it may appear stange for you why i am i posting this but by the end of the blog you will get to know.
there are 7 people in my life for whom i am ready to do anything for them. they are(in no particular order):
1. Mukesh Mistry(dad)
2. Maya Mistry(mom)
3. Siddhika Raut
4. Ketaki Hardikar
5. Amit Mhatre
6. Sivadesh Pillai
7. Rohit Nair
i have posted this for 2 reasons.
the first been that i want make my friends know what i feel for them and secondly to all the readers of my blog.
see its very important to have a circle of people for whom you are ready to do anything.
the reason been the motivation factor.
the problems that you face and you come across can immediately find solution to that problem.
also they imbibed alot of self confidence in ourselves.
you may bs new thing that i have learned in management that people who mean alot for you highly influence your lifestyles.
you all have such circle of friends, but i request you to tell all of the people in that circle that what they mean to you. and see the change in motivation that you get. i swear it would be great.
this is just the way i felt from my circle.
i know i am too unmatured to give this philosophy but i swear it will change you as a person.
take care.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
CHARLIE'S FUNDAS (THIS MAY CHANGE THE PERSON IN YOU)
Hello everyone,
still no followers on my blog but i would continue posting matters for good.
recently i got a text message about # main fundas given by charlie chaplin. this gave a new dimension to the way i live my life.
i wud like to share this with you.
the three fundas are:
1.Nothin is permanent in this world, not even our troubles.
2. I like walking in rain, because nobody can see my tears.
3. (most important) The most wasted day in life is the day on which we have not laughed.
this three fundas are to be perceived in our own way and would really help to support or thinking process. its upto us how we perceive.
still no followers on my blog but i would continue posting matters for good.
recently i got a text message about # main fundas given by charlie chaplin. this gave a new dimension to the way i live my life.
i wud like to share this with you.
the three fundas are:
1.Nothin is permanent in this world, not even our troubles.
2. I like walking in rain, because nobody can see my tears.
3. (most important) The most wasted day in life is the day on which we have not laughed.
this three fundas are to be perceived in our own way and would really help to support or thinking process. its upto us how we perceive.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
CASE STUDY ON ODEWALLA JUICE COMPANY
CASE STUDY
ON
ODWALLA JUICE COMPANY
FOR THE EVENT
MUMBAI FOOTPRINTS’O9
(SIMC)
INSTITUTE NAME:
CHETANA’S R.K. INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT AND RESEARCH
PARTICIPANT’S NAME
KETAKI G. HARDIKAR
DHAVAL M. MISTRY
AJIT A. CHAVAN
BACKGROUND
Odwalla (pronounced "odewalla") is the health-conscious juice company which began a couple of decades ago when Greg Steltenpohl, Gerry Percy and Bonnie Bassett began squeezing fresh oranges on a $200 hand juicer.
ISSUES
On October 30, 1996, everything changed for the Odwalla Company. With the corporate vision in place and many precautionary tactics, Odwalla still could not avoid E. Coli.With a significant effect seen on the consumers FDA found a link between the Odwalla apple juice and the dangerous bacteria.
Sales fell by almost 90%, and the company’s stock price plummeted by 34%. More than 20 personal-injury lawsuits were filed and the future for the company did not look promising.
ACTIONS FORMULATED
As the company had gained a great name in the market and was one of the trusted brands in the market it is sure that the company would be receiving great media attention and would be talk oof the town. On this entire basis we have formulated our strategies.
As Odwalla was a big name in the juice making industry and a contamination case was certainly a major dent in reputation of the company. As a PR consultant certain strategies to be formulated to bring back the company from the losses and lost market name are mentioned below:
1. Print/visual media best suited for the products target audience, should be chosen to convey sincere apology.
2. As the company had gained a great name in the market and was one of the trusted brand in the market it is sure that the company would be receiving great media attention and would be a talk of the town. Hence it is of utmost importance for the company to maintain transparency about their function and also to admit the presence of contamination, as there always exists an element of human error.
3. Recall all the stocks available in the market so that the spread of E.Coli is prevented.
4. Compensation for all those affected by the viral outspread.
5. Clear and correct information to be provided to the media by the spokesperson of the company in order to prevent the spread of rumours.
6. All channels of communication from the consumer to the company should be kept open and tactfully convince the consumer and rebuild the trust.
7. Use the media coverage that company is getting, to communicate the message to consumer and rebuild their trust.
8. Set up hotlines and websites to answer all the queries of the consumer.
9. Continuous plant visits would be organized and that too by the representatives from FDA, and regular publishing of their reports in the news media, so the company will able to redevelop the trust in the market.
