ALL THAT GLITTERS IS GOLD While going through the bullion rate and the sky-rocketing gold prices, the only question that the board members at the Titan Industries, Bangalore were deliberating was: Is gold inaccessible to the Indian customers living in the semi-urban and rural markets? Can it be made a part of their purchase kitty? Authors - Anu Singh Lather and Puja Khatri.

1. DES’S
INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT AND
REASERCH
PGDM-II (2014-2016)
Marketing Strategy
Case Study – Tata GoldPlus
SubmittedTo: SubmittedBy:
Prof. GiribalaDewasthale Tushar Bhadalkar

2. Executive Summary
Question01: What Strategies should GoldPlus adopt to compete in market?
Answer01:
Competitors Analysis –
Major Players - Gitanja li, Adora, Ciemme (Tier-3&4, Guj, Central & Northeast)
limited edition rural designs), Kisna (18 Carat Maharashtra & Gujarat – 1000
retailers, designs every 4 months.)
South Indian Competitors – Joy Allukas, Jose Allukas, Kalyan Jewelers, Kumaran
Jewelers, Bhima Jewellers, and Malabar Gold in Tamil Nadu and Khazana and Md.
Khan Jewellers in Andhra Pradesh.
They offered new designs and lower prices with assured buybacks & incentives
schemes.
Tata GoldPlus should adopt below strategy to compete with them -
1. Design Differentiation & Studded Jewellery
2. Positioning of Brand not as Premium only – Store design as per local taste,
lower pricing products, ads to local newspaper and local events.
3. Market Focus – TN, AP, Kerala, Karnataka – 800 tonnes consumed.
4. Target Small Fragmented Players (30800Cr), Big family/regional players
(14,200Cr)
5. Easy Gold Loans – To lure women in age group 18 to 55 years to purchase
the gold when they require.
Question02: How can GoldPlus compete with inundated unorganised jewellery mom-
pop stores?
Answer02:
The mom-pop stores sold on transaction driven by long term relationships their
bonding was very strong, so even if they gave poor shopping experience, lack of
transparency, inconsistent pricing, traditional designs, low caratage, they dominated
the market share. Target Small Fragmented Players (30,800Cr). Brandedjewellery
is sold as their own product without using the label by small shop owners. Unsure
Quality - Buying of 22 carat but while selling its 18 carat. (Decision based on
discount and gifts.) The shop owners subcontract work to others difficult to stock and
quality control.

3. Tata had to take a lot of effort starting from establishing trust, transparency and
quality.
 Transparency (Karatmeter) in business by customer visit to factory who are
early adopters and innovators.
 Retail experience by store layout that were designed as local needs.
 HallMark Scheme – Assured Purity by strict quality measures to stop fraud
base metal have gold polishing and adulteration using alloy.
 Design – New designs and Styles that according to customer taste and
preferences. “Mystery Audit” helped to fill these gaps for offering better
products
Question03: Would it be advisable to launch the brand in the Delhi NCR market,
given the profile of the rural and semi urban customers in this region? What
problems are they likely to face while implementing this expansion strategy?
Answer03:
Customer Market Segmentation –
1. Market is unorganised, unprofessional, unscrupulous and fragmented.
2. Jewellery – 80% domestic demand (40% Urban & 60% small cities, semi-
urban and rural. Small town buyers who stick to local store due to strong
bonding.)
3. Investor Demand – 15%
4. Industrial Use – 5%
The North Market is completely different than South India’s buying behaviour.
Consumers in South are emotional and are driven by family values. For example,
they do not buy diamonds because of the firm belief of Dosha
 North Buying Behaviour - 37 percent bought gold more than twice a year;
about 28 percent bought gold because of peer pressure while 50 percent
bought for investment purpose.
 North Indian customers whose gold purchase is driven by peer pressure and
demonstration effect.
 In North it was used as status symbol during the occasions like wedding.
Tata understood the difference in the buying behaviour and the problems while
implementation likely to face were lack of trust on branded stores, preference to
gems and precious stones over gold which changes the category of product. Right
location of Franchisees in small cities and rural areas.
The plans for expansion are necessary to achieve economies of Scale

