Description
project is based on personal analysis
1.COMPANY HISTORY
The Company was incorporated on 26th July 1984, at Chennai. The Manufacture analog electronic watches with a choice of over 150 designs. The company was promoted jointly by Questar Investments, Ltd., a Tata Company with its associates Tata Sons, Ltd., and Tata Press, Ltd., and Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation, Ltd.(TIDCO). The main objective of the company is to manufacture analog electronic watches with a choice of over 150 designs. The Company proposed to manufacture 2 million digital and ana-digi watches in collaboration with Casio Computer Company of Japan.
In 1987, the Company established a manufacturing facility at Hosur for the manufacture of components for watches.
In1989, A new range of watches called `Aqura' was launched in December.
In 1991, A joint venture Company along with Economic Development Council of Goa, Daman & Diu Ltd., in the name of Titan Time Products, Ltd., was set up at Goa, for the manufacture of Electronic Circuit Blocks. The company undertook to set up a jewellery business at Hosur. The jewellery repertoire was to include both daily-wear jewellery and luxury products. The Company along with other Tata Associates were to participate in the equity of Timex, who were to offer equity shares of Rs 10 each at a premium of Rs 40 per share.
In 1992, Over 150 new models were introduced of which `Raga' introduced in June, `Spectra' a range of watches in steel and gold plated was reintroduced with a new look in August. It was proposed to introduce a host of new products based on new movements. It was also proposed to sell the brand name `Aqura' and the right to make Aqura products to Timex, with a view to move up market. Page | 1
In 1993, The name of the Company was changed with effect from 21st September from Titan Watches, Ltd. to Titan Industries Ltd., in view of the fact that the Company's products consisted of not only watches but also jewellery.
In 1994, The Company introduced `Tanishq' range of watches made of 18 carat gold and studded with precious stones. A new range of watch `Insignia' manufactured for the European market likely to be introduced in the domestic market.
In 1995, The Company proposed to set up a joint venture company with Hour Glass of Singapore to set up watch boutiques in leading Indian cities for the sale of luxury watches and also be responsible for wholesale and after-sales operations.
In 1996, The Company has introduced new economy range of watches called Sonata and Tanistiq's 22 Karat ethnic Jewellery during the year.
In 2000, Titan Industries has announced the launch of Cyber, a range of digital clocks. Titan Industries has been conferred the award for excellence in electronics for the year 1998 by the ministry of information technology (MIT). Titan has launched a new `Style at Work' collection under its Classique range. Pizza Hut has introduced baarah nahi toh tera, a new deal in which a customer who orders a `speed lunch' gets it in 12 minutes, or gets it free. As part of the offer, Pizza Hut has entered into a tie-up with Titan, through which a Titan Fast-track watch will be displayed on every table to mark the 12 minute countdown.Titan Industries unveiled a new range of wrist-watches, called the Classique range, for Corporate Executives.Titan Industries has announced a new range of Fastrack watches for young women in the city Page | 2
in 2001, Titan Industries Ltd. has launched three new collections of its popular Dash brand of watches for kids -- Popeye, Digital and Lumibrite. Titan Industries on June 27 reported its profit rose 21.8 per cent in the past year to March, reflecting strong sales growth by its jewellery division.
In 2003, Tanishq steps into a new segment Silverware. The silverware range has been designed by Michael Folly, the designer for Titan.
In 2004, Relaunches 'Raga', the women's watch range. Titan has announced the launch of a new collection of women's watches called 'Raga Miniatures'. Small and delicate in size the watches bracelets in 15 varieties of gold and steel and is priced at Rs 2995 onwards. Titan Industries on June 18, 2004, announced the launch of the Tommy Hilfiger watch collection in India. Titan has entered into an exclusive sub-licensing arrangement with GVM International Ltd, a member of the Murjani Group, for the marketing and distribution of Tommy Hilfiger watches in India. Watch and jewellery manufacturer Titan Industries forayed into the fashion accesssories industry with the launch of sunglasses, a Rs 330-crore market. Titan Industries on July 22, 2004, launched the Flip collection – a dualfaced watch that incorporates two watch movements embedded in a single case. Titan rolls out new range of jewellery watches under the 'Nebula' brand. Titan Industries launches Crown Collection watches.Titan Industries launches Cal Track
In 2005, Titan re-introduces Fastrack range of watches.Titan rolls out bi-metal range of watches in Vizag. Titan launches multiple watches under Raga coordinate range
In 2006, Titan Industries unveils Xylys watche. Titan Ind sets up boutique in Banjara Hills
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2.COMPANY PROFILE
Titan Industries is the organization that brought about a paradigm shift in the Indian watch market when it introduced its futuristic quartz technology, complemented by international styling. With India's two most recognized and loved brands Titan and Tanishq to its credit, Titan Industries is the fifth largest integrated watch manufacturer in the world. The success story began in 1984 with a joint venture between the Tata Group and the Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation. Presenting Titan quartz watches that sported an international look, Titan Industries transformed the Indian watch market. After Sonata, a value brand of functionally styled watches at affordable prices, Titan Industries reached out to the youth segment with Fastrack, its third brand, trendy and chic. The company has sold 100 million watches world over and manufactures 12 million watches every year. With a license for premium fashion watches of global brands, Titan Industries repeated its pioneering act and brought international brands into Indian market. Tommy Hilfiger, Hugo Boss and f c u k as well as the Swiss made watch – Xylys owe their presence in Indian market to Titan Industries. Entering the largely fragmented Indian jewellery market with no known brands in 1995, Titan Industries launched Tanishq, India’s most trusted and fastest growing jewellery brand. Gold Plus, the later addition, focuses on the preferences of semi-urban and rural India. Completing the jewellery portfolio is Zoya, the latest retail chain in the luxury segment. Titan Industries has also made its foray into eyewear, launching Fastrack eyewear and sunglasses, as well as prescription eyewear. The organization has leveraged its manufacturing competencies and branched into precision engineering products and machine building. With over 624 retail stores across a carpet area of over 7,70,848 sq. ft. Titan Industries has India’s largest retail network. The company has over 300 exclusive ‘World of Titan' showrooms and over 650 after-sales-service centers. Titan Industries is also the Page | 4
largest jewellery retailer in India with over 119 Tanishq boutiques and Zoya stores, over 28 Gold Plus stores and over 120 Titan Eye+ stores. The company has two exclusive design studios for watches and jewellery Backed by 4,934 employees, two exclusive design studios for watches and jewellery, 11 manufacturing units, and innumerable admirers world over, Titan Industries continues to grow and sets new standards for innovation and quality. The organization is all geared to repeat the Titan and Tanishq success story with each new offering.
Vision & Mission Vision: To be a world-class, innovative and progressive organisation and to build
India’s most desirable brands.
Mission:
To create wealth for all our stakeholders by building highly successful
businesses based on a customer-centric approach, and to contribute to the community.
Values and Standards: Total customer orientation: Customers take precedence over all else, always. Employee appreciation: The value and respect Titanians and endeavour to fulfill their needs and aspirations. Performance culture and teamwork: At Titan Industries, high performance is but a way of life and is nurtured by teamwork. Creativity and Innovation: Driven by innovation and creativity, they focus on smarter approaches and newer technologies. Passion for excellence: In all their pursuits, they ceaselessly strive for excellence. Corporate Citizenship: ensures that a part of the resources is invested in environment and community betterment.
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Products
Titan Industries, best known as India's pioneering manufacturer of quartz watches, has also etched a niche for itself in some of the most competitive spaces in the fashion industry such as jewellery and eyewear. Precision engineering is another area of specialization that Titan Industries is proud of.
