Titan Industries Ltd is planning to raise the number of its Fastrack stores to 50 from the present 10 by March 2010 and is looking out for properties in 35 cities including metros and non-metros.

Currently, almost 25-30% of Titan’s total watch revenue comes from the Fastrack brand. “Fastrack’s annual turnover is Rs 300 crore. It has become a cult brand,” Harish Bhat, chief operating officer, Titan Industries, told DNA.

Bhat said that the company has been taking a different approach towards retail expansion. “We are opening stores in the youth catchments such as near colleges and hang-out joints. We have tried this with the previous stores and this has helped the business in a big way,” he said. Titan recently opened its 10th Fastrack store in Thane.

The brand that started off with selling watches and eyewear recently extended the portfolio by venturing into accessories such as bags, wallets, backpacks, laptop bags, belts and wristbands. Titan is evaluating adding more categories under the brand.

The company is also in the process of starting selling Fastrack products online and will launch the e-commerce service in three months.

Analysts said that the pace with which the company has added newer products and the affordable price point factor have made the brand take a huge off-take among masses.

Apart from opening standalone stores, the brand would also have a smaller kiosk format for malls. It already has Fastrack counters at retail stores like Shoppers Stop, Westside, and Pantaloons.

Bhat said on an average each store breaks even within its first year. “In an established store like the one in Pune, we are seeing 50-70 footfalls each day, where conversion to sale is in the range of 50-55%,” he said.

Fastrack: Launch and Initial Positioning

By 1998, Titan was one of the most trusted brands in watch segment. But, Titan had

moved up the age spectrum. The youth associated the brand with their parents and

stayed away from it. It was missing out on the 450 million potential segments for

which it had no market offering. Titan recognized the need in the watch market – a

resonably priced watch for the youth between the age group of 15-25 years.

Fastrack was launched in 1998 as a sub-brand of Titan. Then it was spun off as an

independent brand targeting the urban youth. Fastrack entered the market saturated

with international designer labels-like Citizen, Seiko, Swatch, Casio, Timex - but

managed to carve a niche for itself in the youth accessories market, with designs

that are refreshingly different, casual, eclectic and fun clubbed with prices that do not

burn a hole through the pocket. Fastrack was promoted with the slogan ‘Cool

Watches from Titan’.

Repositioning

During 2003-2004 the brand went in for a repositioning targeting the executive

segment as well as the casual watch segment. It backfired and the brand sales came

down.

In 2005 the brand went for another repositioning exercise with a new logo and a new

positioning. They adopted the famous break-away positioning of Swatch and decided

again to target the youth. But for this they had to break the price barrier. The brand

discarded the steely look of the watches and looked at a mix of steel and plastic. It

was a perfect cut copy from the strategy of Swatch.

Fastrack then promoted itself through a 360 degree media blitz through television,

outdoor, events and promotons to change the perception of watches as a functional

tool to a fashion accessory.

Since then it has carved a niche for itself with designs that are refreshingly different

and affordable. During 2005 Fastrack also extended its footprint and in the last 4

years has quickly notched up the title of being the largest sun glass brand in India.

Fastrack has strongly associated itself with the youth. Its tagline ‘Move On’ speaks

volume about its branding strategy. Targeted at Generation Next, the brand captures

the essence and philosophy of today’s fun loving, free spirited youth through the new

positioning encapsulated in a tongue in cheek colloquial phrase-‘How many you

have’

Fastrack has now chartered into newer categories- bags, belts, wallets and wrist

brands. It has now a vision to become a complete fashion brand for the youth.

Fastrack has moved on to open its own stores for its young customers. The stores

are positioned as a complete accessories destination with all Fastrack gear under

one roof. The first store was opened in early 2009 with a vision of 50 such stores by

2010.

Strategy Analysis: (Period- 1998-till date)

So, Fastrack was positioned to bring the new and young Indian into the company

fold. This would also provide an opportunity to convert them into "classic Titan

customers" in the long run. The promotional campaigns showed “Cool Watches from

Titan”. It marked Fastrack’s growth from being a product category to a sub-brand of

Titan.

Fastrack: Digital Watches

Initially it was a steel design look targeting age group 22-30 yrs. Then the age group

was reduced to 15-20 yrs. After this it came up with a digital collection which was

marketed as    “Too sexy for your wrist”. But this was not it, because it was not the

intention to keep Fastrack as a sub-brand. They wanted to establish it as a separate

big brand which had a story of its own. This needed more penetration into the target

segment. It used aggressive marketing strategies to make more impactful emotional

connect with its target audience. It hit the television channels with this new mega

campaign “Are you on it” using the independent brand status of Narain Karthikeyan.

