The Madras Management Association hosted Vinay Kamath’s book release on Titan Industries. T K Balaji, B Santhanam, L Ramkumar and Bhaskar Bhat – all alumni of IIM-A, discussed the book.
Vinay, an Associate Editor with The Hindu Business Line, is known for his insights into the corporate world. He has delved deep into unraveling the course of India’s most successful consumer brand.
There was the foresight of Minoo Mody, Xerxes Desai and Anil Manchanda who identified the potential of the watch business. The guidance rendered by the brilliant bureaucrat (and the maha epigraphist), Iravadam Mahadevan, working then at the Udyog Bhawan, initially suggested Tatas entering the watch business; and later as the head of TIDCO, provided the licence and reference to the French watchmaker France Ebauches.
Vinay describes Titan’s exciting journey through discussions with the top brass of Tatas, including Ratan Tata and N Chandrasekaran. Vinay seems to have met all kinds of people: from advt pundits to market wizards to salesmen at street corners to Titan’s titans Xerxes Desai and Bhaskar Bhat. He has detailed the difficult times when the company was at the edge of a precipice and of the remarkable recoveries it made through astute management. Particularly fascinating is the decision to expand into jewellery business funded by the successful watch business. In both these businesses Titan has been a game-changer.
The boldness to opt for the crystal technology even while the public sector HMT was ruling the market by its mechanical watches was brilliant. Even more so was its entering the jewellery business, till then the preserve of traditional craftsmen. At a time when skill development was not the mantra and movement it is today, Titan nurtured this intricate craftsmanship by taking recourse to technology and management.
At that time there was not much knowledge on the quality or the weight of the jewel purchased. There were widespread short-changes in regard to caratage. Most jewellery traders could not match the trust implicit in the Tatas and the latter’s ability to access technology and systems. Vinay describes the huge success of advertising and marketing, both in the print medium and television, by advertisement wizards like Mani Ayer and his brilliant team at O&M. – SV
