The Hindu Business Line : A brand on the Fastrack

Titan brand Fastrack is in a tearing hurry to be the youth’s best fashion icon. And it is in no mood to slacken the pace, even with the economic slowdown staring it in the face..

Independent identity

Swetha Kannan

There is a certain breeziness about the brand Fastrack that is refreshing, not flippant. A marked difference from other watch brands from Titan Industries’ stable that are more sober and sedate. Today, the brand is indeed in the fast lane. Havi ng carved a separate identity, breaking away from its parent brand Titan, Fastrack hopes to become a brand name to reckon with in the fashion circuit.

With watches, sunglasses, wallets, bags and belts now, and all in its own independent store, the brand’s journey since launch 12 years ago has been a heady one. A journey that reflects the brand’s growth while gaining in confidence with every milestone.

Fastrack made a modest beginning in 1997, with a small collection of watches targeting the younger side of Titan’s audience – “early jobbers” in the 23-30 years age group. (In 2003, it added eye gear to its portfolio.)

A good eight years passed and Fastrack was risking itself by being in its parent’s shadow for too long. Time, literally, was ticking. It had to do something to break away from the shackles. That’s when the brand decided to go in for a major makeover and carve out an independent identity.

Circa 2005, Fastrack decided cheeky was the way to go. Why settle for Titan’s audience when it could target its own set of customers? It repositioned itself as a younger brand targeting a much younger audience in the 18-25 years age group, basically the college-going crowd.

Says Simeran Bhasin, Marketing Head, Fastrack and New Brands, “Even our communication changed. Earlier, our advertising line was ‘Fastrack from Titan’. We also used Titan’s Mozart tune – but a jazzier version. But in 2005, everything changed. There was a new logo, the reference to Titan was not upfront in advertising. The new brand identity was also conveyed in our communication. Earlier, it was understated communication: ‘Cool watches from Titan.’ But now, we went in for ‘in your face’ communication with the tagline ‘How many you have?’ that stressed on owning multiple watches.”

Year 2005 also saw Fastrack release an ad campaign for its sunglasses featuring John Abraham, its brand ambassador.

Over the years, Fastrack has gained in confidence. Its ‘Move on’ ad campaign in 2008 is a reflection of this newfound confidence. The campaign with the tag line ‘Move on’ was based on the premise that youngsters prefer to stay uncommitted, says Bhasin. From then on Fastrack attempted several innovative tactics to hook the youth. In June last year, Fastrack partnered with Radio One 94.3 FM that saw the radio station being ‘owned’ by Fastrack for a day. That day, the radio station was rebranded as ‘Fastrack 94.3 FM – the station for the move-on generation.’ This saw contests and promotions revolving around Fastrack’s theme of ‘Move On’ integrating with the radio station’s programming. Radio One 94.3 FM also featured programmes around the theme such as ‘favourite dump lines’ and ‘tips to move on’. The co-branding exercise was done in six cities — Bangalore, Chennai, Mumbai, Delhi, Ahmedabad and Pune.

There is a certain irreverence and boldness in the brand’s communication; it isn’t shy of making subtle sexual innuendoes, but without sounding cheap or obscene (as in the ‘Yes’ ad which shows a classroom full of girls going bonkers at a boy’s watch collection). Explains Harish Bhat, COO, Watches, Titan Industries: “Fastrack has found the perfect confluence that all brands search for: A very large consumer segment, a vacant market space, and a brand which has found the way to build strong emotional and product appeal, over and over. This brand talks the language of the campus, the language of today’s cool young Indian. The products have a point of view like the brand itself. In Fastrack, we have the makings of a cult brand for the youth. It is entirely unconventional in its ways, and often runs close to the edge. But that’s the way youth want to be today, and so that’s the way they like their friends and their brands.”

However, the brand has the potential to get snazzier, says brand consultant Harish Bijoor. “While Titan occupies mind-space of a serious category called time-keeping devices that pack in fashion, Fastrack occupies a different mindset altogether. It is a younger, more irreverent brand, and certainly more on the edgy-buzzy side of style and the demand for style from a generation that is younger. But there is a need for a sharper positioning stance that is bullish, edgy and buzzy. Buzzier than it is today.”

Attitude apart, in product innovation too, the brand is looking to score. Examples would be the Fastrack adventure collection (which included the Carabiner watch), inspired by mountaineering and rock climbing themes, and the latest Army collection of watches and sunglasses inspired by army equipment, arsenal and apparel.

And now the brand custodians think the time is just ripe for more collections, and not just on the wrist! “For Fastrack, the time has come to “move on” into newer “emerging segments” to tap the youth market, which promises huge potential, says Bhaskar Bhat, Managing Director, Titan Industries.

Fastrack is charting newer territories now in a bid to become a complete fashion brand for the youth – wallets, bags, back packs and belts. “When we set out our vision in 2005, our aim was to be a complete fashion brand for the youth. And in order to achieve that, we have now launched accessories such as belts, bags, wallets and wrist bands. In the 10-year horizon we are looking at more categories in personal wear to life space,” says Bhasin. The Fastrack branding can also be more visible on a bag than on a watch face.

Harish Bhat says these brand extensions will “increase consumer touch points many-fold for Fastrack, increase the frequency of consumer interaction for the brand and also increase its aggregate consumer base.” “Branded accessories as a category is growing at 25 per cent per year. Given the limited range in the market place, we see large potential for accessories for the youth, which forms about 55 per cent of the country’s population.” The accessories are priced between Rs 295 and Rs 1,695 and the company believes the slowdown won’t affect purchase of these relatively small ticket items.

Another indicator of its growing independence and coming of age is Fastrack’s decision to open its own stores to provide “a whole new experience” to young consumers, says Bhaskar Bhat. “Youth as a segment has to be treated differently and in a focussed manner.” The store is positioned as a complete accessories destination with all Fastrack products under one roof. The first store (around 500 sq. ft.) was opened in Pune; the brand plans to have 50 stores in 25 cities by 2010.

“Confidence – we have loads of it. Fastrack has seen 10-fold growth since 2005 — from selling 1.5 lakh watches to over a million, 50,000 sunglasses to over five lakh now; from being a Rs 29-crore brand to clocking a sales turnover of over Rs 250 crore,” explains Bhasin.

Says Bhaskar Bhat: “Fastrack will become a Rs 500-crore brand very soon — in three-four years. I won’t be surprised if it touches Rs 750-1,000 crore in five-seven years.” Bhat expects accessories to contribute to 10 per cent of Fastrack’s business in three years. In three years, Fastrack will contribute to 25-30 per cent of the company’s watch business. It has been growing at a CAGR of 30 per cent for the last four years.

Such optimism when the market is ridden with troubles? Harish Bhat says a category such as watches and accessories, which are an “affordable indulgence”, will do well even in these times. Bhaskar Bhat says there are opportunities even in a downturn — for instance, falling rentals — and the company is taking advantage of them. Ronnie Talati, Business Head, Fastrack, says that the brand is engaging with the youth where they best like to be: the virtual space. While it’s creating some buzz on the social networking sites, it is also relaunching its Web site and will transact sales on the site as well. “We are pushing conversations with like-minded people, not so much the brand,” he says. Eventually, Fastrack, he says, could look at retailing helmets, footwear or even mobile handsets! “We will look at the entire accessories space,” says Talati. Clearly, Fastracking the brand will be high on his agenda this year.

Related Stories:
Titan enters multi-brand watch retailing with Helios
Titan has no plans to go slow on investments

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