MUMBAI: Click Asia Summit 2016, scheduled to be held on 21 – 22 April 2016 at The Taj Land’s End, Mumbai, will drive conversations around ‘digital transformation’ to address the issues and challenges in depth.
The two-day summit is focused on sharing some of the best global practices on digital transformation. An experiential event on digital marketing for both enterprises and brands, it will feature open forums for discussions and workshops, led by distinct digital marketing thought leaders to help brands benefit from the curated content.
“Click Asia was born out of a passion for digital media and events, and we shall bring these two together in the upcoming events. The idea is to benefit from the value that the experts bring to the table so that practitioners and brands continue with the transformation process to be able to implement effectively,” said Click Media director Kavita Jhunjhunwala.
The panel of experts will be addressing the good, the bad and the ugly in digital marketing and transformation in a head-on fashion with digital disruptors and influencers. The online platform includes both website and a mobile app, allowing attendees to continue to engage with the experts through m-learning.
Robert Scoble, an American blogger, technical evangelist and author will be one of the keynote speakers, besides leading a couple of panel discussions. Apart from being the chief futurist at Rackspace, he is also the co-author of ‘Naked Conversations: How Blogs are Changing the Way Businesses Talk with Customers.’
Scoble said, “This is my first visit to India and am really excited to be a part of the sessions. The India marketplace is fast changing, thereby throwing open a huge opportunity.”
With more than 50+ speakers on digital transformation, Click Asia is an event for brands looking at developing their digital roadmap for the next five years.
Some other renowned international speakers include Twitter brand strategy and advocacy lead Steven Kalifowitz, HubSpot’s Ryan Bonnici, Huge Inc senior interaction designer Brandon Schmittling, Taboola vice president APAC Ran Buck, OgilvyRed, Ogilvy & Mather president
Lucy McCabe, Rolls Royce ex-global brand & digital management Markus Keiper, Outbrain regional director SEA, India & New Markets Anthony Hearne, and Meltwater director of marketing, EMEA Heidi Myers.
Speakers from Microsoft, Thomas Cook, JWT, Forbes, Titan, Myntra, Seedfund and Omnicom have also confirmed their participation.
MUMBAI: From smart phones to smart watches, the gizmos are getting more and more compact. With increasing number of players like Apple, Samsung and Motorola and now Titan entering the smart-watch fray, campaigning for a new product in a market, which has already been impacted by other brands in the same category, is no doubt challenging. Therefore for the recently launched Titan Juxt smart watch, Ogilvy and Mather Bengaluru took the ‘not just a technological intrigue’ route when building awareness.
The Juxt ads don’t have flashy shots, text heavy screen explaining features, expensive locales, sexy models and difficult camera angles but resort to a simple laid back and nonchalant conversation between three friends – director Kabir Khan, music composer Pritam and actor Vir Das, which brings out why the new smart watch can become part of our lifestyle. The ads imply the fact that that besides being “stunning,” the Juxt watch is also “smart.”
With #SmartIsStunning being the core thought, the agency has released two TVCs, which sees the three familiar yet fresh faces getting into a banter where Juxt is mentioned in a matter fact manner that smartly brings out the need to adapt with technology.
“Smart watches brought to the market by tech companies have focused on technology. After the initial excitement of owning a tech loaded watch dies down, most consumers grapple with the role these watches play in their lives. Consumers still gravitate towards watches that are about craftsmanship and beauty. Herein was the big opportunity for Titan Juxt – a watch that bridges the gap between good looks and technology. The core thought was to make consumers evaluate smart watches on a new parameters of watch design and looks,” shares Ogilvy & Mather, Bangalore Senior vice president & head of advertising,Tithi Ghosh.
Aimed at the creative minded people — and hence the choice of casting– the agency wanted to reach out to those who realise the importance of staying networked in their professional and personal lives with a digital first approach.
“We looked at the world of the successful creative professionals who also have significant social presence and influence and chose Kabir Khan, Pritam and Vir Das. All three are hugely successful in their respective fields and would easily manage to start a conversation around Titan Juxt,” Ghosh points out.
Having said that, the Juxt smart watches are priced at the premium end of Titan’s product range.
Elaborating on the concept of Juxt as not just a gizmo but a timepiece, Ghosh further adds, “The next time a consumer is looking at a smart watch, he will certainly consider how desirable the watch is in its design aesthetics and the Titan Juxt also scores over competition in this respect. It is meant to be respected as a ‘watch’ and not a gizmo.”
