Through KJ, Kalyanaraman completely changed the way gold was sold in India at that time. Considering the fact that all the jewelry shops in Kerala during that time were small in size, Kalyanaraman decided to open a large store which resembled a textile showroom. The KJ store covered an area of 4000 square feet, was fully air-conditioned, and had sufficient seating capacity, clean toilets, and enough space for car parking....

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HYPERLOCAL STRATEGY OF KJ

Hyperlocal marketing is a form of targeted and niche marketing. For instance, it can be a marketing campaign targeting a specific city and the shoppers within that city. The strategy involves changing a particular product’s design according to local preferences. ..

EARNING THE CUSTOMER’S TRUST

Kalayanaraman believed that transparency and fairness formed the cornerstone of any business, and that would eventually earn customer trust and build customer loyalty. He sought to earn customer trust through a myriad of measures. In the Indian jewelry market wherein a lot of miscellaneous charges were added to gold jewelry, Kalyanaraman sought to bring about transparent pricing. ..

KJ’S PROMOTIONAL TACTICS

KJ usually advertised on TV and through the print media, apart from using outdoor advertisements. For a long time, KJ though successful, was restricted to South India and was not a well-known brand in the rest of India. However, all that changed in 2012 when KJ decided to target markets in western and northern India. Accordingly, it opened new stores in the Indian states of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Punjab, Bengal, Delhi, and Rajasthan...

SUCCESS OF KJ

In 2013, KJ made its first international foray and opened six stores in one day in the UAE. The rising success graph of KJ attracted private investors to the company. In October 2014, KJ raised US$ 195.6 million from private equity firm Warburg Pincus, LLC (Pincus) , which took a minority stake of 24% in the company. Speaking about the reason for investment interest in KJ, Vishal Mahadevia, Managing Director and Co-Head, Warburg Pincus India, said, “They have successfully challenged conventional beliefs and created a strategy that has brought a noticeable shift in industry standards while expanding their geographical footprint.” ..

KJ AND CONTROVERSIES

KJ had its own share of controversies, which adversely impacted the brand. These instances proved that any bad publicity to a brand had immediate repercussions on its brand image as well as sales. In November 2017, several social media posts surfaced that claimed that the gold sold by KJ was fake...

THE ROAD AHEAD

As of 2018, KJ had 8,000 employees and was expected to add another 1,000 to 1,200 as part of its expansion plans. Kalyanaraman added that the company intended to acquire the entire stake in Candere by 2022. KJ was said to be growing at an average 8-10% each year...

EXHIBITS

Exhibit I: KJ Gold Scheme, as of 2018
Exhibit II: KJ Brand Ambassadors
Exhibit III: KJ Valuation after Stake Sale to Warburg Pincus as of December 31, 2014
Exhibit IV: Gold consumer Demand Pattern in World and India 2012-2018
Exhibit V: Information about Companies