How FASTRACK moves on......

Note: In this Blog Fastrack as a brand has been analyzed under various elements of Marketing Management, All the inferences are personal and have been drawn based on online and offline research. For any disagreement or clarification please contact me at; rajeev.ranjan14@simc.edu

Brand – Fastrack

Established: 1998

Parent Company – Titan Industries

Products – Watches, Sunglasses, Bags, Belts and Wallets

Category – Fashion (Accessories) / Lifestyle

Marketing Definition – ‘Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large’ – American Marketing Association (AMA)

Marketing Definition keeping ‘fastrack’ in mind - Marketing is the activity (Demand Creation and Supply), set of institutions, and processes for creating (Products i.e. Watches, Sunglasses, Bags, Belts and Wallets), communicating (promoting Fastrack as a youth centric brand), delivering (Products and after sale services), and exchanging offerings that have value for customers (Brand Image, Durability, quality, After sale-services, Value for money, style quotient i.e.  fashionable and trendy.), clients, partners, and society at large’.

Background : -

Titan Watches the major Indian watchmaker embarked on the fashion watches category with the launch of the Titan Fastrack watches in the year 1998. As the ever changing fashion industry influenced the watch industry during this era, Titan watches came up with the stylish and trendy Titan Fastrack watches collection.

Extraordinarily innovative technology coupled with a fresh sense of style in the Titan Fastrack watches became an instant rage especially with youths. Significant rise in Titan Fastrack watches sales has subsequently compelled Titan to establish it as a separate brand, Fastrack enjoys over 35% share of Titan's turnover.

Fastrack from the house of Titan is one of India’s most inventive ‘youth’ brands. Trendy in design and young in patrons, it began with watches, extended into eyewear and aims to reinvent itself as a youth accessories brand. Watches became wrist gear, Sunglasses became eye gear. The Fastrack ad campaigns with their pithy taglines were open to interpretation and accompanied by product designs which spoke volumes.

Value offered to Consumers : -

Consumer-Perceived Value(CPV) is the difference between the prospective consumer's evaluation of all the benefits and all the costs of an offering and the perceived alternatives. Total Consumer Benefit is the perceived monetary value of the bundle of economic, functional, and psychological benefits customers expect from a given market offering because of the products, services, personnel, and image involved. Total Consumer Cost is the perceived bundle of costs customers expect to incur in evaluation, obtaining, using, and disposing of the given market offering, including monetary, time, energy, and psychological costs.

The Values offered by FASTRACK to it's consumers are elaborated below:-

Core Value: Watches – Checking Time, Sunglasses – Protection from Sun and UV rays, Bags – to carry any article, Belts – style, Wallets – Carrying Money and Credit/debit cards

Secondary Values:  Style quotient i.e. cool, fashionable and trendy.

Other Values: Brand Image (Titan and TATA), Durability, Quality goods, After Sale-Services i.e. Free Warranty, repairs etc, Value for money i.e. affordable prices, Discounts.

The Cost Involved in obtaining and using a FASTRACK product can be described as below:-

Monetary Cost - Since FASTRACK targets youth from age 15 to age 25, the prices for all their product is value for money  (Its watches range between Rs 695 and Rs 3,500, sunglasses Rs 695-2,500, bags Rs 595-2,500 and belts Rs 195-1,095)

Time Cost - There isn't much time cost involved, Titan Industries has India's largest retail network. The company has over 331 exclusive 'World of Titan' showrooms and over 83 Fastrack stores. it also has online shopping which makes it easy for the consumers to choose their model on the internet and either pick the same from the local store or order it online if they can wait a few days for delivery.

Energy Cost - NOT APPLICABLE in case of Fastrack as they are dealing with Accessories 

Psychological Cost - The psychological costs refer to the consumer’s mental stress or emotional labor during the shopping experience which isn't again a factor in the case of Fastrack.