The main thrust of Fastrack’s branding strategy was “FASHION”. It leveraged on this

by creating a range of aspirational products for the youth. It also leveraged on Titan's

extensive retail network covering about 92 cities and urban centres in the country. Its

media plan included music channels, select magazines and a significant online

campaign.

Fastrack Watches: After re-launch in 2005

Titan as a brand does not play much in the price below 1000 because it is the brand

sonata which takes care of that. But moving to lower price points of the fashionable

youth brand came at a time when it wanted to penetrate more into the domestic

market because its international market was eroded in by other competitors in the

price segment above Rs. 5000. While Titan as a company accounted for 60 per cent

of the organised market by volume, its share by value was just about 50 per cent in

the wake of some erosion. Global names made an impact in the high-value segment

of the overall organised watch industry pegged between Rs 1,200 crore and Rs

1,300 crore annually. So it was this huge effort to make up in the domestic market by

catering to the most potential growth segment. Also higher prices put the brand

beyond the scope of purchase of several youth. So the efforts continued for

establishing it as an independent brand by combining the watch and eye gear

business. They allowed the price to be determined by the dynamics of the youth

segment rather than being guided by the imperatives of the Titan brand structure.

For this it used the new evolving style icon, John Abraham, for its ad (eyewear).

It's one of those meetings where the host shows up late. You want to look down at your watch -- again -- but

choose to look around, instead. If you want to know what time it is, you couldn't have chosen a better spot -- a

showroom of watchmaker Titan.

Vying for attention between the usual array of dignified, restrained steel and gold watches is an eye-catching

display of trendy, young time pieces. The riot of colours belongs to Titan's youth brand, Fastrack, and it's been

carefully crafted to draw all eyes to it.

Fastrack needs the attention: it's making a comeback after a two-year, self-imposed silent period.

In the past five months, Titan has released two television commercials for Fastrack, the first in 18 months, and is

planning extensive activities at college functions and other youth-centric activities.

"We're relaunching Fastrack as India's [ Images ] first youth-oriented watch brand," says Bijou Kurien, chief

operating officer, Titan Industries [ Get Quote ], when he finally arrives at the showroom.

But Fastrack was always for the youth. When the brand was launched in 1998, it was positioned as "Cool

watches from Titan".

"Fastrack was to counter Timex, which had just walked out of the Titan family," says an industry watcher. The

brand did well, initially. Its turnover crossed Rs 15 crore (Rs 150 million) in the first year itself, and had grown to

Rs 25 crore (Rs 250 million) by 2001-02.

Then time seemed to stand still. Sales were stagnating and it didn't look as if Fastrack would breach the Rs 25

crore (Rs 250 million) barrier.

Titan swung into action quickly, repositioning the brand along the lines of another Bangalore-based company,

Madura Garments. Like Allen Solly's Friday Dressing apparel range, Fastrack was slotted as a mix of formal and

casual, aimed at executives in the 22 to 25-year age group.

The ageing of the target customer was important; Fastrack had previously positioned itself as a college goer's

watch; but students -- at least, back then -- weren't known for their high disposable incomes, unlike young

executives.

The repositioning didn't help: by 2003-04, sales had dropped to Rs 23 crore (Rs 230 million). "We were

constantly refreshing our designs, but our sales were stagnant," recalls Kurien. The trouble lay with the price. At

the time, Fastrack watches cost between Rs 1,200 and Rs 2,700, which didn't encourage too many repeat

purchases.

"The focus began shifting away from watches. The brand was instead extended into sunglasses, with the launch

of Fastrack Eye Gear in June 2004. Here, Titan was following the strategies of big watch companies like Swatch

and Seiko, who have branched out into personal accessories as well.

"The brand extension was a carefully thought-out exercise, based on in-house research by Titan. The findings of

the research? Cellphones, deodorants, sports shoes, sunglasses and handbags were most popular accessories

for youngsters.

While mobiles, fragrances and footwear seemed too unconnected with Titan's core competence, handbags were

an expensive proposition, involving the need for several collections every year.

