Review Winning World Titan

7/29/2019 Review Winning World Titan

1/12

COVER STORY

Tata ReviewDecember 0114

The winningworld of TitanThere are many attributes that make Titan a singularly

resourceful organisation, most strikingly a surefooted sense of

business and a deep-rooted feeling for people consumersas well as employees. Philip Chacko reports

There is no community o individuals

quite like itanians and no consumer

products company in India quite like

itan restive by nature, maverick

at heart, almost compulsively successul and

orever in search o the next big idea. Maybe

thats what it takes to go rom scratch to a

yearly turnover o`65 billion in 24 years, romfedglings to market leaders in three ercely

competitive consumer segments.

Tis special kind o company and

its special breed o people know they are

distinctive and they want to make the most o

it. We are a unique enterprise, says Bhaskar

Bhat, the unassuming managing director o

itan Industries. We are brand owners as

well as retailers and we are market leaders in

each o the retail businesses we are in. Teexternal world looks at us and they dont see a

comparable company.


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COVER STORY

December 011 Tata Review 43

itan is, essentially, in the business o

making people look good and eel good. Tecompanys three major divisions watches,

jewellery and eyewear are ensconced in the

liestyle universe, and personal adornment is

the principle here. A ourth venture, precision

engineering (See box: Precise is the play,

page 46), nds its t in a ar dierent space,

a chess player in the midst o wiry athletes,

but with the potential to reap riches in a

mushrooming industry.

itan becoming what it has may seem like

a somewhat serendipitous kind o evolution.We never set out to become singular; it wasnt

by design this has happened, says Mr Bhat.

Te company, a joint venture with the ata

group and the amil Nadu government as

partners, was established in 1987 as a timepiece

manuacturer in an age when Indians had

extremely limited choices in watches.

itans jewellery brand, anishq, and its

eyewear business, itan Eye+ (See box: Eye on

the ball, page 44), have sprung into existence

on the back o the watch divisions multipletriumphs, not least with technology and

design (See box: An A for D, page 52). Tese

later ventures highlight itans ability to thrive

by pinpointing nascent consumer needs andcreating categories and brands to serve those

needs. We are constantly seeking opportunities

in clear-cut consumer segments: youth, women,

mass market, rural, says Mr Bhat.

ITS ABOUT PEOPLE

We are able to better spot consumer

opportunities because o the kind o company

we are, says Mr Bhat, Our extensive presence

enhances our ability to understand the

market and capture the signals emerging romthere. He is reerring to a retail network that

stretches across some 700 stores spanning

the length and breadth o India. We have

the research data and that is useul, but more

valuable is our ranchisee network. Tese are

guys who are connected to our customers on

an everyday basis.

Franchising has proved tough or many

consumer goods companies. Not so or itan,

which views its ranchisee network as a vital

component o its success and, contrary toexpectations, relatively simple to run. We see

them as long-term partners and not just as

Titan, the worlds fifth-largest

watch manufacturer, produces more

than 13 million watches a year


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COVER STORY


he two rues that ita swears by whe

it cosiders gettig ito a ew busiess

persoa adoret ad the potetiato becoe a idustry eader were

operatioa whe the idea of ita ye+

cae to be cosidered.

e reaised that eyewear was viewed

by cosuers as a fuctioa product

says avi at the chief operatig

NEBDQNESGDCHUHRHNM3G@SlRMNSGNVHS

works i other parts of the word. here

they are stye accessories. e sesed a

opportuity to brig that thikig to dia.

he secod factor was the state of theeyewear idustry i dia. t reais argey

uorgaised with 70-80 per cet of the

busiess beig cotroed by idepedet

optica stores that ack professioas to

test eyes ad fuctio without proper

parapheraia ad products.

orse there is precious itte

trasparecy i the busiess. he sae

product wi be sod at differet prices to

differet peope says r at. s for the

eses the custoer reay is i the dark.ita ye+ coeced coercia

operatios i 008. oday the divisio has

185 stores across 55 dia cities ad

pas to ope a further 100 by arch 01

a state-of-the-art aufacturig faciity

ad arket eadership i the orgaised

eyewear busiess.

