA network is far reaching, with what the company claims is a supposedly more clear reception and sound quality than GSM networks. “So while the physical part of the service is that Tata Indicom helps you listen to what the person on the other end is saying clearly, the emotional benefit is that it also allows for you to listen to your own inner voice,” says Bhatt.

The making
The sprinter in the ad is Spenta Havewala, who incidentally is a football player. The ad was shot by Prakash Varma of Nirvana Films. Interestingly, he has also shot several Hutch/Vodafone and Airtel films. The textured voiceover has been given by Richa (who has also worked on a few Frankfinn Institute commercials).

To bring out the wannabe sprinter’s determination and grit, the words in the ad – written by the Bhat-Bhatt-Khanna trio at Contract – are a blend of Hindi, Urdu and English, which gives it a contemporary, realistically poetic flavour. The whole tone of voice is designed to capture the restlessness and uneasiness before achievement.

The 45 second film has been shot at the picturesque Tenkasi, which is 100 km away from Kanyakumari and Madurai in Tamil Nadu. Apparently, some Mani Ratnam movies been shot there in the past.

In a subtle way, the repositioning of Tata Indicom also implies that not only does the brand want consumers to follow their hearts, but also that the brand is listening to its customers. “This we are achieving through increased listener posts and feedback mechanisms,” concludes Khan.