TITAN - be more

Early 2001, when Indian consumers rated Titan ahead of all other brands as the Most Admired Brand in India across all product categories (the first ever such survey done by Brand Equity), it did not surprise people that a 13 year-old had managed to upstage many older and more well-known brands: it was expected of Titan to achieve such things, it was so natural.

It was also a fitting tribute to a brand, which had not only revolutionised the Indian watch industry, but also brought in world-class benchmarks in product design, quality and retailing into India.

Back in the early eighties, the Tata Group had identified the watch category as a potential consumer market for the Tatas to enter. Xerxes Desai, a Tata veteran and the then MD of Tata Press, was chosen to lead that venture.

In those days of pre-liberalisation the watch market, like most consumer markets in India, was way behind the rest of the world. The technology in vogue was the reliable, but outdated "Mechanical" technology, which used the unwinding of a mechanical spring to tell time. Not only was the accuracy of time-keeping not good enough, but the bulky mechanical movement did not permit the creation of sleek products. The industry was dominated by the public sector which had brought in watch manufacturing into India, enjoyed tremendous goodwill in the market, but had not really invested in evolving itself and its consumers: styling still remained basic, choice was limited.

The watch shops were narrow, dingy and typically located in the older, traditional markets of the city. You went there only to buy a watch, never to browse, never to simply check out. Visual merchandising was very much at the stage of "decoration" if any, and neither the brands nor the retailers saw it as important. The companies themselves did not have much contact with retailers, preferring to sell through wholesalers, doing well that way. There was hardly any need for consumer contact or research. It was a sellers' market.

All this affected the consumers. Watches remained a time-keeping device, so one watch was enough, thank you. Since the quality of the watch was quite good, it lasted quite a while, and the consumers did not change it for 10, 15, 20 years. And when they did change it, they did not pay a high price for the new piece because, what the hell, they were buying another time-keeping device.

Xerxes Desai's vision was to dramatically alter this perception of consumers, and make Titan a fashion accessory. He knew that that was the only way that this new brand would explode the market and wrest control from the dominant HMT. So he and his team went about breaking all the rules in the category:

Mechanical technology was the norm - Quartz had not really taken off in India. Titan would go against that and build its line based on quartz. Accuracy would become a selling-plank.

Styling was basic - This was a constraint imposed by the technology as well the outlook of the manufacturers. Titan decided to make style a table-stake.

Choice was limited - You had 200 models to pick from, that was it. Titan decided to inundate consumers with a wide choice in style, functions and price. The initial range was 350 models.

Shops were dark, dingy and uninteresting - There was no importance given to presentation, and therefore no attempt made at it. Titan brought in the concept of retailing into the watch market, established a network of fine showrooms which would later become the world's largest network of exclusive watch stores. These stores not only helped Titan to gain leadership substantially, but also irrevocably altered the retail landscape of the watch market through a demonstration effect on the traditional dealers.

Advertising was expenditure - Titan saw this as a vital investment. Right from Day 1, Titan invested significantly in advertising and in that process created a set of memorable and effective properties over the years.

So Titan, backed by world-class quality created at a world-class plant located just off Bangalore, backed by the Tata name, was launched into the Indian market on the back of these new rules. It created waves right in the early days, mesmerised consumers, demolished competition and rode into the sunset with panache.

Today, in early 21st century India, it is taken for granted that a watch is a fashion accessory. Titan dominates the market, with a 60% share of the organised sector market (the total market, including the unorganised sector, is estimated at around 42 million units). Titan's quality record is impressive, its sales and service network is wide and deep, and its network of exclusive showrooms, The World of Titan, is one of the most prestigious and visible retail brands in the country, offering world-class levels of shopping comfort and customer service.

What is truly amazing about Titan is the sheer scale of its offering and the consequent choice it offers to multiple segments across taste, age and economic background. Titan saw this approach as the foundation of its leadership strategy in the early days. Even the early range had distinct offerings for different requirements: formal watches (gold plated cases with fine leather straps) for the executive, dress watches (gold plated cases with ornamental gold plated bracelets) for those with a preference for jewellery, rugged watches (all steel watches with a skew to functionality) for those whose usage demanded a certain durability.

