Gleams of hope for Tanishq in the US
Daily News & Analysis — July 4, 2006

Tanishq, the jewellery brand of Titan Industries, is eyeing the US market. It is also adopting product placement in films as a conscious strategy to take the brand forward. "An initiative is underway to tap the US. Tanishq will not enter Uncle Sam's territory through Wal-Mart or any other retail chain but go it alone. As a pilot project, we plan to set up two stores on the east coast," C K Venkataraman, COO, Titan Industries, said. Titan will primarily target the sizeable non-resident Indian population as well as the mainstream American clientele.

Venkataraman indicated that mark-ups would be high since attempts to increase sales through buyback and other schemes were far fewer in the West compared with India. Tanishq, which had showcased its range of heavy wedding jewellery in films like Paheli and Parineeta, has lined up an initiative with another film and will be looking for similar opportunities in a bid to increase its share in the wedding jewellery space that accounts for a whopping 75% of the jewellery market in India and contributes 35% to Tanishq's sales.

The company will raise its investment in inventory from Rs 180 crore last year to Rs 250 crore in the current fiscal. The retail network will also be increased from 85 stores to 120 the next two years.