BRAND POSITIONING OF TITAN WATCHES IN

MAHARASHTRA

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

”Why buy me.” Can be better explain by to fend off the

competition by constant innovation, reinvigorate, recalibrate,

update. Many brands and companies are continuously renovating

their business and holding positioning themselves for growth.

Positioning able offerings for brands and availability of product in

the market. Several key target groups and users meet their needs

as it reaches a certain mode of consumers and delivers benefits to

them.

Consumer and user are attributed by benefits and product as they

are depended on how actual approach of a company or brands

position communicates in the market place. As a result

positioning or product of a company find one to keep further

distance itself from competitors which is based on list of items,

but very importantly in six key :, Distribution, Quality, Attributes,

Product, Price and Usage Occasions.

As compared to earlier times consumerism has undergone a sea
change where the consumers are informed about the products.

Hence, the market has become customer centric. Understanding

the importance of customer is become the structure of business;

in effects companies have started in regular basis i.e. repositioning

exercise.

In the recent times Titian Industries Ltd had a major brand

repositioning exercise was planned more in order to provide more

to its customers. Now the company holds new position. This study
will help to understand the revived positioning strategies of Titan

watches. An analysis of repositioning strategies of Titan also forms

of the study.

Firstly it is important to understand the overall wrist watch

industry in UK. Secondly to study the brand positioning and re-

positioning strategy of Titan wrist watches and to find out about

the loyal customers of Titan watches as they are aware of the new

positioning strategies of the company and how they used them.

To study primary and secondary data have been used. Analysis UK

wrist watch industry and brand repositioning strategies of TITAN

Company has been analysed and completed on the basis of
secondary data. Internet, journals, books and magazines have

been used for this purpose.

Brand positioning creates a specific place in the market for the

brand and product offerings. It reaches a certain type of

consumers and delivers benefits that meet the needs ofseveral

key target groups and users. The actual approach of a company or

brands positioning in the marketplace dependson how it

communicates the benefits and product attributes to consumers

and users. As aresult, the brand positioning of a company and/or

product seeks to further distance itself fromcompetitors based on

a host of items, but most notably on five key issues: Price, Quality,

Product Attributes, Distribution, and Usage Occasions. In recent

times, consumerism has undergone a sea change. Consumers

today are wellinformed about the products, as compared to

earlier times. Hence, the marketplace hasbecome customer

centric. Recognizing the importance of the customers in the

businessstructure, companies have started effecting brand

repositioning exercises on a regular basis. In the recent times, a

major brand repositioning exercise has been planned by
TitanIndustries Ltd. in order to provide more to its customers. The
company has first gone forchange in logo and tagline. Then the

communication strategy has been revamped to conveyits new

position. The present study consists of reviewing the positioning

strategies of Titanwatches. An analysis of repositioning strategies

of Titan also forms part of the study. The main objective of the

study is to find out whether the loyal consumers of titanwatches

are aware of the new positioning strategies of the company and

how they perceivethem. Primary and secondary sources of data

have been made use of in the study. The firstpart of the project,

i.e., analysis of brand repositioning strategies of Titan Company

has beencompleted on the basis of secondary data. For this

purpose, internet, journals, books,magazines and so on have been

made use of. The second part of the project comprises of

conducting a survey with the help ofquestionnaire. The survey is

proposed to be conducted on a sample of 50 consumers who

areloyal to Titan Company, selected through convenience

sampling technique.
titan brand positing history

During late 2008 and 2009 confidence of consumer fell and

people became more aware about their spending in watches and

jewellery has not been immune to the economic climate.

During 2005 jewellery and watches market grew by 10 % were it

reaches to £4.8 billion in 2010 and over next five year Mintel
forecasts is 11%growth in watches and jewellery market.

Hence 2011 is also going to be the year to invest in men’s

jewellery. Stephen Webster presented a strong case for men’s

jewellery at IJL in September 2010, and assuming male customer

only want watches and the odd signet or chain could lead to

missing out on a potential wealth of customer. It’s not that male

customers don’t want it: they just don’t know they want it.

Men don’t have thinking about what to wear as women do,

explain Webster. “But once a man is bejewelled, there’s no looking

back. They also don’t wait for special occasions like woman do,
and they can go from zero to jewellery enthusiast in no time.”
Market research company Mintel’s September 2010 report
Watches and Jewellery Retailing UK found that 20% of male

respondent said they like receiving jewellery as a gift, and 12%

said that they had purchased all of their own jewellery. So the

market is clearly there to be exploited.

Rapid increase in gold prices and recession change many

consumers mind to buy silver instead of gold, this trend is rising

to nearly three in ten women with almost one in five people

wearing silver jewellery than gold; particularly young people aged

15-24.

Now days Consumers are willing to experiment and try new looks
with little minimising their bank balances which means many

costume jewellery items are affordable and easy disposable

without denting their bank balance.

Young aged under-35 is more open to pay large amounts for

watches these are consumers who do not wear jewellery to

express their individuality or to show their consumer spending

power.
As the research has should that 86% of consumers wear a watch,
were 40% only buy a new watch when their old watch is broken.

The new reason for purchase a watch could be watch’s main

function with health benefits as a new way of helping the

consumer.

Titan brand- The Most Loved Watch Brand

Who would have thought that a joint venture between the TATA Group
and The Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (TIDCO) will be
so successful that it will become a household name in the organized watch
retail world. Today, Titan Company is Tata Group’s largest consumer
company.

TITAN is what this joint venture was named in the year 1984 and is the
largest watch brand in India since then. Titan Company Limited (earlier
called as Titan Industries Limited) today has Watches, Jewelry, Precision
Engineering, Eyewear, Bags, Wallets, Perfumes and Belts under its name.