Eyewear, then, seemed the most logical brand extension. "Fastrack is addressing the same consumer for both

watches and sunglasses because both products are about style and not function, whereas something like a

handbag is both functional and stylish," says Harminder P Sahni, principal and associate director, retail and

annuities practice, KSA

Technopak.

There was another reason, too. The eyewear market in India at the time was skewed. While the top-end was

dominated by designer originals and upscale brands such as Ray-Ban, with prices starting at a steep Rs 2,000,

the grey market was characterised by shoddy rip-offs that could be had for as little as Rs 200.

An obvious gap existed in the market, and Fastrack decided to fill it, launching its branded sunglasses at a

middle price level: Rs 695- 1,895 a pair. "We want to give young people a fashionable product of good quality

that is yet affordable," says Kurien.

If the numbers provided by Titan Industries are an indicator, the extension has helped. In the last fiscal,

Fastrack's combined turnover was Rs 36 crore (Rs 360 million): Rs 23 crore (Rs 230 million) from watches and

Rs 13 crore (Rs 130 million) from sunglasses.

This brand is confident of hitting Rs 75 crore (Rs 750 million) this year, with sunglasses expected to fetch Rs 25

crore (Rs 250 million) and watch sales accounting for Rs 50 crore (Rs 500 million).

While successful in its own right, the brand extension has also helped the cause of the mother brand, helping

Fastrack gain more visibility and creating more distribution options.

At present Fastrack watches sells only through the Titan retail outlets. But company executives say that the time

pieces will soon follow the eyewear into retail channels like Music World -- not a conventional retail outlet for

watches.

Meanwhile, the watches themselves have gone in for a makeover. Earlier, Fastrack was known for its steely look,

emphasising that it was sturdy and long-lasting.

But the company's research shows that young consumers -- as disposable incomes in the hands of the young

increases, Fastrack is again positioning itself as a college goer's brand -- have other things on their minds, like

plastic and bright colours.

"Customers are more conscious about the look, rather than the material of the watch," Kurien says. So the new

Fastrack watches are made of plastic, steel or a combination of both.

The new avatar also aims for a larger share of the Rs 2,800 crore (Rs 28 billion) watch market (source: KSA).

Working on the premise that more than half of the watch market (53 per cent, to be exact) is in the Rs 501-2,500

price band, Fastrack has downgraded its price points from Rs 1,200-1,700 to Rs 500-2,000.

Thanks to the foray into eyewear, the watch manufacturer already knows that that is a strategy that works.

Titan's also earmarked Rs 8 crore (Rs 80 million) for Fastrack's advertising. The recent campaigns are aimed at

students in the 16- to 22-year age group, belonging to SEC A and B, in the top 30 towns. The communication

promotes the idea that owning several watches is acceptable, if not required behaviour.

"Fastrack's biggest competition is the mindset 'I don't need another watch' and changing it to 'Hey, I must have

another watch'. That's what the campaign does," says Vikram Satyanath, vice president, Lowe, the ad agency

that's created the Fastrack campaigns.

Adds Kurien, "The idea is to rid people of the guilt they feel while indulging themselves." So Fastrack introduced

MTV Masala watches, priced at just Rs 500, to fit the bill.

Marketing for the Masala series includes sponsorships of college festivals, youth events, contests and co-

branded products and promotions.

The Rs 500 sticker makes it easy for youngsters to switch to a more trendy watch in a few months' time, without

accompanying guilt.

Still, Fastrack's strategy has its pitfalls. Consumers may not want to own several watches of the same brand or

even of the same price band.

Increased disposable income also means that international brands such as Esprit and Swatch are now within

arm's-reach.

INTRODUCTION The market surveys show that barely 20% of adult Indians own a watch and about 90% of them own a

single watch. So as to sustain and strive in this scenario, a company has to market itself well. Among

those marketing strategy applied by the companies, one isSTP (segmentation, targeting, positioning)ANALYSIS. Here, STP analysis is done for a company which has got the highest market share in the watch market of India and it isTI TA N . As theworld’s sixth largest manufacturer brand of watches, the company's products attract the classes and masses both. The 960-crore Titan Industries Ltd (TIL) is a conglomerate between the Tamil Nadu industrial Development Corporation and the Tata Group of Companies and it was established in 1984. Titan Industries Ltd has split its mainline watch business into two:-Sonata andTit a n. As their managing director says,”volume growth will come from Sonata and value growth from Titan”.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: Growth Rate:Titan is maintaining a growth rate of 30-35%. Future Plans: ✔ Titan is planning to roll out its ownSwiss made premium watches brand `Xylys' by

August 2007, in order to lure the watch market. Xylys would be competing with premium international brands includingTi s s o t andRado. ✔ Titan is aiming to be a $1 billion company by 2010(Rs 4,700) crore hence acquiring a

three-fold growth

Dividing the market by grouping the customer with similar tastes and preferences into one segment is called is called “segmentation”. Segmentation help marketers understand the needs of different customers better and serve them with better value propositions.

