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Tag: Fastrack

  • Titan’s Q3-2014 higher q-o-q advertising spend helps improve income

    Titan’s Q3-2014 higher q-o-q advertising spend helps improve income

    BENGALURU: India’s largest specialty retailer, Titan Company (Titan), formerly known as Titan Industries, reported a 25.11 per cent increase in ad spends to Rs 118.04 crore in Q3-2014 as compared to the Rs 94.35 crore during the immediate trailing quarter that resulted in a 15.74 per cent jump in operating income to Rs 2650.46 crore as compared to the Rs 2290.02 crore in Q2-2014.

     

    Titan has three revenue segments – watches with five major brands – Titan, Xylus, Nebula, Sonata and Fastrack; Jewellery (the largest segment in terms of revenue and consequently profits) with Tanishq, Zoya, Gold Plus from Tata, Mia and Fq teen diamonds; and ‘Others’ that include eyewear under the Titan EYE+ brand, apparel and eyewear also under Fastrack brand and precision engineering among others.

     

    Facing a slowdown in the economy along with inflation resulted in weak consumer demand. Titan says that its jewellery segment witnessed a sharp decline in demand. The other factors that affected the jewellery segment’s performance included: average gold price during the quarter was 10 per cent lower than previous year level; RBI’s ban on gold-on-lease facility continues even today; Issues with gold supply in the market persist – premium on gold was above 10 per cent of gold rate in the quarter; Sale of gold coins was discontinued to help the government’s efforts to reduce CAD.

     

    During the nine month period that ended December 31, 2013, Titan’s ad spend was up by 2.13 per cent at Rs 317.06 crore as compared to the Rs 310.46 crore during the corresponding period of last year. Operating revenue for the current nine month period was 8.26 per cent higher at Rs 8028.77 crore as compared to the Rs 7415.92 crore during the corresponding period of last year. Titan had spent Rs 377.09 crore during FY2013.

     

    However, the company’s Q3-2014 operating revenue was 13.64 per cent lower than the Rs 2962.89 crore in Q3-2013. PAT for Q3-2014 at Rs 165.57 crore too was 11.29 per cent lower than the Rs 186.65 crore in Q2-2014 and lower by 18.81 per cent than the Rs 203.92 crore during the corresponding quarter of last year. Its nine month PAT for the current period at Rs 534.70 crore was 1.2 per cent lower than the Rs 540.21 crore during the corresponding period of last year.

     

    Let us look at the percentages of total revenues spent towards advertising by Titan…

     

    Last fiscal (FY2013) Titan spent Rs 377.09 crore or 3.73 per cent of its total revenue of Rs 10112.67 crore.

     

    During the nine month period in the current fiscal, Titan’s ad spend was 3.91 per cent of total revenue of Rs 8112.41 crore, while during the nine month period of the previous fiscal, its ad spend was 4.14 per cent of revenue of Rs 7415.92 crore.

     

    During Q3-2014, Titan spent 4.41 per cent of its total revenue of Rs 2675.77 crore; in Q2-2014, ad spend was 4.05 per cent of total revenue of Rs 2328.97 crore, while in Q3-2013 it spent 3.6 per cent of total revenue of Rs 3017.8 crore.

     

    The watch segment revenue during Q3-2014 at Rs 455.58 crore grew by 2.97 per cent as compared to the Rs 442.36 crore during the immediate trailing quarter and 7.54 per cent more than the Rs 423.53 crore in Q3-2013. The result from this segment at Rs 51.3 crore was 10.49 per cent more than the Rs 46.43 crore from Q2-2014 and 0.29 per cent more than the Rs 51.15 crore in Q3-2013.

     

    Titan’s jewellery segment had revenue of Rs 2126.67 crore for Q3-2014 which was 18.28 per cent higher than the Rs 1798.07 crore in Q2-2014, but 15.45 per cent lower than the Rs 2515.24 crore in Q3-2013. Its result for Q3-2014 at Rs 216.9 crore was 9.96 per cent lower than the Rs 240.89 crore in Q2-2014 and 12.03 per cent lower than the Rs 246.57 crore in Q3-2013.

     

    The ‘Others’ segment of the brand reported revenue of Rs 116.52 crore during Q3-2014 which was 2.15 per cent more than the Rs 114.07 crore in Q2-2014 and 18.58 per cent more than the Rs 98.26 crore in Q3-2013. This segment returned a loss of Rs (-1.68) crore in Q3-2014; loss of Rs (-0.25) crore is Q2-2014 and a profit of Rs 1.7 crore during Q3-2013.

