The Evolution of Titan Watches

CASE STUDY

Titan is one of the most

valuable brands from the Tata
stable in the consumer durable
category. What seemed to be a
market where people bought
watches for the functional
purpose of knowing the time
has been totally redefined by
Titan. Today, owning a
particular style or brand of
watch is all about making a
statement. Titan, as a brand,
has established itself for its
style and choice of design and
is the unquestioned leader in
the Indian watch industry
today. This article details the
brand’s evolution.

V Ganapathy
General Manager
2020 Media, Mumbai.
The author can be reached at
vikasclassic@gmail.com
when it launched its collection of
world-class watches in all the major
cities. This was the beginning of the
Titan story and the success of the
brand continues even today. The
brand has become a household
introduce quartz, but Titan offered
the consumers a larger collection of
watches. To begin with, it offered
over 150 models of watches for men
and women. Titan also leveraged
the name of Tata in the early years,

T
he Indian watch market for
a long time was ruled by the
public sector giant HMT
Watches. The Indian consumer had
very few choices in the form of
imported watches and other local
brands, like Timestar and Camy
watches. Hence, there was a strong
need for a wide large range of watches
for the consumer to explore. The
Indian consumer looked at a watch
more from a functional aspect and
did not consider it as a lifestyle
product. Under these circumstances
and mindset, Titan unveiled its
good looking watches 22 years ago,
name in watches. The equity of the
brand is so strong that the company
has extended to jewelry and eye care
space in the retail market.
What Aided the Success of
Titan?
Titan entered the wristwatch
market when it was just opening up
and when there was a need for an
alternative brand with more
advanced world-class technology.
While HMT was primarily known
for its automatic and hand-wound
watches, Titan brought the quartz
technology to India. HMT also did
so that the trust factor could be
established among the consumer.
This was done because some of its
brands like Hegde and Golay were
not well-received in the market. In
case of Titan, establishing the trust
factor was of paramount
importance. The major factor that
contributed to the success of Titan
was that it took the positioning of
an international watch and
delivered that promise by offering
great designs and good looking
watches. This was, of course,
supported by a strong product,
distribution, marketing and

Advertising
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advertising strategy which led to
positioning the brand as the
undisputed king in this category.
Unique Product Strategy
Titan adopted a simple strategy. The
consumer was offered a wide choice,
both in terms of style and design.
This was backed by good pricing to
target different customer segments.
To begin with, Titan offered four
brands: Classique, Spectra, Exacta
and Fastrack. Since then, the
company has been introducing new
designs of watches to entice Indian
consumers. This was to ensure that
the consumer never gets bored of
visiting a Titan shop. Each time the
customer decides to buy a watch and
goes to a Titan showroom, he/she
is always surprised to see fresh,
fascinating and innovative designs.
This constant introduction of new
designs gave the brand a good image
in the consumers mind. The
product mix of designs were so
varied that the consumer had a
wider choice to choose from. Each
sub-brand showcased a wide variety
of styles and designs.
Innovative Product
Distribution
Titan introduced some innovation
even in its distribution strategy. In
the past, watches were sold in
traditional markets like the
DN Road in Mumbai or Radha Bazar
in Kolkata, where most watch
dealers were located. While Titan
was also available with these
dealers, the company went beyond
this to increase the reach of the
brand. Besides traditional outlets,
Titan watches were showcased in
places like fashion boutiques, etc.
Another important step that Titan
took was to open Titan shops and
franchisees that changed the way
watches were retailed. The location
THE EVOLUTION...
of these outlets were chosen after the products offered by Titan. Its
great planning. Utmost care was mantra was to keep pace with the
taken to design the outlets with changing taste and attitudes of the
good ambience keeping in mind the new modern Indian audience.
Clever ideas were used to push pair
values attached to the brand.
watches by calling them the ‘His and
This really built the brand’s
Her’ watches for couples. All this
credibility. These showrooms also
innovation catapulted the brand to
offered strong after-sales service.
newer heights and Titan has
Service was another factor in which
remained in the consideration set
Titan took keen interest. Since the
of the consumer every time he/she
concept of quartz watches was new
thought of buying a watch. What’s
in India, there was a fear among the
more, the brand also entered the
people regarding the fragility of the
global market with great designs to
watches. Customers were also
meet the taste of the international
worried about how to get the
customer. Titan also aggressively
watches repaired since this
entered corporate gifting segment by
technology was new in India. This
making special watches for many
was cleverly addressed by Titan by
corporates with the company name
offering sales services in the
inscribed on it. The company always
showrooms where the customers
looked for new avenues to increase
could get their watches serviced
its reach and presence on an
with genuine parts and with
ongoing basis.
complete assurance.
Campaign Strategy
Thoughtful Product Marketing
The task was to entice and create
Over the years, Titan has launched
aspiration amongst the watch
a wide range of watches with world-
buyers to look at Titan. Here the
class designs. The company’s focus
company capitalized by
was to move people from buying
showcasing the products as the
imported watches to Titan. This
hero in all its communications.
was done by showcasing trendy and
This really paid- off as the
good looking watches. The pricing
customer could get a good feel and
and design also perfectly matched
appearance of the product when it
to address the tastes of different
appeared in various media
customers.
vehicles. The initial launch
People are always eagerly looking campaigns highlighted the
for fresh designs from Titan. One products well. Even as time passed
such product was the Moon Face by and it tried to bring in some
design which caught the attention
human element to break the
of many people. Raga was another monotony it did not sacrifice the
brand extension that was
presence of the products. The
introduced by Titan to attract
watches were well showcased and
women buyers. To keep pace with
there was a good balance in each
the consumer tastes and fashion
of its communications. Since color
trends, Titan continuously
reproduction was not of good
innovated new designs. Nebula,
quality in the early stages, care was
Titanium, Fastrack (with a sporty
look design and later on with taken to hand pick the publication
fashion- oriented sun glasses) to get reproduction. The end
Sonata (for the masses) are some of objective was to show the true/
Advertising Express July 2009 61
 closest colors in their publicity the protagonists. These films Mahatma Gandhi. Titan was seen
campaign. became a big hit and created a new as international and contemporary,
CASE STUDY

