Vandana Bhalla, Marketing Head, Eyewear Division, Titan Company Limited aims to transform eyewear into a fashion accessory category and break stereotypes through the marketing and communication activities of Titan Eyeplus
BY SALONI DUTTA
Q] What is the marketing objective for the Enigma collection?
We are positioning Titan Eyeplus on style. Internationally, eyewear as a category is seen as a style accessory whereas in India, there have been some stereotypes attached to the category. Following a market research among women in the age group of 25 to 45, both homemakers as well as professionals across SECs, we found that the stereotype is stronger among women. In our country, if a girl gets glasses, then people tease her with names such as ‘chashmish’, how will she get married, etc. We wanted to question this stereotype and position eyewear as a fashion accessory. The whole campaign is designed around that and we have Chitrangada Singh as its face. Over the months of November and December, the campaign is being led by TV with about 80% of our spends dedicated to the medium. We are also using digital aggressively as well. We have a very strong presence on Facebook and Twitter and with this campaign we launched Titan Eyeplus on Instagram too. We have videos of Chitrangada talking about the collection and Prasoon Pandey talking about the campaign. People are appreciating the way we are revealing things from the back end rather than simply putting across advertising.
Q] How has Titan Eyeplus fared in the highly competitive and often fragmented category?
With our high reach, we cater to a large audience from the value conscious middle class to the SEC A+ audience looking for a differentiated product. We have frames that start from Rs 495, lenses start at Rs 350 for a pair and go up to Rs 40,000 for frames and some lenses go up to Rs 70,000. This range includes house brands, our flagship titan range, and international brands such as Swarovski, Mont Blanc, TAG Heuer. We cater to a wide age group, from six to 60 years old, and across products in optical categories such as frames, lenses, contact lenses, sunglasses, the entire gamut around eyewear. We have a collection strategy where we launch thematic products from time to time and that drives our positioning of being differentiated.
Q] Can you take us through your growth chart since 2007?
If you look at our expansion, we launched in April 2007. By April 2008 we had 8-10 stores because we were piloting the brand in the first year. From there we have grown to 300 stores over a period of seven years in about 100 cities and currently we are catering to about more than a million customers in a year, spread across different categories of prescription. We are growing at a larger rate than the category growth and helping to grow it because the idea is to reduce the replacement cycle. We have exciting collections which people buy because they want to change their styles and not just because of a functional reason like having broken or lost their spectacles, which have been the traditional reasons. As the category becomes more fashion led, customers tend to buy the latest offering promoting a faster growth rate.
Q] How does Chitrangada Singh contribute to the brand’s identity?
We connected with her on two levels. One is the fashion part, the other is we wanted someone who has a certain amount of attitude to carry out the role with panache rather than coming across forceful or preachy. Our communication has had nice, light hearted and enjoyable communication. We want people to enjoy wearing and buying eyewear. She is seen as somebody who enjoys wearing her spectacles.
Q] What is the media mix employed for your brand campaigns?
We are largely led by TV because we are spread across the country and also want to make a change in the perception. The audio-visual medium works best to bring about a change in people’s mindsets. We are supporting TV with a mix of digital and social media. We also advertise in magazines and some dailies in key cities.
Q] What is the brand’s strategy for e-commerce vs brick and mortar?
We ventured into the e-commerce space last year. We have our own portal as well as tie-ups with players such as Flipkart, Jabong, Myntra. Sunglasses certainly have a larger share in online retail as compared to prescription eyewear which is also growing. But more and more people are experimenting with this channel and shopping online. Most people are buying online either out of convenience, for discounts or variety. One stance we want to take is to not come across as a discount brand. We want to do a brand display wherever we are present and have a strong brand play. Our play on e-commerce is also as a brand that offers variety and convenience to people, giving access to them even if we don’t have a store in certain places.
Q] What are some of the innovative initiatives undertaken at Titan Eyeplus to increase consumer connect?
One of the key areas where we have a high thrust is in the digital medium. We are engaging with our consumers on Twitter and Facebook throughout the year through various contests and games. We have a strong network of stores and each of our stores is also a way to communicate, through our collection stories at the store level which is a first in the eyewear category. We put together thematic collections with a lot of visual merchandising. It is quite distinctive and celebrates the product like an accessory.
Q] What are your plans for the brand going forward? What are the challenges you foresee?
We want to be the style leader in the eyewear category in India. We currently segment the market as per different target audience to understand them well and connect with them emotionally. Right from the process of consumer insight mining on that particular TG, finding an insight and then working on a campaign that emotionally connects with them and having a product range in stores, training our store staff to meet their needs while selling to them, the entire 360 degrees in terms of understanding and connecting with them. The plan going forward is to connect with various such different target audiences and catering to their needs. Basically, segmenting the market and connecting with the TG is the strategy.
ABOUT THE BRAND
Titan Eyeplus, the third major line of consumer business division from Titan, ventured into the eyewear category in March 2007. Following the principles of quality and trust set by the Tata brand, Titan Eyeplus offers international quality standards enhanced by practices such as transparency in pricing, contemporary design in the highly fragmented and undifferentiated Indian optical retail segment. At present, Titan Eyeplus has 306 stores operating in over 100 cities across India.
FACTS
Creative Agency: Ogilvy & Mather
Media Agency: Maxus
Social and Digital Marketing Agency: Maxus
PR Agency: Edelman India
MARKETING TIP
Everyone does formal research but when you combine the insight with a mix of your own observation of the consumer and intuition, then you have the best marketing plan
CMO FILE
Before being Marketing Head, Eyewear Division at Titan Industries, Vandana Bhalla was leading the marketing activities on Titan Raga. Prior to her roles in marketing and product management, she was leading the PR and Promotions initiatives for all the brands of Titan Watches including the launch of Titan Raga 9-5, Titan Flip, Fastrack re-launch, and other promotional tie ups such as the Mangal Pandey movie product and TV promotions. Bhalla has also worked at two of the leading advertising agencies in the country, Ogilvy & Mather and Lowe Lintas & Partners where she worked on lifestyle and consumer brands such as Allen Solly, Top Ramen and HLL. Bhalla holds a PGDBA in Marketing from the Hindu Institute of Management.
Feedback: saloni.dutta@exchange4media.com
