Resilience and growth

The only three people involved in the negotiations for signing up 28-year-old Argentinean born soccer star Lionel Messi were Tata Sons chairman Cyrus Mistry, Mayank Pareek, president, passenger vehicle business unit of the company and Delna Avari, head, marketing communication and services, states The Economic Times (ET) in a report dated November 20, 2015. The possible tie-up with Messi being top secret, it was preceded by an informal pact of silence between the three, states the newspaper. "We did not even take his name (during internal talks),” Avari is reported to have said. They referred to him as "him” or "LM.” Avari revealed it took 16 months to sign up the professional for a two-year deal.

Stating that the auto company’s team did not meet Messi till the day of the shoot in Barcelona, the marketing professional revealed to ET that the star was accompanied by a friend "who thankfully spoke some English…” Messi might not have known much about the auto company, but he drove himself to the shoot location in his Range Rover, dressed in denim shorts and a white T-shirt. During the shoot, Avari was very strict that no one else but she talked to him on the sets, to make sure he did not feel uncomfortable, "as he is shy and does not speak English.” According to the deal, Tata Motors has two days worth of time with Messi. The report reveals that the first day featured a four-hour shoot and the second day would be made available in March or April of 2016.
Pareek told Campaign India on November 4 that Messi has "talent galore, with conviction.” Calling the sportsman a winner "who is trustworthy, reliable, pioneering, simple and driven by self-belief,” he stated that these attributes were at the core of the current campaign: "What drives us from within is what makes us great.”
Mistry believes that the Tata Group should "focus on building strength and reconfiguring and reconstructing (their) businesses to be more resilient.” At the same time, the Group will plant seeds for growth in the future, reported ET on November 9, 2015. The paper stated that Mistry disclosed this in early October while addressing 250 human resource managers from about 70 of the Group’s companies. Emphasizing the role that human resources have to play in growth, Mistry is reported to have stated that the Group will focus on the four key areas of defence and aerospace, realty and infrastructure, consumer and retail, and financial services. He added that individual companies will leverage digital and analytics to drive business.
Affirming that the Tata brand is very strong in India, 47-year-old Mistry who has led the business house for about four years now, said that the Group "will have to build a stronger global presence.” The report states that the conglomerate, whose current global brands include Tetley, Corus, Jaguar and Land Rover, aims to become one of the top 25 global brands in the next 10 years, and to double market capitalization to $ 350 billion (over Rs 23,10,000 crores) in the same period.
The Group "wants its brands to be as long-lived as the Tata name” stated the report, quoting Mistry that "We are very keen to ensure that the message we send regarding the brand is appropriate not only for the past but also for the future.”
Of the 90-odd companies that make up the conglomerate, Mistry is quoted as saying: "Each company has its individuality but has an embedded value system which is common,” which has the benefits of exploiting synergies. "This is the best way to go in the future,” he is reported to have said.
The Business Standard of November 4 reported that the conglomerate would get up to $ 500 million (over Rs 3,300 crores) annually in finance from the Canadian government to help Tata companies, which have already invested more than $ 990 million (over Rs 6,500 crores) in Canadian operations over the last five years and employ around 3,000 people in Canada, to invest more in that country.
The Group was expected to roll out its e-commerce venture in December. On offer will be Tata and non-Tata products mainly related to electronics and lifestyle, noted ET.