     

    Click here for full report

  • Fastrack compelled to withdraw its latest ad

    Fastrack compelled to withdraw its latest ad

    MUMBAI: Long ago, in 1995, when models Milind Soman and Madhu Sapre went bold to show their seductive side while endorsing a shoe brand, they created a furor. While the advertising fraternity claimed it to be a coming of age ad, almost all the “socially responsible” groups came together to raise their voice against the ad that put everyone associated with it in a sticky situation.

     

    Even after almost two decades the situation doesn’t seem to have changed much. This time the youth brand, Fastrack, which has become popular for its daring stance on youth issues, is at the receiving end. A latest Out-of-Home (OOH) campaign by the fashion and lifestyle brand from the house of Tata’s shows youngsters draped in tape that has “sale” written on it.

     

    The campaign conceptualised by Lowe Lintas was launched in the middle of this month and will be on till mid-February. Ironically, the brand, which till now has been appreciated for its unprecedented take on the social causes, had to take a step back in this case.

     

    Sources from the industry reveal that the campaign has been at the receiving end from certain sections of the society since the time it was launched, some even claiming the ad to be objectifying women. Thus, the brand was compelled to take off the ad.

     

    Lowe Lintas’ NCD Arun Iyer confirmed the news with indiantelevison.com and said that it was a mutual decision taken by both the teams (brand and creative) to take off the advertisement. However, a new campaign will replace it within 24 hours, he informs.

     

    The brand has over eight million likes on Facebook.

  • Fastrack launches helmets; eyes revenue of Rs 500 crore

    Fastrack launches helmets; eyes revenue of Rs 500 crore

    BENGALURU: Titan’s urban youth brand Fastrack announced the launch of a new category – helmets in Bengaluru. The new range will see 24 different variants for ‘guys and girls’ in different colours and graphics, making them a style-essential for its TG. Titan plans to include a range of bicycle headgear and accessories in the near future.

    Fastrack, which was launched in 1998, has seen revenue growth of more than fifty times from Rs 30 crore to Rs 770 crore, hence making it the largest fashion accessories brand in the country, claim Titan officials. By the end of this fiscal in March 2014, the company expects revenue of just Rs 8 to 10 crores from the helmet stream and about Rs 50 crore during FY-2014-15.

    We are looking at revenue of about Rs 500 crore from this stream over the next five years, says Titan managing director Bhaskar Bhatt

    The company says that the present size of the organised helmet market which constitutes about 45 per cent of the overall market is Rs 400 crore in India and is estimated to grow to about Rs 1500 crore over the next five years. “We are looking at revenue of about Rs 500 crore from this stream over the next five years,” reveals Titan managing director Bhaskar Bhatt to www.indiantelevision.com.

    “India has one of the highest numbers of two-wheelers in the world. With unorganised players currently driving the helmet business, the category has a large potential in the market. We are trying to buck the trend – even if a person doesn’t want to buy a helmet, she or he will buy it because it’s from Fastrack, because we believe that it is not the helmet that the person will buy, but brand Fastrack,” Bhatt further adds.

    For the present Fastrack helmets will be sold through the 147 Fastrack stores across the country. Titan plans to increase the number of Fastrack outlets to 200 by 31 March, 2014. The company also plans to sell helmets online through its own portal as well as other fashion online retailers such as Myntra, Jabong, etc., in the near future.

    “We are looking at outdoor promotions over the next few months. We’ll probably launch a multimedia campaign including TVCs sometime in the near future,” informs Titan Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer Ronnie Talati. Lowe Lintas handles the creative duties and Maxus the media buying for Fastrack.

    Company sources peg the outdoor Fastrack helmets campaign at about Rs 2 crores till the end of this fiscal, and then depending upon the response, will chalk out a campaign for the next year.

    “Being in the business of youth fashion accessories, helmets were a natural extension for us after watches, sunglasses and bags. Many of today’s youth use protective gear to make bold fashion statements. The youth being the dominant consumers for the category, launching the helmets range under the Fastrack umbrella would help keep a firm grip on the capricious youth market,” adds Talati.

  • Lowe Lintas creates campaign for Fastrack

    Lowe Lintas creates campaign for Fastrack

    MUMBAI: Keeping with the brand’s fun, bold and irreverent image, Fastrack has launched its latest campaign for its watch collection.

    The TVC conceputalised by Lowe Lintas features finger break dancing choreographed by Lilach Chen. The youth brand wanted to draw attention to the product category using finger break dancing as a major player as its core thought has always been about the mating game and it wanted the TVC to have a twist on it.

    Commenting on the campaign, Lowe Lintas’ national creative director Arun Iyer says, “We had to showcase a new collection of watches in a quick, snappy manner while being true to the brand essence. Hooking-up is no big deal and the commercial conveys exactly that. And that to us is very Fastrack.”