he uorgaised sector sti

coads the buk of the arket but that

share is faig fast as copaies dia

ad foreig vie to overhau the way peope

i this coutry cosider the spectacesthey see the word through.

ita has bee at the forefrot of that

trasforatio. urs is priariy a retai

operatio ad we se our ow products as

we as those of other brads says

r at. e se eses fraes

sugasses ad accessories. e are

a oe-stop shop for cosuers i the

eyewear busiess. he prices of ita

ye+ products rage fro `500 to `0000

which shows its desire to cater to as widea spectru of cosuers as possibe.

ore iportaty it has rewritte the rues

of the gae. he copay brought i stye

cosutats peope who advice custoers

o what spectaces wi ook good o

SGDL@MCPT@KHDCNOSNLDSQHRSR(SNEEDQDC

warraties ad free eye-testig ciics

ANSGQRSRENQSGDHMCTRSQX

here ita has goe others have

foowed. here are ay eyewear

retaiers who have foowed our eadsays r at. verybody has bee put

uder pressure ad the whoe custoer

experiece has bee atered.

r at goes the extra ie to poit

NTSSG@S3HS@MlRDXDVD@QNODQ@SHNMHR

RHFMHB@MSKXHEMNSETMC@LDMS@KKXCHEEDQDMS

fro its watches ad jeweery busiesses.

he biggest differece is with custoer

egageet which is far greater i

eyewear he says. t is ot just about the

product; it is as uch about service.

orn of a vision to transform the

eyewear industry in ndia, itan ye+

promises to do that and more, and in

quick time too

Eye on the ball


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COVER STORY


people who have the money to partner us,says Mr Bhat. We select them careully; they

have to be ethical and trustworthy. Being

with us as a part o itan, a part o ata

gives them a certain stature. On our part,

we have remained true to them through thick

and thin.

Running a ranchise network, Mr Bhat

adds, is less o a hassle than running a large

manuacturing operation. Having said that,

there are substantial challenges in expanding

our network, in improving our interactionwith customers. Te complexity comes rom,

or instance, meeting customer and ranchisee

expectations as well in Chandigarh as in

Tiruvananthapuram, two places that are poles

apart culturally and temperamentally.

Te people actor has been as crucial

as any in making itan the company it is.

Its not a stuy place; there is no ood-chain

hierarchy or ormal dress code (senior

executives in denims are a common sight).

First and oremost, we spend a lot o time ingetting involved with our people, says Harish

Bhat, the so-spoken chie operating ocer

o the watches division. We encouragedebate and dissent beore arriving at

conclusions. Its a culture o empowerment.

Tis culture has bred unpretentious

behaviour and down-to-earth habits: a

chie operating ocer who rides to oce

on a bicycle thats practical as well

given Bengalurus anarchic trac and a

managing director who regularly uses the

local bus service to get to the airport and

back when he has to fy.

itan has beneted too rom thecontinuity and stability that comes rom

having, or long years, the same set o people in

senior positions. For many o them the company

has been their rst port o call and this is where

they have spent their entire careers. We hire

well, we hire with care, says Bhaskar Bhat. We

have tried to ashion an internal culture where

the hunger or growth is acute, where people

have the reedom to unction, to take risks and

to ail while doing so.

WINGS ARE FOR SPREADING

Te story o itan is in a way the story o

Titans managing director, Bhaskar Bhat (seated), with senior members of his management

team (from left) S Subramanium, CK Venkataraman, S Ramadoss, S Ravi Kant and Harish Bhat


5/12

COVER STORY


the Indian marketplace (the setting up o the

company preceded the economicliberalisation o the early 1990s by less than

ve years). Te opportunities and the

dynamism in this marketplace have been

mirrored in itan, and we represent to an

extent the changes seen there, says Mr Bhat.

