Fastrack Complete Research y1gt

Fastrack is first wrist watch Brand in INDIA. Its comes under the World of Titan. Fastrack launched in Market in 1998 with the sporty segment.

Assignment on Marketing plan of the brand “FasTrack”

Akhilesh Anjan 10803211

Exclusive Summary 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 adopted the famous break-away positioning of Swatch and 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. For its positioning, Fastrack captured 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.” Thus they launched a campaign with the slogan “How many you have.” Fastrack then promoted itself through a 360-degree media blitz through television, outdoor, events and promotions to change the perception of watches as a functional tool to a fashion accessory. Fastrack was now positioned as the ultimate fashion accessory for the youth – variety, multiplicity and constant excitement being the order of the day. They also revealed a new logo signifying the spirit of bonding among today’s youth. Titan also earmarked Rs 8 crore (Rs 80 million) for Fastrack's advertising. The campaigns were aimed at students in the 15 to 25 year age group, belonging to SEC A and B, in the top 30 towns. The communication promoted the idea that owning several watches is acceptable, if not a required behaviour. The campaign, the positioning and the price was a great hit. The brand sales zoomed to Rs 35 crore. The sunglasses also contributed significantly to this sales boost.

A) Competitor definition There is many competitor of fastrack but major one in wrist watch is timex .The timex and fastrack both serving worldwide. Timex is well known brand in India and we can say timex is also some advantage over fastrack.timex having their own ex-showroom. Rather then fastrack comes mostly under the “WORLD OF TITAN”. B) Category Analysis 1. Aggregate Market factor (a) Category Size Collection Sport Army Adventure Basics Grunge Aluminum Color Play Digital Fashion Essentials Party Pairs Neon - Disc Neon XY

Target Men only Both men and women Both men and women Both men and women both men and women Women only Women only Both men and women Both men and women Both Pair Men only Men only Both

(b) Category growth When the company started in 1998. Awareness of Fastrack was very low and was linked to Titan. There was no independent identity. Research had also shown that the fact that it had the backing of Titan was a positive assurance. However, kids didn’t like to be serious and sober like their parents. Fastrack needed to break away and hence changed the logo to bring in a youthful, spontaneous, energetic and fun identity and also removed Titan from the upfront association in the logo.In 2005,Fastrack was launched with new products, a new identity, new advertising and a new logo . When re-launch was started, Fastrack brand was worth about Rs 29 crore but however they have grown almost ten times of that over the last three years. Fastrack has a presence in over 6000 outlets across 800 towns, with new exclusive brand kiosks in Metro Malls and its multi-channel distribution network which covers the 228 strong World of Titan Network, 122 Large Format Chain stores viz. Shoppers Stop, Lifestyle, Central, Westside, Pantaloons and Multi-brand watch & optical outlets. Fastrack is actually among the few brands where people come asking for the brand. They have adopted a fashion based strategy, where they launch about 3-4 collections in a year in

both categories. It has been twin approach of constantly innovating on product design, yet being affordable, and to reach out to consumers in a language that connects to them that led to their success. (c)Stage in Product life cycle

Maturity

Growth(Fastrack)

Decline

Introduction Fastrack is in growth stage now as it is marking rapid climb in sales. Early adaptors like the product and the additional customers start buying the product. The company continuously coming up with new features. (d) Sales cyclicity

   

Core product : Satisfying purpose of keeping track on time Actual product : Fastrack watch Expected product : Product with brand value and image Augmented product : Warranty, after sales service, design , packaging. (f) Profits  Fastrack was launched with new products, a new identity, new advertising and a new logo in June 2005.

 The year took off so well that they ran out of stock very quickly and ended the year with a 150 per cent growth and the demand was growing continuously.  Next year, they recorded another 100 per cent growth..  When re-launch was started, Fastrack brand was worth about Rs 29 crore but however they have grown almost ten times of that over the last three years.  Fastrack has a presence in over 6000 outlets across 800 towns, with new exclusive brand kiosks in Metro Malls and its multichannel distribution network which covers the 228 strong World of Titan Network, 122 Large Format Chain stores viz. Shoppers Stop, Lifestyle, Central, Westside, Pantaloons and Multibrand watch & optical outlets

2. Category factors a. Threat of New Entrants (High)  Capital cost is moderate  High Entry of many foreign and global players due to removal of qualitative restrictions by government. b. Bargaining power of Buyer (Moderate)  Fragmented of buyer industry  Buyers are price sensitive  Low Switching cost  Large number of Suppliers c. Bargaining power of Supplier(Very Low)  No strong suppliers  Titan has its own production facilities  Titan outsource the components for dash from low cost producers in China & Taiwan d. Threat of Substitutes (Very low)  No close Substitutes  Threat from large usage of mobile phones & laptops which also displays time. e. Current category rivalry (High)  Large number of Players  Lack of Differentiation  Entry Barriers are low  A large grey market hinders growth

