Titan Watches

Consumer Motivation

Background
Titan Industries is worlds sixth largest manufacturer
of wrist watches and has 60% of the organized watch
market share in India. Titan started its operations in
1986. When it was launched, it was the third watch
company in India after HMT and Allwyn. Titan formed
a joint venture with Timex, which lasted until 1998,
and set up a strong distribution network across India.
Titan watches are sold in India through exclusive Titan
showrooms called The World of Titan and through
various franchisees and through retail stores.

Background Contd.
The company brought about a paradigm shift in the Indian
watch market, offering quartz technology with international
styling, manufactured in a state-of-the-art factory at Hosur in
Tamil Nadu. Leveraging its understanding of different
segments in the watch market, the company launched a
second independent watch brand, Sonata as a value brand to
those seeking to buy functionally styled watches at affordable
prices. In addition, it focussed on the youth segment with its
third brandFasttrack. It has also launched premium fashion
watches by acquiring a licence for marketing global brands
such as Tommy Hilfiger and Hugo Boss, besides having in its
portfolio its first Swiss made watch brandXylys.

The Vision
The vision of Titan watches is: To be innovative,
world class, contemporary and build Indias most
desirable brands.
In line with this vision, the company focussed on
brand marketing rather than product marketing.
Watches were considered a functional product before
the entry of Titan in the market in 1986. Titan
changed the perception of watches from a functional
product to a personal product in the mindset of the
consumer to leverage its brand name and the
reputation of Tata.

The Vision Contd.

The major weakness of the watch industry in the 1980s
was that no brand had a strong personality. Hence Titan
positioned itself as a premium brand with global reach.
This was achieved through a well-planned advertising
strategy.
When the first Titan quartz range was launched in March
1987, it was accompanied by heavy advertising. The first
advertisement described the Titan quartz as the
international watch one could pay for in rupees. Later
campaigns emphasized that to find such watches it was
not necessary to go to Europe, Japan, USA, or a duty-free
shop.

The Vision Contd.

Post-liberalization, the market dominance of Titan
was threatened by the entry of various foreign
brands in India. The sprouting of the grey market
and the entry of cheap Chinese products
threatened the bottom end of the market. To
counter their threats, Titan adopted various
marketing strategies. In 2004, Titan appointed
Aamir Khan to endorse its range of brands.

The Vision Contd.

Bijou Kurien, Chief Operating Officer (Watches),
Titan Industries Ltd. (TIL), said:
There is a perfect fit between Aamir and Titan
their stature, timelessness, and the love and
trust they both share with the people, both
nationally and internationally, makes this an
ideal partnership. Moreover, Aamir has a
universal appeal that extends to everyone,
across age groups, just as our watches do.

The Vision Contd.

With the celebrity endorsement, TIL hoped to
promote the latest trends in the industry. The idea
was to make watches that would be seen as style
and fashion accessories rather than just utilitarian
devices. The brand repositioned itself to a style
brand, with the Whats your stylecampaign.
The company introduced several collections /
ranges under each of its sub-brands. Moreover, it
participated in the retail boom that the country
was experiencing.

The Vision Contd.

It has opened its exclusive outlets in most of the
malls and hyper markets that have mushroomed
over the last few years in mega cities likes
Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata and in metropolitan
cities like Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai and
other cities like Chandigarh, Pune, Ahmedabad
and Cochin. The company also paid attention to
its communication strategies. Initially, they were
advertised under the mother brand, but with the
development of the market, TIL developed
separate advertising campaigns for its sub-brands.

Foundations of the Brand

Titan found out through extensive consumer
studies that Indian customers preferred watches
made abroad (foreign watches). A detailed study
was conducted to examine major gaps in service,
showroom interiors and retailing trends in watch
industry. The analysis led to the establishment of
exclusive showrooms along with a chain of retail
outlets. The company took initiatives to convince
its consumers about its model variety, product
quality, and service excellence.

