Tata Nano – The story behind, the story forward and the in-between!

Tata Nano can arguably claim to have been in the news for more time than any other Indian car. From the time Ratan Tata promised a car at INR 100,000 ($2000) in 2008 to initial scepticism to an unprecedented rate of pre-booking, the brand has seen the ebb and the tide. With an ambitious plan to launch in other emerging markets in 2012 (according to a NY Times report here), the brand is all a marketer’s dream.

So, what feathers can be pulled out from Tata Nano’s hat?

Identify an undeniable market need (or create it like Apple!) – The bulk of the effort (at least initially) should go into zeroing in on that ‘undeniable’ market need in a particular sector. The entire marketing strategy would (and should) revolve around that.
Live up to the brand promise (and people simply fall in love!) – Indians of all people have a tendency to dis-believe brand promises and with more brands failing to live-up, the tendency is almost a trait! When Tata Nano was unveiled, Ratan Tata’s words – A promise is a promise became synonymous with Tata Nano – Trust
Create a ‘too good to be true’ product (More eye-brows raise than you imagine!) – When the who’s who of the automobile industry questioned the authenticity (and sanity) of Tata’s claim to build the world’s cheapest car, the world was almost convinced that the Tata Nano was a fool’s dream. The launch not only silenced competition but also created uproar in the market – a new consumer sector was born!

With the market thrust that has been created, the brand can focus on product improvements and can gain significant mileage for the next few years to come without really pushing for sales. Now, that calls for a toast.