But this very ‘by the way’ toned brand communication may be a hit or a miss with consumers, feel several creatives in the industry, who feel the new campaign for Juxt leaves something wanting.
“It’s a very Titan thing to do, this ad,” says a well known creative from the industry, who shares his take on the campaign on condition of anonymity.
“Without even seeing the credits I can tell it’s a Titan watch ad, and Ogilvy has done a very good job of tying this new product to Titan’s essence. But is this a smart watch? I don’t think so. The ‘matter of fact’ way in which the smart watch is introduced in the TVC is as if the brand is saying to the consumers: ‘We have a new watch out. Oh, and by the way, it is a smart watch.’ Judging by the campaign, I feel that the target market isn’t the hardcore tech nerds who go gaga over new technology, nor is Titan competing with Apple and Google,” opines the creative.
“The ad doesn’t highlight the services that the smart watch can give, which my phone isn’t already taking care of for me or why I need the smart features in the watch? While it would be unwise to comment without knowing the mandate for the campaign, but the ad takes a middle path when it comes to the target group — watch lovers who may also like new features,” he further adds.
While Dentsu Aegis Network chairman & CEO South Asia Ashish Bhasin finds the advertisement informative enough about the new features, he feels the ad is a missed opportunity when it comes to upholding a product which is a first of sorts in the market.
“It is definitely the first time that an Indian watch maker has come out with a smart watch, but that doesn’t come through in the ad. So it’s a bit of a missed opportunity because as a product Juxt is unique and therefore holds a huge scope that could have been capitalised upon better,” Bhasin opines. “I do feel it could have evoked an emotional connect with the consumers a little more. What I feel missing from the ad is the value addition to the product. The ad establishes the features but what doesthat do for the consumers?” Bhasin questions.
“Despite the wave of headlines seen when several tech giants released their versions of smart watches, India as a market is yet to see a tidal wave in demand for the products, which hints at a need for an ‘X factor’ that the tech companies haven’t catered to. Titan as a watchmaker is armed with an understanding of the watch buyers in the market, which gives them an advantage,” observes Ghosh.
Whether Titan’s old world charm will work for a contemporary product like Juxt, or the brand will have to come up with a new strategy, only time will tell. That said, the #SmartIsStunning campaign definitely joins the ranks of brands with innovative campaigns from the brand – agency association.
MUMBAI: From smart phones to smart watches, the gizmos are getting more and more compact. With increasing number of players like Apple, Samsung and Motorola and now Titan entering the smart-watch fray, campaigning for a new product in a market, which has already been impacted by other brands in the same category, is no doubt challenging. Therefore for the recently launched Titan Juxt smart watch, Ogilvy and Mather Bengaluru took the ‘not just a technological intrigue’ route when building awareness.
The Juxt ads don’t have flashy shots, text heavy screen explaining features, expensive locales, sexy models and difficult camera angles but resort to a simple laid back and nonchalant conversation between three friends – director Kabir Khan, music composer Pritam and actor Vir Das, which brings out why the new smart watch can become part of our lifestyle. The ads imply the fact that that besides being “stunning,” the Juxt watch is also “smart.”
With #SmartIsStunning being the core thought, the agency has released two TVCs, which sees the three familiar yet fresh faces getting into a banter where Juxt is mentioned in a matter fact manner that smartly brings out the need to adapt with technology.
“Smart watches brought to the market by tech companies have focused on technology. After the initial excitement of owning a tech loaded watch dies down, most consumers grapple with the role these watches play in their lives. Consumers still gravitate towards watches that are about craftsmanship and beauty. Herein was the big opportunity for Titan Juxt – a watch that bridges the gap between good looks and technology. The core thought was to make consumers evaluate smart watches on a new parameters of watch design and looks,” shares Ogilvy & Mather, Bangalore Senior vice president & head of advertising,Tithi Ghosh.
Aimed at the creative minded people — and hence the choice of casting– the agency wanted to reach out to those who realise the importance of staying networked in their professional and personal lives with a digital first approach.
“We looked at the world of the successful creative professionals who also have significant social presence and influence and chose Kabir Khan, Pritam and Vir Das. All three are hugely successful in their respective fields and would easily manage to start a conversation around Titan Juxt,” Ghosh points out.
Having said that, the Juxt smart watches are priced at the premium end of Titan’s product range.
