Tanishq, the jewellery division of Titan Company Limited, recently celebrated its 20th birthday. Deepika Sabharwal Tewari, Associate Vice President-Marketing, Jewellery Division at Titan Company Limited tells us about the factors that helped the brand become one of the most trusted jewellery brands in the country, and a market leader to boot
BY SAMARPITA BANERJEE
Q] Tanishq recently celebrated its 20th anniversary. How did you commemorate and promote the occasion?
As a part of our 20th anniversary celebrations, we presented our customers with a 0.25 gram gold coin for every Rs 10,000 worth of Tanishq jewellery that they owned. This was just a small token of appreciation for our customers who have supported us on our journey, while giving them yet another reason to shop at Tanishq.
Q] Did you build any campaign around this?
This was a promotional initiative that we ran across all Tanishq stores in the country for three days. We called it the ‘Happy Weekend’.
Q] Tanishq has almost become a legacy jewellery brand in India. How has it evolved over the last 20 years? And how has the communication evolved with the brand?
Tanishq as a brand has always been a disruptor - be it with the launch of the Karatmeter, which helps you test the purity of your gold at our stores, or campaigns like rishtey me khot, family me chor, that encouraged customers to look beyond their family jewellers or re-evaluate the category and how it functions. Today we are a dominant player in the category. Our designs, collections or even partnerships like the one with Padmavati, is key to our journey from that of a disruptor to a market leader.
Q] Currently, the jewellery market in India is unorganized, with the presence of a lot of smaller players, as well as family jewelers. How have you broken that trend?
Our store count currently stands at 233 and we are present across 143 cities. We have a formidable presence even in smaller cities like Allahabad and Patna, where we are the dominant player. For a long time, we were the only brand in the category. On the whole, it is moving from unorganized to organized rapidly. With initiatives like the Goods and Services Tax (GST) coming in, the government is also encouraging branded play in the category. I believe we have given a lot of other brands the conviction that jewellery is an important category.
Q] What are the factors leading to the category becoming more organized?
The market today has a lot of players including Kalyan Jewellers, Malabar Gold & Diamonds, Joyalukkas and Tanishq, among others. The emergence of so many players itself is taking the market towards a more organized structure.
Q] Tanishq launched Rivaah, which specializes in wedding jewellery, in 2017. Why did the brand decide, after all these years, to come up with a sub-brand aimed specifically at the wedding category?
This is a part of our journey from market disruptor to an industry-leading brand. A leading jewellery player should have an active and critical role to play in the wedding segment, because almost 70% of all the jewellery that people normally buy is during their wedding. Thus, focusing strongly on the wedding category became imperative for a leading jewellery brand in the country.
Q] How has Rivaah been received so far? How are you marketing the brand?
The reception has been great. Today Rivaah as a brand, talks to 16 regional communities. We have come a long way from offering generic jewellery like kundan or polki, to having region-specific jewellery and merchandise with Rivaah. For instance, we have the shankha pola for the Bengali bride, and the chandan haars for the Gujarati bride. We also have Kannadiga diamonds - South Indian diamonds and jewellery for the Telugu bride, all with a Tanishq touch. Today, the wedding category is more specialized and targeted and it has received a great response. We also have a wedding zone in every store for regional merchandise. In Mumbai, you will find Gujarati and Maharashtrian zones because those are the two dominant communities and in places like Kolkata, you will find Marwari and Bengali zones. We got to the top, right from the product to communication, to retail. That’s the shift that Rivaah has brought about.
Q] Are you doing a lot of vernacular campaigns?
Yes. We are going all out, also participating in weddings, fairs, etc. We are in the process of tying up with designers, apart from being active on social media platforms like Instagram. We are also present on WedMeGood and other similar weddingcentric portals. The growth has been tremendous. Currently, we are witnessing an almost 30% growth from the wedding category.
Q] In 2016-17, Rs 10,237 crore of Titan’s Rs 12,717 crore revenue came from jewellery sales. What are the factors that are helping in driving growth for the brand?
The retail expansion, the power of brand Tanishq, the trust of consumers in brand Tata, as well as the design language of the brand, has all contributed to making the brand what it is today. It is a brand that is relevant to modern India. Women who got married 20 years back and were Tanishq brides, will probably become Tanishq mothers after five years who will be getting their children married. It’s a brand which is relevant to the current language of the country. Moreover, bringing a brand ambassador like Deepika Padukone on board, enables us to make unique connections with our consumers. She is iconic to the new generation. The team comes up with powerful campaigns which are driven by strong consumer insights and contribute in orchestrating all the P’s of marketing.
Q] How has GST affected the jewellery market on the whole?
GST has positively impacted brands because consumers are shifting loyalties from unorganized to organized players, which is a good sign. All the actions being taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi will only help to encourage branded play across categories.
Q] Does Digital help drive sales for you?
The world has moved to online platforms. Digital plays a crucial role in helping people browse, showcase, explore and short-list, and it will continue to play that role.
Q] What are your plans for increasing your footprint to smaller towns?
We are pretty aggressive in Tier II and Tier III towns. 2018 would see us expand and set up around 20-25 new stores in new towns.
Q] What is your broad marketing strategy for the next few years?
We will be largely focusing on more powerful brand storytelling which will directly impact consumers. We will also focus on reaching out to customers using modern platforms and new technologies, to help them experience our brand differently.
Q] Would Tanishq as a brand consider reaching out to a younger target audience in the future?
No. We only want to talk to the serious jewellery buyer. We are talking to women aged 35 and above because that’s the time they start looking at the category with seriousness.
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