Tata sponsorship to IPL may weave a strong web to scale digitally & Youngify the oldest industrial Group of India

Tata Group has replaced the Chinese phone-maker Vivo as the title sponsor for the Indian Premier League (IPL) T20 cricket tournament for this season and the next. It will pay the BCCI Rs 670 crore for the sponsorship rights.

The decision to award the title sponsor rights to the Tatas in place of Vivo was taken at the Governing Council meeting of the IPL on January 11, 2022.

Interestingly, this sponsorship deal for India's biggest sports property IPL comes to Tata Group a few days ahead of the launch of Tata Digital's super app 'TataNeu'. The app consolidates Tata's consumer-facing businesses like daily grocery (Bigbasket), online pharmacy (1Mg), consumer electronics (Croma), eCommerce (TataCLiQ), fashion retail (Westside), flights and holidays among others. The app is currently available on both Android and iOS platforms and is downloadable. However, to log in, a user will need a Tata Corporate email Id, as it is available for its employees. The app is being pilot-tested among Tata Group's employee base.

Reportedly, Tata Digital's super app 'TataNeu' will be launched for the public in early 2022. This sponsorship deal will provide a much-needed boost to the launch of Tata Digital's super app and may allow it to challenge the e-commerce heavyweights, like Amazon and Reliance. It will also gain a lot in its attempts to 'Youngify' India's one of the biggest and oldest industrial brands, 'Tata'.

On this momentous occasion when Tata Group has got the sponsorship rights for India's biggest sports event, it is a time to look into the changes that the salt-to-software conglomerate has seen in the last few years, especially, after Natarajan Chandrasekaran was appointed as the Chairman of the Group in February 2017. However, the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) on December 18, 2019, held the appointment of Chandrasekaran as illegal and restored Cyrus Mistry as the chairman, which was overruled by the Supreme Court of India in January 2020.

Since then, the group has undergone several changes and also participated in several bids and won many of those, like the bid for Air India, including the airline's stake in Air India Express and Air India SATS Airport Services in October 2021. Tata Sons are slated to take over the running of Air India towards the end of January.

Besides, the Group's focus has also increased a lot towards digital technology in the last two years since the world was marred by the Pandemic maybe because Mr Chandrasekaran feels that digital technology will play a major role in the growth of the company earnings as well as the country's economy and this decade will belong to India.

Mr Chandrasekaran, recently (January 11, 2022), at the Microsoft Future Ready event said that during the pandemic, we saw a huge acceleration in digital services, maybe it is about consulting a doctor online or education. The pandemic has accelerated the use of technology and to ensure the growth is inclusive national priority should be access to education and health using the digital infrastructure for all. He added, Government can put the infrastructure but the corporate sector has to support it.

In addition, Tata Group Chairman N Chandrasekaran in the new year message to Chandrasekaran the employees of the Group said the conglomerate will play on four themes – digital, new energy, supply chain resilience and health. The industrial house has been taking steps towards these through organic and inorganic deals. Our new pilots and businesses, from 5G to TataNeu (super app) and Tata Electronics, are poised to benefit from these four themes going forward.

The group has been implementing a process of simplifying, synergising and scaling (3S) to create an agile and powerful platform.

Simplify, Synergise, Scale

Mr Chandrasekaran embarked on his journey at the helm of the conglomerate by making the Tata Group more structurally sound and organised. He devised a concept of Simplify, Synergise, Scale where Simplify meant the consolidation of different verticals into single entities to make organisation simpler like the aerodynamics and defence vertical, bringing Tata Chemicals and Tata Global Beverages to Tata Consumer Products among others. Synergise meant the companies under Tata Group will work together where it made business sense to forward each other's causes. For instance, Tata Motors delves into EV technology with help from Tata Capital for financing and Tata Power for charging infrastructure. Scale means high growth and high scale to achieve expansion of the companies and their businesses.

Other Changes the conglomerate has undergone under Mr Chandrasekaran

- He finalised the resolution of Docomo's $1.2 billion legal dispute and sold the company to Bharti Airtel.

- Tata Steel's Europe business was merged with ThyssenKrupp. Since 2017, Tata Steel has deleveraged Rs 29,000 crore of debt.

- Tata Motors' passenger vehicles segment was facing challenges with the debate over Nano's future among other issues and industry-wide shift towards cleaner fuel.

- Jaguar Land Rover portfolio was overhauled and pushed towards electrification. The company also honed down on its passenger vehicles business and saw significant market gains. It has also shed nearly Rs 22,000 crore in debt since 2017.

Meanwhile, the conglomerate has also changed its strategy to advertise its brands. For instance, Tata Motors in association with WATConsult, the globally awarded hybrid digital agency from the house of Dentsu Aegis Network (DAN) India, has announced the launch of 'Atmanirbharta by Tata Motors' – a digital campaign highlighting the existence of localisation in everything that we do. Designed and conceptualised by WATConsult, the campaign emphasises the meaning of 'Atmanirbharta' or self-reliance for individuals and the nation as a whole.

Mr Chandrasekaran is optimistic that the recent successes have provided the salt-to-software conglomerate with a great platform to build on and based on it the Group can reach new heights not just financially but also in terms of the difference it can make to communities. The Group can set new standards in technology, skills development and most importantly in sustainability.