Indian watch

industry

Wrist Watches form an integral part of the

personality of individuals in the present era.
Earlier seen as a luxury item, they are now
witnessing a fundamental change in
perception, and are now gaining respect as
an essential utility item.
Indian watches market was for long
dominated by public sector organizations
like Hindustan Machine Tools Ltd.

In post liberalization India, the market

stood to witness
intensive competition between foreign and
Indian manufacturers like Timex, Titan,
Movado, Longines, Rado, Rolex, Frderique
Constant, Mont Blanc, Swatch, and many
others.
Many watch makers have made significant
inroads in the industry and others are in the
process of establishing themselves,
currently.

Besides this, buyers are extremely choosy

about the brand and type of wrist watches
they wear.
Being extremely brand conscious, their
tastes have evolved over the years and
have gone beyond the realms of durability
to choose in terms of aesthetics and
elegance.
Thus it is a buyers market with multitude
of designs that have entered and flooded
the market place.

The size of the

watch
market
The size
of the watch
market in India
is estimated
be around
currently iscurrently
estimated
totobe
around 40 to 45
40 to 45 million
million pieces
annually.
pieces
annually. The organized sector
alone contributes up to 30 % & the
other
The organized
sector
alone
70 % is
contributed
by the contributes up
unorganized grey sector. In dollar
to 30 % & the
other 70 % is contributed by
terms, the estimated
annual market
sizesector.
is around USD 195
the unorganized
grey
million, despite the fact that the
penetration
of watches
is the
lowest, compared
In dollar terms,
the
estimated
annual
globally. The average growth in the
market sizesize
is ofaround
USD 195 million,
the
slated to
be around
10 -15
despite themarket
factisthat
the
penetration
percent per year.

of watches is the lowest, compared globally.

Titan Industry

Titan Industries is the world's fifth largest

and India's leading manufacturer of
watches.
The company has manufactured more than
a 100 million watches till date; and has a
customer base of over 80 million.
The umbrella brand Titan is one of India's
leading watch brands that brought about a
paradigm shift in the Indian
watch market, offering quartz technology
with international styling.

The brand Titan is committed to offering its

consumers watches that represent the
compass of their imagination.
Titan's customers are therefore consistently
introduced to exciting new collections,
which connect, with various facets of their
deeprooted yearnings for self-expression.
The new brand philosophy of Titan,

The Titan brand architecture comprises

several collection and subbrands, each of
which is a leader in its segment.
Notable among them are:
Titan EDGE
Titan Raga
Titan Nebula
Titan Heritage
Titan Ragalia
Titan Octane
Titan WWF
Titan Fastrack
Titan Sonata

Today, the Titan portfolio has over 60% of

the domestic market share in the organized
watch market.
The company has 24X7 exclusive
showrooms christened
World of Titan', making it amongst the
largest chains in its category backed by 700
aftersalesservice centers.

Background Of Fastrack

Timex had entered the Indian market

through a joint venture with Titan and
which was their offering for the youth
market.
When that JV broke off in 1997 and Timex
went independent,
there was a gap in Titans portfolio and it
only made sense to fill that need through
their offering.
Fastrack was launched as a range of watch
ware under Titan and was called Titan
Fastrack.

Subsequently, it grew
from a range to a subbrand, where Titan was
upfront in the logo and
the association was
strong.
They used the jazzy
version of the Mozart
tune, which is Titans
signature tune. So, the
link with Titan was very
strong.
When they launched, they

Re-launch Of Fastrack

They took off and did well in the start but

started stagnating in 2001-2003, and thats
when they went for a reality check.
Titan had simultaneously launched the steel
collection, whichwas an attempt to
contemporize for a Titan audience.
But what was happening was the collection
in terms of looks, price point and consumer
buying behaviour was very similar to
Fastrack, including advertising.
The parent brand needed to continue in its
endeavor to keep it contemporary and

Awareness of Fastrack was very low and

was linked to Titan. There was no
independent identity. Research had also
shown that the fact that it had the backing
of Titan was a positive assurance.
However, kids didnt like to be serious and
sober like their parents. Fastrack needed to
break away and hence changed the logo to
bring in a youthful, spontaneous, energetic
and fun identity and also removed Titan
from the upfront association in the logo.
They however, kept it at the bottom, saying
its a Titan product. This helped carry the

Fastrack was launched with new products, a

new identity, new advertising and a new
logo in June 2005.
The year took off so well that they ran out
of stock very quickly and ended the year
with a 150 per cent growth and the demand
was growing continuously.
Next year, they recorded another 100 per
cent growth.