The company launched Fastrack, a fashion accessories brand in the year

1998 as a sub brand of Titan. In the year 2005, this brand became a stand-
alone and now targets the youth and urban India. After observing a
growing fashion and e-commerce market in India, Fastrack began opening
retail stores throughout the country. The first store was opened in Pune in
2009. Fastrack later opened another 158 stores in 79 major cities of India.

Tanishq is the popular and loved jewelry brand owned by this company
and SKINN is the famous perfume brand which was launched in the year
2013 by them.

Brand positioning of Titan Watches:

Introduction: Titan industries were established in 1984 as a joint venture between the
Tata group and the Tamil Nadu industrial development corporation. 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, Tamil
Nadu. Leveraging its understanding of different segments in the watch market, the
company launched a second independent watch brand –Sonata. In addition it focused on
the youth with its third brand-Fastrack. It has also premium fashion watches by acquiring
a license for global brands such as Tommy Hilfiger and Hugo Boss, while. It has also in
its portfolio its first Swiss Made watch brand- Xylys.
    Today Titan industries is India’s leading manufacturer of watches and jewellery
employing 3,800 people. Titan and Tanishq are among the most admired brands in their
categories.

Titan wants to build Sustainable Competitive Advantages and Unique Selling Proposition for the
customers and to create business leverage and thus provide competitive prices to the customers
consistently without compromising on service quality.
DESIGN it matters

Brand positioning
Brand positioning creates a specific place in the market for the brand and product offerings.
Titan has created a distinct image in the minds of the customers for their unique brand elements.
The Indian watch market in the recent years has shown a dramatic increase in the number of
brands available in the market due to removal of quantities restriction.  Titan was the first to
bring quartz watches to Indian market. It has 255 exclusive showrooms christened `World of
Titan `making it amongst the largest chain in its category .Titan watches are sold through over
12’000outlets in over 2’500 cities and internationally in over 30 countries, primarily in the
middle east and Asia pacific. Titan caters to several user groups children (the dash), sports
person and adventuress (ps14000and Fastrack range).Titan has a brand called Dash! For kids
.Since its introduction titan has been positioned as a premium brand, providing high quality
products. Beside these, Titan has also introduced Classique, Royal, Casual Wear, Technology
Watches and watches for women.

 » Titan – The Company Overview

In June 1984, TATA Group and The Tamil Nadu Industrial Development

Corporation (TIDCO) decided to come together and form a watch
company called Titan. The planning for this venture went on till the year
1986 and the first watch from this company hit the markets in March 1987.
In the year 1993 the name of the company was changed from Titan
Watches to Titan Industries as they also started with the jewellery line
under the same business.

Tanishq, a popular and high end jewellery brand was launched by the
company in the year 1994. They also had a joint venture with the
American watch giant Timex for a brief period from the year 1992 to 1998.

In the year 2005 the youth and urban crowd of India saw the launch of
Fastrack which is today an independent company and its popularity is
increasing by the day because of its trendy designs and youth centric
marketing.

In the year 2011, Titan decided to enter the European market by acquiring
the Swiss watch brand Favre-Leuba.The company has 438 stores across
120 cities in India.

The current chairman of this watch giant is Vikram Kapur and the
company has its headquarter in Bengaluru, India. It employs over 7500
people and is a public listed company.

 » The Evergreen Music of Titan

Their first commercial Ad was launched in 1987 which is still known for
its Music. Chosen by Xerxes Desai, Managing Director of Titan Industries
in 1984 and the creative head of O & M in 1987, the tune was known for
its class and western vibes. This segment from Mozart’s 25th Symphony
has arguably become Indian advertising’s most memorable track.

Starting in 1987 in its pure classical versions, this music has been rendered
in countless innovative versions over the years till date.

 » Titan and its Advertising Brilliance

Titan, without any arguments has been one of the most amazing advertisers
of their product in India. Known for their creativity, simplicity and
uniqueness this brand is always talked about when it comes to brilliant
advertising.

› Titan has also been endorsed by many Bollywood celebrities

______________

To list a few popular ones:

Amir Khan – Titan

Katrina Kaif, Rani Mukerjee and Kriti Sanon – Titan Raga
Mahindra Singh Dhoni and Sushant Singh Rajput – Sonata
Deepika Padukone – Tanishq
John Abraham and Virat Kohli – Fastrack

Titan is known for making some of the most beautiful and memorable
commercials which stay in the minds and hearts of people. Known to touch
the emotional cord in one’s life, there are many that one can remember.

 › #BreakTheBias Campaign

This was the campaign which was launched on the occasion of Women’s
Day in the year 2016.A powerful message on overlooking how the world
sees a woman at workplace given in a very simple and convincing manner.

Conclusion

Titan is known for its brilliant, affordable and stylish watches which have
been a part of one’s life for the longest time ever. There will not be a
household in India who would not have owned a Titan watch once in their
life!

Titan is a brand of trust, longevity and is known for moving ahead with
time. Creating ads which leave a mark on your memory and launching
products which are for the masses as well as the classes this brand has been
the market leader in the organized watch industries for over two decades.
 A loved band which makes watches for every occasion and age group it
surely is here to stay in our hearts forever!

Recommendation
 Titan has already got a great market but they can introduce trendier and innovative designs,
focus on niche service such as working men and women.
Necessary steps should be taken to change consumer perception that Titan Watches are high
priced.
Also should improve after sales service.

References
         Sengupta Subrata(2006), “Brand Positioning: Strategies for Competitive advantage” .
Second edition, Tata McGraw Hill Publishing Company Limited, New Delhi.
         Gopalakrishnan PS (ed.) (2007), “Rebranding: An Introduction.”  ICFAI University Press,
Hyderabad.
         ICFAI Journal of Marketing Management

         ICFAI Journal of Brand Management