The Hindu Business Line : Titan composes a new Raga

RAGA, Titan Industries' women's watch brand, is coming in for more attention from the company. The brand underwent a change in characteristic last year with the launch of its 9-5 collection and new positioning. From this festive season on, the effort is to build a "very visible brand" and increase its contribution to Titan's turnover, said Mr Manoj Tadepalli, Head (Marketing), Titan.

Speaking to Business Line, he said, "Titan is using Raga as the key driver for the entire brand." Women's watches contribute 34 per cent to the total turnover. Of these, watches priced Rs 1,500 and above were branded Raga, and accounted for 24 per cent. This shows Raga has "solid potential" waiting to be exploited, he said.

There is a new campaign on TV, radio, print and outdoors for the brand. Titan is employing direct marketing as well as increasing in-store visibility. There is one TV commercial featuring actor Aamir Khan, its ambassador, and another featuring its latest collection, Raga Coordinates. This range is priced from Rs 1,500 to Rs 5,000.

Ms Sapna Behar, Senior Product Designer, Titan, says Coordinates also aims to cut across larger age groups and taste preferences by enabling users to assemble their own look, from formal to dressy. Indian fashion is moving towards an "ethno-contemporary balance in everything, including clothes and watches," she said.

Titan is aiming for 40-50 per cent growth in the brand over the third quarter of 2004-05. In the first half of this fiscal, the brand grew 15-16 per cent over the previous corresponding period.

This is the first time "anyone in the world has tried marketing a ladies' brand of watches." All the others are unisex brands, Mr Tadepalli says, adding that this segmentation will work in its favour. In the last 2-3 years, women's watches have been growing at a greater pace than men's, so Raga seeks to capitalise on this and increase its contribution to 40 per cent of Titan's turnover, he added.

Raga was launched in 1991 as an ethnic brand in keeping with the ethnic wave sweeping fashion trends in the country but could not sustain its success for too long.

It was also priced in the over-Rs 2,500 category earlier but its profile has changed over the years and now has something for formal, casual and special occasions, he said.

The watch market in India is estimated at 35 million pieces and Rs 1,700 crore. Women's watches account for 30 per cent.

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