genre of advertising films. These not while HMT was looked upon as
Tactical Promotional only helped build a good-sized gift being old-fashioned. Even today,
Campaigns segment for Titan, but also became the campaign is maintaining
In the consumer durable category, Titan’s Theme Campaign, building consistency in its message. Even
Titan has been one of the most strong emotional values for the while selecting the brand
valued brands. The brand has been brand. ambassadors, Titan ensured that
very focused in its communication. there was a perfect fit. Aamir Khan,
One must commend the Titan
The brand maintained the desired the popular Bollywood actor, is
marketing team and its advertising
perception of the most desirable currently the brand ambassador and
agency for having consistently
watch to own or gift and truly the campaign around him has been
created great advertisements which
positioned itself as a world-class smartly developed with a perfect
perfectly address the values of the
brand. The tone and manner of the balance between Aamir and the
brand. Titan, today, is a brand which
brand’s advertising, over the years, product features.
is known for its world-class designs;
has always been international and dependability and strong service Success Continues
classy. backup. The advertising campaigns
Titan rewrote the history of the
When Titan launched its initial have been delivering all these values,
communication, people were while at the same time, retaining the wa tch in du st ry. HMT, a
core essence of the household name
instantly attracted. The watches in the 1970s was
were admired but the buying brand. The most
enduring part of the no t ab le to
decision was postponed as many of combat Titan and
these people already had a watch and Titan advertising
has been the music Titan, today, is a in t he b arga in
everybody was looking at a watch brand which is
track. Chosen by succumbed to the
from a functional perspective. This known for its
Xerxes Desai, a Tata aggre s s i ve
was a great challenge for Titan.
veteran, and the world-class m arke ti ng by
However, the brand quickly seized
creative head of designs; Titan. Titan did
this opportunity and ran tactical
O&M in 1987 for dependability and not restrict itself
campaigns which wooed people to
own multiple watches. Campaigns its class and strong service t o th e wa tch
were developed which talked to western vibes, the backup cat eg ory an d
parents about gifting their kids with segment from m ov ed t o th e
a Titan watch on completion of Mozart’s 25 th fashion space and
their graduation. The ads prompted Symphony has cleverly entered
the men were to buy watches as gifts arguably become th e je we lry
for their spouses, instead of the Indian advertising’s most market and the eye care market.
traditional sarees. Titan marketed memorable track. The mantra was very clear for the
its quartz watches by spelling out the Starting in 1987, in its pure bran d: t o gi ve w orld - cla ss
benefits and allaying the fears classical versions, with a single products in the fashion space. In
associated with quartz. violin playing the melody, this piece this vision, the brand has been
In the early 1990s, Titan chose has been rendered in countless su pp orte d wit h so me s ou nd
to develop the ‘Gifting’ market. innovative versions over the years: ma rk et in g and a dv erti si ng
Watches had always been favorite Indian classical, Indian folk, strategies and excellent customer
things to gift, and Titan had operatic, rock, etc., and has become service. Many feel that this is just
benefitted from that. A set of three a powerful audio mnemonic for the a beginning and a lot more would
films were developed in 1991 brand. be seen from this watch giant.
around three relationships, where In fact, during the initial launch, What is more credible is that all
the gifting of a Titan culminated in when the personality of the brand this has been accomplished in a
a moving personal moment and a was defined, Titan was connected span of two decades.
strengthening of the bond between with Rajiv Gandhi and HMT with Reference # 18M-2009-07-13-02

Advertising Express July 2009 62