A market comprises of different consumers possessing innumerable tastes and

preferences. Depending on their marketing approach and the nature of the products marketers can

adopt different level s of segmentation. The levels of market segmentation are: •

Segment Marketing •

Individual Marketing •

Niche Marketing •

Local Marketing A)SEGMENT MARKETING :Marketers target more than one segment when it is not

economically feasible to design products and services for individual segments. The focus

of segmenting the market will be on providing enhanced service to the customer by

offeringcustomiz ed products that will satisfy the needs and wants of customer in that

particular segment to a large extent. Segmentation is also sometimes identifying,

capturing and retaining potential new markets.TITAN PERSPECTIVE Titan has segmented its business into three main categories: ➢

Mass ➢

Mid-premium ➢

luxury B)INDIVIDUAL MARKETING : Individual Marketing is the extreme level of segmentation in which marketers focus on individual customers. TITAN PERSPECTIVE Titan has not applied this for its marketing. C)NICHE MARKETING : A niche is more narrowly defined group, typically a small market whose needs are not well served. Marketers usually identify niches by dividing a segment into sub segments or defining a group seeking a distinctive mix of benefits. TITAN PRESPECTIVE In a study conducted to study the customers of watch market, it is revealed that 42% of them are youth. So, TITAN tried to target this by

•

introducing FAST TRACK •

price offering from Rs 500(affordable) •

watches withstyle statements D)LOCAL MARKETING : Marketing programs being tailored to the needs and wants of local customer groups. The prominence of local marketing has also become very dominant. TITAN PERSPECTIVE

All the products of TITAN are addressed to all the customers as a whole. Localized products are not

available. But some products which are available in UK have some pictures of eminent personalities

on their Dial like M.K. Gandhi, Mr. Jawaharlal Nehru, etc. so that the customers can identify the

product with those dignitaries. CRITERIA FOR SEGMENTING CONSUMER MARKET: Markets are mostly segmented on the basis of geographic, demographic and psychographic factors: Geographic segmentation: It calls for dividing the market into different geographic units such as nations, states, regions, countries, and cities. Demographic segmentation: In this the market is divided into groups on the basis of variables

such as age, family, size, life cycle, gender, income, occupation, education, religion, race, generation,

nationality, social class. These variables are the most popular basis for distinguishing customer

groups. The following are some of the demographic variables used to segment the market: •

Age and life cycle stage: Consumer wants and preferences change with age. These tastes and preferences are not constant and change with time. TITAN PERSPECTIVE Titan markets its products for all following age groups: a) For the age group 12-20, brands like TIMEX, Sonata, etc. b) For the age group 18-30, brands like FAST TRACK, TECHNOLOGY, SONATA, etc. c) For the age group 30-55, brands like SONATA, NEBULA, RAGA, STEEL, REGALIA, BANDHAN, etc

•

Gender: Gender segmentation has been applied to clothing hairstyling cosmetics, wristwatches, magazines etc. There are certain brands, which are positioned exclusively for a specific sex. TITAN PERSPECTIVE Titan markets its product across:

➢ Sex (steel, regalia, nebula, fast track, technology, sonata, edge, flip)

➢ Gents(flip)

➢ Ladies(raga)

➢ Married couples(bandhan)Income: Marketers tend to segment product and services on the basis of income groups. Nowadays, companies have recognized the potential of lower end income groups and have started targeting them. TITAN PERSPECTIVE

Titan offers its products with a price range to suit the different income groups such as:

- Below Rs 500

- Between Rs (500-1500)

- Between Rs (1500-3000)

- Between Rs (3000-5000)

- Between Rs (5000-10000)

- Above Rs 10000•

Generation: Generation plays a major role in segmenting markets. Every generation is deeply influenced by various activities. Such influences deeply impact their product purchase pattern. TITAN PERSPECTIVE

Titan has many products to satisfy all the generations. And through constant innovation Titan

developed many products for new generations like FAST TRACK, TECHNOLOGY, FLIP etc. •