Elaborating on the concept of Juxt as not just a gizmo but a timepiece, Ghosh further adds, “The next time a consumer is looking at a smart watch, he will certainly consider how desirable the watch is in its design aesthetics and the Titan Juxt also scores over competition in this respect. It is meant to be respected as a ‘watch’ and not a gizmo.”
But this very ‘by the way’ toned brand communication may be a hit or a miss with consumers, feel several creatives in the industry, who feel the new campaign for Juxt leaves something wanting.
“It’s a very Titan thing to do, this ad,” says a well known creative from the industry, who shares his take on the campaign on condition of anonymity.
“Without even seeing the credits I can tell it’s a Titan watch ad, and Ogilvy has done a very good job of tying this new product to Titan’s essence. But is this a smart watch? I don’t think so. The ‘matter of fact’ way in which the smart watch is introduced in the TVC is as if the brand is saying to the consumers: ‘We have a new watch out. Oh, and by the way, it is a smart watch.’ Judging by the campaign, I feel that the target market isn’t the hardcore tech nerds who go gaga over new technology, nor is Titan competing with Apple and Google,” opines the creative.
“The ad doesn’t highlight the services that the smart watch can give, which my phone isn’t already taking care of for me or why I need the smart features in the watch? While it would be unwise to comment without knowing the mandate for the campaign, but the ad takes a middle path when it comes to the target group — watch lovers who may also like new features,” he further adds.
While Dentsu Aegis Network chairman & CEO South Asia Ashish Bhasin finds the advertisement informative enough about the new features, he feels the ad is a missed opportunity when it comes to upholding a product which is a first of sorts in the market.
“It is definitely the first time that an Indian watch maker has come out with a smart watch, but that doesn’t come through in the ad. So it’s a bit of a missed opportunity because as a product Juxt is unique and therefore holds a huge scope that could have been capitalised upon better,” Bhasin opines. “I do feel it could have evoked an emotional connect with the consumers a little more. What I feel missing from the ad is the value addition to the product. The ad establishes the features but what doesthat do for the consumers?” Bhasin questions.
“Despite the wave of headlines seen when several tech giants released their versions of smart watches, India as a market is yet to see a tidal wave in demand for the products, which hints at a need for an ‘X factor’ that the tech companies haven’t catered to. Titan as a watchmaker is armed with an understanding of the watch buyers in the market, which gives them an advantage,” observes Ghosh.
Whether Titan’s old world charm will work for a contemporary product like Juxt, or the brand will have to come up with a new strategy, only time will tell. That said, the #SmartIsStunning campaign definitely joins the ranks of brands with innovative campaigns from the brand – agency association.
BENGALURU: Last quarter (Q1-2016) Titan Company Limited (Titan) spent the highest amount towards advertisement (Ad spend) both in terms of absolute rupees and percentage of Total Income from Operations (TIO) at Rs 128.84 crore and 4.8 percent of TIO. This quarter (quarter ended September 30, 2015, Q2-2016, current quarter), Titan reduced its Ad Exp by 15.4 percent YoY to Rs 89.52 crore (3.3 percent of TIO as compared to Rs 105.83 crore (2.9 percent of TIO) and reduced Ad exp QoQ by 30.5 percent from the figures mentioned above for Q1-2016.
Note:100,00,000 = 100 lakh = 10 million = 1 crore
Segment Performance
Titan has 4 revenue segments – watches having the brands –Titan, Xylus, Nebula, Sonata, Fastrack and Zoop; Jewellery with Tanishq, Zoya, Gold Plus from Tata, Mia and Fq teen diamonds; Eyewear under the Titan EYE+ brand and ‘Other’ such as precision engineering among others.
Titan’s Jewellery business is its major revenue generating stream that contributes more than 70 percent to the company’s revenue. In the current quarter, jewellery business revenue reduced 32.9 percent (declined by Rs 1,000 crore) YoY to Rs 1,929 crore (72.7 percent net sales) from Rs 2,929 crore (82.2 percent of net sales). The company’s Watches division is the next major division in terms of revenue contribution. Revenues from watches grew 4.4 percent (increased by Rs 23 crore) YoY to Rs 546 crore (20.6 percent net sales) from Rs 523 crore (14.7 percent net sales). Titan explains the reason for the decline in a release that says that retail sentiment has been extremely poor in this quarter and that the watches division, backed by activations for both Titan and Fastrack brands grew in income by 4.4 percent. A new sub-brand ‘SF’ by Sonata in the adventure sports segment was launched during the current quarter.