10. Company should adopt affordability Strategy
11. From recent experience of other companies restoration of consumer and hence trade confidence is of utmost importance
ECONOMIC BUDGETING AND ITS EFFECTS
As representative of the PR agency the plan devised has to be a one with maximum impact and minimum monetary inputs. Hence the plan chalked out can be economically suitable for Odwalla; the economic budget is as follows:
The company with the gross profit of around $1100Mn certainly has the capacity to bounce back in the market, by maintaining a low budget to overcome their declining market position.
So the plans formulated as a representative as a PR agency is economical as the core area of expenditure are only the:
1. Remuneration given to the families of those affected by contamination.
2. Advertisement cost for Public Apology.
3. Penalties paid to the FDA and other regulatory bodies.
All the other action plans given by us, require minimal expenditure as they are Intra Company resources put to judicial use.
ON
ODWALLA JUICE COMPANY
FOR THE EVENT
MUMBAI FOOTPRINTS’O9
(SIMC)
INSTITUTE NAME:
CHETANA’S R.K. INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT AND RESEARCH
PARTICIPANT’S NAME
KETAKI G. HARDIKAR
DHAVAL M. MISTRY
AJIT A. CHAVAN
BACKGROUND
Odwalla (pronounced "odewalla") is the health-conscious juice company which began a couple of decades ago when Greg Steltenpohl, Gerry Percy and Bonnie Bassett began squeezing fresh oranges on a $200 hand juicer.
ISSUES
On October 30, 1996, everything changed for the Odwalla Company. With the corporate vision in place and many precautionary tactics, Odwalla still could not avoid E. Coli.With a significant effect seen on the consumers FDA found a link between the Odwalla apple juice and the dangerous bacteria.
Sales fell by almost 90%, and the company’s stock price plummeted by 34%. More than 20 personal-injury lawsuits were filed and the future for the company did not look promising.
ACTIONS FORMULATED
As the company had gained a great name in the market and was one of the trusted brands in the market it is sure that the company would be receiving great media attention and would be talk oof the town. On this entire basis we have formulated our strategies.
As Odwalla was a big name in the juice making industry and a contamination case was certainly a major dent in reputation of the company. As a PR consultant certain strategies to be formulated to bring back the company from the losses and lost market name are mentioned below:
1. Print/visual media best suited for the products target audience, should be chosen to convey sincere apology.
2. As the company had gained a great name in the market and was one of the trusted brand in the market it is sure that the company would be receiving great media attention and would be a talk of the town. Hence it is of utmost importance for the company to maintain transparency about their function and also to admit the presence of contamination, as there always exists an element of human error.
3. Recall all the stocks available in the market so that the spread of E.Coli is prevented.
4. Compensation for all those affected by the viral outspread.
5. Clear and correct information to be provided to the media by the spokesperson of the company in order to prevent the spread of rumours.
6. All channels of communication from the consumer to the company should be kept open and tactfully convince the consumer and rebuild the trust.
7. Use the media coverage that company is getting, to communicate the message to consumer and rebuild their trust.
8. Set up hotlines and websites to answer all the queries of the consumer.
9. Continuous plant visits would be organized and that too by the representatives from FDA, and regular publishing of their reports in the news media, so the company will able to redevelop the trust in the market.
10. Company should adopt affordability Strategy
11. From recent experience of other companies restoration of consumer and hence trade confidence is of utmost importance
ECONOMIC BUDGETING AND ITS EFFECTS
As representative of the PR agency the plan devised has to be a one with maximum impact and minimum monetary inputs. Hence the plan chalked out can be economically suitable for Odwalla; the economic budget is as follows:
The company with the gross profit of around $1100Mn certainly has the capacity to bounce back in the market, by maintaining a low budget to overcome their declining market position.
So the plans formulated as a representative as a PR agency is economical as the core area of expenditure are only the:
1. Remuneration given to the families of those affected by contamination.
2. Advertisement cost for Public Apology.
3. Penalties paid to the FDA and other regulatory bodies.
All the other action plans given by us, require minimal expenditure as they are Intra Company resources put to judicial use.
TITAN OCTANE CASE STUDY
CASE STUDY ON
TITAN OCTANE
(for COMSTRAT 2009)
SUBMITTED BY:
CHETANA’S R. K. INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT AND RESEARCH
KETAKI G. HARDIKAR (ketshardikar@yahoo.co.in)
NEHA A. LOKUR (nehalokur@yahoo.com)
DHAVAL M. MISTRY (dhaval8_7@yahoo.co.in)
SUMMARY
T
he consumer wants are now glorifying and increasing consumer awareness has led to a stiff competition amongst all major brands irrespective of the price, mainly focussing on the superior quality. These qualities and value for money which can be termed as benefits and utility of a particular product is offered by big brands. The so called big brands are not only big in terms of monetary value but also in terms quality and service offered.