3. Environmental Factors. (a) Cultural Factor In India, Titan ahead of all other brands as the Most ired Brand in India across all product categories. It was also a fitting tribute to a brand, which had not only revolutionised the Indian watch industry, but also brought in world-class benchmarks in product design, quality and retailing into India. In 1998, it was Fastrack, the cool, trendy, funky range for the young and young-at-heart. Since Indian population has positive outlook for titan it has influenced the behaviour of younger generation who are variety seeking. (b) Social Factors The age and stage of individual has a major influence on the buying behaviour of consumer. The youth in the range of age of fifteen years to mid thirties are generally attracted to the watches. Friends and their peer group has a major influence on the purchase decisions of the youth. (c) Economic factors Economic factor do not play a major role in opting for Fastrack watches because the target segment is youth and it offers an affordable range.

C). Company and competitor analysis 1. Product features Matrix:Attributes

Weight age

Fastrack

Casio

Timax

Product quality

.2

4

2

2

Product design

.2

5

3

4

Promotional activities

.2

5

2

2

Price range

.15

4

4

5

After sales service

.15

3

2

3

Outlets

.1

3

2

4

TOTAL

1

4.60

3.47

3.35

Perceptual map

2. Objectives In the present scenario understanding the youth and kids lifestyle and satisfying the customer with the upgrading their technology and research. 3. Marketing Strategies It was spun off as an independent brand of watches targeting the urban youth in 2005. Since then, it has infiltrated the lives of India's youth with designs that were refreshingly different and affordable. Fastrack has now pushed past the horizons into newer areas - bags, belts, wallets & wrist bands - as part of its mission to offer the youth everything they need to be cool. Now serving up it's vision in six different flavours, enough to fully packed store, fastrack has chosen to 'move on' and throw open the doors of its own stores for its young consumers. 4. Marketing Mix (a) product Collection Target Sport Men only Army Both men and women Adventure Both men and women Basics Both men and women Grunge both men and women Aluminum Women only Color Play Women only Digital Fashion Both men and women Essentials Both men and women Party Both Pairs Pair Neon - Disc Men only

Neon (b) Price COLLECTION Sport Army Adventure Basics Grunge Aluminium Colour Play Digital Fashion Essentials Party Pairs Neon - Disc Neon XY

Men only PRICE RANGE 2000-4000 2000-3500 1000-2000 500-1500 1000-2500 500-1000 1000-2000 500-2000 1000-2500 1500-3000 3000-3500 1000-2500 500-1500 1500-3000

TARGET Men only Both men and women Both men and women Both men and women Both men and women girls only girls only Both men and women Both men and women Both men and women Pair Men only Men only Both men and women

Pricing objective  The pricing strategy adopted by Fastrack is market share maximization as they are targeting people with affordable cost range.  They have watches from the range of 499 to more than 4000,so that they can attract customers of lower segment to higher segment and this clearly shows that they are into capturing more of the market share than making profit or other strategies. Discount  Fastrack always come up with discount offers at auspicious occasions to capture more market.  They also provide exchange offers, when old watch is replaced by new watch they provide a discount upto 40%. Pricing strategies  Fastrack follows odd pricing strategy and ends the price with 5.So people perceive the price as low as people in India tend to read from left to right.

Fig.no-01

Fig.no-02 (c) Promotion  Advertising: advertising is in the form of television commercials. The company uses youth icons to portray the trendy and funky look of the brand and to associate with it.  Public displays also play an important role in promotion. The colorful and lively bill boards play an important role in promotion.

Some of the popular Fastrack ments are:1. Yes Sir Ad :  A teacher was taking attendance,  A boy responses his roll by raising his hand  Girls get obsessed by looking at the watch worn by that boy Which has the message that this watch on your wrist makes you more stylish?

Fig.no-03 2. Fastrack website promotion  Fastrack website is the tool they used to attract the youth, the pictures displayed on the website creates curiosity and interest towards the product.

Fig.no-04

(d) Place  Channels: The product is sold at almost all the leading watch stores and shopping malls. The company has also established branded stores and it is also available in Titan stores.  Coverage: the products are available all over India. Fastrack is a product that u can find everywhere because of its parent company Titan. Titan have already build the channels in the form of exclusive stores and outlets so fastrack products are also made available in those stores and later they established their own exclusive store of fastrack where all range of fastrack watches are available and these exclusive showrooms are present only in some cites while in other places they are being sold through the “World of Titan.”

