Titan established its first manufacturing facility in Hosur, Tamil Nadu and its first satellite watch assembly unit at Dehradun, Uttar Pradesh was started in 1990. In 1992, Titan set up a joint venture, Timex Watches Limited, with Timex Corporation of USA to market Timex watches in India.1 And in 1995, Titan changed its name from 'Titan Watches Ltd.' to 'Titan Industries Ltd.' in order to change its image from that of a watch manufacturer to that of a fashion accessories manufacturer. In the same year, it also started its jewellery division under the Tanishq brand. At this point of time, the jewellery business was highly localized and the concept of branded jewellery did not exist. In the late 1990s, India had around 0.2 million jewellers scattered across the country.
Jewellery had predominantly been used as an investment rather than adornment. Hence, a change in the perception of jewellery from an asset to a fashion accessory was extremely difficult to bring about. People generally bought gold from the same family jeweller they had trusted implicitly for generations. Moreover, these jewellers made the jewellery to order and often bought back their products at the prevailing market rates. |
Vasant Nangia, erstwhile Chief Operating Officer, Tanishq said, "When we launched the Tanishq range, our designs were not appreciated initially as they were believed to be extremely Western. Also, we offered only 18 carat gold." Over a period of time, Tanishq's research revealed many other loopholes in its strategies.
Tanishq found out that it had gone wrong mainly in two areas - the product proposition and retailing. Initially with a focus on the export market, its designs were predominantly Western, and the same line of jewellery was sold in India as well. However, when it shifted its focus to the domestic market, it was unable to sell these designs. Therefore the first step was to change the brand positioning from that of an elitist and Westernized offering to a more mainstream, Indian one. The 18-carat jewellery range was expanded to include 22 and 24 carat ornaments as well. Tanishq also made attempts to redefine traditional styles in its designs. Tanishq realized that, given the diverse nature of Indian ethnicity, it would have to cater to tastes of all regions.
1] The venture ceased to exist from 1998 following differences between the two partners.
Case Code : MKTG013
Themes: Brand Management
Case Length : 6 Pages
Period : 1995-2001
Organization : Titan Industries India
Pub Date : 2001
Teaching Note : Available
Countries : India
Industry : Jewellery
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