It is not easy to get consumers to change something that they have been doing. For generations. The food they eat. The temples they visit. And the jewelers they trust. But sometimes a brand can achieve the impossible, by spotting the gap in consumer fulfillment and offering a credible solution. Just over 25 years ago Tanishq started the journey to transform the Indian jewellery business. That was not the year Tanishiq was launched. By the year 1998 Tanishiq had 14 exclusive outlets in 12 cities. But the business was bleeding, its losses were almost equal to the business it generated [about Rs 25 crores]. A team was created under Titan veteran Vasant Nangia to explore all options. The belief was that Titan knew watches, but jewellery was different. Too many small jewelers. Too trusting customers. What can break this link? The team was asked to think different, to quote Steve Jobs’ tagline for Apple. The first job for the team was to fix the basics. Create 22 carat jewellery that looked bigger than the grammage. Display it well so that it looked attractive. Was there another trick that was being missed. Vasant and team knew that Indian jewellery business was plagued by ‘under-caratage’. What the customer bought from their family jeweler was not really 22 carat.
I remember in the year 1993 showing a small gold bracelet to our family jeweler in Chennai, since my better half wanted to convert it into a thin daily use necklace. The jeweler took one look and asked me if it was from Dubai. Why? Well it looked like it is 22 carat, he said with a smile.
How to get consumers to understand the undercaratage? How to shake this deep rooted belief in the family jeweler?
On a routine visit to the factory Vasant and team spotted an x-ray fluorescence machine, that used spectroscopy to measure the purity or caratage of gold in a few minutes. What if this machine is taken to the retail outlet and allow every consumer to test their own gold ornaments? The machine was not cheap and would set Titan back by a crore or two. Xerxes was a gambling man, he cleared the move.
How to get consumers to break out of their inertia? Titan decided to use the power of the print medium [I wonder if this would work as well if done in social media]. The campaign was tested in the city of Indore in August of 1998. The headline said ‘Beware there is a thief in the family’. A classic ad that hooked the consumer to read further. The body copy [yes consumers do read body copy] went on to explain that their family member who is cheating them is their family jeweler. Tanishq offered to test the jewellery of any consumer who walked into their Indore store.
It is said that on the first day a woman walked in with ten big bangles [bought from her family jeweler]. The meter, now called the KaratMeter, showed that it was only 13 carat gold. The woman broke down. The news spread across the city. Local jewelers who were all in on the scam were furious. But consumers were not stopping. And the tide turned for Tanishq. The KaratMeter became a key feature in all the Tanishq outlets. Let us not forget that being a Tata Group company Titan / Tanishq came with a high level of trust. I wonder if a KaratMeter from any other retailer would have worked well. But that aside, the business that was losing money was turned around quite rapidly, and by the year 1999-2000 the sales had grown to Rs 125 crores and was now profitable.
Today Tanishq is literally the crowning jewel of Titan. A little over 25 years ago it was almost dead in the water. A powerful consumer insight. A tool to tap this insight. Bold investment in technology. Unleashing the power of advertising. The story changed. Not just for Tanishq but also for the entire organized jewellery business.
E-comerce changed consumer behaviour by offering discounts and range of goods. UPI changed our perception of cash by making the transaction easy, safe and frictionless. In a way the humble x-ray flourescence machine, rebranded as KaratMeter changed the complexion of the jewellery that Indians love to buy, wear and hoard.
Appeared originally in Economic Times.