Social Class: Social Class segmentation is influenced by customer choices of automobiles, interior decoration, clothing preferences etc. The tastes and preferences of the social class also change according to time. TITAN PERSPECTIVE

Titan has realized the demand of the society and has marketed its products for each of the following social strata. – First segment: For this segment, watch is a fashion statement. Titan has ROYALE,

AURUM, and NEBULA for this segment. These products have specialties like European leather,

sapphire crystal, scratch resistant, crafted with 18 ct. solid gold & inlaid with precious stones. – Second Segment: For this segment also, watch is all about fashion but price does

matter to them. In this range, Titan has RAGA,TECHNOLOGY, FAST TRACK etc. These products

have digital technology & of trendy shapes. Always splash oomph on to your ward robes and smear

danger on your look. – Third segment: For this segment, watch is just an device to show the time. They invest after a lot of thoughts. In this category, Titan has TIMEX, SONATA, KARISHMA, etc. Psychographic Segmentation: Buyers are divided into different groups based on personality, values, belief, lifestyle, motivation, etc. People within the same demographic group can exhibit very different psychographic profiles. •

Lifestyle: People generally exhibit different lifestyle depending upon their income, social group etc. People usually buy the product which suit their lifestyle TITAN PERSPECTIVE According to the life style of people Titan has segmented it’s product to fit the box.like in

the luxury section it has NEBULA, AURUM etc. In the mid-premium section RAGA, GOLD-STEEL,

TECHNOLOGY, etc. And in the mass section, it has SONATA,TIMEX and KARISHMA . •

Personality: Marketers can use personality variables to segment markets. They endow their products with brand personalities that correspond to consumer personalities. TITAN PERSPECTIVE Titan advertises its products by portraying movie stars as user of its products and it offers a lot of option to its customers. For example:- In economy category, 60 products In luxury category, 26 products In sports & casual category, 76 products In fashion category, 99 products

In formal category, 14 products •

Values: Values affect customer behavior in the long run. Marketers can use values and beliefs to segment the markets. TITAN PERSPECTIVE

Time has the same value for all irrespective of cast, creed and sex. Still, Titan successfully

segmented its products according to customer values. But it is basically related to type of generation

they are in to. So, the segmentation is also related to that.

BEHAVIORAL SEGMENTATION: Organizations can divide markets on the basis of behavior that consumer shows towards the usage of

the products. Various variables for segmenting market on the basis of purchase behavior of

customers are occasions, benefits, user status, usage rate, loyalty, etc. •

Occasions: Markets can be classified on the basis of various occasions that customers encounter because people need different products for different occasions. TITAN PERSPECTIVE

Titan also offers occasion specific products like Formal (NEBULLA, STEEL, RAGA, GOLD&STEEL),

Dress wear (REGALIA, RAGA, GOLD&STEEL, ROYALE), Fashion (TECHNOLOGY, STEEL, RAGA,

GOLD&STEEL, FAST TRACK) •

Benefits: Market is divided on the basis of the benefits customers seek from the products. Benefit segmentation can be used to position various brands within the same

product category. TITAN PERSPECTIVE Titan product has benefits like:

➢ It provides the”TITAN WORLD” SERVICE CENTRE in 174 towns.

➢ It provides a huge product range to choose from.

➢ It’s products have good life cycle

Usage Rate: The usage rate of a particular product/service can be divided into heavy, medium and light. Marketers are usually attracted to heavy users than other type of users. •

Loyalty Status: The loyalty status of a particular market can be divided into different groups, according to the intensity of their loyalty to these brands. MARKET SEGMENTATION PROCEDURE It is a three step procedure: 1.Service stage: Here the researcher conducts exploratory interviews and focused groups

to gain insights into consumer motivations attitudes and behaviors. Then the researcher prepares a

questionnaire and collects data on attributes and their importance ratings, brand awareness and

brand ratings, product usage patterns, attitudes towards product category and demographics,

geographic, psychographics and media graphics of the respondents. 2.Analysis Stage: In this the researcher applies factor analysis to the data to remove highly correlated variables then apply cluster analysis to create specific number of maximally different segments. 3.Profiling stage: Here each cluster is profiled according to its distinguishing attitudes,

behavior, demographics, psychographics, and media graphics and media patterns. Each segment is

given a name depending on its dominant characteristics. Market segmentation should be redone

periodically because they change.

