Lionel Messi takes the driving seat at Tata Motors for new commercial
Lionel Messi has hung up his football boots for his latest role as a global brand ambassador for Tata Motors, getting behind the wheel of a Tata Tiago in India as part of a big budget multi-media launch masterminded by Soho Square.
The short segment sees a young boy receive the surprise of his life after Messi turns up to collect him on the school run, much to the delight of his friends. Sadly not all is as it appears however and the ad concludes by revealing that the incident was merely the work of the child’s overactive imagination.
The Barcelona forward's continuation of his role as ambassador comes despite he and his father being handed a 21 month prison sentence for tax fraud.
Vivek Srivatsa, marketing head, Tata Motors, said, “The Tata Tiago is causing quite a stir in the market, and we expect the brand communication to do no less. This is our flagship product and a good car, the numbers speak for themselves. We don’t want to just sell cars, we want to spread joy. We also wanted Messi to be used in a way that resonated with people who are not just football fans. We think the commercial does justice towards that end and shows the car in an endearing sort of way.”
Wily Soho Square deliberately focused on children in the knowledge that they are ‘big influencers in the car buying process’.
Tata Motors recently unveiled India's first 'virtual drive' VR campaign which enabled prospective customers to test drive a Tiago alongside Messi, wherever they happened to be.
Messi enjoys the support of a raft of sponsors including Adidas, Turkish Airlines, Huawei, Pepsico, EA Sports and Gillette.