Titan has built on this principle over the last 15 years, almost year after year:

In 1989, it was Aqura, the trendy range for the youth, colourful, smart and affordable plastic watches for the youth: The other side of Titan for the other side of you.

In 1992, it was Raga, the ethnic range, with striking symbolism from ethnic India, for the sophisticated India woman who appreciated such things.

In 1993, it was Insignia, very distinctive and international-looking top-end watches, for those seeking exclusivity and status.

In 1994, it was psi 2000, rugged, sporty and very masculine watches with serious sports features (200-m mater resistance, high precision chronographs) for those with the penchant for adventure.

In 1996, it was Dash, the cute and colourful range for kids.

In 1997, it was Sonata, the affordable, good quality range for the budget-conscious.

In 1998, it was Fastrack, the cool, trendy, funky range for the young and young-at-heart.

In 1999, it was Nebula, the sold gold and diamond-studded range of luxury watches for those affluent people to whom gold is a precious acquisition.

In 2001, it was Steel, the smart and contemporary collection for the young 21st century executive.

And in 2008, the brand has collections like the Octane, Diva, WWF and Zoop - each of them unique and fascinating.

The underpinning of this entire market development and segmentation is Innovation. Titan has kept innovation core to its strategy, realising fully that the only way to sustain the fashion accessory perception is by continuously coming out with collections that make the current ones somewhat dated, thereby creating a certain discomfort in the consumers' mind, which leads to another purchase. This impact has shown up in every one of the collections spoken of earlier. They were fresh and distinctive, unlike what consumers had seen before, and thus created curiosity, walk-ins and sales.

A stellar example of Titan's Innovation is Edge, the slimmest watch in the universe. Titan's R & D talent created a wafer-thin quartz movement, a mere 1.15mm thin, over 4 years of development work. The immensely talented Design team collaborated with the Manufacturing group to create Edge, a 3.5-mm watch, a gem of elegance, with water-resistance to boot! Edge was launched in India early 2002 to tremendous market acclaim and sales success. It is a design and technological marvel, which justly received the Best Design Award in the Lifestyle Product Category in the first annual design contest organised by Business World and NID.

Titan also chose to invest heavily into showcasing all this innovation to the consumer through advertising. From Day 1, the 'catalogue" advertising of Titan became its trademark as it was used regularly and effectively to merchandise new models. The catalogue ads also helped customers to shop off the page and almost decide which model they wanted to pick. Retailers also became used to seeing customers walking into shops with newspaper "cuttings", asking for the models shown there. This approach continues to this day, with mostly the same effect.

In the early nineties, Titan chose to develop the "Gifting" market. Watches had always been favourite things to gift, and Titan had benefited from that. Titan was convinced that there lay a greater potential in that segment. A set of 3 films were developed in 1991 around 3 relationships, where the gifting of a Titan culminated in a moving personal moment and a strengthening of the bond between the protagonists. These films became a big hit and created a genre of advertising films which lasted a good 8 years. During those years, a series of films involving a variety of characters (father, daughter, teacher, boyfriend, ex-boyfriend, thief!) and with local flavour (for Onam in Kerala, Puja in Bengal) were created and released. These not only helped build a good-sized gift segment for Titan, but also became Titan's Theme Campaign, building strong emotional values for the brand. One of the films in the series, where a man and his younger daughter conspire to give his older daughter a Titan as a surprise gift at her wedding, released around 1994, went on to become the most popular Titan film ever, even voted by the viewers of Zee Television as the second most liked TV commercial on the channel.