Customer Decision Making Process : -

The Five Stage Model by Mr. Philip Kotler can be applied in the following ways when it comes to Fastrack:-

Problem Recognition: The target group is largely college students who definitely are in need of watches, bags as well as eyegears. The youth today mostly hang out in groups, where the peer pressure is extremely high specially when it comes to brands of accessories like watches, bags, eye gears. Fastrack has kept it's communication very clear when it comes to establishing itself as a cool and trendy brand for youth that too in a price range i.e. value for money.

Information Search: For the target segment the information search is mostly Personal and Commercial at first i.e. the ads and the message about the brand being cool, funky and trendy at the same time affordable as well. Personal i.e. friends and family also have ample information as the brand comes from Titan which comes from TATA. So, Fastrack has the benefit of a good and respected brand image in market which makes consumers feel secure about their decision to buy and use Fastrack products.

Evaluation and Selection of Alternatives: Here again Fastrack is the winner because the nearest competetion in India for them is Timex which was a partner to Titan and Fastrack was launched when they parted ways in 1998. However, Timex does not have a significant hold in India. other alternatives may be HMT, Maxima-quartz, Casio as the Domestic competitor brands and Fossil, Espirit, Swatch, Citizen are International brands. However, These brands have not really succeeded in all areas to lure customers i.e price as well as quality. And I believe somewhere coming from under the great umbrella of TATA helps Fastrack a lot and they also win when it comes to quality offering along with a affordable price.

Decision Implementation: Once clear about buying Fastrack after looking at all the alternatives, decision Implementation is simple because Fastrack products are easy to buy, either from one of many Fastrack/Titan stores or by shopping online. 


Post-purchase Evaluation: After the purchase Fastrack always makes the buyer feel good by providing warranty on few of the products and keeping the cool quotient of the brand going which makes consumers feel good about their association with Fastrack in any possible way. Also, the availability of many stores for repairs under warranty gives consumers a sense of relief and makes them feel good about their purchase.

Family Life Cycle and Socio-Economic Classification : -

The Stages of Family Life Cycle and Fastrack Consumer;

1.     Unmarried Working – Most of the Fastrack Consumers belong to this group specially when they are of age below 28.

2.     Married, No kids – At this point, the consumer will not really buy a youth brand but they will buy products that are targeted at the executive class. However, they wouldn’t mind having a few of the Fastrack product for occasions like a holiday or party. It may be impulse buying but I am sure newly married will be attracted to some of the Fastrack offerings.

3.     Married, newbie Kids (pre-teens) – This group will be more focused at the future of the family and be busy saving for child education, spending on baby care products. They will definitely not be Fastrack’s target.

4.     Married, Growing/Grown-up kids (Teen) – Here the household runner won’t be the target but their kids will be, who will be sponsored for their demands by the parents. Here though a communication to the parents isn’t important but a good brand image related with value for money and durability will definitely help increase sales as these parents look for buying gifts for their children on occasions like birthdays, first day of high school/college or festivals etc.

5.     Emptiness – Not at all the target in case of Fastrack.

6.     Single Survivor – Again not a target for Fastrack.

The New Socio-Economic Classification System and Fastrack Consumer;

In case of Fastrack I believe almost all the consumers will belong to the SEC group B1 and above which means the Chief Earner mostly be a graduate and the number of durables will be more than 5.

Market Structure and Competition : -

The country's watch industry market size is expected to touch Rs 15,000 crore by 2020 on rising income levels and increasing consumerism, says a study by industry body Assocham.

At present, the sector's size is estimated at Rs 5,000 crore, the study said. "Indian watch market is set to touch Rs 15,000 crore in the next seven to eight years due to increasing income levels and growing popularity of watches, especially amongst youths," Assocham Secretary General D S Rawat said.

This untapped segment has enormous potential for growth, the study said. "Some customers look out for features like fashion trends, technology and sophistication, while others go for durability and reasonable prices," it said.

Further, the study said the maximum number of watches sold is in the price range of Rs 500 to Rs 5,000 followed by a higher price bracket of Rs 5,000 to Rs 25,000. However, with more and more global brands foraying into the Indian market aimed at catering to growing demand, it has created challenges for local manufacturers as well, the study said.