Titan’s Eyewear business which contributes just 2 to 3 percent to the company’s revenue, reported 14.3 percent (increased by Rs 11 crore) YoY growth in revenue to Rs 88 crore (3.3 percent of TIO) from Rs 77 crore (2.2 percent of TIO). On a YTD basis, (6 months of the current fiscal), Titan says that the decline in profits from this segment is due to higher Sales promotion and Advertising costs in the first quarter.
As a consequence of the huge decline in revenue from Jewellery sales, Titan’s TIO in the current quarter fell 25.6 percent (reduced by Rs 919.59 crore) YoY to Rs 2,673.48 crore from Rs 3,593.07 crore. Net Sales fell 25.5 percent (reduced by Rs 910 crore) YoY to Rs 2655 crore from Rs 3565 crore. Qoq, the TIO decline was much lower at 1.3 percent from Rs 2708.59 crore. QoQ, net sales in the current quarter reduced by 1.2 percent (reduced by Rs 32 crore) as compared to Rs 2,687 crore.
Advertisement spend trends
Please refer to fig A below for Titan’s Ad expenses over a fifteen month period starting Q4-2012 (quarter ended March 31, 2012) until the current quarter.
As mentioned above, during the fifteen quarter period under consideration in this report, Titan’s Ad spends were the highest in the previous quarter (Q1-2016), both in absolute rupees and in terms of percentage of TIO. Lowest Ad spends during the same period in absolute rupees and in terms of percentage of TIO were in Q4-2103 at Rs 66.63 crore and 2.5 percent of TIO respectively.
During the fifteen quarter period under consideration in this report, Titan’s ad spends show a linear increasing trend in terms of absolute rupees as indicated by the broken blue trend line, while ad spends in terms of percentage of TIO show a slow linear decline as indicated by the broken maroon line in Fig A.
Please refer to Figure B below. As mentioned above, the company’s TIO in Q2-2016 fell 25.2 percent YoY and reduced 1.3 percent QoQ. During the fifteen quarter period under consideration in this report, TIO shows a linear increasing trend as indicated by the broken orange trend line in the figure below.
PAT in Q2-2016 at Rs 145.39 crore (5.8 percent margin) reduced 39.4 percent YoY from Rs 239.98 crore (7.3 percent margin) and reduced 3.8 percent QoQ from Rs 151.06 crore (6 percent margin). PAT in absolute rupees and in terms of percentage of TIO (margin) show a linear increasing trend as indicated by the broken military green and broken grey trend lines in the figure below during the fifteen month period under consideration in this report.
Company Speak
Titan Managing Director Bhaskar Bhat said, “This was an extremely challenging quarter for the company and we witnessed an income decline of 25 percent. While our watches business witnessed a growth of low single digit at 4.4 percent the jewellery business had a difficult quarter with a decline over last year. The industry saw a tough period with gold imports declining significantly. The decline in jewellery sales was also on account of discontinuation of our Golden Harvest Scheme. The Eyewear business continues to register double digit growth. All our brands are working on new product and marketing campaigns for the festive season ahead.”
MUMBAI: Ogilvy & Mather bagged the maximum number of six awards at the IndIAA Awards, which are organised by theIndia Chapter of the International Advertising Association (IAA).
O&M was awarded for its creative work on brands such as Titan, Kinley, SBI Life, Hero Indian Super League, BMW and Vodafone.
On the other hand, amongst media agencies, Maxus won four awards for Dabur Vatika, Vodafone, Titan and Hero Motocorp.
IndIAA Awards, which held on 13 October at ST Regis Hotel, saw 16 winners from various creative and media agencies. It also included various agency partners from digital, activation, PR and events.
IndIAA awards chairman Pradeep Guha said, “The IndIAA Award format ensured that ‘ads for awards only’ didn’t come through and this itself was the differentiator.”
IAA India chapter president Srinivasan Swamy added, “With the IndIAA Awards, IAA has added another interesting concept to its existing cache of clutter-breaking events. We attempted IndIAA Awards as an experiment; we wanted to create a different way of awarding creativity. With the response to our call for entries and the turnout today, we know that this concept has been very well accepted.”
On the jury for the awards were Unilever COO and Hindustan Unilever non-executive chairman Harish Manwani, Titanmanaging director Bhaskar Bhat, Standard Chartered Bank group head of brand and chief marketing officer Sanjeeb Chaudhuri, State Bank of India managing director and group executive (national banking) B Sriram and Kelloggs India managing director Sangeeta Pendurkar.