Raga, the watch collection we introduced or

women, and Fastrack, our youth brand, are

refections o this reality.

itans expansion rom watches to other

liestyle spheres was uelled by a yearning to

break ree o connement within a particularconsumer segment. We realised that the

itan brand would get limited i we stayed

with only watches, says Mr Bhat. And we

realised that the brands values quality,

engineering, precision, reliability, style

could be extended to other categories.

Te company has grown by leaps

and bounds by relying on its strengths in

retailing, manuacturing and design and with

Precise is the play

6G@SlR@BNLO@MXFTHCDCHMspirit by the ogic of ifestye-

orieted busiesses doig

egieerig exceptioay

copex copoets for

soe of the ost exactig

aufacturers i the word? he

straightforward aswer to that:

because it akes sese.

6GHKD3HS@MlRGD@QSHRRDSNM

exporig every opportuity i

the ifestye space its precisioegieerig project is a id

thig. idea that grew out

NESGDBNLO@MXlROQNUDM

capabiities i the itricacies

of watch-akig the precisio

egieerig divisio or )

is a edeavour to carve a

OQNS@AKDMHBGDHM@ATRHMDRR

with iese potetia.

stabished i 005

the divisio coprises four

ai copoets oe that

crafts precisio products for

idustries such as aerospace

ad oi ad gas a secod that

deivers autoatio soutios

for autootive pharaceuticas

ad other busiesses a third

for the tooig that high-accuracy products reuire ad

a fourth that assebes prited

circuit boards.

ith cose to 4000

epoyees ad three faciities

the divisio is positioig itsef

to get a sice of a arge ad

growig goba arket that is

pegged at $ biio a year.

reedous as this su ay

see it is ot the oy bait thatgot ita to bite. he copay

was aso take i by factors

such as dia becoig ot

KD@RSCTDSNBNRSADMDSRq@

aufacturig base for precisio

products the og-ter ature

of prospects i the idustry ad

the opportuity to baace the

risk ivoved i its bread-ad-

butter cosuer busiesses.

igh-precisio

aufacturig has bee a core

copetecy at ita says

ridhar head of busiess

deveopet at expaiig

how ad why the divisio was

seeded. t is oe of the piars

of our growth ad it is where our

skis have coe fro icudigthose for autoatio soutios.

ita today akes achies

for ay of the origia

euipet aufacturers i

dia ad it is spreadig its

wigs i this busiess to reach a

goba arketpace. he there

is aerospace which proises a

boaza of bouses. he dia

pace esearch rgaisatio

idusta eroautics adothers costitute a huge backog

NENQCDQRnR@XR,Q2QHCG@Qm(SlR

a big arket.

his arket sees bigger sti

cosiderig that dia is expected

to sped upwards of $100 biio

o defece suppies over the

coig few years with uch

of these suppies sated to be

deivered by foreig copaies.

he sure-shot eeet i this

itans precision engineering

division has taken the road

less travelled to set itself

apart from the companys

other businesses


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COVER STORY


its capacity to attract good people. It has

also had to tweak its structure to cope withgrowth. We have organised ourselves well,

primarily by creating dierent divisions,

explains Mr Bhat. Te head o a particular

division has the reedom to ocus on his

business and decide resources, on pricing,

markets and targets.

Te commonality that binds the

company, that makes it a single whole rather

than the sum o disparate components,

comes by way o a shared value system and

employee policies. Everybody here has toeel they are part o one company and that

is challenging, says Mr Bhat. Tis means

cultivating and cementing a culture o

openness and transparency, o risk-taking

and innovation, o people-centricity and

customer-centricity.