Watches: Being the world's fifth largest integrated watch manufacturer, Titan Industries has created and sold more than a 110 million pieces the world over. With a production rate of over 12 million watches per annum and a customer base of over 100 million, Titan Industries owns manufacturing and assembly operation centers in Hosur in Karnataka, Dehradun, Roorkee and Pant Nagar in Uttaranchal, Baddi in Himachal Pradesh, and an Electronic Circuit Boards (ECB) plant in Goa. Capturing the important market segments and the changing fashion trends, Titan Industries has brought forth four core watch brands: • Titan is designed for the mid-premium segment • Fastrack is crafted to fit the trendy fashion space with a focus on the youth • Sonata is created for the mass market and has emerged as India’s largest selling watch brand • Xylys is fashioned for the premium market, aiming at the high-end connoisseur and newage achiever The Titan brand architecture comprises several sub-brands, each of which is a market leader in own space. Notable among them are: Titan Edge, Titan Raga, Nebula, Heritage and several other collections like WWF, Zoop, Orion, Purple, Obaku and the Automatic series. The Titan portfolio owns over 60% of the domestic market share in the organized watch market. Titan Industries’ pride possession, a world-class design studio for watches and accessories, is the place where some of the most coveted creations have been conceptualized. Page | 6
Exclusive World of Titan and Fastrack showrooms and over 12,000 outlets in more than 2,554 cities in India make these much-sought-after watches available to the buyers. The watches are also offered internationally in 30 countries, with a special focus on the Middle East and Asia Pacific regions. The after-sales service, a benchmarked operation with a large network of exclusive service centers spread across the country, is one of the operation units with the fastest turnaround time in the world.
Jewellery: Following the suit of time products, Titan Industries’ Tanishq has been India’s largest, fastest growing and most popular jewellery brand. Tanishq offers a premium range of innovatively created gold jewellery with an aesthetic use of diamonds and precious, semi-precious stones in various hues. Arresting designs in 22kt pure gold as well as platinum are among the most admired products on the company’s list. GoldPlus the recent retail plain gold jewellery offering, is specifically created for semi urban and rural Indian market. The brand offers gold jewellery, as well as unique designs crafted with diamonds, American diamonds and other precious stones. Titan Industries boasts of 119 Tanishq boutiques, 2 Zoya stores and 29 Gold Plus stores in India. The enchanting jewellery patterns that are part of these brands originate in the well-equipped exclusive jewellery design studio of Titan Industries.
Eye wear: Titan Eye+ of Titan Industries offers sunglasses under its Fastrack brand. Prescription eyewear such as lenses and contact lenses is also part of the range. Titan Eye+ offers frames, sunglasses, and accessories of Titan Industries’ in -house brands as well as other premium brands.
Precision Engineering: The Precision Engineering division of Titan Industries supplies precision components to the aviation and the automotive industry. As an Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM), the company makes dashboard clocks for car manufacturers in Europe and America. Page | 7
Equipped with best certifications such as AS 9100B for the aerospace segment, TS 16949 for the automotive segment and the coveted Ford Q1 status - the highest supplier recognition from Ford – Titan Industries also offers fully integrated automation solutions.
Awards & Accolades
Over the years, Titan Industries has received several prestigious awards and distinctions. Some of the recent and most noteworthy recognitions are: • Titan Industries received the Award for the Most Admired Timewear Brand of the Year in 2009 for the ninth successive year for Titan, and the Most Admired Jewellery Brand of the Year for the seventh consecutive year for Tanishq. • Goldplus bags 2 dragons and 2 certificate of merits at the Promotion marketing awards of Asia 2009. • Jewellery Division was declared the winner of the “GOLD AWARD" in FMCG sector in the GreenTech Environment Excellence Award 2009. • Jewellery Division wins first prize in “Innovation in Supply Chain Management” organized by Indian Institute of Material Management for the second consecutive year and ranked amongst the top five amongst 50 global entries at Europen Business School, Weisbaden Germany . • Titan brand won the “Most Valuable Brand in the State” award at the IIPM & The Sunday Times STATE EXCELLENCE AWARD. • Both Titan and Sonata feature in the Top 100 Brands-2009 in the Annual Survey conducted by Economic Times. While Titan is ranked at Number 4, Sonata increase their rank to 86. Titan is ranked number 1 in the consumer durables category. • Jewellery Division of Titan Industries Limited won the Eight Annual Madras Management Association award on Managerial Excellence for Manufacturing sector. • Titan Industries bagged 19th position across all industry categories and 1st position in the Retail Industry category in the Economic Times – Great Place to Work
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Institute study. The survey results show that 92% employees across Titan Industries feel that Titan is a Great Place to work! Titan Industries was one of the five organizations to be awarded the "Corporate Social Responsibilities" award - Best Commercial and Industrial Institute for 2009 - 10 by the Government of Tamil Nadu.
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3.Fastrack
Fastrack was launched in 1998 as a sub-brand of Titan. It was spun off as an independent brand of watches targeting the urban youth in 2005. Since then, it has carved a niche for itself with designs that were refreshingly different and affordable. During that time, Fastrack also extended its footprint into eye gear and in the last 4 years has quickly notched up the title of being the largest sunglass brand in the country. Fastrack has now chartered into newer categories – bags, belts, wallets and wrist bands – as part of its vision to become a complete fashion brand for the youth. With enough categories to fill up one cool store, Fastrack has ‘moved on’ to open its own stores for its young consumers. The store is positioned as a complete accessories destination with all Fastrack gear under one roof. The first store was opened in Pune in 2009. Fastrack plans to have 100 such stores by 2011. Ronnie is a B.Com LLB from the Bombay University. He is a sports and fitness enthusiast and joined Tata Press in 1976. Ten years later, with Titan Industries, Ronnie as GM – Finance was largely responsible for setting up the Finance Department. In 2005, he headed the new business unit to target youth – thus ‘Fastrack’ came into existence, he is also responsible for the Large Format Store retail chain for all company products. Fastrack watches are divided into the segments hip hop, denim, new, bikers, adventure, army, sports, basics, grunge, aluminium, colour play, digital fashion, essentials, party, pairs, neons – disc, neon and XY
ANALYSIS Data was collected through an interview schedule, consisting of both open ended and closed ended questions. The schedule covered parameters like consumers’ brand preference; recollection of source of data and advertisement, brand ambassador of Titan; awareness of new tagline and campaign featuring Aamir Khan, new designs and so on. The Page | 10
data was collected through one-to-one personal interviews. The users of watches were asked for their responses for the given questions. 1Q. which watch do u use? 2Q. Which feature attrack you the most? 3Q. Which type of advertisement influenced you the most? 4Q. Would u like to continue with this product? 5Q. Are you satisfied with the price of the product? 6Q. How much you paid for the product? Q7. Where did you purchase the product from? Q8. Are you satisfied by the price charged? Q9. Are you satisfied with the services provided by them?
Analysis 1: According to the responses it can be noted out that in India most of the people prefer Titan Brands because of its reputation. The respondents has showed the varied choices of watches in competition as well. Most of the youths between the age of 14 years – 25years uses Fastrack watches and mostly uses digital fashion, Party, sports and basics and others are less used. The chart shown below states the number of users for the various brands :
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Brands
Fastrack Sonata Premium citizen Guess Clasique Quartz Tom hilfliger DKNY Timex Tissot
As from the above pie chart most of the users are using Titan Fastrack watches and also many sub brands of titan ie. Sonata, Clasique, Premium, Quartz , Timex and Tom hilfliger where as DKNY, TISSOT, CITIZEN and GUESS are its competitors. The major players in the Indian watch market include Titan, Timex and Citizen.. Foreign brands such as TISSOT, DKNY, Citizen are also making an inroad into the Indian market. Titan has been consolidating its market share over the past decade. Timex watches, which entered in India with collaboration with Titan, now independently has also gained substantial market share. 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 quantitative restrictions. So the new entrant has to have an offering, which can be positioned and differentiated from the other players in the market. This could be either price or functional or emotional appeal. So the prime barrier for entry, in the current context, for a new entrant is to build a brand image and price competitively. Page | 12
The Fastrack Digital range offers the customer a functional watch that is also attractive. The digital watch has a “techno-geek” image, but Titan seeks to differentiate its offering on the basis of superior style and attractiveness. Titan caters to several user groups- children (the Dash), sportspersons and adventurers (PSI4000 and Fastrack range). The Fastrack range is seen as being contemporary, sturdy and reliable. The advertising, packaging and merchandising of this range is young, vibrant and ‘cool’ (the ad line says “Cool watches by Titan”) Watches that are for every-day use and those with less frills and more value are classified as Classic watches. These watches are normally targeted towards middle and upper middle-income class consumers. Classique: “Power dressing now has a new weapon!” “Timeless elegance captured on the wrist.” Classique' is marketed as a fusion of function and sophistication. Classique with its looks fits the formal corporate image and is positioned as a watch for corporate employees. This also reinforces the importance of watch along with the dress worn. Sonata, the watch brand from the Tatas, launched the Super Fibre, targeted at the sub-Rs 500 market in urban, semi-urban and rural India. The watches have been designed primarily for youth in the 16-30 age group, and will be available in a price range of Rs 275 toRs 550. The tag line for this sub-brand is ‘Super Strong, Super Style.’