“Great brands are built around insights, not analytics,” said Manwani, while addressing the audience in the ceremony.
NEW DELHI: Titan Raga and IWC Portofino Midsize watch launch received the ‘Best Integrated Marketing Campaign’ Award at the sixth edition of the annual Watch Awards this year.
HUBLOT ICC World Cup Association bagged the ‘Best-Organised Event’ and ‘Best use of Ambient Media’ awards, while ‘Titan Gift of Time’ campaign was awarded the ‘Best use of Social Media’ award.
SEIKO, Lulu Mall, Cochin picked the ‘Best Boutique’ award.
Marketing categories had been included for the first time in the Watch World Awards hosted by the Chitralekha Group here.
Bollywood actor Yami Gautam, Nimrat Kaur and Pallavi Sharda were among those present at the function, which also featured entertainment frills including a comic act by Delhi-based stand-up comedian Vasu Primlani.
Watch World Awards creator and Chitralekha Group president & publisher Mitrajit Bhattacharya says, “With each edition, the awards have been able to touch the right chord with the watch brands and watch aficionados across the world. Watch World Awards has attained the stature of being one of world’s most coveted award on horology with its six editions till date. The participation from the world’s top watch brands is a testament of our success over the years. As always, we came up with an incredible jury team hailing from watchmaking, design, sports, collaborative art, marketing, to celebrate the art and science of watchmaking.”
Filmmaker Apoorva Lakhia was a member of the four-member jury that judged the product category. Senior marketing & business transformation specialist (automotive & retail) Nitish Tipnis judged the marketing category.
BENGALURU: Titan Company Limited (Titan) spent the highest amount in absolute rupees and in terms of per centage of Total Income from operations (TIO) towards advertisements in the quarter ended 30 June, 2015 (Q1-2016), during a 14 quarter period that has been considered in this report. The company‘s ad spend in the current quarter at Rs 128.84 crore (4.8 per cent of TIO) was 29.8 per cent more than the Rs 99.25 crore (3.4 per cent of TIO) in Q1-2015 and 60.4 per cent more than the Rs 80.30 crore (3.2 per cent of TIO) in the immediate trailing quarter.
Titan has three revenue segments – watches comprising the brands –Titan, Xylus, Nebula, Sonata, Fastrack and Zoop; Jewellery with Tanishq, Zoya, Gold Plus from Tata, Mia and Fq teen diamonds; and ‘Other’ such as eyewear under the Titan EYE+ brand, apparel and eyewear also under Fastrack brand and precision engineering among others.
Segment Performance
Titan’s watches business in Q1-2016 recorded a growth of 9.1 per cent with income of watches business growing from Rs 444.19 crores to Rs 484.54 crores. The Jewellery income in Q1-2016 was Rs 2072.03 crores as against Rs 2325.27 crores, a decline of 10.9 per cent. The company says that jewellery business continues to face regulatory pressures that have an adverse impact on sales. Titan’s Eyewear business grew by 19.7 per cent from Rs 89.21 crores last year to Rs 106.77 crores in Q1-2016. The company’s other businesses including Precision Engineering grew by 36.3 per cent, to Rs 46.85 crores in the current quarter.
The companys says that it has put together plans to stimulate demand for all its product categories through innovative advertising campaigns and new product launches in the coming quarters.
Retail expansion continued with a net addition of 22 stores across all its businesses in Q1-2016, ending the period with a retail area of over 16.2 lakh square feet nationally. Titan’s retail chain is now 1223 stores strong, as on 30 June, 2015 and is expanding with growth plans in place for all its retail businesses – watches, jewellery and eyewear.
Advertisement spend trends
Please refer to Fig A below. As mentioned above, during the fourteen quarter period starting Q4-2014 until Q1-2016, Titan’s ad spends were the highest in the current quarter, both in absolute rupees and in terms of percentage of TIO. Lowest ad spends in absolute rupees and in terms of percentage of TIO was in Q4-2103 at Rs 66.63 crore and 2.5 per cent of TIO respectively during the same period.
During the fourteen quarter period under consideration in this report, Titan’s ad spends show a linear increasing trend in terms of absolute rupees as indicated by the broken blue trend line, while ad spends in terms of percentage of TIO show a slow linear decline as indicated by the broken maroon line in Fig A.