    The campaign will be showcased on television and digital medium.

    On the association, Fastrack marketing head Simeran Bhasin says, “We wanted to do something different to introduce our new line of watches. The finger break dancing in the ad is a unique way to showcase the watches and also plays on the irreverence of the brand.”

  • Lowe Lintas creates campaign for Fastrack

    Lowe Lintas creates campaign for Fastrack

    MUMBAI: Keeping with the brand’s fun, bold and irreverent image, Fastrack has launched its latest campaign for its watch collection.

     

    The TVC conceputalised by Lowe Lintas features finger break dancing choreographed by Lilach Chen. The youth brand wanted to draw attention to the product category using finger break dancing as a major player as its core thought has always been about the mating game and it wanted the TVC to have a twist on it.

     

    Commenting on the campaign, Lowe Lintas’ national creative director Arun Iyer says, “We had to showcase a new collection of watches in a quick, snappy manner while being true to the brand essence. Hooking-up is no big deal and the commercial conveys exactly that. And that to us is very Fastrack.”

     

    The campaign will be showcased on television and digital medium.

     

    On the association, Fastrack marketing head Simeran Bhasin says, “We wanted to do something different to introduce our new line of watches. The finger break dancing in the ad is a unique way to showcase the watches and also plays on the irreverence of the brand.”

  • Lowe Lintas and Partners conceptualises Fastrack’s Tee Virus campaign

    MUMBAI: Lowe Lintas and Partners has created the Tee Virus campaign for Titan‘s watch and youth accessories brand Fastrack.

    The brief given to the agency was to inform the consumers about the new product line based on the apparel piece – the T-shirt. The communication focuses on the fact that these accessories (bags, watches and sunglasses) are a result of Fastrack‘s signature of “quirkiness”.

    The campaign is called ‘Teevirus‘, implying a highly infectious T-shirt borne disease that infects bags, watches and sunglasses.
    The campaign consists of three television commercials (TVCs), each 15 – 20 seconds long. While two of these (promoting the sunglasses) take the tag-line ‘Infected by tee shirts‘, one for the watch ends with the tagline ‘Born from tee shirts‘.

    Concepts like measles and vomiting have been used to portray how the range of sunglasses has been infected by tee shirt designs. The commercial with the watch shows two tee shirts (white and green) getting cosy on the bed and ultimately giving birth to a watch, also green and white in colour, justifying the tagline ‘Born from tee shirts‘.

    These videos were created and posted on Facebook and Youtube and later, due to the “overwhelming” response received, were aired on mainstream television.

  • TBWA hires Aejaz Khan as EVP- Mumbai

    MUMBAI: TBWAIndia has appointed Aejaz Khan as executive vice president and head of its Mumbai operations.

    Khan was with Lowe Lintas- Bangalore where he was working as SVP and was responsible for Tata Group brands such as Fastrack, Titan Sonata, Tanishq and Tata Tea.

    TBWAIndia managing director Nirmalya Sen said, “Aejaz is a rich reservoir of experience and knowledge on Indian and global brands alike. This will be invaluable as he comes on board to lead an office that works with some large global brands on the one hand and several Indian majors on the other.”

    Khan said, “This is a fantastic new chapter in my life and career. TBWA is known for its great people who care about big ideas. The network has a deep creative culture with Disruption at the core of its DNA. I’ll chase fame, fun and fortune for the agency and our brands.”

    Khan comes in with over 19 years of experience in advertising. Prior to joining Lowe Lintas, he had also worked with agencies like Publicis Ambience, Impact BBDO, Ogilvy & Mather and McCann Erickson India. He has worked with brands like Vaseline, HSBC, Tata Sumo and Safari, Signal, BP, Rexona, Axe and Pepsi.

  • Fastrack consolidates OOH media biz under Milestone

    MUMBAI: Fastrack, Titan’s accessory brand for the youth, has consolidated its outdoor media business with outdoor agency Milestone Brandcom. Previously, the account was decentralised with multiple agency interaction at the regional level.

    The account win comes after a multi-agency pitch that was held in April. The agency’s Bengaluru office will be handling the account.

    Fastrack head marketing and retail Simeran Bhasin said, “The agency on board would need to be involved with the brand and think beyond conventional outdoor campaigns. Having worked with Milestone on a few campaigns in the past, we are confident of their thought leadership and efficiency in executing the campaigns.”

    Fastrack is a youth fashion brand offering watches, sunglasses, bags, belts, wallets, and laptop sleeves and many more to be added in its kitty.