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Analysis 2: In this analysis the respondents are asked to give their opinion which states the feature attracted them the most. The chart below shows the following:
Features
10 8 6 4 2 0 Brand Looks Quality price Any other Features
Due to the good reputation of the Titan Company many respondent are found to be brand loyal due to the good standby into the markets since last 2 decades. So due to the reputed company and a good competitor it has gained a good market share in India in case of watches. 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 of several key target groups and users.
There are many varieties of Fastrack watches launched in the market like it is divided into hip hop, denim, new, bikers, adventure, army, sports, basics, grunge, aluminium, colour play, digital fashion, essentials, party, pairs, neons – disc, neon and XY. This attract the youngsters as they mostly refer to the looks. So it has also gained a major part of the feature most attracted. Page | 14
Quality and price has gained less share, the assumption to be made is they are more into looks which suits their personality and less conscious about price. So it comes to know that youth prefers less quality. The Indian watch buyers are very price sensitive, especially in the lower end of the market. There is still a huge untapped market in India with market penetration of only 20 units per thousand people while the world average is more than 100. At the same time there are a segment of people who are willing to pay a premium for watches with good performance and with a recognized brand name. So understanding the buyers’ preferences is very crucial in this industry in order to gain a substantial market share. The other feature which youths liked were the long lasting battery of the Fastrack, some has trust on the products made by the Titan company, some are brand loyal, etc.
Analysis 3: Titan advertises its watches in almost all media vehicles. The advertisements can be seen in TV, magazines(Brunch), newspaper(Times of India), hoardings, billboards, radio and so on. The fast track brand is promoted in month of June-August when schools and colleges re-open. All respondents have seen the advertisements of Fastrack watches in various media. This was a multi-response question and the options given to select were restricted to TV, magazines, newspapers, radio and any other. Some youths also refers to the internet and also buys from friends references, etc The findings of the survey have been summarized as follows:
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Advertisements
25 20 15 10 5 0 TV Magazines News papers Other Radio
Analysis 4:
Continuation with the product
YES
NO
0
5
10
15
20
25
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The assumption is made that as youths has difference in their likes and dislikes, tastes and preferences so Titan Fastrack has introduce more trendy and innovative designs. Focus on the behaviour such as working men and women. Spread awareness about availability of watches in lower segments. There are also ranges of watches where all classes are included ie. For upper class (high earning people), Middle class & lower class (less earning).Take steps to change consumer perception that Titan watches are high priced. Advertisement “move on” has attracted the most. Some youths do prefer for continuation of the Titan Fastrack product due to some complaints noted down like no repair for fibre belt, carelessness by the fastrack stores if given for repairs, these watches are not working properly due some problem in machine.
Analysis 5:
Satisfaction
YES NO
Most of the respondents are satisfied with the watches of Fastrack means about 77.78% and the rest are not satisfied
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Analysis 6:
Price
Price
500 - 1000 1000 -1500 1500 2000 2000 2500
From the following graph it comes to know that very less youths or their parents are less concerned about the prices charged by them. Assumption is made that the prices are compensated with the quality and services and its long lasting provided by the Titan Company. It comes to know the prices of watches are properly segmented as per the wants, needs, income, profession, fashion, etc of the youths. Very less youths spend the higher priced watches and with a good income youths spend as some has hidh standard of living.
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Analysis 7:
Purchases
10 8 6 4 2 0 Mall Local store Fastrack/Titan Purchases
From the graph shown above it comes to know that many prefer to go in proper stores to purchase the Fastrack watches. They also prefer to purchase from local shops as well and least prefer malls.
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Analysis 8:
Satisfaction with the price charged
NO
YES
0
5
10
15
20
Out of 28 respondents 20 respondents are satisfied with the price charged because it gives long lasting services and has long lasting battery, price is properly compensated with the looks, Quality and brand. About 71.43% of the respondents are satisfied.
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Analysis 9:
Satisfaction with services
NO
YES
0
5
10
15
20
25
From about 28 respondents, 21 respondents are satisfied means about 75% respondents are satisfied.
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4.Strategy adopted by the TITAN COMPANY
Titan Industries Ltd, the watches and jewellery maker, is reducing its advertising exposure and setting sights on product-based advertisements to promote brand recall and revivesales.
The company had earmarked Rs 180 crore towards advertising budget for 2008-2009, of which Rs 160 crore has already been spent on rolling out big-ticket campaigns. It is cautiously spending the remaining Rs 20 crore and looking at making every penny work for it. Titan is now focusing on below-the-line advertising by keeping a tab on ad spends.
Titan Industries chief operating officer Bhaskar Bhat said, We will continue to strategically invest and have taken a conscious decision to conserve cash. Opening of stores will be measured and the rollout will happen in unrepresented areas. Titan will invest in ads which will generate sales for cash flow. The firm is currently investing heavily in outdoor advertisement and will focus on new schemes and innovative products to lift sales volumes. As a strategy, Titan plans to enter into categories and geographies that are not crimped by the slowdown and sees a bright spot in tier II and III cities. Titan is also trying to reach new customer segments. They are now trying to target all adults in socio economic classes . Titan is also looking at innovative retail strategies and planned to launch ten innovative product collections soon. Gifting concept: Titan started as a brand which was associated with gifting and relation. The fight concept sells well for people have come to associate Titan with lovecare and makes emotion run high Exchanging offer: The Titan stores offer exchange offer of any old watch, of any make, in any condition functional or otherwise and receive a flat discount of 25% on their purchase of a brand new, stylish and technologically advanced watch from Titan.
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5. INTERVIEW
IT Helped Titan Grow : Bhaskar Bhat
Bhaskar Bhat MD, Titan Industries Unlike a lot of CEOs who want to outsource their IT departments, Bhaskar Bhat, managing director of Titan Industries, believes in keeping IT in-house. It is the only way one can get the level of commitment to stay ahead in the marketplace, he says. He also believes that IT is critical in two areas of operation: managing the supply chain and developing a strong
understanding of what the customer wants - two of the most vital things for lifestyle brands.
Interview with Bhaskar Bhat Q. What is the vision that drives Titan Industries? We are working on an objective: achieving a $1-billion turnover by 2009-10 and exceeding that significantly thereafter. By that time, we also have the desire to become an institution which is healthy, wealthy, sharing and caring, one that will be the envy of Indian corporates. It is not just in terms of scale - not just about creating a billion-dollar company.
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Wealth is about financial health; and health is about sustained, long-term growth. Sharing means that we will share our wealth with all our stakeholders, and caring means that we will care for the individual, the environment and the community. Becoming the envy of Indian corporations means that we want all people - associates, employees and customers - to be touched. We want people to own our brand, work for our company, and associate with us. Even if we are just a billion-dollar company and if there are other companies that have a turnover of $10 billion, it doesn't matter. People must say, "I wish to work for Titan. I wish to buy its products, do business with it, and run a franchise store for Titan."
Q. Has the growth of IT in your organization been a process that is parallel to Titan’s manufacturing and retail expansion? I think that during some years, IT has outpaced expansion in terms of investments. But overall, if you take the last five years, it has kept pace. Sometimes, you have to outpace to be able to prepare yourself for the future, especially with something like IT. Similarly in HR, sometimes you have to recruit the talent that is required to run your future vision. And not only has it gone as per plan, it has gone as per strategy. We have an operating plan for a year, apart from our strategy. Our strategic plan covers five years, but IT strategy can't be embedded because technology is changing so rapidly. You have to be flexible and nimble, but, at an overall level, you need to create an information culture. Q. What is Titan Industries’ current IT budget? Normally, we are in the Rs 10 crore per annum bracket. I think that this year, it will be around Rs 8 crore-10 crore. But overall, including revenue expenditure for software and associated heads, it is around Rs 15 crore per annum. As a percentage of turnover, we spend around 1 percent on IT. As a percentage of turnover, I don't think that it will grow much, and I expect IT spending to generally account for around 0.5-1 percent.
