Tata & Royal Enfield – The Brands Acting as Catalysts to the Campaign of Brand India

Tata is India's Number one brand

Tata is India's Number one brand

The Indian multinational conglomerate holding company, Tata, is the most valuable brand in India, as per the 2016 Brand Finance report. Founded in 1868 by Jamshedji Tata, the company topped the list of India’s 100 most valuable brands at an estimated value of $13.7 billion. However, though Tata managed to retain its topmost position as the most valuable company of India, its brand value did take a plunge by 11%. The reasons for this plunge are Tata’s vulnerability in the steel industry as well as the exposure to the volatile UK market resulting in a decline in its revenue because of the difficulties it is facing there.

The Journey of Tata

Tata, founded in 1868, acquired many global companies over the years and very soon gained international recognition. Today Tata consists of Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Tata Consultancy Services, Tata Power, Tata Chemicals, Tata Global Beverages, Tata Teleservices, Titan, Tata Communications and Indian Hotels Company. But, that’s not all. Here are a few interesting achievements of the largest conglomerate of India:

  • Tata is one of the most well connected companies in the world. Literally! Tata Communications cables span over 500,000 KMs of underwater through submarine fibre optic cables and 210,000 KMs of land through terrestrial cables, and approximately 24% of the internet’s traffic goes through them. To get things in perspective, the Earth has a circumference of 40,075 km at the equator. Yes, the figures are indeed mind boggling.
  • Tata Communications holds the position of being one of the few global tier-1 Internet service providers in the world. Tier-1 signifies that Tata has cables all over the world. They do not need to pay any fees to any company and can access any destination free of cost. Thus, they literally own the communication world.
  • Did you know that Air India, the national airline of India, was founded in 1932 by JRD Tata, and the airline was known as Tata Airlines.
  • Tata has been known for its philanthropy throughout its lifespan. The company has always taken CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) seriously and has worked towards the larger good of the society. Tata has been known for its work in the areas such as conservation of the environment, women and child development, training of youth and building sustainable livelihoods, health and education.
  • Recently, Harvard Business School has received a gift of $50 million from Tata Companies, the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust and the Tata Education and Development Trust, philanthropic entities of India’s Tata Group. This was the largest international donation in the 102 years old history of the school. The donation has been made towards a new academic and residential building which will be named the Tata Hall.

Tata group is indeed helping build a good name for India in the far reaches of the world.

Royal Enfield: Royal all the way

The brand value of Royal Enfield saw an overall rise by 91% since 2015. It has been named the fastest growing brand by Brand Finance. Royal Enfield does have an interesting past. Here is a peek into it:

  • The brand name Royal Enfield originally belonged to the Enfield Cycle Company (founded 1893) and they were engaged in the manufacture of motorcycles, bicycles, lawnmowers and stationary engines.
  • The first motor cycle was built in 1901. The design and original production of the longest living motorcycle in history, the Royal Enfield Bullet, was done by the Enfield Cycle Company.
  • The Enfield Cycle Company was previously engaged in the manufacture of weapons, like the Enfield Rifle, and thus the design of the motorcycle and their logo reflected their motto, “Made Like A Gun”.
  • Royal Enfield found its base in India in 1955 as Enfield of India, with the company partnering with Madras Motors in Chennai. Bikes were assembled here but soon, by 1962, all the components were also manufactured in India.
  • Eventually, The Enfield Cycle Company closed its doors, but Enfield of India continued producing the ‘Bullet’, under the brand name of Royal Enfield.

For those who know and love their bikes, Royal Enfield (RE) is not just a bike, and has a legendary life with the most colourful past.

  • Royal Enfield made its mark and made its presence known during World War I when the British government’s war department was supplied with the motorcycles. During the war a special edition with a side car mounted with a machine gun was also launched. You will see the same motorcycle in the blockbuster movie Sholay, albeit without the machine gun.
  • The Bullet model has been in continuous production since 1948. This is probably the longest continuation of a motorcycle model in the world.
  • The Indian Government introduced the RE in 1965 to the police and the army for patrolling the borders. To this day, the Indian Army has thousands of REs in service.
  • RE exports its motor cycles to 42 countries around the world, including to the UK where it originated!
  • RE saw a surge in the increase of sales with the iconic Bullet maker, registering 50 per cent growth in its total sales at 4.5 lakh units for the calendar year 2015. In fact, it even overtook the Harley Davidson, the most popular make of motorcycles in the world, in 2014.

There is no doubt about the fact that Royal Enfield is fast becoming a style quotient around the world with the added advantage of being priced much lower than the Harley Davidson. Even Barrack Obama expressed his admiration for the bike during the stunt bike show of the Republic Day Parade which he attended.

As India forges ahead to becoming a developed nation, Tata and Royal Enfield will surely help in contributing towards the thrust that it requires at this crucial phase.