NO WAITING ON WATCHES

Tough it has been overtaken by its

euatio for etities such as

is the offset cause iposed by

the dia goveret which

akes it adatory for 0 per

cet of a defece ateria to be

ade i the coutry.

here are ot ay

copaies that have thecapabiity to do what we do

says r ridhar. e got goig

with aerospace i a sa way but

we ivested pety aog the way.

e have this arket opportuity

ad a uiue capabiity to

address that opportuity. d

HSlRMNSITRS@DQNRO@BDSG@S

HMSDQDRSR/#SGDQDlRNHK@MC

gas exporatio ad the edica

idustry ot to etio theautoatio spread. ur turover

coud be i the rage of `10-15

AHKKHNMHMUDXD@QRn

here are chaeges to be

overcoe before that ca coe

to pass. estatio periods are

og i this busiess says

r ridhar which eas you

eed ore tie for the busiess

SNL@STQD(SBNTKCS@JDUD

years aybe eve a decade.

ou eed deep pockets ad

you eed to stay ivested for a

exteded period of tie.

ettig the taet to

reaise its objectives is aother

BG@KKDMFDm6D@QDMCHMFHS

DWSQDLDKXCHEBTKSSNMCSGD

right peope says r ridhar.3GDOQNAKDLRCNMlSDMCSGDQD

e have to ake oey to

justify our existece. e have

to retai custoers. e have to

iteract with taet keep the

otivated i a sa busiess

that has ups ad dows ad

where uestios aboud.

ata rather tha ita

is the caig card that the

OQDBHRHNMDMFHMDDQHMFANEMRprefer to use. utsiders see

ita as a watches ad jeweery

copay expais r ridhar.

m6GDM(SDKKODNOKD(lLHM@

high-techoogy egieerig

BNLO@MXSGDXCNMlSADKHDUDLD

ata is a far ore reevat brad

ae i the circustaces to

attach ourseves to.

3G@SlRMNSRNLTBG@M

issue for the peope i the

autoatio soutios part of

the faiy. here the effort

to attract custoers fro

idustries other tha autootive

has begu to yied resuts with

orders beig executed i the

past year for eadig eectricaad edica devices copaies.

urtherore export orders fro

hia the zech epubic ad

ugaria were executed.

he preset is a peasat

DMNTFGOK@BDENQ3HS@MlR

precisio egieerig foks but it

is the future with a the bouties

that becko where the rea

actio wi be. o what if ifestye

has othig to do with it?


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COVER STORY


jewellery sibling on turnover and prots, the

watch business remains the centrepiece oitans operations. Tis is where it all began

or itan and nobody in the company can, or

is inclined to, dilute its importance.

Te watches divisions numbers are

staggering. itan has produced more than

135 million watches since inception and

manuactures in excess o 13 million pieces

a year. It sells in more than 12,000 outlets in

2,000 places across big and little India. It has

an exclusive network o 340 showrooms and

about 850 service centres. And it also retailsin 29 countries spread over our continents.

o round it o with a quaint gure: every

our seconds there is a itan watch being sold

somewhere on this planet.

Tere are six reasons or our watch

business being so powerul and iconic, says

Harish Bhat. A strong portolio o brands

there are ew examples o companies

owning the rst, second and third brands in a

customer segment outstanding competencein design, the excellence o our technology,

our extensive network, our control o the value

chain, and our innovation eorts.

Mr Bhat oresees a uture where itan

will be counted among the worlds top three

watchmakers (it is currently in h position).

Tat is a very, very clear objective we have

over the next ve to seven years, he says.

We want to be at least twice our present size

by then; we want to sell upwards o 25 million

watches a year at that point.On the cards, then, is a plan to expand

itans retail network to more than 15,000

outlets, open a minimum o 1,000 new brand

showrooms, and cra products that are

more sophisticated and compelling, and can

sell at higher prices. At the other end o the

spectrum are nano-priced watches, a ew o

them going or as cheap as `75.

1987 1993 1994

he copay

CHUDQRHDRHMSN

jeweery

ita iks a joit

veture with iexto focus o the ass

arket for watches

MILESTONES

J ita dustries is estabished

as a joit veture ivovig

the ata group ad the

ai adu dustria

eveopet orporatio

J t eters the watch arket with PT@QSYSDBGMNKNFX@QRSENQ@M

dia watch aufacturer


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COVER STORY


Tat makes sense in a market where

competition is renzied some 65international watch brands are sold in India

today where everyone rom Seiko, and

Citizen to Omega, Esprit and those cut-price

Chinese players is pushing their wares. We

have to ensure that our brands can not only

withstand the onslaught o these competitors

but also gain market share, says Mr Bhat.

