Before I talk about Tanishq, I have to tell something about Titan.
Titan is not any other company which is just there in a business for profits. When they enter a category, they completely transform the category
Consider watch business before Titan, When people hear the word “Watch” there was only one company which comes to their mind, HMT
With very few designs to choose from, people never considered Watches as a style element. Titan entered the category and revolutionized it.
Next comes the jewellery business. Tanishq to an extend overthrown the age old family-jeweller concept which prevailed in india before 1990s.
How did Tanishq do it??
The story goes back to the early 90s. Titan never actually planned to start Tanishq. They were forced by the government to start a business to increase the Indian foreign currency reserves in 1990
Titan evaluated the options and came up with jewellery business as the watchmaking and jewellery went hand in hand
Initially, they focussed on exports only
So, they produced jewellery suitable for foreign market. 18-carat gold with modern stylish designs.
But as the global economy slowed down, Tanishq decided to look inwards.
Problems!
Now, here in India, They had to compete against the traditional lines of “family-jeweller” concept
Nobody trusted anyone else when it came to jewellery
Still, Tanishq planned to move forward. They started first retail showroom in India in 1996
Tanishq had a tough ride till 2000. Relying on its foreign exposure, the company offered modern designs with gems studded and 18-carat gold. Indians didn’t care about these precious looking European designs.
In addition to that, 18-carat gold offered by Tanishq was considered inferior as they were accustomed to 22-carat gold offered by family-jeweler.
The brand reportedly lost around Rs 100 Crore
But Titan never gave up!
Bounce back!
It introduced 22-carat gold with traditional Indian designs to attract customers
and
most importantly, their groundbreaking initiative “Karatmeter” was set up in all stores inviting customers to check the purity of their gold for free
Anybody can walk in to any of the Tanishq showroom with any piece of gold and test its purity for free
An offer Indian women couldn’t resist
The offer was accompanied by sustained media campaign and people pour-in to the showrooms
To create trust, these machines were positioned where the customers could see their gold being checked.
60% of customers were shocked to see they had been cheated by their family-jewelers.
Since this campaign, Tanishq never looked back.
Unique shopping experience and complete transparency accompanied by a brilliant advertising strategy help Tanishq to maintain it’s position as the top Indian jewellery brand.
Now more than 80% of Titan’s revenue comes from Tanishq.
Titan has slowly become a jewellery company with a watch business.
What did I miss about Tanishq?