"But local players still continue to dominate the Indian watch industry due to good manufacturing base and affordable prices," it said. - The Economic Times (6th June 2012)

Competition -  When it comes to watches, Titan has been the Market Leader in Indian Watch Industry. Fastrack was launched in 1998 after Titan an Timex Joint Venture (1992 - 1998) ended to compete with Timex which was then considered as a youth brand as compared to Titan, which was and still is perceived as a serious brand. Other competitors do not have a significant hold in India these competitors are HMT, Maxima-quartz, Casio as the Domestic players and Fossil, Espirit, Swatch, Citizen as the International players.

However, few years after launch and enough experimentation Fastrack established itself as a youth accessories brand and not just a watch brand. They also entered into businesses like Belts, Bags, Eye-gears, Wallets, etc

And while Fastrack has successfully walked the marketing tightrope of speaking exclusively to youngsters, it has also walked the talk of a youth brand by keeping prices firmly in check. Its watches range between Rs 695 and Rs 3,500, sunglasses Rs 695-2,500, bags Rs 595-2,500 and belts Rs 195-1,095. There has to be a sweet-spot of aspiration and affordability for the youth.

By virtue of being a stylish but affordable brand in sunglasses, it has filled a gap between the RayBans of the world at the upper end and the unbranded flea-market bargains at the lower end. With bags, belts and wallets, it has eschewed leather goods for materials that help keep the costs low, weather rough use and also look good.

Fastrack is the entry barrier for competition and it will be difficult to beat the way youngsters relate to Fastrack as a brand. None of the other brands that operate in the accessories’ space are solely focused on accessories; accessories are just one part of a larger portfolio. So they end up concentrating more on their flagship products such as sports shoes, luggage etc. In contrast, Fastrack have separate ad budgets and teams to service these product categories.

Industry Life Cycle and Product Life Cycle : -

Fastrack along with the watch Industry is currently in the early maturity stage of the life cycle, as mentioned in market structure the watch industry is poised to grow to 15000 crores in the next seven-eight years from 5000 crores today.  And, I believe Fastrack is here to stay for a long-long time as well, owing to it's brand reputation, quality product, clear communication and most important no close competition. They also have plan of expanding their offerings which will help them in prolonging the maturity stage for a much greater time. 

Fastrack is working on a new line of attack. Next up are bicycles, helmets and fashion footwear. These could prove to be much more difficult to crack — with helmets offering little in terms of precedents and fashion footwear a problem of plenty. But then who said Fastrack was afraid of changing the rules of the game? Further to the expansion plans into new line of products Fastrack is laying the foundation to go international. The retail chain believes that there is demand in the emerging markets for its products, and also where there is a sizeable Indian population. Some of the countries it is looking at are Brazil, China, Vietnam among others. This strategy may help it speed up its target to be a Rs 3,000 crore brand in five years, from the Rs 615 crore brand that it is today.

Note: In spite of lot of effort, I was unable get detailed information about Fastrack's annual sales since it's inception in 1998. So, the above graph is not based upon sales figures but on the Brand's achievements and current standing.

Fastrack’s introduction stage was quite an easy sail through, the brand was launched as ‘Titan Fastrack’ in order to make the most of the brand image already earned by Titan. Fastrack had a good start. During the first year, the brand clocked a turnover of Rs 15 crore. The good run continued till 2001-2002 and was worth Rs 25 crores. But then onwards the sales stagnated, although the brand appealed to youngsters, the price was a significant dampener. It was found that the target group which consisted of college students could not afford this brand (initial range of digital watches started from Rs. 795)

