Tata Motors, maker of luxury cars such as Jaguar and Land Rover, "signed up Lionel Messi as its global brand ambassador for the next two years," according to Kedar Grandhi of INT'L BUSINESS TIMES. The Indian carmaker's move is a bid to raise its "cool quotient" across global markets. Tata Motors passenger vehicle business unit President Mayank Pareek said that the company sought to "break from the clutter" by tapping Messi. This is not the first time an Indian company "signed up a global sports star." Hero MotoCorp "signed a four-year deal with American golfer Tiger Woods" in December '14. Independent brand consultant Avik Chatopadhyay said that the association with Messi "would work well across all football-loving regions" such as North and South Africa, and South East Asia, but not India where the company has a "huge negative baggage" (IB TIMES, 11/3). In New Delhi, Amit Bapna wrote the passenger vehicle segment, in which Tata Motors has a share of 5.72% "has been a tough journey for the Indian conglomerate and it is hoping for a change in fortunes with a slew of customer-centric activities as well as aggressive marketing initiatives." The first campaign under this association #madeofgreat, filmed in Barcelona and directed by the Daniel Benmayor, "is ready to be rolled out." Tata Motors "would be the first Indian brand endorsed by the Argentina-born Messi." The campaign "has been conceptualized by Ogilvy's agency Soho Square," under the creative charge of Exec Creative Directors Anuraag Khandelwal and Satish deSa (ECONOMIC TIMES, 11/3).