When re-launch was started, Fastrack brand

was worth about Rs 29 crore but however
they have grown almost ten times of that
over the last three years.
Fastrack has a presence in over 6000
outlets across 800 towns, with new
exclusive brand kiosks in Metro Malls and
its multichannel distribution network which
covers the 228 strong World of Titan

Fastrack is actually among the few brands

where people come asking for the brand.
They have adopted a fashion based
strategy, where they launch about 3-4
collections in a year in both categories.
Collection-based strategy has helped them
very well.
It has been twin approach of constantly
innovating on product design, yet being
affordable, and to reach out to consumers in
a language that connects to them that led
to their success.
Its not your typical fashion brand talking

Fastrack, in its journey to being a fashion

accessories brand has expanded its
portfolio to now include not just watches
and sunglasses but bags, belts, wallets and
wristbands too.
With this, it now has enough categories to
open a fashion accessories store and
thats just what theyve done!

SWOT Analysis

STRENGTHS :
Goodwill in the market
Strong financial position
Fast changing designs

WEAKNESS :
Short cycle products which are expensive
to make
Weak channel of communication
Lack of exclusive stores

OPPORTUNITIES :
Rapid market growth
Changing customer needs
To create relation between society on
social marketing basis

THREATS :
Tough competition in watches
Low profit margins
New competition in market

STP Analysis

Segmentation

Geographic
Continent- Asia
Country- India
Size/ population- India- 13,782,976

Demographic
Age- 15-25 , 25-30 , 30 above
Gender- Male & Female
Income- 10000-20000 , 20000-30000 ,
30,000 above
Occupation- students , young executives ,

Psychographic
Activities- basketball , swimming , dancing
, acting ,
gymming , gaming
Interest- socializing, reading, painting,
travelling , adventure
sports , theatre,cars/bikes , gadgets ,
music
Opinions- intellectual , reasoning talk ,
opinionated
Personality- ambitious

Behavioural
Benefit sought- quality, looks/style,
durability
Usage rate- heavy, moderate, light
User status- regular, potential, first time
user, irregular,
occasional
Brand loyalty- split loyal, shifting, switches
Readiness to buy-aware , neutral

Targeting

Fastrack has products caters to the

products in all the segments.
The range of Fastrack watches is from Rs.
500 to Rs.4000.
Hence it is catering to all the three
segments of low, medium and highly priced
segments. However more emphasis is laid
on medium and high priced segments.

Collection

Price Range

SPORT
ARMY
ADVENTURE
BIKERS
GRUNGE
ALUMINIUM
COLOUR
PLAY
DIGITAL
FASHION
ESSENTIALS
PARTY
PAIRS
NEON

2000-4000
2000-3500
1000-2000
1500-3500
1000-2500
500-1000
1000-2000
500-2000
1000-2500
1500-3000
3000-3500
1000-2500

On demographic grounds :
Fastrack watches were launched to cater to
the needs of youth at first.
However it introduced watches for kids also
later on. Hence it is targeting both youth

Collection
SPORT
ARMY
ADVENTURE
BIKERS
GRUNGE
ALUMINIUM
COLOUR
PLAY
DIGITAL
FASHION
ESSENTIALS

Target
MEN
BOTH MEN
WOMAN
BOTH MEN
WOMAN
BOTH MEN
WOMAN
BOTH MEN
WOMAN
WOMAN
WOMAN

&
&
&
&

BOTH MEN &

WOMAN
BOTH MEN &

Positioning

Fastrack positions itself as both trendy and

affordable range. These two attributes were
usually considered as two poles wide apart.
Fastrack has taken the challenge of
combining both the features to offer a
greater value proportion to its customers.

Consumer Buying Behaviour

CULTURAL FACTORS :
In India, Titan ahead of all other brands as
the Most Admired Brand in India across all
product categories.
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.
In 1998, it was Fastrack, the cool, trendy,
funky range for the young and young-atheart. Since Indian population has positive

SOCIAL CLASS :
The age and stage of individual has a major
influence on the buying behaviour of
consumer.
The youth in the range of age of fifteen
years to mid thirties are generally attracted
to the watches.

ECONOMIC CIRCUMSTANCES:
Economic circumstances do not play a major
role in opting for Fastrack watches because
the target segment is youth and it offers an
affordable range.
LIFESTYLE :
A Fastrack watch generally attracts people
with affluent lifestyle who are fashion
conscious.
For Fastrack watches traits like Excitement
and ruggedness can be attributed.
Excitement includes imaginative and being

Buying Decision Process

PROBLEM RECOGNITION:
The buyer first and foremost
identifies the reason
Why he or she wants a particular
product.
In the case of Fastrack watches the need
is triggered by both internal and external
stimuli.
Internal stimuli are the need to keep
track of time while external stimuli are
because of the peer group who are using
the watch.

