Badal Suchak, the head of Visual Merchandising at Tata Motors describes his experience of creating the hologram that was used for Zest and Bolt.
What is Revotron technology? What was the thought behind displaying this new engine technology before the car launch?
The Revotron series is Tata Motors brand of Petrol Engines. The Revotron 1.2 T is the first in the series and India’s first Turbocharged Petrol Engine. Revotron 1.2T, has been developed in conjunction with global consultancies and suppliers to deliver world-class performance in terms of power, torque and efficiency.
It is three engines rolled into one - its multi-drive mode enables switching between three different modes - SPORT, ECO and CITY. The Revotron has helped Zest, our compact sedan launched in August, set a benchmark in fuel efficiency due to an innovative Smart ECU (Electronic Control Unit) that ensures a superlative performance on Indian roads.
The SPORT Mode gives the sharpest throttle response and quickest acceleration from the Zest. All 140Nm of torque from the Revotron engine is available to give a more dynamic drive enabling the driver to exploit the full acceleration and driveability of the Zest. In the ECO Mode, performance and throttle response is reduced to maximize fuel economy but with comfortable drivability. It is ideal for Highway cruising. In the City Mode the Zest has the perfect balance between performance and economy. Power delivery is smooth and throttle response is linear leading to agile drivability to easily navigate city traffic conditions.
While Tata Motors has always been known for its diesel engines, it was the petrol segment that we did not have a major presence in. Going forward the company wants to be fuel agnostic and have a balanced portfolio. The Revotron is a step in that direction.
What were the challenges faced while executing the displays at the showrooms ?
The main challenge was to conceptualize an engaging VM display for an engine that was yet to be launched. There are many segment first features that the engine comes with. The challenge at hand was to engage with customers in an effective and engaging manner and not make it very technical for him/ her to understand. Although we are not in the business of selling engines, the engine, nevertheless, is the most important part of a car, which was not launched. So, the primary challenge was to showcase an engine for cars that had not reached the showroom yet. Therefore we came up with the idea of showcasing it virtually through hologram.
Even if the actual engine was to be displayed, it would have been almost impossible to display the engineering inside it in detail. It was a challenge to draw customer attention and engage them with subtle nuances of the engine and convince them about the next-gen technology used in it. The computer generated animation we created especially for the hologram helped us showcase the features of Revotron much more effectively and in greater detail.
Finally executing the Hologram at the showrooms was also a challenge as it was sent flat packed in a dismantled condition to 75 showrooms across India. Teams were sent out to each of these showrooms to assemble them. We now even control the content to be played in the hologram centrally.
Badal Suchak receiving an award for the design of the Revotron Hologram
Describe the Revotron Hologram. Presently how many showrooms have the hologram?
The futuristic technology form of the hologram attracts attention of customers in the showroom, with stunning body graphics and bold branding. What immediately draws attention of customers is a virtual revolving engine displaying top five features sequentially over it. As the customer comes closer to the hologram, hidden proximity sensor in the hologram body senses it and our brand ambassador, Formula One racer, Narain Karthikeyan appears in the hologram next to the engine. He explains the technical aspects of the engine in a simple manner pointing out consumer benefits of each aspect. Finally he invites the customer to experience the Revotron engine in soon to be launched car Zest.
Presently 75 showrooms pan India have the hologram on display.
Do you have a technical team or have you collaborated with any company for the technical and app development?
We have collaborated with Xdlab for the technology and app development.
Tell us about the Augmented Reality app placed in the showrooms.
Beyond the key showrooms where we have placed the hologram, there are 200 other showrooms where we have the Augmented Reality App Display Unit. It is a low cost version to display the same content as in the hologram. Since it is Augmented Reality, the customer uses her own smart phone to see the AV content of Revotron. On the display unit we have a cutout of the Revotron engine. Customer is invited to scan this cutout with the Revotron App downloaded from Playstore. The Revotron App recognizes this cutout and plays the same content as the hologram. The interesting aspect of this AR app is that it works on various other platforms as well, wherever the Revotron engine image is present. We have used it on various collaterals like leaflets, standees, banners etc. to give a unique engaging experience to our customers.
The floor mats, one checkered and the other plain, are seen at the Tata Motor showrooms. What is the idea behind this design?
This is a fun app that we have developed to engage customers. The App recognizes this checkered mat and a life size virtual image of our brand ambassador, Narain Karthikeyan appears over it. Customers are invited to stand next to the virtual Narain Karthikeyan and click photographs. They can upload these photos on social networking sites with #Revotron which gives them a delight factor as they get a virtual photo-op with a celebrity.
How do you assess the responses from clients?
We have had over 1000 downloads of Revotron App as seen on Playstore. We have also made it mandatory for our customer advisors to show the App and the Hologram to every customer in the showroom and this is being tracked with a weekly audit system.
Tell us about the VM for the car launch. Do you plan to use this hologram and augmented reality app in the future?
We had magnetic feature highlighters and lifestyle imagery backdrop for the car in the showroom once the Zest was launched. To make the most of our investment in the Hologram and AR App, after having used it for Revotron launch, we re-branded the same elements and used it for the launch of our compact sedan Zest. The AV content was changed to showcase 29 key features of Zest concluding with an invitation to customers for a test drive.