Marketing Channel at Titan

INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT TECHNOLOGY, NAGPUR, 2008-10

COURSE: Sales & Distribution Management COURSE FACILITATOR: Prof. S. K. Tripathi ASSINGMENT – Marketing Channels at Titan

Section – B2C Group – 7 Nadeshwar Mukherjee (08FT040) Nishat Jain (08FT041) Purva Bhutani (08HR042) Manisha Rawat (08IT021) Manit Singla (08IT022) Rahul Gupta (08IT027) Rahul Mohata (08IT028)

[Marketing Channels at Titan] September 9, 2009 The Titan brand architecture comprises several collection and sub−brands, each of which is a leader in its segment. Market has been split into – ➢ Low end ➢ Mass market ➢ Premium ➢ Luxury Notable Brands (sub-brands) of Titan are – ➢ Titan Edge: The world's slimmest watch which stands for the philosophy of "less is

more" ➢ Titan Raga: the feminine and sensuous accessory for today's woman ➢ Nebula: crafted in solid 18k gold and precious stones

➢ Several other popular collections like Heritage, Aviator, Regalia, Octane & WWF also form a part of the Titan wardrobe Multi-channel retailing – a concept pioneered by Titan in Watch Industry Titan has pioneered the concept of specialty retailing in the watches business. Organised retailing did not exist in the late eighties. The concept of exclusive brand stores was almost non-existent. In a pioneering effort that dramatically altered industry standards, the World of Titan (WOT) was born. The company reaches out to its target customers through multiple channels. Various distribution channels through which the different products and sub-brands of Titan flows is shown in the following chart –

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[Marketing Channels at Titan] September 9, 2009

Major Retail Formats in India ➢ World of Titan Showrooms - Titan has 255 World of Titan outlets, of which only 8-10

➢ ➢ ➢ ➢ ➢ ➢

are owned while the remaining are under the franchise arrangement. Besides stocking the entire range of Titan, these outlets sell select models of Sonata (lower end) and Tommy Hilfiger (licensed brand) watches. Time Zone - Titan also manages 142 Time Zones, which are multi branded outlets operating in the watches business. Traditional Outlets Non Traditional Outlet Time Zone - Titan also manages 142 Time Zones, which are multi branded outlets operating in the watches business. Traditional Outlets Non Traditional Outlet

Generally, there happens to be no competition across channel members(here WOT and Time Zone). They maintain almost different product portfolio and targets completely different segments of customers.

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[Marketing Channels at Titan] September 9, 2009

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[Marketing Channels at Titan] September 9, 2009 A Comparison of WOT and Time Zone WOT Location

Ambience

Channel Offering

Time Zone

Posh Markets, Malls

Various markets

As these are located in Posh Markets so the ambience of these stores are made to make customer feel like very relaxed and comfortable. Moreover, showrooms are designed in such a manner that products are available at eye-level. The colors used are vibrant so that it creates impulse buying in customers. A sample of this display is given below. These stores stock the entire range of Titan, sell select models of Sonata (lower end), Fast Track (sporty and youth end), Raga (women’s accessory), Oriono and Tommy Hilfiger (licensed brand) watches.

Since, they sale products of various brands and also some high range brands so their ambience use to be good enough. But again these are not asgood as WOT.

These stores offer selective range of Titan Products mainly sub-brands – Titan and Sonata. The selective range here refers to the range which are outdated at WOT and also the lower end products of these two brands.

The other offerings such as special membership, extended warranty and This channel offers special membership to regular customers. exchange scheme are not available at these stores. This membership helps customers to avail discounts and different schemes. Again, this channel offers 5-year extended warranty. Moreover, suppose you stay in Nagpur and has sent a Titan product as gift to your loved one in Kolkata then he/she can get it exchanged through any of the WOT in Kolkata. Page 5 of 8

[Marketing Channels at Titan] September 9, 2009 Titan targets medium to high profile customers through this The target customers are of low to medium profile. They want a good channel. The customers who visits WOT are of trendy nature and branded product but may be unable or are unwilling to pay premium wants latest design and availability. price. So they visit these stores to get the branded product at low price. Type of customers

Again, customers who want sporty types of range in higher They are not style conscious and don’t look for latest designs and range and uses watch as fashion accessory visits these stores. availability. The style-conscious women are also targeted through these stores. The customers look for differentiated product. Here, the customers look for product at best available price.

Customer buying behavior

Reason for customer using the particular channel Price differentiatio n across same model or

They take a lot of time in decision-making while buying. They want to show their affluence.

They do not look for trendy or latest designs but want the quality product at low price.

They want some extra service for which they are ready to pay premium price. Customer gets a wide range of variety to choose from. The customers get branded product at low price. In WOT they get the latest designs and trendy products. The customers have a high class shopping experience. Here, the price generally happens to be high as the particular The price generally happens to be low as a particular model or design is model or design is available as soon as it enters the market available after a time lag from its launch.

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[Marketing Channels at Titan] September 9, 2009

design

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[Marketing Channels at Titan] September 9, 2009

Recently, apart from adding 60 stores (which would be a mix of World of Titan, Time Zone and Sonata stores), the company is also planning to look at new formats, such as setting up 20 Fast Track kiosks in malls across the country. These kiosks are targeted to draw attention of young consumers who usually walk into malls for window-shopping. This segment normally doesn’t walk into a shop but walks around the mall. The company has also experimented with an only women’s watch store, Raga Store, at the Eva Mall (a women’s only mall) in Bangalore. If the concept works, the company looks to open more such stores across the country

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