INFORMATION SEARCH:
In order to reach a large
audience Fastrack employs a
number of advertising and
promotional campaigns.
Fastrack has roped in John
Abraham as brand ambassador
of the product at the beginning
to portray the sporty nature of
the brand.
The company has also roped in
Aamir khan for army collection.

It also advertises aggressively in internet,

print media and television.
Therefore its quite easy on the part of
consumers to make an informed decision
regarding Fastrack watches by collecting
data from various sources of mass media
and from family, friends etc.
In the surveys conducted majority have
responded that television and print media
have major influence on their
purchase decisions.

EVALUATION OF ALTERNATIVES:
A consumer then evaluates
various alternatives based on
the needs and information
available to him.
Fastrack through its variety of
variants is able to satisfy a
number of needs of the
consumers.
Fastrack which is always
perceived as trendy and
affordable watch has an edge

PURCHASE DECISION:
There is a strong preference of Fastrack
brand among
youth in both middle and upper.
It would involve other sub decisions like
timing, payment
method.
All the Branded stores and shopping malls
would be offering flexible payments
methods and flexible timings.
In the surveys conducted it is observed that

POST PURCHASE BEHAVIOR:

Since Fastrack has been able to deliver
value for money and satisfy the needs of
consumers, it has been able to build a
brand image for itself and win the loyalty of
consumers.
Hence many of the respondents have
responded to not only buy the Fastrack
watch once again bit also to recommend the
brand to their friends and colleagues.

4 Ps of Fastrack

Product

QUALITY :
Fastrack is sub brand of Titan and Titan is
well known for its quality. Even though
Fastrack is brand created targeting
medium range and low range segment, high
quality is provided to customers.

FEATURES :
Fastrack is well known for its features, it
has come up with several variants and
features which suits the choices and tastes
of different consumers.

PRODUCT VARIETY ( DESIGN AND STYLE) :

Fastrack is specially designed for youth. Its
design and style and variants are the key to
the success of the brand. The several
variants they have come up with are :

Sport
Army
Adventure
Bikers
Color play
Hiphop
Neon
Neon disc

m
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A

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io

Hi p

Ho p

Co l

lec
tion

PACKAGING :

Fastrack has came up with new and

contemporary packaging for its watches
which attracts youth.

SERVICES & WARRANTY :

Fastrack provides warranty of one year on
all its watch range. After sales services are
available on all Fastrack and Titan
showrooms.

Product Life cycle

Fastrack is in growth stage now as it is

marking rapid climb in sales. Early adaptors
like the product and the additional
customers start buying the product. The
company continuously coming up with new
features and variants keeping the brand
moving forward satisfying tastes and needs
of different customers

Levels Of Product :
Core product : Satisfying purpose of
keeping track on time
Actual product : Fastrack watch
Expected product : Product with brand
value and image
Augmented product : Warranty, after sales
service, design ,
packaging.

Promotion

TVC :
Most of the Fastrack TVC advertisements
were dominated by youth and youth
representing brand ambassadors like John
Abraham, Genelia and Virat Kohli.
Some of the popular Fastrack
advertisements are
discussed below:
Yes Sir Ad :
A teacher was taking attendance,
A boy responses his roll by raising his
hand
Girls get obsessed by looking at the watch

How many you h

Creative Advertising :
From Titan Fastrack where fashionable
jeweller was a gift on purchase of any
Fastrack watch. This jewellery set of a
pendant and earrings is contemporary and
unique in form and material, with steel and
acrylic being used together for stunning
effect. This was launched for Valentines
Day where the name scheme, The watch
being advertised for (Fast track) as it
pertains to the youth, jewellery (for the
youth), valentines day (more so for the
youth) and adding to the excitement is a
limited edition FASTRACK VALENTINE'S

These watches are designed is steel with

leather straps in the colours of the season
black, red and silver. The dials are in
matched colours with heart patterns,
making the collection a true blend of
fashion and romance. "Young couples are
looking for new ways to discover their
relationships and this set of special watches
and matching jewellery from Fastrack, gives
them just the reason to do so. The
promotion was in Mumbai, Delhi, Pune and
Bangalore from Feb 114.

POSTER AD :

FASTRACK WEBSITE PROMOTION :

Fastrack website is the tool they used to
attract the youth, the pictures displayed on
the website creates curiosity and interest
towards the product.

SALES PROMOTION :
Fastrack always come up with sales
promotion during festival seasons and
special locations. They provide 20% - 40%
discounts on all its watch ranges.

BRAND AMBASSADOR :
Brand Ambassadors for the Fastrack watch
are Virat Kohli, Genelia D Souza, John
Ambassador to appeal to youth.