TITAN is one of such brand that is one of the major market players in the Watch industry. Titan Industries Limited (TIL) is a dominant player in the Indian branded watch industry. The company has a presence in most segments of the watch market.
TIL, a joint venture between the Tata Group and the Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation, commenced operations in 1987 under the name Titan Watches Limited (TWL). With the diversification of TWL into jewellery in 1994, the company changed its name to TIL.In June 2004, the company diversified into other lifestyle products like eyewear by extending its watch sub-brand Fastrack and perfumery with a new brand Evolve, launched in early 2005. The main manufacturing plants of the company were situated at Hosur in Tamil Nadu.
It also had an assembly unit at Dehradun in Uttaranchal and a unit that produced electronic circuitry for quartz watches in Goa. TIL reported a turnover of Rs.9.58 billion for the year ended 2003-04. Till 2004, TIL had sold more than 60 million watches. TIL's brands were sold from more than 5,000 multi-brand outlets and 175 exclusive 'World of Titan' outlets.
In 2004, TIL manufactured and marketed more than 7 million watches. It was India's leading producer of watches and the sixth largest global player in the category of manufacturer brands7. Its watches were sold in about 40 countries through its marketing subsidiaries based in London, Dubai, and Singapore. TIL also made watches for international labels.
The income of the TIL in the past three financial years is continuously increasing. The graphical representation of the income for the last three years can be shown as:
Over the past decade TITAN has built an image in the minds of consumer on basis of the quality and the various aspects rendered by the TITAN to the consumer.
The consumer mindset can been divided in the following ways(based on recent survey):
Why does a successful brand want to break out and add a new dimension? The key reason is that consumers evolve significantly. Their passions, obsessions and interests change. So if a great brand wants to remain as consumer-relevant in the future as it has been in the past, it has to reflect this evolution. For instance, concern for the environment features today in many consumers’ choices. Twenty years ago, the environment may not have featured on consumers’ radar screens at all.
For the past two decades, Titan has been a market leader in watches, a loved and trusted brand, perceived as a statement of elegance and style on your wrist. Yet, last year, when the brand wished to break out and add on the dimension of being youthful and sporty, it achieved this through a new sub-brand, Titan Octane. We introduced breakthrough wrist watches for Indian consumers – chronographs, tachymeters, multi-functions, retrograde movements and stunning sporty new designs – under a sub-brand which conveyed the high energy of sport.
Why a new sub-brand Octane?
Because it captured the spirit and energy of sport like the parent brand Titan never could. This breakout route was possible because Titan is a brand with wide appeal across consumer segments, hence can support multiple sub-brands well. Each new sub-brand adds a positive new dimension to the parent brand.
At the turn of the century, the ever evolving urban Indian male began to seek action and adventure in his life. He had also become fashion conscious and wanted to make a style statement and make his presence felt everywhere he went. With rising disposable income levels, young Indians started spending more, at the same time they sought more from the products they bought. They expected the products to understand their needs and suit their personality.
It was in this scenario that Titan decided to launch its Octane collection of watches in the mid-price segment in August 2007. Octane is a range of chronographs, multifunction and retrograde watches from Titan. The watches are all steel, with leather, metal and rubber strap options. The styling of the range is inspired by racing cars and designed to look like the dashboard of a racing car and embody a sense of masculinity, speed, energy and style.
TITAN COMPETITORS
The strategies that can be formulated to make TITAN OCTANE the most desirable and sought after watch in the consumer’s mind.
The customers can be classified mainly into 3 categories namely:
1. Existing
2. Potential
3. Substitute
The core areas can be exploited if a proactive methodology is implemented in this perfect competition market where in the profit percentage becomes a core area of concern.
The competition that TITAN faces is not only from the local brands and the international designer time wear but also from the low cost substandard quality Chinese make watches.
Narrowing down the competitors, we would like to show the competitors in the following way:
INTERNATIONAL
DOMESTIC
ESPIRIT
CITIZEN
SWATCH
HMT
GIORDANO
TIMEX
TAG HEUR
CIZER
TISSOT
INSIGNIA
OMEGA
LONGINESS
The breakup of the market share can be shown as:
PREVIOUS STRATEGY USED BY TITAN
TIL's communication strategy evolved over time. In 1987, the company was known only for the parent brand.
Through the 1990s, the company introduced several collections and sub-brands for different segments of the market. Though innovative and appealing, the marketing and communication efforts of these sub-brands were not integrated. Initially, they were advertised under the mother brand, but with the development of the market, it became necessary for TIL to develop separate communication and marketing campaigns for its sub-brands...
Though the decision had been made to use Aamir, the company was apprehensive that the actor might dominate the brand (Titan) or the message (multiple ownership).The marketing team at Titan wanted to keep the focus on the brand and the message. A TVC created by O&M was launched in October 2004.The commercial showed Aamir packing to leave for a tour and his assistant bringing him his collection of watches to ask which ones he should take out for the trip.