    Milestone Brandcom founder and managing director Nabendu Bhattacharyya said, “We are delighted to have ‘Fastrack Brand ‘ on our ever growing brand portfolio. Our single objective of value proposition and on ground demonstration of our capability made the difference. We would live up to clients’ expectation as a true business partner in our journey and continuously raise the bar in our deliveries.”

    Milestone Brandcom currently executes OOH media duties for nearly 75 brands in India including key accounts like Tata Photon- Docomo, Colors, McDonalds, Binani Cement, Axis Bank, L‘Oreal, HDFC Mutual Fund, Dish TV, DSP Blackrock and Franklyn Templeton.

  • Lowe Lintas creates Fastrack’s new ad campaign

    MUMBAI: Fastrack, the youth fashion brand, has launched a new ad campaign -“Blame Fastrack and Move On” that has been created by Lowe Lintas.

    The objective of the campaign is to redirect the blame that the youth of today face from everyone around them. It is targeted to youth of 18-24 years of age.

    Fastrack marketing head Simeran Bhasin said, “The TVC appeals to the youth of today who are aggressive and passionate and ultimately lead to a better brand connect. The Blame Fastrack campaign draws inspiration the youth of today and hopes to liberate them from the pre decided moral rules of the society.”

    The company plans to roll out a total of three commercials. The subsequent two TVCs are for watches and sunglasses and will be launched in the coming months.

    Talking about the brief that was given to the agency Lowe Lintas executive creative director Akash Das said, “The youth today are the most blamed lot for things that they do or don‘t. Constantly persecuted by parents, teachers, politicians, moral police, girlfriends, boyfriends, it‘s certainly a difficult age to be. Fastrack with its latest proposition offers to take the monkey of their back. Need an â€?excuse‘? Blame Fastrack. Move on.”

    The TVCs use a high energy track by an American alternative rock band, Cake – Short Skirt/Long Jacket. “The track lends the TVC a high energy vibe and the lyrics help establish the image of the Fastrack girl,” Das said.

    Blame Fastrack is being amplified on the digital media as well. “Social media is the best way to connect and interact with the youth. An extensive twitter and Facebook plan is being put in place to make Blame Fastrack a part of youth pop-culture,” Bhasin said.

  • Fastrack to up communication spends by 50% next fiscal

    Fastrack to up communication spends by 50% next fiscal

    BANGALORE: Titan Industries Limited youth fashion accessories brand Fastrack is targeting a CAGR of 50 per cent on its way to Rs 30 billion over the next five years from its current fiscal expected closure of Rs 6 billion. The brand spends around 5-6 per cent of its revenues towards communications and mass media spends, and its next fiscal spends on this head will be proportionate with the revenue growth. This was revealed by Fastrack and New Brands VP and business head Ronnie Talati.

    Talati attributes Fastrack’s communications to the brand’s success and its growth. He claims that it is the largest player in all the categories that it sells – this includes watches – around 3 million pieces an annum, sunglasses – around 1 million pieces a year and even other youth fashion accessories. Its brand communications have been crazy and funky and it has become a trendsetter for its TG – the youth of today. “We set the trends, we don’t follow international trends,” averred Talati.

    Fastrack has a strong presence in the digital space. It has following of 3 million plus fans on Facebook and wants to increase the number of fans to 10 million by the end of the year. It has launched its own instore Internet radio channel where it plays international music and customised content across all its outlets. It has plans to employ Radio Jockeys for the station.

    Lowe Lintas generally handles the creative duties for Fastrack, and Maxus the media buying.

    Talati was speaking with www.indiantelevision.com during the launch of the 100th Fastrack outlet in the country in Banaglore, and the 60th store launched this year. It has planned a digital and instore campaign – ‘Like bunnies we multiply’ for the 100th store launch. Creative work for this campaign is being done by Black Swan.

    At present Fastrack stores are present in 44 towns and cities in the country. The brand is targeting 280 stores in 108 cities and towns in the country during the next fiscal. Fastrack has plans to open around 500 outlets over the next 2-3 years. “We want to increase the consumer touch points and will follow a hub and spoke model – A major Fastrack store in a locality, city or town that will retail all our products and supply to smaller Fastrack stores in the vicinity that will specialize in a particular category,” said Talati.

    Talati plans to add more categories like helmets and bicycles to Fastrack sales inventory. He is also looking at opening Fastrack stores in emerging markets like China, Brazil, Vietnam and growing the brand there.

    Talati revealed that Fastrack standalone stores currently contribute 15 per cent to revenues and this figure would go up to 25 per cent by the next year. He said that watches contribute 50 per cent to the revenue, with other categories pitching in the rest. With growth in numbers and increase in categories, Talati expects watches share to revenue to go down to 40 per cent next year and further down to 25 per cent over the next five years or so.