Tanishq: Positioning to capture Indian women’s heart

Group-8

Problem Statement:Tanishq wanted to expand to the Indian wedding jewelry market in small
towns and cities by tackling the traditional family jewelers.

Dilemma: In order to expand to the Indian wedding jewelry market in small towns and cities,
Tanishq had two choices:
A) Launch a separate brand-Gold Plus which had done well in the test market
B) Continue with the Tanishq brand and its positioning of high value and sophisticated design.

Comparison of Tanishq and Gold Plus

Basis Tanishq Gold Plus

Price Non negotiable Negotiable

Design Contemporary and western Traditional design

style

Outlet design Sophisticated theme-based Generically designed stores

interior design synced with its with a local touch
collections

Consumer perception Perceived to be expensive and Affordable

“Not for me”

Market segment ● Higher end income group ● Lower-end income group

● PAN India presence ● Local presence

Target customer Consumer who are brand Consumers from small towns
conscious who buy jewelry only for
special occasions and usually
with a male involvement

Consumer engagement Customers are attracted Emotional connect between

through quality test and consumer and outlet
exchange offer

Purchaser's motivation “Jewelry as adornment” 'Jewelry as investment'

Quality No compromise with purity No compromise with purity

and quality of gold and quality of gold
Observations:

● Tanishq is an established brand, a name people would know when heard.

● Going with Gold Plus might make customers expect Tanishq to give the same
discounts as GoldPlus and they were ready to travel to the nearest town to get
discounts.
● Indian customers believed anything less than 22 karat was not worth the money,
and since Tanishq was offering 18 karat gold jewelry, people avoided Tanishq.

Recommendation:

Based on the above information, Bhaskar and Venkat can decide to go with Tanishq as a
stand alone brand for expansion because
● With the launch of GoldPlus there are high chances that it would cannibalize
Tanishq’s market share in 18 karat gold jewelry. Customers would not like when
two brands of the same parent company charge different prices.
● With the Government’s duty on branded jewelry, expanding through Gold Plus
would lead to lesser margins. In plain gold jewelry it is difficult to command
premium prices as customers are aware of the prevailing gold prices and not much
scope for differentiation.
● Tanishq was already seeing an increase in the wedding jewelry segment as the
Sales in 2000 were 167 crores to 570 crores in 2005 showing that Tanishq brand
has been doing well as a stand alone brand and that the customers preferences are
changing.
● Tanishq has already established itself in several cities, it is hard to establish
GoldPlus with a limited number of stores, in a market where the majority of
consumers trust only their family jewelers.
● Tanishq’s lobby is said to resemble a 5 star hotel’s lobby. Tanishq can change the
look of the lobby when opening new stores in small cities and towns to make it
look affordable to any consumer segment.
● Tanishq has a good advertisement stand, they can efficiently advertise their
jewelry to reach every consumer segment and change their perception that Tanishq
is only for the financially well off segment.