The TITAN has kept his brand name alive by continuously launching watches under a different sub brands.
As mentioned earlier by us, TITAN has always kept its publicity of the sub brands always different. Till date, none of sub brands under TITAN has had a common advertising and publicity campaign.
The varied offerings to diverse segments with a clear cut positioning strategy have been instrumental in sustaining the market share of the (Titan) brand.
(TIL) has to a great extent attempted to balance the positive aspects/associations of the mother brand with the option of using sub-brands to appeal to several segments.
Over the years, TIL launched several collections/ranges under the mother brand Titan.
TARGET AUDIENCES
The major characteristics of the target audience for TITAN OCTANE are:
1. Youth in the age group of 22-30
2. The main target population is from metros, mini metros, but we would also like to target youth from small cities.
3. The TITAN OCTANE brand has sporty look and a racy style look. So the target audiences would be all the people who are trendy towards sports irrespective of the age. the Aspires are value conscious, they are also likely to make impulse purchases.
4. The increase in the popularity of the FORMULA 1 sport and also an INDIAN team now involved in that sport has gained a major fan following. The TITAN OCTANE dial design is similar to the tachometers of a sports car look. So we can correlate the features and target the whole fan following group that too irrespective of age.
5. Our target audience can also be the corporate industry. In the corporate world there often happens corporate gifting happening intra companies and also inter companies in a process of public relations activity. So we can target this sector and build up a contract for the gifting.
6. Our indirect target audience are also the parents of all the youths (20-24yrs in age) who are dependent on their parents for buying accessories.
KEY CHALLENGES
The competition TITAN OCTANE is facing is not unified i.e. the challenges are not unified or from a particular factor but it is varied from all sphere all a perfect competition position. We have also maintained opportunities that are considered as challenge to implement. We have listed down all the possible challenges that TITAN OCTANE is facing in the market. They are:
1. The brand is facing a tough competition from the Chinese market. The Chinese market is following a phenomenon called ‘dumping’.
2. The Indian population scenario consists of a middle class and youths. TITAN OCTANE being on the costlier side pinches the pocket of a middle class youth.
3. The penetration of the TITAN OCTANE is only available in metros and big cities; the market penetration of TITAN OCTANE is not as great as other TITAN’S sub-brands.
4. Octane watches are completely portrayed as trendy and sporty watches rather than casuals watch. Majority of the target consumer are working in corporate world, and have lesser time for the trends. So the positioning and segmentation of the product is a key challenge.
5. Availability of mobiles, portable PC’s, laptops i.e. other substitutes of watches are always to the rescue of the target consumer.
6. Only 27% of the population wear watches. So great marketing coverage and selling is required for complete coverage of market.
7. In India, accessories are still perceived to be belts, shoes, ties etc. But watches are still not considered as a part of wardrobe.
8. Indian concept of “Foreign Goods” is yet to change wherein the quality of International brands is perceived to be better than Indian brands.
9. Internet accessibility not yet available to many of the target consumer. So it serves as a great challenge to meet the required target with the usage on internet.
10. The range of target audience that the company presently focuses on its radar is very small.
11. The major part of Indian population is less brand conscious.
12. The TITAN OCTANE is only been portrayed as ‘only male’ brand and it doesn’t have female variant models. This appears to be a challenge as females now have been entering in the main stream foray and also a big percentage of the youth population comprises of females.
13. One of the major challenges that seem to appear is that the watch industry has too much segmentation. So positioning of product is overlapping with many segments.
STRATEGIES
Communication and Advertising
The strategies that can be formulated to make TITAN OCTANE the most desirable and sought after watch in the consumer’s mind.
The customers can be classified mainly into 3 categories namely:
4. Existing
5. Potential
6. Substitute
The core areas can be exploited if a proactive methodology is implemented in this perfect competition market where in the profit percentage becomes a core area of concern.
Taking into consideration that TITAN has always projected their watches as being “affordable”, this weakness can be turned into strength.
1. As international brands are more expensive compared to what TITAN OCTANE has to offer. So a comparative study and publish manuals available to all possible target audience showing the comparison with the international brands in terms of the quality, services offered and also stating comparison price wise.
2. The malls culture is booming everywhere. We have noticed that TITAN do have “WORLD OF TITAN” i.e. as good as 175 outlets but very few of them are in malls. Now-a-days malls have become one stop place for shopping. So opening of showrooms in malls will serve a great way for TITAN overall.
3. The corporate relations should be looked upon seriously, so forming a department for TITAN OCTANE will specially serve the corporate relations. This can be more added on by giving a bulk shopping discount and also special TITAN OCTANE gift packaging which looks an impressive package as a whole.