During 2003-04, the brand went in for a repositioning exercise targeting the executive segment as well as the casual watch segment. It was a suicidal experiment. The brand sales came down to Rs 23 crore. The change in positioning did not fit well with the brand. The steely look of the watches emphasized that it was sturdy and long-lasting. Fastrack was constantly refreshing the designs, but the sales were stagnant. The trouble lay with the price; the consumers were not willing to pay Rs 1200– 2700 for a watch that did not have the executive image. In 2005, the brand went for another repositioning exercise with a new logo and a new positioning. They decided to again target the youngsters, the Generation Next. But for this they had to break the price barrier. The brand discarded the steely look of the watches and looked at a mix of plastic and steel. It was a perfect cut-copy from the strategy adopted by Swatch. By doing so, Fastrack was able to reduce the starting price to Rs 500 and was available in a price range of Rs. 500 – Rs. 2000. And, today Fastrack has reached early maturity stage in it's life cycle and has it's own image as a brand which is why during the shift from growth to maturity stage it was decided to drop the name Titan and to be branded only as Fastrack and not Titan Fastrack.

Product Mix Concept : -

Fastrack has a wide Product Portfolio in only five product lines (as on August 2012) i.e. Watches, Wallets, Belts, Sunglasses and Bags. Further, like many lifestyles brands few of the product lines are divided into various sub-categories addressed as collections and many of the collections overlap among more than one product line;

Watches (Range RS. 650 - RS. 3995) – One of the primary offerings by Fastrack the Collections or sub-categories are; Bigtime, Hip Hop, Denim, Mean Machine, Tattoo, XY, Party, Tees, Bikers, Army, Beach, Sports, Essentials, Neon, Urban Kitsch, Digital. (total 16 sub-categories)

Sunglasses (Range 500 - RS. 2995) – This is also one of the important offerings by Fastrack and pushed along with the watch designs and hence many sub-categories are similar; Eye Sport, Hip Hop, Denim, Summer, Ultraslim, Tattoo, Tees, Bikers, Girl, Aviator, Army, Beach, Sports. (Total 13 sub-categories)

Bags (Range RS. 695 - RS. 2295) – There is no proper classification in this product line as the offerings keep on changing based on recent fashion.

Belts (Range RS. 495 - RS. 995) – Similar to bags, though there are many different styles of belts offered by Fastrack, they haven’t been classified under any sub-category.

 

Wallets (RS. 695 - RS. 1295) – Here also Fastrack has wide range of variety for both males and females but again not classified under any specific sub-categories.

There is never really a fixed number of items offered by Fastrack at any given point of time so as to give an accurate idea about the Length and Width of the Product Mix. Since, it’s a lifestyle brand, they keep modifying existing offerings, introducing new offerings and also closing down on not in demand offerings. As mentioned earlier in this post, soon we will be seeing Fastrack’s expansion into new product lines i.e. Bicycles, Helmets, Fashion Foot wares etc.

Service Mix : -

Fastrack being a lifestyle brand and offering goods like watches, sunglasses, bags, belts and wallets, will be put under the category ‘tangible good with accompanying services’.

And the major services which are offered to prospective and final customers can be identified as below;

-          Fastrack Stores; Fastrack is currently operating 94 of these stores around India, the number will soon go above 100. These stores specifically are for only fastrack products. Apart from these fastrack products are of course available at many retail outlets either private or Titan’s but these stores are designed and well equipped with proper trained staff to offer any information and assistance needed to any walk in customer and also listen and solve their grievances.

-        Warranty; the warranty offered on various products for repairing and/or exchange is also a type of a service that is offered along with the product.

      However, the warranty part of the service offered by Fastrack is something that need to paid attention upon, this observation is from my personal experience. In the case of watches, except for Titan exclusive showrooms, other watch retailers does not stock the full range of Fastrack watches and neither they offer spares like straps, glasses etc. I went to replace the damaged glass of my Fastrack watch and after visiting Fastrack stores in many cities (Chandigarh, Delhi, Mumbai) had to be satisfied with one which was local made and that does not fit with the design so well. The reason for not stocking Fastrack spares was cited that the design changes very fast so it’s not viable for the brand to supply spares for all the models produced and sold.