Please refer to Figure B below. The company’s TIO in Q1-2016 fell 6.3 per cent to Rs 2708.59 crore as compared to the Rs 2891.44 crore in Q1-2015 but was 8.5 per cent more than the Rs 2496.19 crore in Q4-2015. During the fourteen quarter period under consideration in this report, TIO shows a linear increasing trend a indicated by the broken orange trend line in the figure below.
PAT in Q1-2016 at Rs 151.06 crore (six per cent margin) declined 14.8 per cent as compared to the Rs 177.27 crore (6.1 per cent margin) and was 29.8 per cent lower than the Rs 215.09 crore (9.6 per cent of TIO) in Q4-2015. PAT in absolute rupees and in terms of percentage of TIO (margin) show a linear increasing trend as indicated by the broken military green and broken grey trend lines in the figure below.
Company speak
Titan managing director Bhaskar Bhat said, “The first quarter this year has been an extremely challenging one. Retail sales for both our core businesses watches & jewellery, have been below expectations due to reduced walk-ins. May and June, in particular were poor months. Rural demand too was affected due to lower realizations and monsoon conditions. With good monsoon in sight and festive season ahead, we look forward to a better year ahead. ”
MUMBAI: Titan Company’s new moon phase watches – Celestial Time – will see versatile actor Raj Kumar Rao featuring in the ad campaign.
Titan Company watches and accessories CEO H G Raghunath along with Rao unveiled the collection.
The ad shows Rao as a young, successful entrepreneur meeting his ex-boss. Through their conversation, we learn of the young entrepreneur’s success streak and that he is looking for a CEO for his company. The young entrepreneur says he has someone in mind but is unsure of how to make an offer for the post. His ex-boss says it’s no big deal; all he has to do is go up to the person and say, “You’re the guy for the job.”
The young man looks down at his treasured Titan Celestial Time watch and gathers the confidence to look at his ex-boss and tell him – “You’re the guy for the job,” taking the senior gentleman by surprise. The film ends with a splendid shot of the Celestial Time watch and a resounding message: Your time has come.
Remarking on the thought behind the commercial, Titan Company general manager – Titan Rajan Amba says, “The new ad immediately strikes the core idea behind Titan’s new range of moon phase watches. It is carved for young men in their twenties, who dare to be creative and start their own business, who raise multi million dollar funds through their start ups. This watch embodies that spirits and the Rajkumar’s character in the ad film is the representative of these young CEOs and entrepreneurs.”
According to Amba, the total spends on the ad campaign was around Rs 10 – 13 crore.
Conceptualised by Ogilvy and Mather, the 70 second ad was directed by Vivek Kakkar, a close friend of Rao under the production house Curios.
“India is home to a rapidly growing number of entrepreneurs. We wanted to weave this in a story that would reflect the values of the brand in a very honest, charming and an intimate way,” says Ogilvy and Mather Bangalore executive creative director Steve Hough, reiterating Amba’s words.
With a price ranging between Rs 12,000 – 14,000, Celestial Time is expected to be crucial to Titan plan of premiumisation of the brand. Powered by Titan’s state of the art technology in coming up with their own patent of moon phase dial, the watch didn’t fail to live up to the ad campaign’s hype.
BENGALURU: Titan Company Limited reported nine per cent increase in Total Income from Operations (TIO, revenue) in FY-2015 to Rs 11913.41 crore as compared to the Rs 10927.39 crore in FY-2014. The company’s profit after tax (PAT) for the year increased 11.1 per cent to Rs 816.26 crore from Rs 734.94 crore in the previous year.
The company spent 5.5 per cent lower amount at Rs 382.13 crore (3.21 per cent of TIO) towards advertising in FY-2015 as compared to the Rs 404.43 crore in FY-2014.
Titan has three revenue segments – watches comprising brands namely Titan, Xylus, Nebula, Sonata and Fastrack and Zoop; Jewellery with Tanishq, Zoya, Gold Plus from Tata, Mia and Fq teen diamonds; and ‘Other’ such as eyewear under the Titan EYE+ brand, apparel and eyewear also under Fastrack brand and precision engineering among others.
During the current quarter, sales value of World of Titan grew 11 per cent; Tansihq sales value declined 21 per cent, Goldplus declined 4 per cent, Helios declined 3 per cent, Fastrack grew 1 per cent, LFS and Titan Eye+ grew 10 and 14 per cent respectively.