The most enduring part of the Titan advertising has been the music track. Chosen by Xerxes Desai and the creative head of O & M in 1987 for its class and western vibes, the segment from Mozart's 25th Symphony has arguably become Indian Advertising's most memorable track (incidentally, and perhaps not coincidentally, this was the most liked advertising track in the same Zee TV survey). Starting in 1987 in its pure classical versions, with a single violin playing the melody, this piece has been rendered in countless innovative versions over the years: Indian Classical, Indian Folk, Operatic, Rock, Funk,.And has become such a powerful audio mnemonic for the brand.

Another successful customer-facing aspect about Titan has been its stores. Organised retailing did not exist in the late eighties. The concept of exclusive brand stores was almost non-existent. In a pioneering effort that dramatically altered industry standards, the World of Titan was born. Located in the newer parts of a city, with a good frontage and layout, the showroom immediately stood out on the street and attracted walk-ins. Once inside, you were totally impressed with the presentation. You walked along the wall, where recessed "mood windows" showcased specific collections in the appropriate context with the help of visuals, decorative props and word (the place looked almost like an art gallery). You could get a better idea about that collection through such a contextual presentation and could make up your mind which collection was right for your requirement. Then you would walk along to the selling area, where the entire range was displayed in style. Smart and helpful salespeople waited on you there and helped you choose the best piece by giving you information and suggestions. You walked away overwhelmed.

This experience now has over 255 branches and has penetrated the width and breadth of India. Helping the brand increase sales, increase price premium, sell the more expensive watches, improve image, keep competition at bay and keep the brand name salient on the high streets of the country. Refurbished with a contemporary look in 2001, this chain has become even more integral to the brand's destiny today.

Doing all this in style has earned Titan enormous goodwill and respect. Titan was voted the Most Admired Brand (across categories) in India by consumers, in the first such study by Brand Equity done in 2001. Titan was voted the Most Admired Consumer Durables Marketer by industry professionals, 8 out of 9 times (the ninth time it was No 2), in A & M's annual survey done between 1992 and 1999. Titan was voted the Most Respected Consumer Durables Company in a Business World Survey in 2003. Consumers and professionals alike have resonated equally to Titan's successful efforts in bringing international standards to India. And in 2008, it emerges as the 24th Most Admired Brand in the ET Most Admired Brands survey done annually, it was also the most admired Consumer Durable brand.

Titan has also done the seemingly impossible reverse thing: taking Indian quality to international markets. Since starting export operations in a small scale to the Middle East in the early nineties to exploit the resident NRI population, Titan has come a long way. Moving into the European market in the mid-nineties and Asia Pacific in the late nineties, Titan today sells in the UK, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Singapore, Dubai, Malaysia, Oman, Philippines and many more countries. The customers are no longer only NRIs. They are the Thais, the Greeks, the Arabs, the Filipinos - through a combination of Contemporary Style, Great Quality and Great Prices, Titan has put together an irresistible proposition for the people of these countries. With over 100 million satisfied consumers and a track record of breaking the rules, Team Titan faces the 21st Century with a mix of passion, excitement and energy.

The idea of using the flamboyant third movement from Mozart's 25th Symphony in G minor, written when Mozart was only 17 years old, came from Suresh Mullick who was O & M's creative head in 1986 when Titan's first TV campaign was being planned. Mozart's symphony had already been immortalised for contemporary non-cognoscenti in one of the greatest movies of our time, AMADEUS, which was released in 1984.

The music was such a resounding success that it was never ever dropped, and no thoughts were ever entertained of making a change.

But the original score did go through numerous metamorphoses as it was rendered with musical instruments that Mozart could not have even heard of, leave alone heard. Perhaps it is in the nature of great and enduring music that it can be adapted to such a variety of powerful visual images united only by a single mood and message.

The music was singularly appropriate: it exuded enthusiasm and energy, flamboyance and power, tenacity and triumph. It was young and full of zest, typical of the composer himself. Yet it was classy and elegant. And, of course, it was very European. Both the music and the man who wrote it perhaps the greatest musical genius of all time had all the right connotations and fitted so very well with the character of the brand and of the organization that we were seeking to create.