4. In an Indian perspective, India is a country packed of festivals and occasions. For eg. There would be special discount during Diwali, Christmas and also wedding season. In short target and reach out more and more consumer during these occasions.
5. The penetration in the smaller cities can be increased by excessive publicity in the local market and acclimatizing the youth there to the youth in big metros. This strategy will help because the small town youth always try to idolise the youth living in big metros. So this can boost up sales of TITAN OCTANE would add up to the total sales of the product.
6. A new brand variant for females should also be launched. As females are also now entering in the mainstream array and the factor of metro sexuality is now becoming a fashion statement.
7. To make TITAN OCTANE a part of the brand accessories in the wardrobe, an advertising strategy would be develop in order to create a TITAN OCTANE as a style statement. The advertising strategy would consist of 3 different stages.(Advertising)
i. We would rope in brand ambassador for the TITAN OCTANE brand, for publicity at the national level. We opine that the brand ambassador for TITAN OCTANE should be(alternatives):
a. John Abraham. We choose John because he is associated with TITAN for the sub-brand FAST-TRACK. He, promoting the TITAN sub-brand again, would make people believes that the level of loyalty shown by John towards TITAN and promoting TITAN OCTANE and that there is something special in this brand. Also John has always portrayed a cult image and image that of a sportsperson and also avid biker who loves speed. The phenomenon ‘speed’ is always associated with him and this also overlap the TITAN OCTANE tag line.
b. Akshay Kumar. Akshay is always been portrayed as action oriented person and completely adventurous. He is a role model of many youngsters and he has the ability to connect with the youth. The brand TITAN OCTANE has overlapping features with the persona that off Akshay.
c. We also thought of roping in Karun Chandok (GP2 driver) and Alisha Abdullah (India’s first female superbike racer) {after launching female variant of TITAN OCTANE}. Both of them are emerging names in the racing circuit and are completely associated with image that TITAN OCTANE has to show.
ii. The publicity for small city youth can be done by promoting an ad campaign showing that the TITAN OCTANE is a style statement for the youths in the city and having a TITAN OCTANE in the wardrobe can change a complete feature of an individual.
iii. For publicity at international level, TITAN OCTANE should start sponsoring events like the FORMULA 1, A1 GP, Rally driving competition, the MOTO GP. This would help the publicity at international level.
iv. TITAN OCTANE should tie up with reality game shows and use that platform to advertise the range of Watches.
8. TITAN OCTANE should also start sponsoring the college festival and instead of putting up hoardings there, exhibits and various models of TITAN OCTANE should be displayed. So this will help the students present there personally have a look at the variants and get fascinated to the watch.
9. Also TITAN should host exhibition (only display) especially for all brands under TITAN. So all the watch lovers would definitely visit the exhibition and this will help us to collect the database of all the people who are crazy for watches, so we can personally contact those people.
10. Many youths now-a-days are constantly use the internet as medium of communication. So the medium of internet can be fully exploited to promote the brand of TITAN OCTANE.
i. Use of social networking sites like ORKUT, FACEBOOK to connect with the youth. This can be done by opening communities in which all the fans of TITAN OCTANE can share their views.
ii. Opening a special webpage for TITAN OCTANE, in which all the buyers can give the feedback of the brand and can be read by all the potential and substitute consumers.
iii. Sending group mail to the entire database available to inform about the features about the TITAN OCTANE.
11. Radio is the best medium to connect to the youth. TITAN OCTANE can capitalise on this opportunity by:
i. Coming up with creative jingles, and use the platform for complete publicity.
ii. Discount coupons can be distributed through various show contests to enhance sales.
12. The other attributes that can be associated with TITAN OCTANE are ‘watch for it’, ‘adventure personified’, ‘sport it’ and ‘speed is style’. We consider ‘fuel your watch’ because OCTANE (gas) chemically is a major component of car fuel.
CONCLUSION
As stated earlier, only 27% of the Indian population wear watches. So there is a great scope to penetrate in the market, where TITAN has always remained a leader. Also, the target audience that TITAN OCTANE is focussing on, forms a major portion of the watch buyers in India. So there is a tremendous opportunity for growth.
The strategies that we have formulated can help in converting the potential and substitute consumer into an existing one.
The challenges mentioned can be perceived as viable opportunities, and TITAN OCTANE can really capture the major segment it is eyeing.
TITAN OCTANE
(for COMSTRAT 2009)
SUBMITTED BY:
CHETANA’S R. K. INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT AND RESEARCH
KETAKI G. HARDIKAR (ketshardikar@yahoo.co.in)
NEHA A. LOKUR (nehalokur@yahoo.com)
DHAVAL M. MISTRY (dhaval8_7@yahoo.co.in)
SUMMARY
T
he consumer wants are now glorifying and increasing consumer awareness has led to a stiff competition amongst all major brands irrespective of the price, mainly focussing on the superior quality. These qualities and value for money which can be termed as benefits and utility of a particular product is offered by big brands. The so called big brands are not only big in terms of monetary value but also in terms quality and service offered.