-       Website http://fastrack.in; fastrack’s website has all their products listed there with details on design, colors available and price. There is also a facility called Store Locater. These make it very easy for a consumer to decide what they want to buy and check with the store on phone or email, if they have that item available so that they don’t go to store and come back empty handed or buy something else instead. Also there is a dedicated official online shopping website for fastrack products i.e. http://shop.fastrack.in/, this is very well designed for someone with very basic internet shopping literacy to be able to choose products of their choice and buy it.

-       Customer Support (033-40260470); A hotline for any kind of queries for everyone i.e. customers as well as others.



Brand & Brand Equity : -

     

      Brand is a "Name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller's good or service as distinct from those of other sellers.

      Fastrack as a brand has very well established itself as a youth brand which offers value for money for each of their offerings.

      Fastrack has strongly associated itself with the youth. Its tagline ‘Move On’ speaks volume about its branding strategy. Targeted at Generation Next, the brand captures the essence and philosophy of today’s fun loving, free spirited youth through the new positioning encapsulated in a tongue in cheek colloquial phrase-‘How many you have’

    

      By 1998, Titan was one of the most trusted brands in watch segment. But, Titan had moved up the age spectrum. The youth associated the brand with their parents and stayed away from it. It was missing out on a huge segment for which it had no market offering. Titan recognized the need in the watch market – a reasonably priced watch for the youth between the age group of 15-25 years. Fastrack was launched in 1998 as a sub-brand of Titan. Then it was spun off as an independent brand targeting the urban youth. Fastrack entered the market saturated with international designer labels-like Citizen, Seiko, Swatch, Casio, Timex - but managed to carve a niche for itself in the youth accessories market, with designs that are refreshingly different, casual, eclectic and fun clubbed with prices that do not burn a hole through the pocket.

      Fastrack’s current campaign ‘Blame Fastrack’ is a very catchy campaign and again focused on the youth. By better positioning the products in the ads and giving out a clear call to action, the campaign can result in ‘sticky customers’.

        

      Brand Equity;

‘     Brand Equity is the value of a brand. From a consumer perspective, brand equity is based on consumer attitudes about positive brand attributes and favorable consequences of brand use.’

  

      As mentioned earlier, Fastrack enjoys high brand awareness among the targeted consumers. It is perceived as a value for money brand offering quality products for the youth. Also Fastrack belonging to Titan and thus to the TATA’s creates huge brand equity among people of all age. 

Pricing Decisions : - 

      As mentioned in the earlier posts Fastrack entered the market with unique good quality products that were priced reasonably not to make the consumer feel that the value offered by the brand was less than the overall cost spent by him/her.

      Being from under the brand umbrella of TATA, Fastrack also focuses on delivering more value to consumers as compared any of the close competitors. That prevents entry of potential entrants in the industry as they will not be able to offer such quality products at a low price.

      Fastrack prices its products with the objective of maintaining the maximum market share. That is why they always try to keep the difference between the total perceived value and total perceived cost as either positive or zero. This method of pricing is also known as Value Pricing, which helps in keeping the target consumers be loyal to the brand and pleased with their purchase.

     Promotion (IMC/ATL/BTL) : -   

      Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC): Marketing Communications are the means by which firms attempt to inform, persuade, and remind consumers – directly or indirectly – about the products and brands they sell and IMC is A marketing communications plan that evaluates the strategic roles of a variety of communication disciplines and combines these disciplines to provide clarity, consistency, and maximum communication impact.

      The two segments of Marketing Communications are;

      1.     ATL (Above the Line) Communications; Caters to Mass Market by using Mass media like television, cinema, radio, print, Telephone, Internet, Out-of-home etc.

       2.     BTL (Below the Line) Communications; Caters to Niche Market by using Design, Direct Marketing (Telemarketing, mails, catalogues etc.), Public Relations, Sales Promotions, Buzz (Word of Mouth), Sampling, Relationship Marketing, Packaging etc.

      Media Selection is finding the most cost-effective media to deliver the desired number and type of exposure to the target audience. It is decided based on Reach, Frequency and Impact of any particular media.