Watches
The watch segment saw an increment of two per cent in volumes in FY-2015 as compared to FY-2014. Net sales for the segment grew 7.3 per cent to Rs 1921 crore in the current year from Rs 1791 crore in FY-2014.
Though Q4-2015 saw a fall of six per cent in volume as compared to Q4-2014, revenue increased 1.8 per cent to Rs 511 crore from Rs 502 crore in the corresponding year ago quarter on the back of increment of prices.
Jewellery
Titan’s jewellery distribution brands are Tanishq and Goldplus from Tata. Jewellery contributes about 80 per cent to Titan’s TIO. The segment’s sales grew eight per cent (excluding coins) in volumes in FY-2015 as compared to FY-2014. Sales revenue grew 9.2 per cent to Rs 9240 crore in FY-2015 from Rs 8632 crore in FY-2014. During the year the company witnessed a grammage growth of eight per cent, (including coins) and six per cent excluding coins. Also, the share of studded jewellery increased to 32 per cent from 30 per cent in FY-2015. The company says that it saw a customer growth of 13 per cent in the jewellery segment during the year.
Q4-2014 was a quarter of falls for Titan’s jewellery segment. For Q4-2015, volumes witnessed a fall of 16 per cent as compared to Q4-2014, while sales of jewellery fell 15.3 per cent to RS 1828 crore from Rs 2157 crore in Q4-2014. Customers declined seven per cent in the quarter. While studded jewellery witnessed an 18 per cent decline during the quarter, it retained the same share of 37 per cent as last year.
Others
The ‘Others’ segment reported 12.9 per cent revenue growth to Rs 565 crore in FY-2015 from Rs 500 crore in Q4-2014. Eyeware witnessed a growth of 24 per cent and returned an operating profit of Rs 4 crore. For Q4-2015, the segment reported 12.8 per cent increase in revenue to Rs 165 crore from Rs 146 crore in Q4-2014.
Trends
Titan’s ASP declined 8.1 per cent in Q4-2015 to Rs 80.30 crore (3.22 per cent of TIO) from Rs 87.37 crore (3.12 per cent of TIO) in Q4-2014 and was 17 per cent lower than the Rs 96.75 crore (3.31 per cent of TIO) in Q3-2015. Please refer Fig A below. During a 13 quarter period starting Q4-2012, Titan’s ASP was highest in terms of absolute rupees in Q3-2014 at Rs 118.04 crore (4.41 per cent of TIO). It was highest in terms of per centage of TIO in Q1-2013 at 4.69 per cent of TIO (Rs 103.44 crore).
Though ASP shows a declining trend both in terms absolute rupees and in terms of per centage of TIO, on calculation, the brown trend line actually indicates ASP as 3.15 per cent of TIO, while the actual amount spent by the company was 0.07 per cent more as mentioned above for Q4-2015. On calculation, the blue trend line indicates ASP in absolute rupees as Rs 96.48 crore as opposed to the actual Rs 80.30 crore spent by the company in Q4-2015.
TIO and PAT
Please refer to Figure B below. The company’s TIO in Q4-2015 fell 11 per cent to Rs 2496.19 crore from Rs 2803.38 crore in Q4-2014 and was 14.6 per cent lower than the Rs 2922.51 crore in the immediate trailing quarter. During the thirteen quarter period under consideration in this report, TIO shows a linear increasing trend.
PAT in Q4-2015 at Rs 215.09 crore (9.6 per cent of TIO) was 4.3 per cent more than the Rs 190.73 crore (7.4 per cent of TIO) in Q4-2014 and was 12.8 per cent more than the Rs 190.73 crore (7.1 per cent of TIO) in Q3-2015. PAT shows a linear increasing trend during the 13 month period under consideration.
Company speak
Titan managing director Bhaskar Bhat said, “The economic outlook for the year 2014-15 was quite good but improvement in consumer demand has been quite lukewarm. Our jewellery business was also adversely impacted due to regulatory changes and termination of the consumer friendly Golden Harvest Scheme. All our brands witnessed good growth during the first half but post Diwali season we have seen tapering of growths. The Company will however continue to invest in strategic initiatives taking into account our long term and sustainable growth plans.”
BENGALURU: Titan Company Limited reported lower q-o-q Total Income from Operations (TIO) and Profit After Tax (PAT) in Q3-2015 as compared to the corresponding numbers reported in the immediate trailing quarter Q2-2015.
