The document discusses Tata Motors' marketing strategy for its new car, the Aria. Tata has committed Rs. 1.5 crore, its highest amount for a product, to an online viral marketing campaign on buildadreamcar.com. The website launches a game that builds a car in stages without revealing its name until the final stage, which shows it is the Aria. Tata hopes this interactive game will induce people to purchase the Aria, which it priced between Rs. 12-13 lakh to compete with the Toyota Innova and Mahindra Xylo in the crossover segment. The marketing effort will continue online to attract upwardly mobile buyers.

1. 27th September :MondayPage-6,Col-3 FTA with Japan could propel automatic cars (Chasing Indo-Korean Trade Pact: Japanese Carmakers Push To Bring Transmission System Under FTA)

2. News:JAPANESE automakers have sought introduction of automatic transmission system in the Indo-Japanese free trade agreement (FTA), to bring down the cost of making automatic gear cars. Result of this move: 1.The move will benefit companies such as Maruti Suzuki, Honda and Toyota that at present import the component for their automatic cars from JapanFTA with Japan could propel automatic cars

3. 2.The automatic transmission costs up to 1 lakh for bigger cars and even if the tariff is halved, it could bring down cost of production by around 6,000 per unit.3.This could become a cost differentiator for a company like Hyundai over a period of time as sales of automatic gear cars is gaining traction in India even though it comprises just about 5-6% of total domestic sales of over 15 lakh cars at present. Cont

4. ScopeAutomatic gear cars are gaining popularity in India and transmission is one of the most expensive parts for such vehicles. All carmakers import automatic transmission for their products from their respective countries. Under the Indo-Korean FTA implemented from January this year, import tariff for transmission could go down significantly over the next eight years from 12.5% at present.

5. 28thSeptember :TuesdayPage-9,Col-1 Wal-Mart eyes Africa with $4.6-bn deal()

6. News: Wal-Mart is ramping up international expansion as it attempts to make up for slowing growth in the US, where same-store sales have fallen for five consecutive quarters. South Africa, the biggest economy on the continent, represents a platform for expansion into southern Africa, according to Andy Bond, Wal-Mart’s executive vice president overseeing the Bentonville, Arkansas-based company’s operations in the region. Wal-Mart Stores, the world’s largest retailer, plans to buy Massmart Holdings in a transaction worth about $4.6 billion, entering in its biggest deal in more than a decade Wal-Mart eyes Africa with $4.6-bn deal

7. About Massmart: 1.Massmart operates a total of 290 stores, mostly in South Africa. 2.The retailer has 24 stores in 12 other African countries including Botswana, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Nigeria and Ghana. 3.The purchase would be Wal-Mart’s largest since it bought UK supermarket chain Asda for about $11 billion in 1999. 4.Massmart shares rose as much as 16.68 rand to 151.43 rand and traded at 149.50 rand as of 12:10 pm local time, giving the company a market value of about 30 billion rand. About Wal-Mart: Wal-Mart operated more than 4,000 stores in 14 foreign countries through April, with sales outside the US topping more than $100 billion in the most recent fiscal year.Cont:

8. 29thSeptember :WednesdayPage-1,Col-3 Nokia Loses 20% market in six months

9. IDC, whose data are closely tracked around the world, said Nokia’s share of the Indian handset market — its second biggest after — plunged to 36.3% at the end of June from 54% at the end of 2009, providing the Finnish giant’s criticsThe IDC report showed that sprightly domestic handset makers led by Micromax, Spice, Karbon and Lava had capitalised on Nokia’s misfortunes, with their share of the market doubling to 33% during the last six monthsNokia Loses 20% market in six months

10. According to IDC, the dual-SIM category accounted for 38.5% of the overall market. Data compiled by IDC showed that nearly 39% of all handsets sold in the country during January to June this year were dual-SIM phones, a segment that Nokia did not have a single model until recently. Nokia introduced its first dual-SIM handset — C2 — in India in August , a move some analysts called a ‘startlingly late reaction’

11. Nokia still accounts for more than one-third of all phones that are sold in India, but analysts say it’s stranded in the middle of the market. The research firm said overall mobile handset shipments in India rose to 38.6 million units in the second quarter, up 60% year-on-year

12. 30thSeptember :ThursdayPage-1,Col-3 Dmo to be ready in two years

13. The government will create an independent management office, or DMO, within two years, relieving from the burden of managing sovereign borrowings and helping it focus on monetary policy like its globalRBI had first advocated the need for separating debt management and monetary policy over a decade ago. It then resisted the idea five years ago saying with a high fiscal deficit, it was not the opportune time to establish a separate debt management officeDmo to be ready in two years

14. Some states have opposed the plan to establish a debt management office on the ground that RBI was managing their debt programmes well and they do not see any rationale for mandating the new agency to handle their public borrowingsThe argument in favour of an independent debt management office is separating monetary policy from debt management reduces actual or perceived conflict of interest and, therefore, it is a good thing.

15. 1st October :FridayPage-4,Col-2Tatas to spread Rs 1.5 crore Net for Aria

16. News:The company has committed close to Rs 1.5 crore, its highest for a product, for the online campaign that started with an online game at buildadreamcar.comAfter the launch, Tata Motors will carry forward the viral online strategy — a marketing technique to induce users to pass on the message to other users leading to exponential growth in the message’s visibility — to attract upwardly mobile buyers. Tatas to spread Rs 1.5 crore Net for Aria

17. About buildadreamcar.com1.The buildadreamcar.com website, launched on September 21 by digital agency Experience Commerce, has a game to build a car in five stages without revealing the name of the car until the last stage. 2.The last stage of the game reveals everything about the car. And it’s Aria.3.It is a feature-rich car and engaging consumers in an interactive manner possibly will induce them to purchase the car,” a company official said.

18. The Aria is Tata Motors’ most ambitious launch in the premium segment. Priced at Rs12-13 lakh, it will take on Toyota Innova and the in the crossover space. And the Nano website got more than 30 million hits from the date of launch of the car to the closure of the booking.

19. Sam Balsara, veteran advertising expert and CMD of Madison Communications, said online promotion of cars needs to be done innovatively and creatively to be effective. “For high tickets items such as cars, in addition to advertising, most customers look for advice and approval from peers and online can play an important role here,” he said, adding that a new car needs traditional medium support.