Branded Gold Jewellery Market in India

Confidence in the local jeweller was the hallmark of the gold jewellery trade in India. A jeweller or goldsmith in a local area had a fixed and loyal clientele. The buyer had implicit faith in his jeweller. Additionally, the local jeweller catered to the local taste for traditional jewellery.

However, since the late 1990s, there was a shift in consumer tastes: women were increasingly opting for fashionable and lightweight jewellery instead of traditional chunky jewellery. There was a rise in demand for lightweight jewellery, especially from consumers in the 16 to 25 age group, who regarded jewellery as an accessory and not an investment. The new millennium witnessed a definite change in consumer preferences...

As the jewellery market was highly fragmented, lacked branding, and allowed many unethical practices to flourish, Tanishq worked hard on a two-pronged brand-building strategy: cultivate trust by educating customers about the unethical practices in the business and change the perception of jewellery as a high-priced purchase. Said Kurian, "We are changing the attitudes of customers from blind trust to informed trust." To increase its marketshare, Tanishq formulated a strategy for luring people away from traditional neighborhood jewellers. Tanishq's strategy was to create differentiation and build trust. According to Kurian, the first part of the strategy was "to provide a point of differentiation in a highly commoditized category - which is the whole point of branding."