Titan Case

By :

Aditya Zutshi

Yash Vardhan Aggarwal

Question 1 : How did the TITAN watches change consumers’ motivation in the wrist watch market ?
Examine the following statement : “ Marketer’s do not create needs : latent needs pre-exist
marketers.”.

Answer 1 :

Earlier watches were considered to be one-time purchase. They were also considered considered
time-keeping pieces or utilitarian products. Titan transcended them from the realms of being
utilitarian or functional units to stylish products. They also encouraged customers to buy multiple
varieties. This behavioural change was possible because of :

 Advertising heavily promoting the idea of watch being a style statement.

 Introduction of multiple varieties
 Stressed on the need to have different watches for different occasions
 Appointing Aamir Khan as a brand ambassador.
 Visual merchandising : The dingy, old stores were replaced by state-of-art Titan stores called
“ The World of Titan “
 Producing quality watches and by providing fast and excellent service.
 Earlier none of the brands had a strong personality, Titan exploited this weakness and
positioned itself as a premium brand with a global reach.

The statement “ Marketer’s do not create needs : latent needs pre-exist marketers “ can be verified
from the case provided.

From the deep market research Titan conducted it found out that Indian consumers preferred
Foreign-made watches over their Indian conunterparts. It found out that the reason for the same
was that they were not only perceived to have better quality but stylish also. In India, era of late 80’s
was marked by hedonism. People were becoming trendier and more fashion conscious. Even
customer’s desire of buying a durable, timeless watch shifted to buying a classic and elegant
timepiece. Titan sniffed this opportunity and brought out stylish pieces in different varieties,
features and price-range.
Question 2 : How can a product manager of wrist watches use possible research findings that the
Indian market is willing to buy a high priced Indian made watch when he hears that the same
company has a global reach ? The issue is that of convincing the outer-directed consumers who are
high on innovativeness to acquire an Indian made watch with a low perceived risk.

Answer 2 :

The product manager of wrist watches can convince such customers in the following ways :

1) Appointing a brand ambassador having a global appeal.

2) Should emulate the superior foreign brands in quality and style. Go for quality certifications.
3) Provide quick and excellent post-sale service.
4) Position yourself as premium brand with global reach.
5) Introduce various varieties with different features and different brand name.
6) Showrooms and service centres should be made world-class that reflect an air of luxury and
quality.
7) Innovate continuously.
8) Staff should be well-dressed, conversant in English and well-trained.
9) Associate directly or indirectly with an international event and publicize about this
association through domestic media.

Question 3 : What kind of emotional message will Titan choose to meet consumer’s changing desire
from durability to sophistication ?

Answer 3 :

Titan should choose one of these emotional messages to meet consumer’s changing desires :

1) ‘ Don’t be so hard, be soft‘ :

The advertisement should start by showing up a young woman, wearing a thick pendant
made of steel, walking down the road. She is worried about why everyone is staring at her
anxiously.
Then she comes across a woman, wearing a pendant made up of pearls, being admired by
her friend. She suddenly realizes that beauty lies in elegance and sophistication than
durability. The punch line ‘ Don’t be so’ hard’. Be ‘soft ‘!! ‘ follows.

2) ‘ Because you deserve it ‘ :

Advertisement should start by showing a girl, in her 20’s, gifting his dad a watch on his
birthday. When he opens the gift he finds it to be an expensive Titan watch. He scolds his
daughter for buying such an expensive gift. Daughter calmly tell him “ Papa ! Because you
deserve it .” Man breaks into tears.
3) ‘ Commencement of Good times ‘ :
Advertisement shows an interviewer getting impressed with the watch of the interviewee.