How Tata Motors is using IPL to strengthen its EV game via its latest offering Tiago

Taking its partnership forward with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to the sixth consecutive year, Tata Motors is leveraging the TATA IPL (Indian Premier League) 2023 in the best way possible with Tiago.ev as the official partner for this year’s tournament. India’s third largest passenger carmaker said that it will leverage the platform to increase awareness of its EVs, while showcasing and driving engagement for its recently launched premium electric hatch.

Apart from being the title sponsor, doing on ground promotions and having a car on display in every stadium, Tata Motors is also the presenting sponsor with Jio Cinema for the digital broadcasters. 

“Jio will be disruptive this year because firstly the app is free of cost and that's going to explode the kind of viewership for IPL because previously the digital broadcast was behind the pay wall you had to subscribe. This year, they got into many languages is a huge hit and is able to establish a deep connect with each region in the country,” Vivek Srivatsa, Head, Marketing, Sales and Service Strategy, Tata Passenger Electric Mobility, said.

Digital or traditional TV? Which platform is expected to take the cake, one may wonder. 

“We're betting a little bit more on digital this time. With the kind of offering that Jio cinema has brought to the table and the kind of potential reach that it'll give us by making its app free of cost to download, we're betting a little bit more money on Jio than on Star Sports,” he said. He added that one of the reasons why Tata is spending more on JioCinema is because of the reach. “It'll reach people with slightly lower incomes. Automotive as a category is rapidly growing into the smaller towns where need is for smaller cars and economical transportation, need is for safe cars. Tiago EV is a great proposition for small town India,” he said, adding: “Probably we'll end up spending more on JioCinema.” 

Getting into multiple languages, according to him, has also helped them as a presenting sponsor because of their ability to reach a deeper demographic in the country. For the first time Tata Motors is advertising an EV at the event. 

“It just shows how large the EV business has become and it also is going to give the customers the confidence that an EV company is sponsoring one if the largest media and sports property in the country. It makes people realize that EVs are now serious business. That's the message that we're trying to give,” he added.

He said that he’s also using IPL to reach out to their more than 50,000 EV customers and hopes that IPL will help them build more brand awareness and eventually accelerate India’s EV adoption.