BRAND TATA=BRAND INDIA!

BRAND TATA=BRAND INDIA!

In 1999, the salt-to-software group started the Indian invasion of global brands with the acquisition of the UK’s Tetley. Since then, it has followed it up with many big and small deals, including the $13.7 billion buy of Corus Steel. But the conglomerate is increasingly facing resistance overseas while trying to acquire brands which are higher up the luxury scale — like the opulent Orient Express chain of hotels and iconic auto brands Jaguar and Land Rover.
What ails the brand perception of the group abroad, creating an impression that it is unworthy of handling luxury brands? Trust is almost synonymous to Tata in India. Trust is created through years of knowledge. Trouble for Tata abroad could be one of ignorance.
Ranjan Kapoor, country manager, India, WPP, says the problem is not Tata- specific but country-specific. “We are an emerging economy and foreigners see us based on that.” Every country goes through an evolution; initially as an exporter of low-cost products and later to one exporting high-quality goods. India is currently going through that transition and Tata is the flag bearer of Indian business to the world. That could be why they are facing the brunt. The comments from the top management at Orient Express or Jaguar’s US dealers are brand-racist comments. In a larger context the problem is certainly one towards India. US had the same attitude to the Japanese when they first went to that country. Look where they are now, be it in auto or the electronic space. Consumers do not see brands as a brown brand, white brand, black brand.
Tata Group offers everything from luxurious and niche products to cheap and ubiquitous ones. Is that contributing to diluting the brand image? Is the good will and premium image of a Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and the Taj Hotels undone by mass market forays? The same company can cater to two extremes. It can be mass at one end and niche at the other. Nokia, which has phones both at the mass level and at a high end, is an example. Infact Tata has been named the world’s third most accountable and transparent company by Britain’s One World Trust, ahead of names like Coca-Cola, Petrobras, HSBC Holdings, PriceWaterCooopers and Google.
Making acquisitions at the top-end should, over time, make the Tata brand substantially more valuable. Rather than spend money on creating a brand image through other activity, it (acquisitions) is a much better route.
In its bid to gain trust, it can even try highlighting its intentions through hiring people who have experience in managing historic brands to lead the pitch when they go for an Orient Express or a Land Rover. What is to be noted is that a dilution in the brand perception can happen only if the Tatas decide to dilute it.
So is there anything that the Tatas can do to change perceptions?