TITAN is one of such brand that is one of the major market players in the Watch industry. Titan Industries Limited (TIL) is a dominant player in the Indian branded watch industry. The company has a presence in most segments of the watch market.
TIL, a joint venture between the Tata Group and the Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation, commenced operations in 1987 under the name Titan Watches Limited (TWL). With the diversification of TWL into jewellery in 1994, the company changed its name to TIL.In June 2004, the company diversified into other lifestyle products like eyewear by extending its watch sub-brand Fastrack and perfumery with a new brand Evolve, launched in early 2005. The main manufacturing plants of the company were situated at Hosur in Tamil Nadu.
It also had an assembly unit at Dehradun in Uttaranchal and a unit that produced electronic circuitry for quartz watches in Goa. TIL reported a turnover of Rs.9.58 billion for the year ended 2003-04. Till 2004, TIL had sold more than 60 million watches. TIL's brands were sold from more than 5,000 multi-brand outlets and 175 exclusive 'World of Titan' outlets.
In 2004, TIL manufactured and marketed more than 7 million watches. It was India's leading producer of watches and the sixth largest global player in the category of manufacturer brands7. Its watches were sold in about 40 countries through its marketing subsidiaries based in London, Dubai, and Singapore. TIL also made watches for international labels.
The income of the TIL in the past three financial years is continuously increasing. The graphical representation of the income for the last three years can be shown as:
Over the past decade TITAN has built an image in the minds of consumer on basis of the quality and the various aspects rendered by the TITAN to the consumer.
The consumer mindset can been divided in the following ways(based on recent survey):
Why does a successful brand want to break out and add a new dimension? The key reason is that consumers evolve significantly. Their passions, obsessions and interests change. So if a great brand wants to remain as consumer-relevant in the future as it has been in the past, it has to reflect this evolution. For instance, concern for the environment features today in many consumers’ choices. Twenty years ago, the environment may not have featured on consumers’ radar screens at all.
For the past two decades, Titan has been a market leader in watches, a loved and trusted brand, perceived as a statement of elegance and style on your wrist. Yet, last year, when the brand wished to break out and add on the dimension of being youthful and sporty, it achieved this through a new sub-brand, Titan Octane. We introduced breakthrough wrist watches for Indian consumers – chronographs, tachymeters, multi-functions, retrograde movements and stunning sporty new designs – under a sub-brand which conveyed the high energy of sport.
Why a new sub-brand Octane?
Because it captured the spirit and energy of sport like the parent brand Titan never could. This breakout route was possible because Titan is a brand with wide appeal across consumer segments, hence can support multiple sub-brands well. Each new sub-brand adds a positive new dimension to the parent brand.
At the turn of the century, the ever evolving urban Indian male began to seek action and adventure in his life. He had also become fashion conscious and wanted to make a style statement and make his presence felt everywhere he went. With rising disposable income levels, young Indians started spending more, at the same time they sought more from the products they bought. They expected the products to understand their needs and suit their personality.
It was in this scenario that Titan decided to launch its Octane collection of watches in the mid-price segment in August 2007. Octane is a range of chronographs, multifunction and retrograde watches from Titan. The watches are all steel, with leather, metal and rubber strap options. The styling of the range is inspired by racing cars and designed to look like the dashboard of a racing car and embody a sense of masculinity, speed, energy and style.
TITAN COMPETITORS
The strategies that can be formulated to make TITAN OCTANE the most desirable and sought after watch in the consumer’s mind.
The customers can be classified mainly into 3 categories namely:
1. Existing
2. Potential
3. Substitute
The core areas can be exploited if a proactive methodology is implemented in this perfect competition market where in the profit percentage becomes a core area of concern.
The competition that TITAN faces is not only from the local brands and the international designer time wear but also from the low cost substandard quality Chinese make watches.
Narrowing down the competitors, we would like to show the competitors in the following way:
INTERNATIONAL
DOMESTIC
ESPIRIT
CITIZEN
SWATCH
HMT
GIORDANO
TIMEX
TAG HEUR
CIZER
TISSOT
INSIGNIA
OMEGA
LONGINESS
The breakup of the market share can be shown as:
PREVIOUS STRATEGY USED BY TITAN
TIL's communication strategy evolved over time. In 1987, the company was known only for the parent brand.
