In a bid to retain its trendy image in the Indian watch market, the 
Rs 709 crore Titan Industries Ltd has embarked on a slew of new marketing and retailing initiatives this year.

Says Mr Bijoy Kurien, chief operating officer—watches, Titan Industries Ltd: "With the advent of new players in the Indian watch industry and increasing fragmentation of both the market and consumers, we felt it was important to redefine ourselves in a manner to retain our premium and contemporary image."

Mr Kurien reasons that the brand was getting increasingly multifaceted because of the introduction of several new sub-brands and ranges of products over the last three to four years.

The company’s new marketing initiatives include:

• Revamping of its exclusive- World of Titans (WOT)- showroom network to reflect the image of the brand and sub-brands in a contemporary and interesting manner.
• Introduction of a host of new products (approximately 300 new designs) to offer a far more international fashionable range of products.
• Increasing adspends by 10 per cent and consolidating media spends through the Tata AoR in order to drive purchasing efficiencies.
• Increasing the spread of customer service network to ensure availability of repair facilities to almost 90 per cent of the current 45 million customer base.

Adds Mr Kurien: "Our strategy revolves around increasing multiple use for the Titan brand and increasing penetration among non-owners of watches for the Sonata brand. In addition, Titan has also undertaken several initiatives in the form of introducing loyalty programmes at the World of Titan and TimeZone chains (approximately 275 across 89 cities) and key multibrand outlets in order to build interest and loyalty among Titan consumers."

According to Mr Kurien, the emphasis on promotions is to drive the salient product features, especially during product launches.

"The products are highlighted in the counter, sales persons are provided intensive product training and several small contests designed around the product features," explains Mr Kurien.

As regards new product launches, says Mr Kurien: "We plan to launch about 300 new designs this year ranging from fashionable watches under the Fastrack collection to Ultra Slim watches under the Edge collection".

The company currently distributes its products through 7,250 dealers across 1,800 towns in India. In addition, Titan and Sonata are available at 7,500 dealers (additional). To support this distribution network, the company has a chain of 600 service centres in 310 towns across the country.