EF F ECTIVE SEGMENTATION: For effective segmentation, segmentation variables need to exhibit certain characteristics. These are discussed below: •

Measurable: The variable used for the segmentation of the markets should be measurable to be effective. For example, a variable like the purchasing power of potential customer is measurable. •

Substantial: When dividing the market into segments, a marketer should take enough care to see that each segment consist of adequate number of customers worth catering to. •

Accessible: The segment of the market that a marketer is trying to target should be accessible to him. The appropriate selection of the media, its coverage and other factors

TARGETING like the product distribution facilities play a major role in a marketer becoming accessible to customers. •

Differentiable: Each segment of the market should be different from others in terms of its needs and wants. Each segment requires different marketing strategies because it responds to different strategies differently. •

Actionable: A segmentation variable should help marketers develop effective marketing

programs to attract and serve potential customers effectively.

It is the second stage of the Segment “Target” Position (STP) process. After

the most attractive segments are selected, a company should not directly

start targeting all these segments. The attractiveness of the segments is

also depending on other important factors. In the main activity of defining a

target market, four sub activities are given which are the bases for deciding

on which segments will actually be targeted.The four sub activities within targeting are: 1. Defining the abilities of the company and resources needed to

enter a market

2. Analyzing competitors on their resources and skills

3. Considering the company’s abilities compared to thecompetitors’ 4. Deciding on the actual target markets.

POSITIONING Introduction :

The importance of an image has become an emotional part of everyone. A brand name represents

the image, character and personality of a brand. A brand name should be clear, lucid, easy to

remember, distinct from the competition and should not be generic to the category. It should become

customer's Top of the mind brand (TOMB). Most successful brand names would satisfy these

criterions to quite an extent. Brand loyalty is one thing which has made the branding more popular. As

someone rightly said "Brand loyalty is not dead, it's just more like loyalty to a girl/boyfriend than loyalty

to a husband/wife".

Vast flow of names today makes a brand harder to differentiate them unless they come out with their

own uniqueness. This way, they could come to their special position in everyday life. The image

following a particular name is also determined by the role of communication it undergoes; of which the

followings are included: its manner, personality, behavior, ethics, values, etc. The importance of

brands depends on the true ambitions of the company.

The increasing spread and domination of international brands has seemed inevitable for at least the

last 30 years. All around the world we have witnessed the disappearance of local brands and local

variants. But despite this trend, local and regional brands still remain strong. In India, for example,

protected for many years by government policy from the invasion of foreign brands, homegrown

brands dominate many sectors - Tata automobiles and Titan watches, to name but a few. In the end

people want both global and local brands - brands that make them feel part of wider international

community and brands that root them in their home culture. Why are brands so important?

Strong brands help a company to maintain market share in the face of a changing competitive

environment and it has been shown that a strong market share is associated with above-average

profits. Brands have become assets in their own right. In addition, they represent low-risk

opportunities for the manufacturer or service provider and they also represent reduced risk for the

consumer. What is meant by brand positioning?

Positioning is statement that shows how you are different, better or more special than your

competition. Position is that one thing that one descriptive sentence or slogan the company is

known for that one specific idea that first comes to mind about the product. It is that one

characteristic that sets the service apart from competitors.For

McDonalds is “A fun place for kids.”

In Jakarta, Indonesia, Bluebird is “The safest way to travel by taxi.” Why brand positioning is important?

We need to be clear about why it is important to position a brand-and exactly what a brand is. As

consumers, we are all influenced by the effects of a powerful brand positioning-"brainwashed," so to

speak-to have preference for one versus another. But today there are so many choices for consumers

that this term has a secondary derivation-"whitewashing."

That is, the brand choices are so varied and the differentiation so minimal in terms of product

functionality that we're faced with a sea of indiscernible offerings. This is why it is critical for a brand to

be well positioned and uniquely differentiated. What does the result of brand positioning research show?

The market position of a brand shows where a specific brand is located. It also shows the relationship

to competitive brands. We can determine the market position of a brand on the basis of the answers

to the following four questions:

1.Why (which benefits and advantages does the new brand bring to the consumer)

2.When (determining the opportunities for which the brand is most suitable)

3.For whom (it is about the determination of the consumer of a brand or target group)

4.Against whom (determining the main competitive brands)TITAN PERSPECTIVE a.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.

