Vivek Srivatsa of TATA.ev on taking a turn towards sustainability with new brand identity

EV sales in India charged past 700,000 units in the first six months of 2023. In H1 of CY2023, cumulative retails are already above 73% of CY2022's record million-plus sales. With India being a ripe market for the EV segment, Tata Passengers Electric Mobility, a leader in this segment, has launched a new and improved brand identity – TATA.EV for its EV business. 

The new identity is banking on the brand’s core values of sustainability, community building, and technology. At the face of the brand logo, the brand has added ‘.ev’ suffix that is placed inside an orbit, which indicates a circular ecosystem of human and environmental interaction, said the brand. 

Additionally, the brand also said that Tata.ev’s distinct color scheme is its Evo Teal hue, which highlights the brand’s commitment to a sustainable future. 

Talking to Social Samosa, Vivek Srivatsa, Head of Marketing, Sales & Service Strategy, Tata Passengers Electric Mobility, said, “EV customers have very different expectations. When they buy EVs, their expectations are more like buying a gadget than an automobile. To accelerate this emotion of a smooth buying process, the digitization of operations and the new brand identity is the first step in providing a superior customer experience.” 

“Our brand communication revolves around educating consumers. And with consumers having a slew of questions about EVs, we thought it was the best time to re-engage with a clearer brand identity,” he added. 

Further taking the brand’s sustainability forward, the car maker also mentioned that the brand has designed the new marketing collateral keeping an eco-friendly approach in mind. Thus, print materials are designed on a white background, which reduces ink usage, whereas digital collaterals use a dark-mode style and are designed on a black base, thereby reducing battery consumption. 

Additionally, the new brand identity isn’t limited to its appearance but is also associated with a sound and depicts a movement, thus going with their new tagline – Move With Meaning.

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All consumer-facing communication will begin to assume the new brand identity and will be rolled out in a phased manner.

Communicating the identity

“We are trying to accelerate EV adoption in the country, and with this brand positioning, we are taking a decisive move in that direction,” said Srivatsa. 

He added that to match customer expectations and deliver and enhance customer experience and seamless delivery to customers, the brand saw fit to communicate this with the new brand identity. 

The brand has in the past used many influencers and auto media to educate the consumers of the brand. But the biggest pillars in driving the conversation about the brand have always been the customers themselves, mentioned Srivatsa.  

With aims of taking EV to the mainstream, the brand is currently focusing on establishing the brand design and spreading it across touchpoints. The new logo will be rolled out on the brand’s website, used in communication and subsequently taken into retail. 

Srivatsa said, “With the new identity, the communication more of focus stays on doing, rather than talking.”

The .ev moniker first appeared on the electric Tiago, followed by the electric Tigor. However, while both use the '.ev' identity in all marketing communication, only the Tiago got a badge on the vehicle itself. Going forward, Tata.ev will be the overall brand identity, and individual electric models will also carry the .ev suffix, like the electric Tiago.

For TATA.ev’s Tiago model, 25% of their buyers are women which is double the industry standard. Srivatsa mentioned that moving forward, to cater to this large section of the audience, the brand aims to increase more women in their ads moving forward. 

Srivatsa concluded by stating that the brand will focus on launching 10 EVs in the market by 2025 and expanding its portfolio to new segments and customer cohorts and focus on getting more revenue and growth from these launches.