Tere are other challenges as well. Te

Indian watch market is growing 11-12 per

cent a year. itan wants to take that gure

to over 20 per cent, hopeully even to 35-40per cent. o achieve that it has to deal with

sundry threats such as those posed by mobile

phones. We have to even more clearly

position the watch as a ashion accessory,

says Mr Bhat.

urning brands such as Sonata and

Fastrack into uncharted terrain is part o the

grander game plan. We have to unlock the

power o these brands, says Mr Bhat, and

we can do that by extending them into otheraccessory categories: helmets, ootwear and

the like.

JEWELLERY AND MORE

itans jewellery business may be

undamentally dierent rom its watches

enterprise but the broad rules governing

them are similar: quality, reach, reliability and

customer ocus. Te growing spending power

o middle India is another common actor

infuencing sales in jewellery and watches.More people are avourably disposed

towards brands today, says CK Venkataraman,

the chie operating ocer o anishq,

especially a brand like ata. Over the last 10

years, especially, their income levels have risen

considerably. Tese people move about a lot

through transers and relocations and anishq

has, in a way, become a local and trusted

1996 1998 2005 2006 2007

aish the jeweery

brad is auched

ita eds the iex

arrageet ad

auches a ew

brad oata for the

ass arket

J astrack a brad

aied at youth adseig watches ad

accessories is auched

J ita sets up its

precisio egieerig

CHUHRHNMHSRQRS@MCNMKX

o-ifestye busiess

he copay

vetures ito the

eyewear busiess

with ita ye+

od us is auched

to cater to the ass

jeweery arket


9/12

COVER STORY


jeweller to this large migrant population. And

they consider jewellery an adornment ratherthan merely an asset.

anishq concentrates its attention,

predictably enough, on women and to no

little extent on the modern Indian women.

anishqs creations are designed keeping

this kind o woman, this archetype, at the

centre o the rame, says Mr Venkataraman.

Tat said, the brand retains the old-ashioned

in its soul. Te jewellery business is

still traditional at its core and we have to

participate in that traditionalism i we wantto dominate.

In other matters, though, anishq is

like no other jeweller in India. It introduced

Indian consumers to the Karatmeter, which

validates the purity o gold, and it has

greatly infuenced the general approach

to jewellery design and marketing. Its

scrupulous practices are unusual in an

industry where the opaque and underhand

are commonplace. Most importantly, it has

endeavoured to improve the lot o jewelleryartisans among the most exploited

workers in India through a slew o

extraordinary initiatives.

anishq remains the top-selling

jewellery brand in India. Tis is a market that

tends to get compartmentalised regionally,

with local players dominant in their

backyards. But our ranchisees have given us

a big break in terms o reaching small towns,

in behaving like local jewellers but much

more proessionally, says Mr Venkataraman.Understanding ethnic tastes

Maharashtrian jewellery or Maharashtrians,

Bengali jewellery or Bengalis is critical

in the circumstances and anishq has taken

a lot o eort to develop that understanding,

mainly by going to dierent regions, setting

up design studios there and working

more closely than ever beore with local

ranchisees.

Te rise and rise o the price o gold,

which dominates in the anishq basketo oerings, is a concern, though not an

overriding one. It does bring pressure on

Jewellery

50.14 (34.97)

Others

2.49 (1.54)

Watches

13.09 (10.52)

2TQVCHVGTVCZ

4.34 (2.5)

* Figures in `-billion; gures in brackets are or 2009-2010

OAL INOME: 65.71 (47.03)

Financial performance: 2010-11


10/12

COVER STORY


customers, but we have grown spectacularly

over the last year, says Mr Venkataraman.

ypically, when prices settle people comeback to the market, simply because there

is no substitute. Jewellery is not just an

investment. I mean, you cant purchase a

share certicate or a wedding.