Customers who were fed up with ugly time machines welcomed the brand and Titan had

a dream run for many years. Titan then moved away from gifting. Titan was positioning

itself as a fashion accessory rather than a time keeping device. Titan also found its

persona in Mr. Aamir khan which provided the much needed edge to the brand. Titan

was careful in keeping the brand above the celebrity. The ads were fresh and neatly

executed. The idea was to make watches that would be seen as style and fashionaccessories rather than just utilitarian devices. The company decided to use Aamir in brand and product communication on television and in the print and outdoor media. Though, the vast distribution and service network of TIL had served as an effective entry barrier in the 1990s, foreign brands were becoming increasingly popular in the early

2000s, thanks to the paradigm shifts in the retail scenario and the growing affluence of the Indian consumers.

And TIL found that it was not safe even at the bottom of the pyramid. The grey market with cheap

Chinese imports and the unorganized sector had cornered a sizable chunk of the low-end market. The

appointment of Aamir Khan as brand ambassador for the Titan brand was seen as an attempt to

broad base the appeal of the Titan brand. b.Titan also was pushing another strategy. Watches were perceived as a onetime buy and consumers seldom owned multiple watches. So Titan pushed the concept of "Matching Watches to Clothes" in the recent commercials. Since men are becoming more serious customers of fashion accessories, this is strategy that is worth trying out. For Titan, even if the concept fails, It has created the much needed freshness in the brand. c.Earlier Fastrack was targeted at 20-25 year olds and positioned along the line "Cool watches from Titan". Then the company found out that the youth in the age group of

11-20 years account for 42% of watch buying in India. Based on this insight, the company relaunched

the brand lowering the target segment to 18-30 year olds with the baseline “How many you have?".

Again the strategy aimed at promoting the multiple watch owning concepts. Fastrack also launched a

range of fashion accessories like Sunglasses trying to be a lifestyle brand

Titan gets on the FasTrack

Boby Kurian

Waking up to the fact that youth might find FasTrack pricey, Titan has revamped the brand to make it attractive to a larger base of youngsters, a move that is expected to help the brand grow faster.

TITAN Industries, the country's nearly two decade-old watchmaker, is thinking younger. The Rs 1,100-crore company has firmly established FasTrack, for youth, as the third independent watch brand after Sonata and house brand Titan, in its portfolio that accounts for nearly 60 per cent of the watches sold in the country annually.

FasTrack dates back to the late '90s when it started off as a product range within the Titan umbrella. Positioned as `cool watches from Titan,' it came with a heavy fashion quotient and was undeniably the youth face of the country's largest selling watch brand. Nearly three years ago, the company started developing the FasTrack story further as it emerged as a distinct sub-brand supported by a commercial featuring ace Formula-1 driver Narain Karthikeyan in a prelude to its currently evolving independent brand status. In the meantime, the company extended FasTrack into the eye gear segment, with FasTrack sunglasses under its accessories business unit. Now, the company has decided to merge both FasTrack watches and the eye gear business under a joint marketing team as it sets out to target the youth market in a focused manner.

Last month, it unveiled new-look FasTrack watches that are more funky in fashion and style, and pepped up the re-launch through a co-branding exercise with the iconic youth brand MTV. As part of this association, which will bestow significant benefits on the FasTrack brand in terms of below-the-line promotions targeted at the universe of youth, the company also launched a FasTrack-MTV product range of 10 designs that are inspired by some of the ubiquitous elements in Indian life. Priced at Rs 500, it marks the brand's definite move to reach out to the youth in pricing and in its appeal.

It is clear that bulk of FasTrack's offerings will now fall in the Rs 500-1,000 range as against its earlier price bracket of Rs 1,100-2,500. Titan, as a brand, does not play in the below Rs 1,000 market, leaving the mass market and upcountry share to the company's second brand, Sonata.

The move to lower price points of the fashionable youth brand comes at a time when the company is waging a serious battle to improve its value share in the domestic watch market as the international brands make a dent in the premium segment priced above Rs 5,000. While Titan as a company accounts for 60 per cent of the organised market by volume, its share by value is just about 50 per cent in the wake of some erosion. Global names make an impact in the high-value segment of the overall organised watch industry pegged between Rs 1,200 crore and Rs 1,300 crore annually.

Industry estimates suggest that the premium end of the watch market is roughly Rs 350 crore in value and growing significantly faster than the larger market, which is still ticking at single digit growth rates. So, what merits FasTrack's independent brand avatar with funky positioning at much more affordable price points?