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Q. Could you comment on the role of IT, specifically in managing your distribution channels? I think that the greatest impact of IT has been in the supply chain and distribution channel. It starts with our entire business, which is based on consumer understanding. Our brands are our most important assets. Therefore, enriched consumer understanding helps us to derive greater value from our brands. All the action is in the marketplace as far as we are concerned. Capturing that transaction - or non-transaction, so that we can find out why a consumer didn't buy our product - is critical to building a competitive advantage. Therefore, we have processes and technologies to align manufacturing with the marketplace requirement. So, everything is marketplace driven and for that to happen, IT becomes a key bridge between the marketplace and the backend.
Q. What about the progress of technology in Titan’s product development cycle? Ours is a lifestyle product and in this category, design plays a very key role - and this is just on the outside. But, if you take a watch, all the internal moving parts have to be engineered to perfection. So, IT has helped convert the creative output of a designer into an engineering and factory-floor manufacturable product. In the development of significantly advanced technological products like Edge, the slimmest watch in the world, IT has played a significant role both with respect to the design of the technical parts of the watch and in the aesthetics. Q. How do you see technologies like RFID, especially with your growing retail network? We have been evaluating RFID and feel that it will play a very crucial role across all our products because you can embed so much on the products using RFID. You can extract a lot of information and it is a very attractive area of opportunty for us. We will start with jewelry and tracking of inventory. For instance, we provide a guarantee for our watches and if there is any defect, the consumer can bring it back. Using RFID, we can get Page | 25
information on when the watch was produced, the batch number, and so on. We already have pilots running for jewelry, and plan to do something with RFID and watches next year. Q. Tell us about your vision for Titan’s IT department? What are the challenges you foresee for it with Titan’s global expansion? Actually, our global expansion plans will not make any difference to our IT setup. For instance, we have opened an office in Hong Kong, and the people there are seamlessly connected to our SAP systems. We are also building portals for all our distributors to use. Nowadays, people are talking about the death of distance. The vision for the IT department is to build a robust information system and to align the same with the business needs of the organization, so that the company's future requirements are met. Q. What challenges have you faced in developing synergies between your IT and HR departments, with the danger of losing talent to IT-services companies? We have got specific programs for this. First of all, we have addressed the problem of attrition at a very basic level by creating a separate pay and perks system focusing on the IT staff, differentiating them from the rest of the organization. Additionally, the IT function is so attractive within Titan that people from other departments have begun to move to IT. So, we have created a mobility policy in HR, which enables employees who are qualified to work on IT projects to do so. But, the culture-enabling thought in the organization is most important - that IT is integrated into the company and that IT people are seen as part of the team. So, it is not just the money or the job that makes them work with us; it is the culture that we have created that makes them want to work for Titan. Therefore, I wouldn't want to bracket it as just an HR initiative. There is a strong sense of belonging that we have created, and this ultimately helps us to tackle attrition. Q. What motivates a manufacturing company like Titan to keep IT in-house? We have benefited a great deal by keeping IT in-house. It is not just about costcutting. We feel that IT is such a critical function that we don't want to outsource it. The way we are growing, there are fire-fighting issues, development issues and long-term issues. Page | 26
If you have an IT team that is in-house, it will be totally aligned to the vision of the company. The sheer commitment of the IT employees will help us achieve our goals faster and in an easier manner. If you outsource it, it is seen as a business. When it is done inhouse, the commitment of the people working on the IT project is higher. This again is created by the sense of belonging. We have people who visit the shop floor at midnight to see if the disaster recovery systems are working. This sort of commitment is not something that you can get if you outsource.
Another problem with outsourcing is that creativity doesn't blossom. We have IT people working with brand managers of the jewelry business, who are telling them how IT can solve issues. You can outsource something like traveling, but business driven creative solutions will only emerge when things are done in-house.
Q. How do you see the role of a CIO evolving? The CIO has access to information as well as processes in our company. He is involved in the development of business plans. I think that the CIO's strategic role is increasing, and it will grow further in terms of strategy development. Because of process orientation and process knowledge, our CIO is already the corporate quality head. The CIO here also handles the knowledge and business excellence management role, and this is a very strategic role. The CIO can also play a major role in the think tank of the company, which mostly comprises the top management. But since the top management is very much hands-on in running the company, the CIO is in the best position to stand apart and facilitate the thinking process of the company. Q. Could you offer some insights into how Titan manages the supply chain? Today, the company is able to collect data on every single sale. We have developed advanced forecasting tools, which can take this past data and help us to forecast what will Page | 27
happen in the future. These forecasts are then vetted by our sales people. Since the entire supply chain rides on the IT backbone, this knowledge can be fed back to the manufacturing units and is used to design better products. Q. Customer understanding is critical for Titan because it’s dictated by fashion trends. How does IT help you to manage this? This happens at two levels. For one, our retail outlets are highly IT-enabled, and are feeding information on the transactions that the customer has with the company. In addition, we capture the customer information and have a loyalty program. All the information comes through our IT network. Since the transaction information is generated and goes back to the ERP system, data mining gives us useful information. All the reports that our brand managers get on cluster wide and geographic trends help them to take better decisions. This is especially useful while launching new products the faster you get the information, the quicker you are able to react to market trends. Thus, IT has given us a lot of agility, which is important because the fashion business changes very rapidly. IT has also helped us to significantly reduce costs in terms of inventory. I think that we are one of the few watch companies in the world that doesn't carry dead inventory.
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6. Customer Relationship Management
Having Now discussed in depth, bothe the brand building as well as the segmentation techniques of Titan, We would like to briefly touch upon the concept of Customer Relationship Management(CRM). It has been successfully introduced by Titan in the Indian Market. CRM is an idea that has began to assume growing significance in todays corporate environment, as it is a vital element in customer satisfaction. As product differenciation decreases ( definitely in the case of Watch industry) companies will have to increasingly use CRM as a means of differentiating themselves from the competition. It is here that Titan has made headway, perhaps more so than any other Indian Company. Apart from the run of the mills customer database and direct marketing technique that most company employ, Titan has implemented a number of small, yetsignificance measures that go a long way in enhancing customer satisfaction. A prime example of this would be to observe one of Titan’s55 watch care centres. Here, receptionists make it a point to speak the local language, and standby watches are provided to serve as replacements till a customers watch is repaired. Additionally , these service centres are as poshas the showrooms, have 24hour voice mail facilities , have no lunch hours, areopen till late evenings, and even deliver watches at home, if so required. It is measures such as these that enhance a company’s image and build brand and customer loyalty. It is little wonderthan, that Titan is consistently voted INDIA’S 1st Brand.
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Conclusion
Through the analysis made it comes to know that the company has maintained a good share in the market the company is in its full form and has satisfied the customers by introducing various watches of various designs according to the behaviour and wants and needs of the youths. Fastrack watches are been focused on the youths, kids and teenagers. Fastrack watches are emerging as the star icon in the image of youngsters. The services provided by them if found to be good. The looks, style, brand & services are found to be the strong reasons for competing. Some of the competitors are Citizen, TISSOT, Guess, DKNY, Timex, etc are been penetrating into the Indian market. The youths prefer more Brand and looks (more than 65 %)more than price and Quality. They are more influenced by the Fastrack “move on” advertisement on the Television set. About 89.25% of the youths would like to continue with the product. About 77.78% of the youths are satisfied with the Fastrack watches. The youths prefer to buy mostly in the range of 1500-2000, they prefer to purchase more from the Titan store. They are also quite satisfied by the price charged 71.43% because it gives compensation for the quality of watches. Most probably about 75%of respondents are satisfied by the services provided by them. There are still some ineffectiveness left they need to concentrate on the aspect of after sale services, quick solution, reduction of carelessness in required of the stores. It has created its own goodwill in the market so little attention has to be given on the users or customers.