      But before anything for a brand to start communicating, it is of great importance to identify the Target Audience for the related product and Fastrack has been very clear about the TG they cater. For the brand manager of a brand like Fastrack to handle the issues connected is very difficult. The brand has to keep the consumer interest growing by launching new models and also updating cool communication in the most cost effective way. That is the reason why most of Fastrack ads are directed at promoting the brand as a whole and not a specific product or collection and with taglines like ‘Move On’, ‘How many you have’ or ‘Blame Fastrack’, the communication has always been well received by the target audience. Some Fastrack ads showing females as empowered and of free will and not as dependent have got a lot of praising from female youth because in India they have always been stereotyped as a housewife or as an ideal child who completely depends on the family or her male partner for everything. Also, just when Fastrack started to position itself as a separate brand than Titan it took part in extensive activities at college functions and other youth-centric activities which have reduced now may be because of the high awareness already being enjoyed by the brand. Since inception most of the Fastrack’s communication has been Above the Line communication; Titan’s well established network helps Fastrack in not putting too much effort in having enough familiarity in the BTL segment. And also since most of the products are priced at a reasonable rate which in turn means low margin for the retailers as well as Fastrack, which puts restriction on the brand in using all kinds of Marketing Communications. According to me it’s the perfect approach for brand like Fastrack because the heavy ATL communicatins keeps the brand name and brand promise alive which helps consumer footfalls in the Fastrack stores as well as constant online visitors on the online shopping site of Fastrack.

      

     

      The Fastrack Facebook page (shown above) with over 4.4 Million followers and the Twitter handle is heavily used in communicating with the Target Consumers and the concept of online coupons and codes for discounts keeps the traffic buzzing and for this Fastrack always keeps announcing discount offers specially for Facebook page followers and this is what helped Fastrack cross the 1 Million mark by announcing a 50% flat discount for the fans on Facebook across all Fastrack stores . And point to be noted here is that though the communication on mass media is only about the brand and it’s attitude, on the internet it goes into some details about products as well because of the low cost and ease of internet.

      Along with the right media and the perfect communication Fastrack also uses right personalities as Brand ambassadors who the Target Audience relates well with fir examples for Fastrack sunglasses, the first brand ambassador was the Bollywood actor John Abraham since it was figured out that most of the Target Consumers owned Bikes and John was identified as an idol for many bikers at that point of time. After which Fastrack had a series of ads with cricketer Virat Kohli and Genelia D'Souza, Virat Kohli is the perfect association with the brand because of his fun loving and do-not-give-a-damn attitude image portrayed by the Media. Current ads of Fastrack do not have any famous celebrity, which I believe is not a matter of concern because the Brand already enjoys good amount of brand awareness and anyways the communication is so catchy that it grabs attention quickly. However, when Fastrack launches the new lines of products i.e. Bicycles, helmets, fashion foot wares, they will have to introspect and may be change their communication because the product range goes beyond fashion accessories.

Distribution Decisions : -  

      Distribution of products takes place by means of channels. Channels are sets of interdependent organisations (called intermediaries) involved in making the product available for consumption.

      This is probably one of the areas where Fastrack needs to pay a lot of attention and come up with effective solutions; The 90 Fastrack stores are not alone enough for reaching the Target Consumers. And with the variety of product lines being offered by Fastrack, they need different distribution channels. Where there is not much problem when it comes to the distribution of Fastrack watches due to the well established channel by Titan and  Currently Titan has 65 distributors handling well over 6000 dealers across the country. But for the other products like Sunglasses, Bags, Belts and Wallets yet there is huge amount of confusion. I mean you can certainly buy them online but if you want to go to a store and plan to buy any of these products from Fastrack, you have to be lucky to find a store especially with a wide variety of models. This happens due to the low margin to the stores because of the low prices and also because most of the famous stores deal with premium brands and Fastrack is not one, it comes in similar price that of a unorganized market of such products. Many of the unorganized stores do keep Fastrack products but again consistency in stock is not there because of the irregular supply and also it does not seem very tempting to them because of the low profit margin as they earn more on selling non-branded merchandise which come in similar price range.  