The company says it never really understood the contribution of the youth to watch buying in the country until last year when it conducted a study of the market, in about 1.5 lakh interviews including both urban and rural inputs. "We realised that youth aged between 11 and 20 years account for 42 per cent of the overall watch buying. That sort of shook us up. We knew that it was some proportion, but never thought their contribu<147,1,7>tion was so big," says Bijou Kurien, Chief Operating Officer, Titan Industries Ltd.

The company was quick to grasp that FasTrack was limited by price points usually associated with the mother brand. "We realised that we will constrain ourselves if we were to keep FasTrack operating only in the higher-than- Rs 1,000 marketplace. It will certainly put the brand beyond the capabilities of several youth looking at buying watches. It was also obvious to us that FasTrack cannot remain as part of Titan, and that we have to establish it as an independent brand," Kurien adds.

The FasTrack road to being an independent brand was also evolving on another front. Says Kurien, "We had already started using FasTrack in the eye gear market, in sunglasses, where the customer is again the youth. We then decided to combine the watch and sunglasses business of FasTrack into a standalone brand and let it have price points as determined by the dynamics of the youth segment rather than be guided by the imperatives of the Titan brand structure."

In overhauling the products, the company has searched for a balance between fashion, style and use of popular icons (like the use of John Abraham for eye gear and roping in MTV for watches). "Today, we look at FasTrack as a solid youth brand, starting at Rs 500 and going up to Rs 2,500, with a mix of products with most of it being fashion- and style-oriented, cases which are not very conventional-looking. It is sort of more funky," says Kurien.

"It is also a product which does not have to last like the way a Titan needs to last. Because people who buy it will typically wear it for a period of time before getting bored and moving on to the next one. If we want to facilitate that, we cannot have high prices creating barriers for the first purchase and certainly not for replacement purchase as well," he adds.

The company plans to leverage the association with MTV at many levels. Besides creating co-branded products, it will look at the way MTV approaches its market and partnering with several of the channel's below-the-line promotions. FasTrack, which earlier looked at the 20-25-year-olds as its core customers, is now chasing the 15-20-year-olds as they will form the core of the brand's watch business. "In the case of sunglasses, the age group tends to be slightly higher as youth go for eye gear at the time of purchasing the first two-wheeler. So the brand spans customers in the age bracket of 15-25 years," Kurien says.

The unified FasTrack brand stands to benefit from the synergies between marketing watches and sunglasses to youth. "Both are typically what we describe as fashion accessories. In terms of the target customer, they are very close to other in terms of reach, and thirdly, both the product categories cater to the same set of youth who cannot be reached out to through conventional media. They have niche channels, spend a lot of time hanging out, and are very Net-savvy," he explains. Analysts tracking the watch sector seem to be upbeat on Titan's fresh moves, even though they recall that FasTrack has not lived up to its promise in the past. They remark that it was only a Rs 37-crore brand (watches and sunglasses combined) last year when it was expected to turn up Rs 100 crore in watches alone. However, by rejigging pricing and striking an alliance with MTV, FasTrack stands to benefit from a wider customer base and go beyond being metro-centric, they add.

The company expects the unified brand to throw up Rs 75 crore (watch business doubling to Rs 50 crore) in revenues in fiscal 2005-06. It now projects between Rs 150 crore and Rs 175 crore as brand turnover in three years, with watches alone contributing Rs 100 crore. But will it deliver this time? Kurien says extensive market research in the youth market has helped put FasTrack in the right perspective. "In hindsight we realise that the biggest problem was the price point, having defined Rs 1,100 as the entry price when the significant youth buying was in the range of Rs 250-1,000," he adds. Further, industry information suggests that about 10 per cent of the watch buying universe owns multiple watches compared to only three per cent five years ago, and this is being touted as a trend working in favour of brands like FasTrack. Industry observers say Titan now has a better understanding of the youth market than before, and that is what perhaps prompted FasTrack's new `How Many You Have?' commercial on air currently. "It was well researched even though some of us were uncomfortable in putting it out. But the target segment has responded

well. They have empathised with it because it is tongue-in-cheek and captures a certain interlude in life without appearing to be a very serious brand building effort," Kurien says.

The developments in FasTrack come at a time when the company has emerged from an indifferent phase of growth, and reporting robust figures in recent quarters. And as the browsers take notice, the stock is seemingly attracting valuation for its future growth. With the new look FasTrack, Titan is getting younger, and hopefully, wiser.