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References
The following data is taken from: Sengupta Subroto(2006), “Brand Positioning: Strategies for Competitive Advantage”. Second Edition, Tata McGraw Hill Publishing Company Limited, New Delhi. Gopalakrishnan PS (ed.) (2007),”Rebranding: An Introduction”. www.marketingprofs.com www.brandingstrategyinsider.com www.titanworld.com www.thehindubusinessline.com www.economictimes.com www.fastrack.in
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doc_996805977.docx
project is based on personal analysis
1.COMPANY HISTORY
The Company was incorporated on 26th July 1984, at Chennai. The Manufacture analog electronic watches with a choice of over 150 designs. The company was promoted jointly by Questar Investments, Ltd., a Tata Company with its associates Tata Sons, Ltd., and Tata Press, Ltd., and Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation, Ltd.(TIDCO). The main objective of the company is to manufacture analog electronic watches with a choice of over 150 designs. The Company proposed to manufacture 2 million digital and ana-digi watches in collaboration with Casio Computer Company of Japan.
In 1987, the Company established a manufacturing facility at Hosur for the manufacture of components for watches.
In1989, A new range of watches called `Aqura' was launched in December.
In 1991, A joint venture Company along with Economic Development Council of Goa, Daman & Diu Ltd., in the name of Titan Time Products, Ltd., was set up at Goa, for the manufacture of Electronic Circuit Blocks. The company undertook to set up a jewellery business at Hosur. The jewellery repertoire was to include both daily-wear jewellery and luxury products. The Company along with other Tata Associates were to participate in the equity of Timex, who were to offer equity shares of Rs 10 each at a premium of Rs 40 per share.
In 1992, Over 150 new models were introduced of which `Raga' introduced in June, `Spectra' a range of watches in steel and gold plated was reintroduced with a new look in August. It was proposed to introduce a host of new products based on new movements. It was also proposed to sell the brand name `Aqura' and the right to make Aqura products to Timex, with a view to move up market. Page | 1
In 1993, The name of the Company was changed with effect from 21st September from Titan Watches, Ltd. to Titan Industries Ltd., in view of the fact that the Company's products consisted of not only watches but also jewellery.
In 1994, The Company introduced `Tanishq' range of watches made of 18 carat gold and studded with precious stones. A new range of watch `Insignia' manufactured for the European market likely to be introduced in the domestic market.
In 1995, The Company proposed to set up a joint venture company with Hour Glass of Singapore to set up watch boutiques in leading Indian cities for the sale of luxury watches and also be responsible for wholesale and after-sales operations.
In 1996, The Company has introduced new economy range of watches called Sonata and Tanistiq's 22 Karat ethnic Jewellery during the year.
In 2000, Titan Industries has announced the launch of Cyber, a range of digital clocks. Titan Industries has been conferred the award for excellence in electronics for the year 1998 by the ministry of information technology (MIT). Titan has launched a new `Style at Work' collection under its Classique range. Pizza Hut has introduced baarah nahi toh tera, a new deal in which a customer who orders a `speed lunch' gets it in 12 minutes, or gets it free. As part of the offer, Pizza Hut has entered into a tie-up with Titan, through which a Titan Fast-track watch will be displayed on every table to mark the 12 minute countdown.Titan Industries unveiled a new range of wrist-watches, called the Classique range, for Corporate Executives.Titan Industries has announced a new range of Fastrack watches for young women in the city Page | 2
in 2001, Titan Industries Ltd. has launched three new collections of its popular Dash brand of watches for kids -- Popeye, Digital and Lumibrite. Titan Industries on June 27 reported its profit rose 21.8 per cent in the past year to March, reflecting strong sales growth by its jewellery division.
In 2003, Tanishq steps into a new segment Silverware. The silverware range has been designed by Michael Folly, the designer for Titan.
In 2004, Relaunches 'Raga', the women's watch range. Titan has announced the launch of a new collection of women's watches called 'Raga Miniatures'. Small and delicate in size the watches bracelets in 15 varieties of gold and steel and is priced at Rs 2995 onwards. Titan Industries on June 18, 2004, announced the launch of the Tommy Hilfiger watch collection in India. Titan has entered into an exclusive sub-licensing arrangement with GVM International Ltd, a member of the Murjani Group, for the marketing and distribution of Tommy Hilfiger watches in India. Watch and jewellery manufacturer Titan Industries forayed into the fashion accesssories industry with the launch of sunglasses, a Rs 330-crore market. Titan Industries on July 22, 2004, launched the Flip collection – a dualfaced watch that incorporates two watch movements embedded in a single case. Titan rolls out new range of jewellery watches under the 'Nebula' brand. Titan Industries launches Crown Collection watches.Titan Industries launches Cal Track
In 2005, Titan re-introduces Fastrack range of watches.Titan rolls out bi-metal range of watches in Vizag. Titan launches multiple watches under Raga coordinate range
In 2006, Titan Industries unveils Xylys watche. Titan Ind sets up boutique in Banjara Hills
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2.COMPANY PROFILE
Titan Industries is the organization that brought about a paradigm shift in the Indian watch market when it introduced its futuristic quartz technology, complemented by international styling. With India's two most recognized and loved brands Titan and Tanishq to its credit, Titan Industries is the fifth largest integrated watch manufacturer in the world. The success story began in 1984 with a joint venture between the Tata Group and the Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation. Presenting Titan quartz watches that sported an international look, Titan Industries transformed the Indian watch market. After Sonata, a value brand of functionally styled watches at affordable prices, Titan Industries reached out to the youth segment with Fastrack, its third brand, trendy and chic. The company has sold 100 million watches world over and manufactures 12 million watches every year. With a license for premium fashion watches of global brands, Titan Industries repeated its pioneering act and brought international brands into Indian market. Tommy Hilfiger, Hugo Boss and f c u k as well as the Swiss made watch – Xylys owe their presence in Indian market to Titan Industries. Entering the largely fragmented Indian jewellery market with no known brands in 1995, Titan Industries launched Tanishq, India’s most trusted and fastest growing jewellery brand. Gold Plus, the later addition, focuses on the preferences of semi-urban and rural India. Completing the jewellery portfolio is Zoya, the latest retail chain in the luxury segment. Titan Industries has also made its foray into eyewear, launching Fastrack eyewear and sunglasses, as well as prescription eyewear. The organization has leveraged its manufacturing competencies and branched into precision engineering products and machine building. With over 624 retail stores across a carpet area of over 7,70,848 sq. ft. Titan Industries has India’s largest retail network. The company has over 300 exclusive ‘World of Titan' showrooms and over 650 after-sales-service centers. Titan Industries is also the Page | 4
largest jewellery retailer in India with over 119 Tanishq boutiques and Zoya stores, over 28 Gold Plus stores and over 120 Titan Eye+ stores. The company has two exclusive design studios for watches and jewellery Backed by 4,934 employees, two exclusive design studios for watches and jewellery, 11 manufacturing units, and innumerable admirers world over, Titan Industries continues to grow and sets new standards for innovation and quality. The organization is all geared to repeat the Titan and Tanishq success story with each new offering.
Vision & Mission Vision: To be a world-class, innovative and progressive organisation and to build
India’s most desirable brands.
Mission:
To create wealth for all our stakeholders by building highly successful
businesses based on a customer-centric approach, and to contribute to the community.
Values and Standards: Total customer orientation: Customers take precedence over all else, always. Employee appreciation: The value and respect Titanians and endeavour to fulfill their needs and aspirations. Performance culture and teamwork: At Titan Industries, high performance is but a way of life and is nurtured by teamwork. Creativity and Innovation: Driven by innovation and creativity, they focus on smarter approaches and newer technologies. Passion for excellence: In all their pursuits, they ceaselessly strive for excellence. Corporate Citizenship: ensures that a part of the resources is invested in environment and community betterment.
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Products
Titan Industries, best known as India's pioneering manufacturer of quartz watches, has also etched a niche for itself in some of the most competitive spaces in the fashion industry such as jewellery and eyewear. Precision engineering is another area of specialization that Titan Industries is proud of.