The company also spent 8.6 per cent less towards advertisement (ASP) in Q3-2015 at Rs 96.75 crore (3.3 per cent of TIO) as compared to the Rs 105.83 crore (2.9 per cent of TIO) in Q2-2015 and 18 per cent less than the Rs 118.04 crore (4.4 per cent of TIO) in the corresponding quarter of last year. (Refer to Fig A below).
Over a 12 quarter period starting Q4-2012 until the current quarter (Q3-2015), Titan’s ASP shows an upward linear trend in absolute rupees, but a downward linear trend in terms of percentage of TIO. Titan’s simple average ASP in terms percentage of TIO during these 12 quarters is 3.6 per cent. The company’s highest ASP during the 12 quarters under consideration has been in Q3-2014 at Rs 118.04 crore (4.4 per cent of TIO) in terms of absolute rupees. In terms of percentage of TIO, ASP was highest at 4.7 per cent of TIO (Rs 103.44 crore) in Q1-2013 during the same 12 quarter period.
Titan’s lowest ASP during the quarters under consideration was in Q4-2013, both in terms of absolute rupees and percentage of TIO at Rs 66.63 crore (2.5 per cent of TIO)
Income and PAT
Titan’s TIO in Q3-2015 at Rs 2922.51 crore was 18.7 per cent lower than the Rs 3593.07 crore in Q2-2015 and 9.2 per cent more than the Rs 2675.77 crore in the corresponding quarter of last year. TIO shows a linear increasing trend during the 12 quarter period under consideration.
Titan’s PAT in Q3-2015 at Rs 190.73 crore (7.1 per cent of TIO) was 20.5 per cent less than the Rs 239.98 crore in Q2-2015 and 15.2 per cent more than the Rs 165.57 crore in Q3-2014. PAT shows a slightly increasing trend in absolute rupees and an almost flat to a slightly downward trend in terms of per centage of TIO during the 12 quarter period in this report.
Businesses and Brands
Titan has three revenue segments – watches having the brands –Titan, Xylus, Nebula, Sonata and Fastrack and Zoop; Jewellery with Tanishq, Zoya, Gold Plus from Tata, Mia and Fq teen diamonds; and ‘Other’ such as eyewear under the Titan EYE+ brand, apparel and eyewear also under Fastrack brand and precision engineering among others.
Jewellery contributes about 80 per cent to Titan’s TIO. Last quarter (Q2-2015), its jewellery distribution brands Tanishq and Goldplus from Tata showed an upsurge in retail sales by as much as 75 per cent and 84 per cent respectively. In the current quarter, Goldplus from Tata grew by 30 per cent, however, Tanishq disappointed with a drop of 4 per cent in sales. Though the jewellery segment reported a 11.2 per cent y-o-y growth to Rs 2347 crore (80.3 per cent of TIO) from Rs 2111 crore (78.9 per cent of TIO), q-o-q, the segment reported a slump of 19.9 per cent from Rs 2929 crore (81.5 per cent of TIO).
The Helios brand from Titan’s Watches business segment in terms of sales also disappointed with a drop of 3 per cent in sales in Q3-2015. ‘Watches’ is Titan’s second largest business segment in terms of sales and contributes about 15-17 per cent to Titan’s TIO. Watches segment reported a y-o-y growth of 0.4 per cent to Rs 453 crore (15. 5 per cent of TIO) in Q3-2015 from Rs 451 crore(16.9 per cent of TIO) in Q3-2014, and a drop of 14 per cent from the Rs 527 crore (14.7 per cent of TIO) in Q2-2015.
The ‘Others’ segment reported 2.9 per cent drop to Rs 134 crore (4.6 per cent of TIO) in Q3-2015 from Rs 138 crore (3.8 per cent of TIO) in Q2-2015 and a growth of 15.5 per cent from Rs 116 crore (4.3 per cent of TIO) in Q3-2014.
Company Speak
Titan managing director Bhaskar Bhat said, “Titan Company, with a large portfolio of strong brands, operating in multiple industries, grew by over 9 per cent in the third quarter. This period, which is a festival quarter, faced heightened activity from e-commerce players participating in this gifting season. Going forward the market sentiment is looking good, with the fiscal budget from the new government coming up, drop in inflation and positive global factors like slump in oil prices. The company is gearing up for the last quarter with the launch of new products and advertising campaigns that are lined up, including activation from some brands.”
