TITAN-IC LAUNCH

Titan Watches, country's leading watch manufacturer, launched its all-new collection of chronograph, multifunction and retrograde watch "Octane" sometime in February this year. Speaking after the

 launch, Titan Watches COO Harish Bhat told newspersons that this new product was a bold and unique collection that embodies speed, energy and power. "Titan has always looked to bring in the best to its customers. The new Octane is a reiteration of the company's promise to constantly provide the customer products that connect to their personalities and help them express themselves", he added. The leading watchmaker is aiming to grow its watch sales by 40 per cent with the launch of its new watch collection.

Further during its February 2008 launch Bhat said, “Octane meets different aspiration levels of a male customer of Titan. Built with rugged, stylish features, Octane will catch the imagination of today’s bold and adventurous urban male.”

Octane has been designed by a mix of Titan’s in-house designers and contract designers at their Hong Kong office. For the time being Octane is manufactured in Hong Kong for the Indian markets. Depending on the sales volume, it will be made in India at a later stage, he said adding it will be launched in other global markets after six months.

The Octane collection is available in 35 styles and priced between Rs 5,000 and Rs 7,500. No Doubts to the reasoning why the company spent a whooping press and outdoor advertisement campaign for the new watch at a budget of Rs 3.5 crore.

Ok so you know about the ambitious dreams of the company. If you have seen the pulse raising TVC (here) by Octane you must know what I’m talking of. Now I won’t blame you if you thought that the ad was for a new bike launch atleast for the first 15 sec. Later, this eye catcher, which has an amazing soundtrack “BLUR” shows the biker flaunting the OCTANCE series. For the 60 sec TVC created by OnM, Bangalore the appeal shouts from the rooftop!

Lets consider the personality of the brand they are trying to portray here. Now what exactly is a brand personality?  Our professor once told us, Brand personality is distinct, non preemptible enduring and associates the brand with certain values.  Brand personality acts a potent brand

 differentiator and offers sustainable competitive advantage. Advertising is one of the key elements in building a brand personality, which is equally important to the marketer & consumers and this

 one shows just that.

First things first, if we attempt to find the Target segment,

Geographically: the Class-1, Class-2 and metros.

Demography : Ages 25-35 segment, young-single or young married males.

Income : upper middle class.

 Occupation: Junior/mid level executives who are professionally qualified.

My favourite would be the psychographic segmentation, the segment they are targeting are the Experiencers who Mr. Kotler says are the young, enthusiastic, impulsive people who seek variety and excitement. Spend a comparatively high portion of income on fashion and entertainment and socializing. Behavioural segmentation which is a bit complicated but heres an attempt:- Decision roles – ok now lets get real Its Diwali time, you need an initiator (either ur GF or wife or friend)  to initiate the need for a watch. She would partly play an influencer but the decider and buyer is the final user since OCTANE has 35 designs. Behaviourally it is an occasional (generally festivals or birthdays) purchase. Loyalty status is somewhere between Hardcore loyal and split loyal. Attitude toward the product is purely Positive since it comes from a heavyweight brand.

As the BLUR soundtrack fades, for those last 8-10 seconds if you closely try to hear, you have the same TITAN track in the rock version (wow...sticking to the core corporate identity) and the voice over says BE SPEED...BE MORE, a sudden rush goes through you and says “Hey yaa man...thats what I wanna be like.” In this fast paced “blur” life, all I need is speed. To add to it the positioning is straight -> “I am no ordinary watch...You want speed, you want a fast life...Here I am to be with you, in each adventure you head to. Rugged in looks, contemporary style and features and what more, the watch is not too informal either so you can hold me on your wrist even when you are in a meeting”. There has to be thumbs up by the metrosexual man.

Also what I like is this price point, Rs.5000-7500 a quality watch was somewhere missing. We have TIMEX, Fast Track and others which are below this range but even the mere look isn’t that of a rugged kind. They are more casual though trendy; you know the college going types. This watch should be a hit amongst the 25-35 segment. And as the positioning of TITAN in the 1980s was as a gift or accessory and not as a watch, I think

 the same would continue here. Noteworthy fact is the screening of the commercials, bang

 before Eid and Hindu festivals like Dassehra and Diwali. And trust me in this season wherever you go, you have a discount or exchange offer hanging on the doors. So it should boost the sales of OCTANE. The most famous models even featured on the website are PULSAR and ADRENO. Hell yea, even the names sound like bikes.

As I end this review, the beauty about TITAN’s NPL (New product launch) marketing is elevating the customer, he has smoothly brought him from an HMT to TITAN (in 1980s to 1990s), then introduced digital watches to him, given him a trendy fast track when he was in college, and now as he grows to be more challenging and gregarious, he gets the OCTANE collection – so BE SPEED ...BE MORE

Ref:

TITAN WORLD