Titan Watches

The integrated Marketing Communication Strategy

Indian Watch industry is estimated to be around 256000000 USD and Titan is riding on top of
it with a market share of over 60% and 5th largest watch manufacturer in the world. This is a
super brand that has changed the way we look at (or wear) watches. A marketing success
story, Titan is a brand that will be of interest to most of the marketers.
Titan, a brand from TATA in association with Tamilnadu Industrial Development Corporation
was launched in 1987. During that time Indian watch market was dominated by HMT. At that
time watches were seldom stylish and was catering to the basic need of knowing the time.
The time was really difficult with basic mechanical technology – not quartz, styling was very
basic and not known, very limited range of models or limited choice for customers. The shops

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which were selling watches were dark, dingy and uninteresting, and the time considered

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advertisement as expenditure. Titan saw the opportunity – it came up with quartz watches and

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built its line based on quartz. Accuracy would become a selling-plank. Titan decided to make

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stylish watches and came up with 350 models in the initial stage.

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Titan brought in the concept of retailing into the watch market, established a network of fine
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showrooms which would later become the world's largest network of exclusive watch stores.
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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.
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Titan saw advertisement as a vital investment. Right from Day one Titan invested significantly
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in advertising and in that process created a set of memorable and effective properties over
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the years.
OGILVY & Mather Advertising (O&M), handled the Titan Watches account since its launch in
1987 out of its Bangalore office. So Titan, backed by world-class quality created at a world-
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class plant located just off Bangalore, backed by the Tata name, was launched into the Indian
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market on the back of these new rules. It created waves right in the early days, mesmerized
consumers and the demolished competition.
Titan has kept innovation core to its strategy, realizing fully that the only way to sustain the
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fashion accessory perception is by continuously coming out with collections that make the
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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.
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Titan initially pioneered the concept of “Gifting watches". The ads captured the essence of
gifting and along with the trendy music, easily caught the imagination of the market. 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 type 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

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 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 (Tata veteran and the then MD of Tata Press was chosen to lead Titan Venture) 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.

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During this period, Titan made a big mistake. It wanted to play the volume game. For that Titan

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launched another brand Sonata. Sonata was a huge success because it was a cheap product

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but at the cost of the mother brand Titan. Titan realized this mistake and took away the Titan

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brand from Sonata. Now Sonata is endorsed by Tata not Titan.

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Titan carefully segmented the market and developed different sub brands for each segment.
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Sub brands like Edge, Steel, Dash, Nebula, Classique, Royale, Fast Track, Raga, Aqua etc.
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By having various products / models and sub brands, Titan was able to create freshness about
the brand.
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Titan also moved away from gifting. Titan was positioning itself as a fashion accessory rather
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than a time keeping device. Titan also found its persona in Aamir. Aamir provided the much
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needed edge to the brand. Titan was careful in keeping the brand above the celebrity.
The ads were fresh and neatly executed. Titan pushed the concept of “Matching Watches to
Clothes" in the recent commercials to promote multiple purchase of watches.
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Titan also made its presence in the ladies watch segment. It has a sub brand Raga targeting
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the ladies in the premium segment.

Titan also re launched the Fast-track brand of watches aiming the target segment of 18-30
yrs. old. Earlier Fast track was targeted at 20-25 year olds and positioned along the line “Cool
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watches from Titan". Then the company found out that the youth in the age group was account
for 42% of watch buying in India. Based on this insight the company re launched the brand
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lowering the target segment to 18-30 year olds with the baseline “How many do you have?".
Again the strategy aimed at promoting the multiple watch owning concepts.
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Titan and its entry in European Market

Titan entered Europe in 1995, and Lowe Howard-Spink created the initial advertising for the
brand. The account was later shifted to a creative hot shop in New York. The current campaign
development was is to O&M for reasons of better coordination and consistent positioning.
The new campaign, comprising six print ads to being with, has images of major events and
well-known people, including Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Teresa and Albert Einstein. The
attempt is to show faces and images which are well known to European consumers the
advertising for Titan so far has focused on introducing the brand and building its image. The

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 campaign is specifically focused on the style-seeking sophisticate who is willing to experiment
and is conscious of key social issues.
The campaign will run in English, French, Dutch, Portuguese, Spanish, Greek and Italian, and
the agency will take stock of the advertising after a year; WPP's Mindshare will handle the
media buys.
Additional Information (www.worldoftitan.com)
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:

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In 1989, it was Aqura, the trendy range for the youth, colourful, smart and affordable plastic

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watches for the youth: The other side of Titan for the other side of you.

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

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In 1993, it was Insignia, very distinctive and international-looking top-end watches, for those
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seeking exclusivity and status.
In 1994, it was psi 2000, rugged, sporty and very masculine watches with serious sports
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features (200-m mater resistance, high precision chronographs) for those with the penchant
for adventure.
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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.
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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
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executive.
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In 2008, the brand has collections like the Octane, Diva, WWF and Zoop - each of them unique
and fascinating.
In 2010-11, the brand launched hip-hop series of watches, Titan Purple, Octane and Orion
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and Newest edition is a Titan Obaku and it says ‘zen by nature’

Conclusion
Titan has carefully created a market for itself through careful segmentation and branding
strategies. The impact of the integrated marketing communications transformed watches to
time machine, a necessary equipment to carry to a style statement, a sophisticated machine
to emotional attachment. It is a brand that showed the world that Indians are good in Branding.

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 Discussion Questions
1. Discuss the market opportunity analysis, target market selection and product position of
Titan Watches.
2. Evaluate the segmentation strategies and the role of advertisements.
3. Discuss the role of carefully crafted advertisement/brand communication in developing the
Titan Brand.
4. Discuss the significance of the study of Consumer Behaviour in creating effective brand
Communication with reference to Titan.
5. Critically assess the continuous innovation and freshness in advertisement strategy of Titan.
6. Discuss the significance of difference in brand communication in Indian and European
segment. (During past five years).
7. Analyse and discuss the effectiveness of overall brand communication and promotion
strategies of Titan Watches.

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www.titanworld.com

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www.thehindubusinessline.in rs e
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Good Luck
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