Through the 1990s, the company introduced several collections and sub-brands for different segments of the market. Though innovative and appealing, the marketing and communication efforts of these sub-brands were not integrated. Initially, they were advertised under the mother brand, but with the development of the market, it became necessary for TIL to develop separate communication and marketing campaigns for its sub-brands...
Though the decision had been made to use Aamir, the company was apprehensive that the actor might dominate the brand (Titan) or the message (multiple ownership).The marketing team at Titan wanted to keep the focus on the brand and the message. A TVC created by O&M was launched in October 2004.The commercial showed Aamir packing to leave for a tour and his assistant bringing him his collection of watches to ask which ones he should take out for the trip.
The TITAN has kept his brand name alive by continuously launching watches under a different sub brands.
As mentioned earlier by us, TITAN has always kept its publicity of the sub brands always different. Till date, none of sub brands under TITAN has had a common advertising and publicity campaign.
The varied offerings to diverse segments with a clear cut positioning strategy have been instrumental in sustaining the market share of the (Titan) brand.
(TIL) has to a great extent attempted to balance the positive aspects/associations of the mother brand with the option of using sub-brands to appeal to several segments.
Over the years, TIL launched several collections/ranges under the mother brand Titan.
TARGET AUDIENCES
The major characteristics of the target audience for TITAN OCTANE are:
1. Youth in the age group of 22-30
2. The main target population is from metros, mini metros, but we would also like to target youth from small cities.
3. The TITAN OCTANE brand has sporty look and a racy style look. So the target audiences would be all the people who are trendy towards sports irrespective of the age. the Aspires are value conscious, they are also likely to make impulse purchases.
4. The increase in the popularity of the FORMULA 1 sport and also an INDIAN team now involved in that sport has gained a major fan following. The TITAN OCTANE dial design is similar to the tachometers of a sports car look. So we can correlate the features and target the whole fan following group that too irrespective of age.
5. Our target audience can also be the corporate industry. In the corporate world there often happens corporate gifting happening intra companies and also inter companies in a process of public relations activity. So we can target this sector and build up a contract for the gifting.
6. Our indirect target audience are also the parents of all the youths (20-24yrs in age) who are dependent on their parents for buying accessories.
KEY CHALLENGES
The competition TITAN OCTANE is facing is not unified i.e. the challenges are not unified or from a particular factor but it is varied from all sphere all a perfect competition position. We have also maintained opportunities that are considered as challenge to implement. We have listed down all the possible challenges that TITAN OCTANE is facing in the market. They are:
1. The brand is facing a tough competition from the Chinese market. The Chinese market is following a phenomenon called ‘dumping’.
2. The Indian population scenario consists of a middle class and youths. TITAN OCTANE being on the costlier side pinches the pocket of a middle class youth.
3. The penetration of the TITAN OCTANE is only available in metros and big cities; the market penetration of TITAN OCTANE is not as great as other TITAN’S sub-brands.
4. Octane watches are completely portrayed as trendy and sporty watches rather than casuals watch. Majority of the target consumer are working in corporate world, and have lesser time for the trends. So the positioning and segmentation of the product is a key challenge.
5. Availability of mobiles, portable PC’s, laptops i.e. other substitutes of watches are always to the rescue of the target consumer.
6. Only 27% of the population wear watches. So great marketing coverage and selling is required for complete coverage of market.
7. In India, accessories are still perceived to be belts, shoes, ties etc. But watches are still not considered as a part of wardrobe.
8. Indian concept of “Foreign Goods” is yet to change wherein the quality of International brands is perceived to be better than Indian brands.
9. Internet accessibility not yet available to many of the target consumer. So it serves as a great challenge to meet the required target with the usage on internet.
10. The range of target audience that the company presently focuses on its radar is very small.
11. The major part of Indian population is less brand conscious.
12. The TITAN OCTANE is only been portrayed as ‘only male’ brand and it doesn’t have female variant models. This appears to be a challenge as females now have been entering in the main stream foray and also a big percentage of the youth population comprises of females.
13. One of the major challenges that seem to appear is that the watch industry has too much segmentation. So positioning of product is overlapping with many segments.
STRATEGIES
Communication and Advertising
The strategies that can be formulated to make TITAN OCTANE the most desirable and sought after watch in the consumer’s mind.
The customers can be classified mainly into 3 categories namely:
4. Existing
5. Potential
6. Substitute
The core areas can be exploited if a proactive methodology is implemented in this perfect competition market where in the profit percentage becomes a core area of concern.
Taking into consideration that TITAN has always projected their watches as being “affordable”, this weakness can be turned into strength.
1. As international brands are more expensive compared to what TITAN OCTANE has to offer. So a comparative study and publish manuals available to all possible target audience showing the comparison with the international brands in terms of the quality, services offered and also stating comparison price wise.