Te diculty on price comes with the

delivering o value, as seen through the eyes

o customers. What I get or, say, `50,000 is

becoming smaller and smaller, explains

Mr Venkataraman. Tats what we have to

deal with: how to bring in technology to

make our jewellery ultra-lightweight so thatwe can use the same surace area and t a

specic budget.

NOT MORE OF THE SAME

An area where itan has struggled is

with exports (barely 2 per cent o volume

currently, and only in watches). Te main

reason or that is, with its growth in India

at 35-40 per cent, the allure o expansion

abroad is dim. We didnt believe in making

losses today in the quest or a big tomorrow,which is what tends to happen when you go

overseas, says Bhaskar Bhat. Tats the big

thing le or us to do, make a signicant play

internationally.

Mr Bhat would also like to see itantaking more risks. By more risk I dont mean

somebody at the top, like me, saying thats

what we should be doing; it has to be an

organisational eort.

itan is targeting a turnover o`150

billion by 2014-15. We may not succeed

with some o our plans, but thats okay,

says Mr Bhat. What we dont have as yet

is an organisational capability to think like

that. We are now the h-largest company

in the ata group; we were nowhere in thepicture 10 years back. But I still see itan as

underperorming.

itan is sometimes called a South Indian,

middle-class company We take that as a

compliment, says Mr Bhat partly due to its

association with Bengaluru. What it has to set

its mind on now, adds Mr Bhat, is becoming a

globally admired enterprise.

Te culture o listening, learning and

leading that has been planted and nurtured in

the company means it can realise that goal. Atitan with its pedigree, track record and name

deserves no less.

A Titan in numbersJ ita has cose to 700 stores

spread across the coutry ad

810,000 s ft i tota of

retai space.

J he watches divisio has 340

stores ad 829 service cetres

aish the jeweery divisio

has 151 stores ita ye+ the

eyewear busiess has 185 stores

@MCSGDBNLO@MXlRXNTSGAQ@MC

astrack has 47.

J ita produces ore tha 13

iio watches a year akig

it the FTHLARGEST watch aker

i the word. t has thus far

sod ore tha 135 iio

watches.

J he watches divisio coads

45 per cet of the watch arket

i dia; it recorded ipressive

growth of 25 per cet i

.

J ita has ore tha 5,200

epoyees ad a attritio rate of

7.5 per cet aog the owest i

its category.


11/12


NTlCDWODBS@CDRHFMRSTCHNSNADGD@CDC

AX@CDRHFMDQ3G@SlRMNSSGDV@XHSVNQJR

at ita ad with good reaso.

evathi at is a professioa

steeped i the arketig iieu. 0-year vetera with ita she is currety

the geera aager for desig

iovatio ad deveopet at aish

ad was previous to that head of the

CDRHFMSD@LCDCHB@SDCSNSGDBNLO@MXlR

watches ad eyewear busiesses.

y kid of perso coig ito desig

was the resut of a coscious decisio

by the copay; we wated to ook at

desig fro a busiess poit of view

says s at. e reaised there was a otwe coud do through a arriage betwee

process ad creativity. esig has aways

bee viewed as a creative exertio; we

saw it as strategic.

s at eased ito her desig head

roe i 005. t was a tie whe desig

V@RADBNLHMFRHFMHB@MSHM(MCH@@MC

there was this opportuity to approach

the discipie fro a differet kid of

age she says. he copay took a

risk with e ad took a risk with thisresposibiity. thik it has paid off; we

beieve it akes a ot of sese for a

fuctio such as desig to be headed

by soebody who brigs to the tabe a

awareess of cosuers ad arketig

ad a copete busiess perspective.

3G@SlRMNS@RD@RX@R,R*@MS

akes it see. daptig desig for a

idustria process where the ephasis is

o repeatabiity ad seria productio is

arguaby ore copicated tha craftiga sige showpiece or eve a work of art.

t ay be ess upiftig ad ore prosaic

ATSSG@SCNDRMNSCTKKHSRHMTDMBD%NQ

evidece cosider the ppe of teveobs the eegace of its products ad

how they have reshaped the ook of

oder techoogy.