Watches: Being the world's fifth largest integrated watch manufacturer, Titan Industries has created and sold more than a 110 million pieces the world over. With a production rate of over 12 million watches per annum and a customer base of over 100 million, Titan Industries owns manufacturing and assembly operation centers in Hosur in Karnataka, Dehradun, Roorkee and Pant Nagar in Uttaranchal, Baddi in Himachal Pradesh, and an Electronic Circuit Boards (ECB) plant in Goa. Capturing the important market segments and the changing fashion trends, Titan Industries has brought forth four core watch brands: • Titan is designed for the mid-premium segment • Fastrack is crafted to fit the trendy fashion space with a focus on the youth • Sonata is created for the mass market and has emerged as India’s largest selling watch brand • Xylys is fashioned for the premium market, aiming at the high-end connoisseur and newage achiever The Titan brand architecture comprises several sub-brands, each of which is a market leader in own space. Notable among them are: Titan Edge, Titan Raga, Nebula, Heritage and several other collections like WWF, Zoop, Orion, Purple, Obaku and the Automatic series. The Titan portfolio owns over 60% of the domestic market share in the organized watch market. Titan Industries’ pride possession, a world-class design studio for watches and accessories, is the place where some of the most coveted creations have been conceptualized. Page | 6
Exclusive World of Titan and Fastrack showrooms and over 12,000 outlets in more than 2,554 cities in India make these much-sought-after watches available to the buyers. The watches are also offered internationally in 30 countries, with a special focus on the Middle East and Asia Pacific regions. The after-sales service, a benchmarked operation with a large network of exclusive service centers spread across the country, is one of the operation units with the fastest turnaround time in the world.
Jewellery: Following the suit of time products, Titan Industries’ Tanishq has been India’s largest, fastest growing and most popular jewellery brand. Tanishq offers a premium range of innovatively created gold jewellery with an aesthetic use of diamonds and precious, semi-precious stones in various hues. Arresting designs in 22kt pure gold as well as platinum are among the most admired products on the company’s list. GoldPlus the recent retail plain gold jewellery offering, is specifically created for semi urban and rural Indian market. The brand offers gold jewellery, as well as unique designs crafted with diamonds, American diamonds and other precious stones. Titan Industries boasts of 119 Tanishq boutiques, 2 Zoya stores and 29 Gold Plus stores in India. The enchanting jewellery patterns that are part of these brands originate in the well-equipped exclusive jewellery design studio of Titan Industries.
Eye wear: Titan Eye+ of Titan Industries offers sunglasses under its Fastrack brand. Prescription eyewear such as lenses and contact lenses is also part of the range. Titan Eye+ offers frames, sunglasses, and accessories of Titan Industries’ in -house brands as well as other premium brands.
Precision Engineering: The Precision Engineering division of Titan Industries supplies precision components to the aviation and the automotive industry. As an Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM), the company makes dashboard clocks for car manufacturers in Europe and America. Page | 7
Equipped with best certifications such as AS 9100B for the aerospace segment, TS 16949 for the automotive segment and the coveted Ford Q1 status - the highest supplier recognition from Ford – Titan Industries also offers fully integrated automation solutions.
Awards & Accolades
Over the years, Titan Industries has received several prestigious awards and distinctions. Some of the recent and most noteworthy recognitions are: • Titan Industries received the Award for the Most Admired Timewear Brand of the Year in 2009 for the ninth successive year for Titan, and the Most Admired Jewellery Brand of the Year for the seventh consecutive year for Tanishq. • Goldplus bags 2 dragons and 2 certificate of merits at the Promotion marketing awards of Asia 2009. • Jewellery Division was declared the winner of the “GOLD AWARD" in FMCG sector in the GreenTech Environment Excellence Award 2009. • Jewellery Division wins first prize in “Innovation in Supply Chain Management” organized by Indian Institute of Material Management for the second consecutive year and ranked amongst the top five amongst 50 global entries at Europen Business School, Weisbaden Germany . • Titan brand won the “Most Valuable Brand in the State” award at the IIPM & The Sunday Times STATE EXCELLENCE AWARD. • Both Titan and Sonata feature in the Top 100 Brands-2009 in the Annual Survey conducted by Economic Times. While Titan is ranked at Number 4, Sonata increase their rank to 86. Titan is ranked number 1 in the consumer durables category. • Jewellery Division of Titan Industries Limited won the Eight Annual Madras Management Association award on Managerial Excellence for Manufacturing sector. • Titan Industries bagged 19th position across all industry categories and 1st position in the Retail Industry category in the Economic Times – Great Place to Work
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Institute study. The survey results show that 92% employees across Titan Industries feel that Titan is a Great Place to work! Titan Industries was one of the five organizations to be awarded the "Corporate Social Responsibilities" award - Best Commercial and Industrial Institute for 2009 - 10 by the Government of Tamil Nadu.
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3.Fastrack
Fastrack was launched in 1998 as a sub-brand of Titan. It was spun off as an independent brand of watches targeting the urban youth in 2005. Since then, it has carved a niche for itself with designs that were refreshingly different and affordable. During that time, Fastrack also extended its footprint into eye gear and in the last 4 years has quickly notched up the title of being the largest sunglass brand in the country. Fastrack has now chartered into newer categories – bags, belts, wallets and wrist bands – as part of its vision to become a complete fashion brand for the youth. With enough categories to fill up one cool store, Fastrack has ‘moved on’ to open its own stores for its young consumers. The store is positioned as a complete accessories destination with all Fastrack gear under one roof. The first store was opened in Pune in 2009. Fastrack plans to have 100 such stores by 2011. Ronnie is a B.Com LLB from the Bombay University. He is a sports and fitness enthusiast and joined Tata Press in 1976. Ten years later, with Titan Industries, Ronnie as GM – Finance was largely responsible for setting up the Finance Department. In 2005, he headed the new business unit to target youth – thus ‘Fastrack’ came into existence, he is also responsible for the Large Format Store retail chain for all company products. Fastrack watches are divided into the segments hip hop, denim, new, bikers, adventure, army, sports, basics, grunge, aluminium, colour play, digital fashion, essentials, party, pairs, neons – disc, neon and XY
ANALYSIS Data was collected through an interview schedule, consisting of both open ended and closed ended questions. The schedule covered parameters like consumers’ brand preference; recollection of source of data and advertisement, brand ambassador of Titan; awareness of new tagline and campaign featuring Aamir Khan, new designs and so on. The Page | 10
data was collected through one-to-one personal interviews. The users of watches were asked for their responses for the given questions. 1Q. which watch do u use? 2Q. Which feature attrack you the most? 3Q. Which type of advertisement influenced you the most? 4Q. Would u like to continue with this product? 5Q. Are you satisfied with the price of the product? 6Q. How much you paid for the product? Q7. Where did you purchase the product from? Q8. Are you satisfied by the price charged? Q9. Are you satisfied with the services provided by them?
Analysis 1: According to the responses it can be noted out that in India most of the people prefer Titan Brands because of its reputation. The respondents has showed the varied choices of watches in competition as well. Most of the youths between the age of 14 years – 25years uses Fastrack watches and mostly uses digital fashion, Party, sports and basics and others are less used. The chart shown below states the number of users for the various brands :
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Brands
Fastrack Sonata Premium citizen Guess Clasique Quartz Tom hilfliger DKNY Timex Tissot
As from the above pie chart most of the users are using Titan Fastrack watches and also many sub brands of titan ie. Sonata, Clasique, Premium, Quartz , Timex and Tom hilfliger where as DKNY, TISSOT, CITIZEN and GUESS are its competitors. The major players in the Indian watch market include Titan, Timex and Citizen.. Foreign brands such as TISSOT, DKNY, Citizen are also making an inroad into the Indian market. Titan has been consolidating its market share over the past decade. Timex watches, which entered in India with collaboration with Titan, now independently has also gained substantial market share. 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 quantitative restrictions. So the new entrant has to have an offering, which can be positioned and differentiated from the other players in the market. This could be either price or functional or emotional appeal. So the prime barrier for entry, in the current context, for a new entrant is to build a brand image and price competitively. Page | 12
The Fastrack Digital range offers the customer a functional watch that is also attractive. The digital watch has a “techno-geek” image, but Titan seeks to differentiate its offering on the basis of superior style and attractiveness. Titan caters to several user groups- children (the Dash), sportspersons and adventurers (PSI4000 and Fastrack range). The Fastrack range is seen as being contemporary, sturdy and reliable. The advertising, packaging and merchandising of this range is young, vibrant and ‘cool’ (the ad line says “Cool watches by Titan”) Watches that are for every-day use and those with less frills and more value are classified as Classic watches. These watches are normally targeted towards middle and upper middle-income class consumers. Classique: “Power dressing now has a new weapon!” “Timeless elegance captured on the wrist.” Classique' is marketed as a fusion of function and sophistication. Classique with its looks fits the formal corporate image and is positioned as a watch for corporate employees. This also reinforces the importance of watch along with the dress worn. Sonata, the watch brand from the Tatas, launched the Super Fibre, targeted at the sub-Rs 500 market in urban, semi-urban and rural India. The watches have been designed primarily for youth in the 16-30 age group, and will be available in a price range of Rs 275 toRs 550. The tag line for this sub-brand is ‘Super Strong, Super Style.’
