The Titan Company

Abstract

In August 2013, Titan Industries, India’s leading watches, jewelry and eyewear manufacturer and retailer assumed a new corporate identity to express and celebrate its transformation over the last 25 years to become the Titan Company Ltd. It symbolized the transformation of a single-brand, single-product watch company into a diversified company with many stellar brands. Going into the next phase of growth for the company, Bhaskar Bhat, the Managing Director and one of the most admired leaders of the Tata Group, set his team a lofty target of growing to two-and-a-half times their current size in the next 5 years (20% growth YoY). Their existing businesses were doing well (Exhibit 1) but Bhaskar doubted if they alone could deliver the consistent growth that is required. Growth from the Jewelry business is strongly linked to the state of the economy and global gold prices, while the traditional watch market is nearing saturation. “Strategy is not decided in the board room but decided by employees” said Mr. Bhat, in one of his addresses to employees. To spur innovation and new ideas, he introduced a biannual event called Future Shock. Future shock is an institutional mechanism by which Titan engages its top 300 managers to brainstorm innovative ideas and identify opportunities for the future. The idea of entering the unorganized prescribed eyewear market in India with Titan Eye+ was first conceived in such an event. Bhaskar’s team is constantly assessing emerging consumer trends to unveil new products. The fiscal year 2013-14 saw the launch of 2 new categories: perfumes under the brand Skinn and helmets launched under the umbrella of Fastrack. New products like Mont Blanc were also brought into the company’s retail portfolio in line with their objective of targeting the growing luxury market in India. With the latest edition of Future Shock looming in the near future, Bhaskar and the rest of the senior management team at Titan had to pick the next big idea that would catapult the company into its next phase of growth.