3HS@MlRHMSDMSHNMRL@SBGRTBGKNESX

desig ideas. esig for us is about

extreey creative peope workig withi a

VDKKCDMDCOQNBDRRnDWOK@HMR

,R*@MSm(SlR@MDA@K@MBDADSVDDM

the two: ot so uch process that it

subjugates the creative istict ad ot

so uch creativity that the process isderaied. he copay has a sige

cosoidated studio to craft its watches

ad the eyewear. or jeweery where

geographica rage atters a ot ore

it has desig studios i ubai okata

ad ehi besides egauru. his kid

of spread gives us proxiity to the arket

to vedors ad to cosuers. t aso

OQNUHCDRSGDIDVDKKDQXCHUHRHNMlRCDRHFMDQR

a fee of regioa tastes.

here are soe 40 desigers i itaspit aost euay betwee watches ad

jeweery. oe desigers predoiate

o the jeweery side ad e i watches

ad eyewear. he copay hires fro

cetres of exceece such as the

atioa stitute of esig the atioa

stitute of ashio echoogy ad

the dia stitute of echoogy. e

aso take o experieced peope but

experiece has taught us that hirig fresh

taet ad grooig the is the bestoptio adds s at.

idig good youg taet has ot

SNNADDMCHEBTKS@S@RJENQ3HS@M(SG@R

a added advatage. here are few

copaies i dia that desigers wat

to work for says s at. ortuatey

we see to be oe of the. he greater

CDFQDDNECDRHFMCHEBTKSXENQ3HS@MHRVHSG

its jeweery busiess aish. he key

chaege is to create the kid of product

that akes sese to the cosuer sayss at. d we face a ot of costraits

o weight ad akig chages i


esign is central to the itan

business aesthetic, the cornerstone

OFAMANUFACTURINGCULTUREDENED

BYELEGANCEANDNESSE

An A for D

COVER STORY


12/12

copexity ad with aufacturigcapabiity. eyod that ies the chaege

of uderstadig ad caterig to regioa

desig prefereces. he there are the

og ead ties it takes about eight

oths for a jeweery coectio to be

desiged which icreases the pressure

to get the desig euatio right. he

ucertaities are ay ot east because

we are depedet o vedors to a great

extet says s at.

xtesive cosuer research is avita too i the ita atrix of desig ad

gaiig i iportace are factors such

as a goba desig outook ad the eed

to arry fashio sesibiity with jeweery

CDRHFMm3G@SlRVGXVDG@UD@&DQL@M

expat i our desig tea ad tred

researchers for fashio for jeweery ad

for cosuers says s at.

ita has what s at cas the

s process: iersio ispiratio ad

ipeetatio but there is oy so uchay process ca deiver. here are aways

surprises ad it ca give you seepess

ights at ties. esigers are sesitive@MC@AHSHMRDBTQDSNN(SlRCHEEDQDMSEQNL

aagig a arketig tea for istace

but it is fu ad reay ejoy it.

t does ot hep that desig i dia

i a of its aifod aifestatios is just

about evovig. e have oy begu to

grasp the criticaity of desig says

s at. he cosciousess about

desig is risig at the govereta ad

poicy eve as we but ipeetatio

sti eaves a ot to be desired as ca besee fro our architecture ad i our

pubic dispays of desig. e have soe

way to go.

esig is a iescapabe diesio

of hua edeavour said the architecture

critic eyer aha. ike the weather

it is aways there but we speak about

it oy whe it is exceptioay bad or

exceptioay good. ood desig i the

cotext akes the word we ive i a itte

ess gri a itte ess brutish a itte esshideous. ita ad its desigers are doig

their bit for that cause.


Revathi Kant (in black), the head of design, innovation and development at Tanishq, with

members of her design team (from left) Swati Gehani, Pooja Kabra and Abhishek Rastogi

COVER STORY

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