2. The malls culture is booming everywhere. We have noticed that TITAN do have “WORLD OF TITAN” i.e. as good as 175 outlets but very few of them are in malls. Now-a-days malls have become one stop place for shopping. So opening of showrooms in malls will serve a great way for TITAN overall.
3. The corporate relations should be looked upon seriously, so forming a department for TITAN OCTANE will specially serve the corporate relations. This can be more added on by giving a bulk shopping discount and also special TITAN OCTANE gift packaging which looks an impressive package as a whole.
4. In an Indian perspective, India is a country packed of festivals and occasions. For eg. There would be special discount during Diwali, Christmas and also wedding season. In short target and reach out more and more consumer during these occasions.
5. The penetration in the smaller cities can be increased by excessive publicity in the local market and acclimatizing the youth there to the youth in big metros. This strategy will help because the small town youth always try to idolise the youth living in big metros. So this can boost up sales of TITAN OCTANE would add up to the total sales of the product.
6. A new brand variant for females should also be launched. As females are also now entering in the mainstream array and the factor of metro sexuality is now becoming a fashion statement.
7. To make TITAN OCTANE a part of the brand accessories in the wardrobe, an advertising strategy would be develop in order to create a TITAN OCTANE as a style statement. The advertising strategy would consist of 3 different stages.(Advertising)
i. We would rope in brand ambassador for the TITAN OCTANE brand, for publicity at the national level. We opine that the brand ambassador for TITAN OCTANE should be(alternatives):
a. John Abraham. We choose John because he is associated with TITAN for the sub-brand FAST-TRACK. He, promoting the TITAN sub-brand again, would make people believes that the level of loyalty shown by John towards TITAN and promoting TITAN OCTANE and that there is something special in this brand. Also John has always portrayed a cult image and image that of a sportsperson and also avid biker who loves speed. The phenomenon ‘speed’ is always associated with him and this also overlap the TITAN OCTANE tag line.
b. Akshay Kumar. Akshay is always been portrayed as action oriented person and completely adventurous. He is a role model of many youngsters and he has the ability to connect with the youth. The brand TITAN OCTANE has overlapping features with the persona that off Akshay.
c. We also thought of roping in Karun Chandok (GP2 driver) and Alisha Abdullah (India’s first female superbike racer) {after launching female variant of TITAN OCTANE}. Both of them are emerging names in the racing circuit and are completely associated with image that TITAN OCTANE has to show.
ii. The publicity for small city youth can be done by promoting an ad campaign showing that the TITAN OCTANE is a style statement for the youths in the city and having a TITAN OCTANE in the wardrobe can change a complete feature of an individual.
iii. For publicity at international level, TITAN OCTANE should start sponsoring events like the FORMULA 1, A1 GP, Rally driving competition, the MOTO GP. This would help the publicity at international level.
iv. TITAN OCTANE should tie up with reality game shows and use that platform to advertise the range of Watches.
8. TITAN OCTANE should also start sponsoring the college festival and instead of putting up hoardings there, exhibits and various models of TITAN OCTANE should be displayed. So this will help the students present there personally have a look at the variants and get fascinated to the watch.
9. Also TITAN should host exhibition (only display) especially for all brands under TITAN. So all the watch lovers would definitely visit the exhibition and this will help us to collect the database of all the people who are crazy for watches, so we can personally contact those people.
10. Many youths now-a-days are constantly use the internet as medium of communication. So the medium of internet can be fully exploited to promote the brand of TITAN OCTANE.
i. Use of social networking sites like ORKUT, FACEBOOK to connect with the youth. This can be done by opening communities in which all the fans of TITAN OCTANE can share their views.
ii. Opening a special webpage for TITAN OCTANE, in which all the buyers can give the feedback of the brand and can be read by all the potential and substitute consumers.
iii. Sending group mail to the entire database available to inform about the features about the TITAN OCTANE.
11. Radio is the best medium to connect to the youth. TITAN OCTANE can capitalise on this opportunity by:
i. Coming up with creative jingles, and use the platform for complete publicity.
ii. Discount coupons can be distributed through various show contests to enhance sales.
12. The other attributes that can be associated with TITAN OCTANE are ‘watch for it’, ‘adventure personified’, ‘sport it’ and ‘speed is style’. We consider ‘fuel your watch’ because OCTANE (gas) chemically is a major component of car fuel.
CONCLUSION
As stated earlier, only 27% of the Indian population wear watches. So there is a great scope to penetrate in the market, where TITAN has always remained a leader. Also, the target audience that TITAN OCTANE is focussing on, forms a major portion of the watch buyers in India. So there is a tremendous opportunity for growth.
The strategies that we have formulated can help in converting the potential and substitute consumer into an existing one.
The challenges mentioned can be perceived as viable opportunities, and TITAN OCTANE can really capture the major segment it is eyeing.
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