Page 56 - Seniors Today - January Issue

Once Upon A Time | Advertising

Will the

Maharajah

survive 2021?

Returning to the Tatas, how will Air-India treat its mascot,
wonders Prabhakar Mundkur

With the Tatas poised to gain control over any other name would smell as sweet” is a
Air-India after 68 years, speculation is rife frequent and famous reference from William
on how they will handle their portfolio of Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet.
airlines. After all they now have two brands If it does acquire Air-India that will leave
already with Air Asia and Vistara. the Tatas with a 23.2% market share in the
If they add Air India to the existing two, domestic airline market based on the data
they will be faced with the difficulty of from DGCA (Directorate General of Civil
how to consolidate three different brands, Aviation).
a marketing complication that faces most
companies when they have several brands in
the same category.
There are of course only two answers to that
question. One is to leave the three brands
alone. And the second is to consolidate the
three brands into one. No guesses for what
the one consolidated brand could be. It has
to be Air-India. Tata is expected to increase
its stake in Air Asia to 86% and already has
a stake of 51% in Vistara. Will re-naming
Air-India make a difference? Shakespeare
said it wouldn’t make a difference. “A rose by Chart Courtesy Mint

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