Product Flow

THE FIRM

SUPPLIERS

CUSTOMER

Information flow Diagram. No -01

5. Value chain analysis

Fig.no-05

(a) Firm Infrastructure     

Founded-1998 Head quarter-Bangalore Key people-Bhaskar Bhtt(MD) Product-watch,bags,sunglasses Employee-6000 only

(b) Technology 

HTSE (High Tech Self Energized)-collection of watches which run on light. Targeted the young generation of unban areas.

(c) Marketing and sales  Fastrack one of the few companies in India to take the lead on embracing PR 2.0. Fastrack has come out with the Fastrack social media news room for bloggers.  For the consumers, Fastrack has launched two Facebook groups called Life on Fastrack and Bikers on the Fastrack The fastrack follow the parallel Distribution.  It sells watches online through direct marketing  It sells through factory outlets like Fastrack store & World of Titan.  It sells its products in major chains like bigbaazar, city central etc.  It sells through retail outlets ( watch shops , gift shops) (d) Service Fastrack provides warranty of one year on all its watch range. After sales services are available on all Fastrack and Titan showrooms. D. Consumer analysis 1. Who are the customer.? Ans-young generation of unban and semi urban areas is consumer for fastrack and recently kids are also a potential customer of fastrack. 2. what do they buy and how do they use it.? Ans-The young generation and kids buy style. They buy upgraded technology at lower cost. They also buy the youth brand image of fastrack.They use it in different manner depend upon the profession.

3. where do they buy.? Ans-The consumer can buy it form the world of Titan and Ex-showroom of fastrack.they can also visit the mall like wall-mart and city mall outlets. 4. How do they choose? Ans-Variety of watch is classified on different basis.they can choose from the variety. Depend upon the preference .You can choose army watch,sport watch,wrist watch,hip-hop watch.etc. 5. Why the prefer the product.? Ans-There is many reason for choosing this particular Brand. Variety, style and low price is the main focused things.which bound to consumer to prefer this product. 6. Will the buy it again.? Ans-Yes for sure. if you believe in “Move On” then you will start move on with fastrack. If a product developing himself parallel to consumer demand. Then it will surely get attention and better market. 7. Segmentation Geographic  Continent- Asia  Country- India  Size/ population- India- 1,220,200,000 Demographic  Age- 15-25 , 25-30 , 30 above  Gender- Male & Female  Income- 10000-20000 , 20000-30000 , 30,000 above  Occupation- students , young executives , graduate and post- graduate students , journalists , sports athletes. Psychographic  Activities- basketball , swimming , dancing , acting , gymming , gaming  Interest- socializing, reading, painting, travelling , adventure sports , theatre,cars/bikes , gadgets , music  Opinions- intellectual , reasoning talk , opinionated  Personality- ambitious. Behavioural  Benefit sought- quality, looks/style, durability  Usage rate- heavy, moderate, light  status- regular, potential, first time , irregular, occasional  Brand loyalty- split loyal, shifting, switches  Readiness to buy-aware , neutral

 Occasion- birthdays, anniversary, festivals, gifting.

(E) Buying Decision Process #. Problem recognition The buyer first and foremost identifies the reason.Why he or she wants a particular product. #. Information search  In order to reach a large audience Fastrack employs a number of advertising and promotional campaigns.  Fastrack has roped in Virat kohli as brand ambassador of the product at the beginning to portray the sporty nature of the brand.  The company has also roped in Aamir khan for army collection. The company uses youth icons to portray the trendy looks of the watches. #. Evaluation of alternatives  A consumer then evaluates various alternatives based on the needs and information available to him.  Fastrack through its variety of variants is able to satisfy a number of needs of the consumers.  Fastrack which is always perceived as trendy and affordable watch has an edge over its competitors. Hence Fastrack is one of the best alternatives who are looking for a trendy yet affordable watch. #. Purchase Decision  There is a strong preference of Fastrack brand among youth in both middle and upper.  It would involve other sub decisions like timing, payment method.  All the Branded stores and shopping malls would be offering flexible payments methods and flexible timings.  In the surveys conducted it is observed that consumers preferred to buy the watches majorly in branded stores and shopping malls. #. Post purchase decision  Since Fastrack has been able to deliver value for money and satisfy the needs of consumers, it has been able to build a brand image for itself and win the loyalty of consumers.  Hence many of the respondents have responded to not only buy the Fastrack watch once again bit also to recommend the brand to their friends and colleagues.

#. Positioning  Fastrack positions itself as both trendy and affordable range. These two attributes were usually considered as two poles wide apart.  Fastrack has taken the challenge of combining both the features to offer a greater value proportion to its customers.

References:www.fastrack.in www.economicstimes.com www.businessworld.com