4. Question04: What innovative strategies can GoldPlus adopt to increase its market
share in the Indian market?
Answer04: Tata GoldPlus was already educating villagers, promoting through right
mix of product, price and events.
Pilot Strategy –
 Region Specific: The brand targeted the Southern Indian Cities where
maximum consumption of Gold with reasonable pricing.
 Shopping Experience - Retail strategy was developed on the location,
ambience, and experience at the store, with the idea of making the
environment conducive for a perfect gold shopping experience.
 Layout - Display windows and panels, outlook of store.
 Sponsoring - Sponsored various local events and took initiatives to make a
place in the hearts of the people.
 Opportunity – No middlemen direct hiring karigars.
 Pricing & Products - Variety to choose from ready-to-wear jewellery and
value-for-money products.
GoldPlus decided to create a promo which would
grab the attention of the target customer; it created a
24.5 kg gold bangle that gave it an entry into the
Limca Book of Records and took the bangle on a
roadshow in 17 towns.
Competitions were organized around the same
theme like a ‘guess the weight of the bangle’ contest.
The company also offered a photo opportunity to
visitors, with options to mail their photographs to five
of their acquaintances.
Gold Paper Slip - Innovative promotions include new store openings being
preceded by distribution of gold paper slips to potential customers in a 3-5 km asking
visit to customers.
Gold Bill - Similar promotions are conducted inside hotels by offering a free sweet
dish and a paper coin along with the bill or gold paper with flowers while leaving a
temple.
Events - Small and big events that team GoldPlus conducts throughout the year.
These events are aimed at bringing out the talent of locals.
Golden Chariot – 1,500 villages in three months was covered by GoldPlus custom-
built bus called the thanga ratham (gold chariot) which goes from village to village in
Tamil Nadu with an on-board video educational campaign.

5. Trust & Factory Visit - GoldPlus invites more than
40 customers to visit their Hosur factory and has an
interacttive session with them.
Caratmeter - Customers are then encouraged to
come and check the purity of the gold they already
own using this. Avail of services like cleaning and
polishing their jewellery free of cost.
Innovations in Promotion –
Transparency and Trust platform - Team of 6-7 people, who visit villages on a
daily basis to educate about what the customer should look for in gold.
Weddings Cards - Store manager keeps track of weddings and other social events
by networking with local priests and sends cards to them in advance. The company
sponsors banners at the wedding, which is followed by another round of gifts. Futher
networking at marriage.
Events - Events strike emotional chords which connect people and products.
Customer loyalty programs.
Innovative Gold Schemes for Everyone –
Offers options like monthly saving schemes and gold grammage schemes wherein
consumers can invest based on their convenience, save over a period of time, and
then buy jewellery when they intend to do so.
Golden Future Savings Scheme –
Allows consumers to plan future purchases in advance and pay for them in easy
instalments.
The Traditional Flavour –
Temple Store layouts, Exchange of old gold for new (2% while others 6-8%),
intensive training on how to deal with customers, sales staff begins their day with
Yoga.
Corporate Social Responsibility –
Two major initiatives in 15 districts for auto rickshaw drivers to help them buy gold
with their savings, free eye check-up camp, distributed 5,000 eyeglasses, and
performed 100 cataract operations. NGO are asked to supply of gifts purchased by
GoldPlus.
Promise of Purity - A range of over 5,000 designs in 22 carat plain gold and
diamond jewellery are offered in the showroom with to cater to the needs of
quality-conscious consumers

6. Our Suggestions:
Promotion of GoldPlus Jewellery through Regional Language Movies and TV shows.
Example – Bajirao Mastani.
Gold Biscuits – Recycled gold accounts for 30% market share and those who invest
in gold for daughter’s wedding can be
targeted. We can promote small size gold
biscuits that will save design work money
also will avoid use of alloy while making
jewellery. Gold biscuits are easily bought
and sold in market.
Tieup Apparel Store – For wedding
shoppers at the ethnic apparel stores will
get special offers for GoldPlus jewellery.
Customisation – Giving customer options to make customization in jewellery and
delivery in less time.
Question 05: As Brand Manager of GoldPlus, what strategies would you have
recommended for strengthening Tata Gold Plus brand?
Answer 05:
As Brand Manager strengthening can be done by Sustainable Competitive
Advantage, by matching resources and capability with Key Success Factors of Tata.
1. Tata advantage of brand name hence they can also Tap Womens
Schools/Colleges to conduct contest, vocational courses and give them
information about purity and quality of gold to talk with their parents (in future
these parents are buying gold for daughter’s marriage).
2. Focus - There are more occasions like Women’s Day, Valentine Day,
Anniversary, Birthday’s, Karva Chaut, Mother’s Day which can be promoted
by shopping invitation cards or other activities.
3. Focus - Mass Media as reach of print is low and due to low literacy rate. So
occasionally using Radio channel which is most used in rural areas.
4. Low Price Artifical Diamonds & Light Weight Jewellery - Nano coated
diamonds of less cost can be promoted. Now trending is light weight jewellery
for daily use which can be made more attractive to suit rural needs by
GoldPlus.

7. 5. Differentiation by Franchisee-
driven – The franchisee driven
model can be supported by e-
commerce platform where the
jewellery can be delivered
same day by franchisee
owners.
6. Cross Selling – Tata GoldPlus can insure the customers/retailers by using
their own Tata AIG Insurance product which will increase their market share.
7. MLM Chain – A person who refers his friend/relative will get discounts based
on purchase amount of the friend/relative. Higher the amount higher the
discount slabs.
Sustailable
Competitve
Brand
Advantage
Low Cost
Products
Differentaion
Focus