TataSky: Loyalty on a platter

How do you grow if you find yourself in a commoditising industry characterised by similar offerings? The answer, TataSky believes, is in forging an emotional connect with the consumer

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Every marketer worth his salt knows that a winning brand strategy is about forging an emotional attachment with your consumer and loyalty. Own their heart and you not only get their business, you get their unstinting patronage, too. Stealing market share - and keeping it through the ups and downs of business cycles - is possible only when the brand reflects the values and aspirations of the consumer. Do they feel smarter because of their choice? Are they more humane? Do they represent a certain set of values? Are they cooler than the rest? These are the questions every brand manager needs to answer. Remember, the brand is about who the customer is. It is never about...well... the label stuck on that satellite dish.

TataSky, the No 2 player in the Indian direct-to-home (DTH) market that has a total subscriber base of 84.8 million, understands that better than many others in the fray. that's apparent from the way it has pitched the service to potential customers over the past few years. Its 'Daily Dillagi' campaign launched last year told the story of two young lovers and how their love grew, thanks to their daily meetings. This year it has unveiled a campaign comprising 14 commercials, each highlighting a different offering. Its tagline, 'TataSky laga daala toh life jingalala' is tweaked appropriately to suit every occasion.

Take the film that highlights TataSky's Actve English offering. The film has a newly married couple, where the new bride tells her husband in faltering English, "You are my knight in sining... shining armour", suggesting she has just started learning English. This TVC ends with the tagline "Isko laga dala to pyaar jingalala". Another TVC features an old couple where the husband is seen working on his fitness so that he is hale and hearty to trouble her for a long time. This TVC promotes the Actve Fitness service.

The other short films too capture tender moments in people's lives - all thanks to their TataSky connection. "With the roll-out of phase IV of digital addressable system (DAS), it's time for us to reach out to as many consumers as possible and tell them about our key offerings," says Malay Dixit, chief communications officer, TataSky. Last year's campaign focused on daily recharge with different use cases. This time, Dixit says, the campaign promotes the entire bouquet of TataSky services. "A consistent communication message as to how TataSky enhances the consumer's life runs through the different TVCs," he adds.

TataSky hopes to gobble up a big chunk of the 35 million houses that are up for grabs as part of the IV phase of DAS.

The creative agency, Ogilvy & Mather, had a simple brief of increasing the brand recall. Sukesh Nayak, creative director Ogilvy & Mather, says while brainstorming the one thing that struck the team was that for most married people the only time they get to spend together is in front of TV. "So we asked ourselves - how can the brand make the moment that couples spend together more magical and romantic. The offerings of TataSky can help make the little time that couples get to spend together more memorable and hence the tagline 'Isko laga dala to pyaar jingalala'."

To get the execution spot on, Ogilvy & Mather identified couples in different age groups, in different parts of the country and from different socio-economic backgrounds. "We wanted to portray romance in all its hues and to achieve this we got on board 14 couples representing the new India - a mix of working couples and families where the husband pitches in with household work along with the wife," says Nayak

Besides Hindi channels, TataSky has also rolled out the campaign in seven regional languages. Going forward, TataSky plans to roll out digital offerings such as live channels, mobile applications, and so on.