OUTDOOR ADVERTISING :
The billboard advertising is very
popular however has to be really terse
and catchy in order to grab the
attention of the passers by.
Fastrack billboards can be found put
up all over Delhi especially at places
like the north campus university area
on the main road which the company
knows that it is a youth centric area
and since that is their target segment
it puts up there. The brand also does
trade shows during the festival area

PUBLIC RELATIONS :
Fastrack one of the few companies
in India to take the lead on
embracing PR 2.0. Fastrack has
come out with the Fastrack social
media news room for bloggers.
They are using the newsroom to
share information and news on
Fastrack. It also features social
media press releases (Bikers and
Neon Disk), Flicker streams of
Fastrack gears, social
bookmarking buttons, videos,

For the consumers, Fastrack has launched

two Facebook groups called Life on Fastrack
and Bikers on the Fastrack, which have 121
and 71 members already, as on yesterday.
The groups have attracted so many people
in such a short time.
Fastrack main site not the usual corporate
stiffness but an attractive and very
consumer oriented featuring contests, fun
stuff, opinion polls among others. They plan
to follow up with a Twitter part as well.

It has launched MyExBox, an online

campaign where users can post videos that
communicate. The month long online
campaign is based on the Fastracks theme
Move On and encourages users to vent the
reasons why they had to dump someone or
something and move on. According to the
company, the most viewed video of the
week wins Fastrack
Merchandise and also a chance to get
featured in a Fastrack TV commercial. This
makes the campaign go viral as users share
the videos with their friends to get more
views.

AIDA COMMUNICATION MODEL :

AIDA is a communication model which can
be used by firms to aid them in selling their
product or services. AIDA is an Acronym for
Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action.
When a
product is launched the first goal is to grab
attention and that is what fastrack did by
introducing a mid price range of watches for
the youth which were affordable as well as
created a fashion statement for the
youngsters

Once we grab attention we held Interest,

through promoting by getting virat kohli
and genelia dsouza as brand ambassadors
and coming up with new ranges every half
yearly. The third stage is desire, to make
the product
desirable to the consumer which was done
by introducing new accessories by the
brand like it introduced bags belts
wristbands and sunglasses at the nominal
price range .The final stage is the purchase
action, and the company has been
successful with its strategy and the target
customer has purchase the product.

Price

189

5/-

Titan have watches like sonata to cover the

lower level income segment people and
titan raga, octane, xylus to target higher
segment people but they didnt had any
watches to cover the youth market which is
in flourish now because more than 50% of
population is youth, so they came up with
fastrack to cover this segment and they are
trying to cover the market share in youth
sector and actually they are successful also
because they cover 37% of 50% of youth
population.

PRICING OBJECTIVE :
The pricing strategy adopted by Fastrack is
market share maximization as they are
targeting people with affordable cost range
They have watches from the range of 499 to
more than 4000,so that they can attract
customers of lower segment to higher
segment and this clearly shows that they
are into capturing more of the market share
than making profit or other strategies.

DISCOUNTS :
Fastrack always come up with discount
offers at auspicious occasions to capture
more market.
They also provide exchange offers, when old
watch is replaced by new watch they
provide a discount upto 40%.

PRICING CUES :
Fastrack follows odd pricing strategy and
ends the price with 5 . So people perceive
the price as low as people in India tend to
read from left to right

Place

Fastrack is a product that u can find

everywhere because of its parent company
Titan. Titan have already build the channels
in the form of exclusive stores and outlets
so fastrack products are also made
available in those stores and later they
established their own exclusive store of
fastrack where all range of fastrack watches
are
available
and
these
exclusive
showrooms are present only in some cites
while in other places they are being sold
through the outlets of Titan.

PARALLEL DISTRIBUTION :

Fastrack follow parallel distribution network

It sells watches online through direct
marketing
It sells through factory outlets like
Fastrack store & World
of Titan.
It sells its products in major chains like
bigbaazar, city central etc.
It sells through retail outlets ( watch shops
, gift shops)

Fastracks supply chain in mostly

concentrated on Tier-1 and Tier-2 cities as
youth in urban cities look for style and
branded products when compared to youth
in rural and under developed areas. In tier-1
and tier-2 cities fastrack have a huge
supply chain to make products available in
each and every corner of the city.

REFERENCES :
www.fastrack.in
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titan_Industries

Our Special thanks to Bindu Mam for

providing this wonderful opportunity to do
intense research on product.

With regards,
Srikanthbabu Katragadda (FK-223
Ravindra Kumar Misra (FK-2352)
Ammireddy Kovvuri (FN-184)
Anju (FK-2334)
Rinu Maria Jacob (FK-2261)