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Analysis 2: In this analysis the respondents are asked to give their opinion which states the feature attracted them the most. The chart below shows the following:
Features
10 8 6 4 2 0 Brand Looks Quality price Any other Features
Due to the good reputation of the Titan Company many respondent are found to be brand loyal due to the good standby into the markets since last 2 decades. So due to the reputed company and a good competitor it has gained a good market share in India in case of watches. 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 of several key target groups and users.
There are many varieties of Fastrack watches launched in the market like it is divided into hip hop, denim, new, bikers, adventure, army, sports, basics, grunge, aluminium, colour play, digital fashion, essentials, party, pairs, neons – disc, neon and XY. This attract the youngsters as they mostly refer to the looks. So it has also gained a major part of the feature most attracted. Page | 14
Quality and price has gained less share, the assumption to be made is they are more into looks which suits their personality and less conscious about price. So it comes to know that youth prefers less quality. The Indian watch buyers are very price sensitive, especially in the lower end of the market. There is still a huge untapped market in India with market penetration of only 20 units per thousand people while the world average is more than 100. At the same time there are a segment of people who are willing to pay a premium for watches with good performance and with a recognized brand name. So understanding the buyers’ preferences is very crucial in this industry in order to gain a substantial market share. The other feature which youths liked were the long lasting battery of the Fastrack, some has trust on the products made by the Titan company, some are brand loyal, etc.
Analysis 3: Titan advertises its watches in almost all media vehicles. The advertisements can be seen in TV, magazines(Brunch), newspaper(Times of India), hoardings, billboards, radio and so on. The fast track brand is promoted in month of June-August when schools and colleges re-open. All respondents have seen the advertisements of Fastrack watches in various media. This was a multi-response question and the options given to select were restricted to TV, magazines, newspapers, radio and any other. Some youths also refers to the internet and also buys from friends references, etc The findings of the survey have been summarized as follows:
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Advertisements
25 20 15 10 5 0 TV Magazines News papers Other Radio
Analysis 4:
Continuation with the product
YES
NO
0
5
10
15
20
25
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The assumption is made that as youths has difference in their likes and dislikes, tastes and preferences so Titan Fastrack has introduce more trendy and innovative designs. Focus on the behaviour such as working men and women. Spread awareness about availability of watches in lower segments. There are also ranges of watches where all classes are included ie. For upper class (high earning people), Middle class & lower class (less earning).Take steps to change consumer perception that Titan watches are high priced. Advertisement “move on” has attracted the most. Some youths do prefer for continuation of the Titan Fastrack product due to some complaints noted down like no repair for fibre belt, carelessness by the fastrack stores if given for repairs, these watches are not working properly due some problem in machine.
Analysis 5:
Satisfaction
YES NO
Most of the respondents are satisfied with the watches of Fastrack means about 77.78% and the rest are not satisfied
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Analysis 6:
Price
Price
500 - 1000 1000 -1500 1500 2000 2000 2500
From the following graph it comes to know that very less youths or their parents are less concerned about the prices charged by them. Assumption is made that the prices are compensated with the quality and services and its long lasting provided by the Titan Company. It comes to know the prices of watches are properly segmented as per the wants, needs, income, profession, fashion, etc of the youths. Very less youths spend the higher priced watches and with a good income youths spend as some has hidh standard of living.
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Analysis 7:
Purchases
10 8 6 4 2 0 Mall Local store Fastrack/Titan Purchases
From the graph shown above it comes to know that many prefer to go in proper stores to purchase the Fastrack watches. They also prefer to purchase from local shops as well and least prefer malls.
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Analysis 8:
Satisfaction with the price charged
NO
YES
0
5
10
15
20
Out of 28 respondents 20 respondents are satisfied with the price charged because it gives long lasting services and has long lasting battery, price is properly compensated with the looks, Quality and brand. About 71.43% of the respondents are satisfied.
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Analysis 9:
Satisfaction with services
NO
YES
0
5
10
15
20
25
From about 28 respondents, 21 respondents are satisfied means about 75% respondents are satisfied.
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4.Strategy adopted by the TITAN COMPANY
Titan Industries Ltd, the watches and jewellery maker, is reducing its advertising exposure and setting sights on product-based advertisements to promote brand recall and revivesales.
The company had earmarked Rs 180 crore towards advertising budget for 2008-2009, of which Rs 160 crore has already been spent on rolling out big-ticket campaigns. It is cautiously spending the remaining Rs 20 crore and looking at making every penny work for it. Titan is now focusing on below-the-line advertising by keeping a tab on ad spends.
Titan Industries chief operating officer Bhaskar Bhat said, We will continue to strategically invest and have taken a conscious decision to conserve cash. Opening of stores will be measured and the rollout will happen in unrepresented areas. Titan will invest in ads which will generate sales for cash flow. The firm is currently investing heavily in outdoor advertisement and will focus on new schemes and innovative products to lift sales volumes. As a strategy, Titan plans to enter into categories and geographies that are not crimped by the slowdown and sees a bright spot in tier II and III cities. Titan is also trying to reach new customer segments. They are now trying to target all adults in socio economic classes . Titan is also looking at innovative retail strategies and planned to launch ten innovative product collections soon. Gifting concept: Titan started as a brand which was associated with gifting and relation. The fight concept sells well for people have come to associate Titan with lovecare and makes emotion run high Exchanging offer: The Titan stores offer exchange offer of any old watch, of any make, in any condition functional or otherwise and receive a flat discount of 25% on their purchase of a brand new, stylish and technologically advanced watch from Titan.
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5. INTERVIEW
IT Helped Titan Grow : Bhaskar Bhat
Bhaskar Bhat MD, Titan Industries Unlike a lot of CEOs who want to outsource their IT departments, Bhaskar Bhat, managing director of Titan Industries, believes in keeping IT in-house. It is the only way one can get the level of commitment to stay ahead in the marketplace, he says. He also believes that IT is critical in two areas of operation: managing the supply chain and developing a strong
understanding of what the customer wants - two of the most vital things for lifestyle brands.
Interview with Bhaskar Bhat Q. What is the vision that drives Titan Industries? We are working on an objective: achieving a $1-billion turnover by 2009-10 and exceeding that significantly thereafter. By that time, we also have the desire to become an institution which is healthy, wealthy, sharing and caring, one that will be the envy of Indian corporates. It is not just in terms of scale - not just about creating a billion-dollar company.
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Wealth is about financial health; and health is about sustained, long-term growth. Sharing means that we will share our wealth with all our stakeholders, and caring means that we will care for the individual, the environment and the community. Becoming the envy of Indian corporations means that we want all people - associates, employees and customers - to be touched. We want people to own our brand, work for our company, and associate with us. Even if we are just a billion-dollar company and if there are other companies that have a turnover of $10 billion, it doesn't matter. People must say, "I wish to work for Titan. I wish to buy its products, do business with it, and run a franchise store for Titan."
Q. Has the growth of IT in your organization been a process that is parallel to Titan’s manufacturing and retail expansion? I think that during some years, IT has outpaced expansion in terms of investments. But overall, if you take the last five years, it has kept pace. Sometimes, you have to outpace to be able to prepare yourself for the future, especially with something like IT. Similarly in HR, sometimes you have to recruit the talent that is required to run your future vision. And not only has it gone as per plan, it has gone as per strategy. We have an operating plan for a year, apart from our strategy. Our strategic plan covers five years, but IT strategy can't be embedded because technology is changing so rapidly. You have to be flexible and nimble, but, at an overall level, you need to create an information culture. Q. What is Titan Industries’ current IT budget? Normally, we are in the Rs 10 crore per annum bracket. I think that this year, it will be around Rs 8 crore-10 crore. But overall, including revenue expenditure for software and associated heads, it is around Rs 15 crore per annum. As a percentage of turnover, we spend around 1 percent on IT. As a percentage of turnover, I don't think that it will grow much, and I expect IT spending to generally account for around 0.5-1 percent.