      Fastrack does have plans of opening many stores across India but still they need to invest in planning and establishing a much better distribution network for their products other than watches without that the brand will fail in maximizing its profit and achieving good amount of market share.



Sales Management : -  

Sales management is efforts put forth to attain a company’s sales objectives. Sales management can involve any of the following activities:

      1.      Formulation of sales strategy through development of account management policies, sales force compensation policies, sales revenue forecasts, and sales plan.

      2.     Implementation of sales strategy through selecting, training, motivating, and supporting the sales force, setting sales revenue targets, and

      3.     Sales force management through development and implementation of sales performance, monitoring, and evaluation methods, and analysis of associated behavioral patterns and costs.

      In case of Fastrack the sales management mainly caters to creating value for money product that attract the youth. And for this to be achieved there are proper communications designed to reach the Target Groups, The sales happen either in Fastrack stores, on the internet, in many lifestyle stores as well as many of the unorganized stores. In order to achieve target sales, Fastrack always attracts footfalls in stores and online visitors by announcing offers one or many of its collections at various times and occasions. Also, due to the problems of ambiguity of the distribution channel for products other than watches Fastrack is trying to open many Fastrack stores as soon as possible, which will help the consumers who are still not comfortable shopping online and have problems finding the shouted product. The Fastrack stores make it easier for Fastrack to implement its sales management strategies and all the related functions. So more reach of these stores will in turn provide the company with better revenue. About 60% of the sale revenue is from the Watch segment and the rest from Eye gears and bags etc. The company’s turnover has grown multi-fold, from a mere Rs 29-crore sub-brand in 2004 to a Rs 615-crore independent brand this fiscal. It is targeting a 50 per cent growth in FY 13 and hopes to cross the Rs 1,000-crore mark.





   Consumer Behaviour : - 

    

      Consumer behaviour is the study of individuals, groups, or organizations and the processes they use to select, secure, and dispose of products, services, experiences, or ideas to satisfy needs and the impacts that these processes have on the consumer and society. It is based on various factors which are illustrated in the chart below.

      In case of Fastrack Consumers the maximum impact on the behavour is from Friends and reference groups(peers). And the perception about the brand as a brand for youth helps a favorable Buying Decision Process (explained earlier in this blog) towards Fastrack which in turn helps the Brand in materializing its goals.

     Organizational Buying Behaviour : -

      Organization buying is the decision-making process by which formal organizations establish the need for purchased products and services and identify, evaluate, and choose among alternative brands and suppliers. (Webster and Wind)

      Some of the characteristics of organizational buyers are:

      1. Consumer market is a huge market in millions of consumers where organizational buyers are limited in number for most of the products

      2. The purchases are in large quantities

      3. Close relationships and service are required

      4. Demand is derived from the production and sales of buyers

      5. Demand fluctuations are high as purchases from business buyers magnify fluctuation in demand for their products

      6. The organizational buyers are trained professionals in purchasing

      7. Several persons in organization influence purchase

      8. Lot of buying occurs in direct dealing with manufacturers

       

      There is not much information available about Fastrack and its suppliers. Still, it’s very clear that manufacturing of most of the parts are outsourced either in India as well as abroad. The assembling is done at the plants owned by Fastrack/Titan’s across India. The brand does supply almost all of it’s product to many lifestyle stores across India like Shoppers Stop, Westside, Pantaloons etc. 

    Segmenting, Targeting and Positioning (STP) and Marketing Strategies : -

      Any Brands creates its marketing strategy based on expected customer behavior. And in order to know the customer and its expected buying behavior and use it in forming the right marketing strategy, a proper process of segmenting, positioning and targeting is needed.

