Prajjal Saha
Marketing

Brand Tata: Both mentor and fighter

The Tata brand has been evaluated at Rs 24,396 crore (February 2005), based on 17 companies; in 1997, its value was just Rs 3,700 crore, based on five companies

If you try to slot the cine stars of the yesteryears according to their image, you would put Ashok Kumar in the ‘mentor’ category – cultured, friendly, patriotic and generous. Dev Anand would, perhaps, fit better in the ‘fighter’ slot – young, athletic, street-smart, modern and savvy.

Working on the lines we used with the cine stars, the Tata group evaluates the Tata brand every six months vis-à-vis four other corporate biggies in the country. In the last evaluation process done by Pathfinder in July 2005, the Tata brand was found to have surpassed the four peer group companies in terms of its image as mentor.

While Brand Tata is considered to be more cultured than the other companies, the gap narrows when you consider other aspects such as patriotism, generosity and friendliness. The findings will not come as a surprise for we all have a preconceived image of the Tata group.

But what’s interesting is that Tata has also won its image as a fighter on more than three counts and it maintains a close gap in three other counts in this category.

For instance, Tata is considered to be more athletic amongst its peer group, but it is close to two other competitors when it comes to being street smart, modern and savvy.

R Gopalakrishnan, executive director, Tata Sons Ltd, says, “Tata is probably considered athletic because it has been associated with various sports such as F1 racing and tennis.”

However, when it comes to youthful image, the Tata brand is behind two other companies that were part of the same evaluation process.

Brand Tata was also evaluated for its image as a winner on counts such as being adventurous, ambitious, energetic, wise and an achiever. While it leads the others in achieving and in being energetic, it is not considered adventurous in comparison to the next competing company. In terms of being ambitious and wise, it is at par with the next competing company.

The value of Brand Tata was also evaluated in the research. And it has seen a massive increase since it was evaluated in 1997 at Rs 3,700 crore, based on five companies, Tata Motors, Tata Steel, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Titan and Taj.

However, when the brand was re-evaluated in February 2005, Tata’s value went up to Rs 24,396 crore. This evaluation was done on the basis of the group’s 17 companies, including its sub-brands. The Tata Group companies included in this evaluation process were segregated into four categories.

The first category included companies that used the Tata name for both the company and the products – Tata Motor, Tata AIG, Tata Steel, etc. The second category included those companies that used the Tata brand for themselves, but did not use it for their products – TCS, Tata Infotech, Tata Power, etc.

The third category included those companies that used the Tata brand for their products, but not for themselves. The last category included those companies that used the Tata brand for neither their products nor themselves – VSNL, Rallis, etc.

When asked how much revenue Tata earns as royalty from companies that use the Tata brand name, Gopalakrishnan says, “We do not call it royalty, we call it brand equity or brand promotion fees, which we collect from around 30-35 companies. The amount earned from those fees is spent totally on promoting the Tata brand.”

Gopalakrishnan also says that future growth for the Tata group and the brand will come from sectors such as telecom, retail and insurance.

He adds, “We believe in the theory that the future is in the past. There are certain sectors that are considered old and lazy, but these sectors will also contribute to the growth of the Tata group.”

He cites the example of how per capita consumption of steel and fly ash in the US was maximum when that country was going through major infrastructural development. China is experiencing the same growth now, he says, and explains, “With India now on the verge of infrastructural development, these sectors are also poised to grow, and so will the Tata group and the brand.”

© 2006 agencyfaqs!

Have news to share? Write to us atnewsteam@afaqs.com