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Q. Could you comment on the role of IT, specifically in managing your distribution channels? I think that the greatest impact of IT has been in the supply chain and distribution channel. It starts with our entire business, which is based on consumer understanding. Our brands are our most important assets. Therefore, enriched consumer understanding helps us to derive greater value from our brands. All the action is in the marketplace as far as we are concerned. Capturing that transaction - or non-transaction, so that we can find out why a consumer didn't buy our product - is critical to building a competitive advantage. Therefore, we have processes and technologies to align manufacturing with the marketplace requirement. So, everything is marketplace driven and for that to happen, IT becomes a key bridge between the marketplace and the backend.
Q. What about the progress of technology in Titan’s product development cycle? Ours is a lifestyle product and in this category, design plays a very key role - and this is just on the outside. But, if you take a watch, all the internal moving parts have to be engineered to perfection. So, IT has helped convert the creative output of a designer into an engineering and factory-floor manufacturable product. In the development of significantly advanced technological products like Edge, the slimmest watch in the world, IT has played a significant role both with respect to the design of the technical parts of the watch and in the aesthetics. Q. How do you see technologies like RFID, especially with your growing retail network? We have been evaluating RFID and feel that it will play a very crucial role across all our products because you can embed so much on the products using RFID. You can extract a lot of information and it is a very attractive area of opportunty for us. We will start with jewelry and tracking of inventory. For instance, we provide a guarantee for our watches and if there is any defect, the consumer can bring it back. Using RFID, we can get Page | 25
information on when the watch was produced, the batch number, and so on. We already have pilots running for jewelry, and plan to do something with RFID and watches next year. Q. Tell us about your vision for Titan’s IT department? What are the challenges you foresee for it with Titan’s global expansion? Actually, our global expansion plans will not make any difference to our IT setup. For instance, we have opened an office in Hong Kong, and the people there are seamlessly connected to our SAP systems. We are also building portals for all our distributors to use. Nowadays, people are talking about the death of distance. The vision for the IT department is to build a robust information system and to align the same with the business needs of the organization, so that the company's future requirements are met. Q. What challenges have you faced in developing synergies between your IT and HR departments, with the danger of losing talent to IT-services companies? We have got specific programs for this. First of all, we have addressed the problem of attrition at a very basic level by creating a separate pay and perks system focusing on the IT staff, differentiating them from the rest of the organization. Additionally, the IT function is so attractive within Titan that people from other departments have begun to move to IT. So, we have created a mobility policy in HR, which enables employees who are qualified to work on IT projects to do so. But, the culture-enabling thought in the organization is most important - that IT is integrated into the company and that IT people are seen as part of the team. So, it is not just the money or the job that makes them work with us; it is the culture that we have created that makes them want to work for Titan. Therefore, I wouldn't want to bracket it as just an HR initiative. There is a strong sense of belonging that we have created, and this ultimately helps us to tackle attrition. Q. What motivates a manufacturing company like Titan to keep IT in-house? We have benefited a great deal by keeping IT in-house. It is not just about costcutting. We feel that IT is such a critical function that we don't want to outsource it. The way we are growing, there are fire-fighting issues, development issues and long-term issues. Page | 26
If you have an IT team that is in-house, it will be totally aligned to the vision of the company. The sheer commitment of the IT employees will help us achieve our goals faster and in an easier manner. If you outsource it, it is seen as a business. When it is done inhouse, the commitment of the people working on the IT project is higher. This again is created by the sense of belonging. We have people who visit the shop floor at midnight to see if the disaster recovery systems are working. This sort of commitment is not something that you can get if you outsource.
Another problem with outsourcing is that creativity doesn't blossom. We have IT people working with brand managers of the jewelry business, who are telling them how IT can solve issues. You can outsource something like traveling, but business driven creative solutions will only emerge when things are done in-house.
Q. How do you see the role of a CIO evolving? The CIO has access to information as well as processes in our company. He is involved in the development of business plans. I think that the CIO's strategic role is increasing, and it will grow further in terms of strategy development. Because of process orientation and process knowledge, our CIO is already the corporate quality head. The CIO here also handles the knowledge and business excellence management role, and this is a very strategic role. The CIO can also play a major role in the think tank of the company, which mostly comprises the top management. But since the top management is very much hands-on in running the company, the CIO is in the best position to stand apart and facilitate the thinking process of the company. Q. Could you offer some insights into how Titan manages the supply chain? Today, the company is able to collect data on every single sale. We have developed advanced forecasting tools, which can take this past data and help us to forecast what will Page | 27
happen in the future. These forecasts are then vetted by our sales people. Since the entire supply chain rides on the IT backbone, this knowledge can be fed back to the manufacturing units and is used to design better products. Q. Customer understanding is critical for Titan because it’s dictated by fashion trends. How does IT help you to manage this? This happens at two levels. For one, our retail outlets are highly IT-enabled, and are feeding information on the transactions that the customer has with the company. In addition, we capture the customer information and have a loyalty program. All the information comes through our IT network. Since the transaction information is generated and goes back to the ERP system, data mining gives us useful information. All the reports that our brand managers get on cluster wide and geographic trends help them to take better decisions. This is especially useful while launching new products the faster you get the information, the quicker you are able to react to market trends. Thus, IT has given us a lot of agility, which is important because the fashion business changes very rapidly. IT has also helped us to significantly reduce costs in terms of inventory. I think that we are one of the few watch companies in the world that doesn't carry dead inventory.
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6. Customer Relationship Management
Having Now discussed in depth, bothe the brand building as well as the segmentation techniques of Titan, We would like to briefly touch upon the concept of Customer Relationship Management(CRM). It has been successfully introduced by Titan in the Indian Market. CRM is an idea that has began to assume growing significance in todays corporate environment, as it is a vital element in customer satisfaction. As product differenciation decreases ( definitely in the case of Watch industry) companies will have to increasingly use CRM as a means of differentiating themselves from the competition. It is here that Titan has made headway, perhaps more so than any other Indian Company. Apart from the run of the mills customer database and direct marketing technique that most company employ, Titan has implemented a number of small, yetsignificance measures that go a long way in enhancing customer satisfaction. A prime example of this would be to observe one of Titan’s55 watch care centres. Here, receptionists make it a point to speak the local language, and standby watches are provided to serve as replacements till a customers watch is repaired. Additionally , these service centres are as poshas the showrooms, have 24hour voice mail facilities , have no lunch hours, areopen till late evenings, and even deliver watches at home, if so required. It is measures such as these that enhance a company’s image and build brand and customer loyalty. It is little wonderthan, that Titan is consistently voted INDIA’S 1st Brand.
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Conclusion
Through the analysis made it comes to know that the company has maintained a good share in the market the company is in its full form and has satisfied the customers by introducing various watches of various designs according to the behaviour and wants and needs of the youths. Fastrack watches are been focused on the youths, kids and teenagers. Fastrack watches are emerging as the star icon in the image of youngsters. The services provided by them if found to be good. The looks, style, brand & services are found to be the strong reasons for competing. Some of the competitors are Citizen, TISSOT, Guess, DKNY, Timex, etc are been penetrating into the Indian market. The youths prefer more Brand and looks (more than 65 %)more than price and Quality. They are more influenced by the Fastrack “move on” advertisement on the Television set. About 89.25% of the youths would like to continue with the product. About 77.78% of the youths are satisfied with the Fastrack watches. The youths prefer to buy mostly in the range of 1500-2000, they prefer to purchase more from the Titan store. They are also quite satisfied by the price charged 71.43% because it gives compensation for the quality of watches. Most probably about 75%of respondents are satisfied by the services provided by them. There are still some ineffectiveness left they need to concentrate on the aspect of after sale services, quick solution, reduction of carelessness in required of the stores. It has created its own goodwill in the market so little attention has to be given on the users or customers.
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References
The following data is taken from: Sengupta Subroto(2006), “Brand Positioning: Strategies for Competitive Advantage”. Second Edition, Tata McGraw Hill Publishing Company Limited, New Delhi. Gopalakrishnan PS (ed.) (2007),”Rebranding: An Introduction”. www.marketingprofs.com www.brandingstrategyinsider.com www.titanworld.com www.thehindubusinessline.com www.economictimes.com www.fastrack.in
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