Foundations of the Brand Contd.

1. Variety. Titan wanted to establish a brand with
a unique and distinctive style. It introduced a
large variety of models, compared to the
competitors at that time. It collaborated with
European designers to design new watches
with a combination of Indian and European
styles. As the models increased, the reputation
of the brand got further enhanced.

Foundations of the Brand Contd.

2. Quality. The brand stressed on the importance
of quality of product, right from manufacturing
stages to the retail stages. For example, in a
tropical country like India, gold-plated watches
lose their shine within a few months of usage.
Titan identified this problem and decided to go
for vacuum technology which would increase
the life of the product. Minimizing the number
of returns during warranty period was set as a
goal for the company.

Foundations of the Brand Contd.

3. Service excellence. Sustainability of brand
excellence comes from excellent service
quality. To provide excellent shopping
experience to the customers, Titan employed
trained service personnel in its service centres.
With excellent post-sales service, the brand
captured the customer confidence. The service
quality in the Titan outlets set the standards
for the entire industry.

Change in Positioning Focus

Durability to Sophistication
Earlier the customers desire was: Durable, timeless
watches which can be handed over generations. The
then Indian customer preferred foreign watches
especially Swiss watches, as a style statement and also for
the reputation of the quality. HMT, with its rugged
watches was the well-respected brand during the 1970s
and 80s. Watches were considered a durable and
precious item to be used for long years and it was a onetime purchase for the customer. Titan recognized the
need in the market and introduced the Titan quartz range
of watches in 1987.

Change in Positioning Focus Contd.

With its heavy advertising campaigns and introduction of
multiple varieties, Titan induced the customer to own
multiple watches and also targeted unpenetrated
segments like first-time buyers.
Today, the customers desire is Classic, understated and
elegant. These define the characteristics of the young
executive of the present day corporate world. The
customer segment is characterized by sophistication and
taste, desire for innovative products, international styling,
adaptable to formal / party wear at affordable prices.
Customers are looking for a product which would act as a
fashion as well as a status symbol.

Change in Positioning Focus Contd.

Besides Titan has catered to the youth segment by
the introduction of the Fasttrack which is an
affordable brand for a large number of consumers.
All steel look and multidial models have been
introduced for the adult male category. For the
women executives, it has brought out the brand
Raaga, with its feminine positioning.
One of the important considerations for buying a
watch is the attractiveness of the strap. Titan
watches come up with golden, silver and leather
straps (with different colours).

Change in Positioning Focus Contd.

Yet another consideration for the customers is the
dialboth size and colour. Titan watches came
with large size, mid-size and small size (especially
for ladies watches) dials. Big dials are preferred by
young boys and men. Titan has also introduced
golden, white, blue and black dials. Today the
younger generation is looking for trendy and
stylish watches, and Titan is trying to meet their
tastes.

Challenges Ahead
Titan has offered a range of products to cater to every
segment of the consumers. It needs to maintain the
image it has created over the years and preserve its
reputation for quality.
The company has taken a decision to organize various
training programmes for franchises, their managers and
customer relationship officers to maintain its standards of
high customer service.
Entry into designer watches is one more area of
development which can be pursued.

Challenges Ahead Contd.

Presently, Titan caters to low-priced segment with
Fasttrack collection, mid-size with Raaga, Steel
and Edge, while high-end is catered by Nebula. It
had also brought out new brands such as gents
Classique, gents SteelNano, gents Edge, and
ladies Karisma. But, the designer segment is still in
nascent stages. To sustain its global competitive
advantage, new strategic partnerships with
designers have to be forged.

Challenges Ahead Contd.

Rural markets are an untapped segment in India.
The Sonata range of products with price range Rs
495-1200 is targeted mainly at this segment. It has
opened exclusive showrooms even in smaller
towns. Consumers acceptance of its price and
reliability is a major challenge in rural and semiurban market. However, staying ahead of
competition would be the overall priority of the
brand managers in Titan.