      Segmenting is a process of dividing the market into segments based on customer characteristics, needs and behaviour. Segmenting of any Market is done in various ways, few of the important bases of segmentation are;

        1.     Geographic Segmentation; Region, City, Rural and Semi-Urban areas

        2.     Demographic Segmentation; Age, Family Size, Gender, Income, Occupation, Education

        3.     Psychographic Segmentation; Socioeconomic Classification (SEC), Lifestyle, Personality

        4.     Behavioural Segmentation; occasions, benefits, user status, usage rate, loyalty status, attitude

      The most scientific way to identify a segment with consumers with common customer value for which there isn’t a proper parameter and hence the above mentioned bases are used. The Market segment for Fastrack is Youth both male as well as female either in college or early jobbers.

      Proper Targeting is very important in order to make the brand successful, it’s not only about targeting the right people but also targeting them in the most appropriate way. So far Fastrack has been very successful in targeting the right consumers however, the earning and the disposable money is increasing for many people in urban areas and status symbol is a key factor while making any purchase decisions, so Fastrack needs to improve its communication in order to not to come across as a low priced brand. This will help filling the price as well as quality gap so as to restrict entry of any new competitors.

      Positioning is done after segmentation is done and target markets have been identified, the brand needs to position its products/ services in the most suitable manner to the product/service as well to the target consumers. Positioning is done by following POD and POP methods, in POD (Point of difference) you create a product or service in an existing category but it’s different from the other offerings by competitors and in POP (Point of Parity) you create a product or a service which is very similar to that of the market leaders offering to the consumers. Fastrack, follows POD method and has always created unique designs with great quality at affordable prices and that’s why Fastrack is India’s biggest youth accessory brand today.

      As illustrated in earlier posts, Fastrack’s marketing strategy is to stay on top of the youth accessories market by keeping the communication youth centric and fun. Offering different and hip designs in all the product lines and enter other categories which have not been yet occupied by other players. Since it’s inception Fastrack has used aggressive marketing strategies to make more impactful emotional connect with its target audience. In the beginning it hit the television channels with this new mega campaign “Are you on it” using the independent brand status of Narain Karthikeyan and after that John Abraham and then Virat kohli and Genelia Desouza. The main thrust of Fastrack’s branding strategy is “FASHION”. It leveraged on this by creating a range of aspirational products for the youth. It also leveraged on Titan's extensive retail network covering about 92 cities and urban centres in the country. Apart from television the media plan of Fastrack includes music channels, select magazines and significant online campaigns.




Holistic/Sustainable Marketing : -

      Fastrack as a brand has not yet been directly involved in any activities towards sustainability of the Environment and Social Concerns. However, the parent company Titan Industries is very active with their Corporate Social Responsibility Project (CSR) and TATA of course does a lot of work for betterment of the society as well as Environment, working towards a better world.

      Talking about just Titan, it has a clearly defined policy for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). As part of the company’s CSR initiative, the manufacturing units of Watch and Jewellery Divisions at Hosur have acquired the certifications ‘ISO 9001: 2000 Quality Management System Standards’ and ‘ISO 14001:2000 Environment System Standard’ emphasizing the efforts to be an ecologically responsible organization.

      The company’s diverse CSR initiatives include:

         - Children’s education

         - Enabling the disabled

         - Artisan parks

         - Women’s empowerment

         - Environment management programmes

         - Miscellaneous community initiatives

      As an appreciation of Titan's significant contribution to the community welfare, Titan Industries has received the ‘President of India’s Award' for employing the disabled. Titan Industries, a signatory to the Global Compact, is a recipient of the prestigious ‘Helen Keller Award’ and the ‘Mother Teresa Award’. The company has also been ranked as one of the top four, top ten  and Top eleven companies in the ‘Karmayog CSR Rating of India’s Top 500 Companies’ in December 2007, 2008 and 2009 respectively.

      In spite of the high involvement from Titan as well as TATA, I strongly believe it’s high time that Fastrack as a brand got involved in these activities, especially when they plan to extend the operations out of India. Because in India, almost everyone knows Fastrack comes from the brand Titan and Titan from brand  TATA. However, this awareness might not be so high among the targeted consumer as well as the people of other countries.......