Rediffusion Y&R repositions Tata Nano as an 'awesome' youth brand

A riot of colours, dapper chics and foot-tapping number celebrating ‘youness’, ‘kickassness’, ‘epicness’ and ‘magicness’ – that’s the new campaign for Tata Nano crafted by Rediffusion Y&R. Whether it is casting a magic spell by magician Ugesh Sarcar or a runway trend by model Sarah Jane Dias and designer Masaba Gupta to a peppy number by Dhruv Ghanekar and Gayatri Iyer, the film has it all.

The ad opens with few girls in a taxi looking at various Tata Nano cars on the road. The drivers park their cars and start forming a flash mob. Ugesh Sarcar performs a trick turning a small model of Tata Nano into a real car. Everybody gathers at a common place and designer Masaba Gupta walks towards an orange Nano, throws off the cover to reveal a blue Nano. The film ends with the supers ‘Celebrate youness’, ‘Celebrate kickassness’, ‘Celebrate epicness’, ‘Celebrate magicness’, ‘Celebrate awesomeness.’

The campaign has already been rolled out aggressively on digital and TV. The ad has already surpassed 1.3 million views in a week on YouTube. 

Watch the ad here...

Celebrating ‘Awesomeness’
“The Nano created a completely new category and continues to innovate in line with the evolution of the market space. The consumer’s voice has always defined India’s most innovative car as seen again with the all-new edition Nano. The new Nano as a product has evolved, with great new colours, enhanced driving comfort, and awesome features. We have made the Nano’s big personality even bigger with new colours, more stylish interiors, and an integrated AmphiStream Bluetooth music system. It is increasingly being seen as a smart, peppy, and fun car to hang out with. Our new ad campaign celebrates this awesome spirit of the Nano of living life on your own terms. We are showing the colourful world of Nano and the people in this world who share the brand’s unique attitude – to do things bigger, better, and differently. In the new communication, we are showcasing young achievers from different genres, who have made a mark in their chosen field, celebrating ‘Awesomeness’,” said Delna Avari, Head - Marketing Communications, Passenger Vehicle Business Unit, Tata Motors.

Sam Ahmed, Chief Creative Officer and Vice Chairman, Rediffusion Y&R said, “To me, Nano is the poster child of 'Awesomeness'. The bold and fiercely uncompromising attitude of today’s youth is also unmatched in our history. I salute them. They too represent ‘Awesomeness’ to me. So, it’s purely an amalgamation of these two factors that we’re celebrating. More than anything else, Nano stands for an attitude – the attitude of being brave, authentic, and being in a league of your own, an act to follow. This attitude can be best summed as – Awesomeness. Hence, this campaign is a celebration of an attitude of awesomeness.”

Elaborating on the insight, Ahmed said, “Nano is a lot more than a car. It is an epic brand and an iconic brand. It is the symbol of modern day India. The car was born from a brave attitude. So, I knew that my campaign has to be inspired from the brand itself. I chose to amplify these layers of the Nano personality. I wanted to showcase its appeal to an urban as well as a non-urban audience; reveal the Nano personality as different, bold, and brave. So, we deliberately drew attention to these aspects of the Nano personality. Most brands try to talk to the youth, but end up talking at them. Only a few brands are doing it well. So, I wanted to steer clear of this sea of sameness and crafted a language and a communication strategy that appealed to the youth and engaged them.”

How awesome is the campaign? Expert take:

Naresh Gupta, Managing Partner, Bang in the Middle remarked, “It is a bold move for Nano to break from its self created ‘car for a lakh bucks’ image to something that is young, exciting and happening. The commercial does well to break that image. Celebrating 'Awesomeness' gives it that stage that the brand should have had from day one."

"To my mind though, the commercial does not work at many levels. There are too many cliches, too many borrowed metaphors and tries too hard to build what it calls ‘kickassness’. This ad is Sony meets Axe meets some readymade garments ad, mashed to look like a youth anthem,” he added.

“Why are the coloured balls running all over the ad? Why is it that when someone ‘pulls’ the cover off the car, what comes out is another car of same type? It just leaves me bewildered. On the other hand, it has a very vibrant track, which adds to the whole commercial. At least from the memorability perspective, the jingle adds many layers to the commercial. The jingle may be awesome, but the ad is bewildering,” said Gupta.

Our take
First Nano was launched as ‘the one lakh car’ for families who wanted to replace their two-wheelers with a small car through the brand’s ‘Khushiyon ki Chabhi’ campaign. After that, we saw a campaign showing youngsters going on a long drive in the Nano, highlighting the product features. And now we see an ad full of life, colour, vibrance and attitude to appeal to the youth, positioning the car for the urban youth. The use of celebrities adds to the glamour quotient. The magical tricks played by Ugesh Sarcar bring out the fun element in the ad.

The imagery of being the ‘one lakh car’ certainly didn’t work for brand; hence, there was an urgent need to bring change in the strategy. The shift in positioning will work well for the brand. It has now found the right target audience for the car.

The ad has been produced very well and the concept of giving a carnival look and feel to the ad will connect with the audience. The jingle is peppy, joyful and makes the ad vibrant. It will strike a chord with the youth because of its entertaining execution. But what remains a fact is that consumers still justify a purchase, especially a car, on the basis of the features and nothing else.
 

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