Brand Insights: Titan

Titan has successfully overcome the midlife crisis which it faced in 1999-2002. This was the period when imports of finished watches were liberalised. A lot of new players entered the Indian market offering a wide choice to the Indian consumer. Titan's jewellery division Tanishq was losing money and Titan was slow in introducing new products. Its communication to the consumers was also ineffective. It has since bounced back well and has, of late, displayed aggression and an adventurous streak. Tanishq is in the pink of health and growing faster than the watch division. The turning point was when it launched the World Watch collection which was very well received by consumers. A major role in this turnaround was played by Mr. Michael Foley, head of design, a passout of National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad. Its exchange offer in 2004 was a huge success and an encore in 2005 also received a good response.

In the last three years Titan has been in the news for:

1. Launching new brands – Tommy Hilfiger.

2. Launching new products/variants – Flip, Raga, Nebula- Rohit Bal collection.
3. Association with glamour world – Akshay Khanna, Soha Ali Khan for product launches.
4. Appointing Aamir Khan as brand ambassador.
5. New ad campaigns – Aamir Khan making a dig at Rado Diastar.
6. Introducing diamond studded watches (Crown collection) priced over Rs 1 lakh
7. Tie-up with LVMH for servicing their watches in India.

Titan has regularly been rated as one of the most admired marketing companies by various publications. And just so amazed at the way titan has turned around so well that it feels as if it has a total pulse of the market. The key to titan being a big brand is the way that it has identified the right segments, from youth to working executives and also the use of the best promotions. Their foray into Eyewear is yet another testiomony as to the foresight Titan has. And their choice of brand ambassadors of late has been quite flawless...Aamir Khan for watches and John Abraham for eyewear......All these factors have contributed to making titan a "timeless" name in the watch industry !!! So what would be next in the kitty of TITAN..my guess is, "only TIME would tell !".