Tata Ceramics Ltd (TCL) was incorporated in 1991 as an associate company of Tata Power. Located in the Kochi SEZ, the company has close to 400 employees and exports most of what it makes. Tata Ceramics Ltd. makes bone china tableware for some of the best brands in the world such as Wedgewood, Royal Doulton and Churchill, however it was unable to scale up. Its large plant of 10 million pieces a year saw only half of it utilised, leading to losses. Nearly 90 per cent of the turnover used to come from European markets, Australia and New Zealand. But that is declining given the general downturn in those markets. As on March 31, 2013, the company’s turnover was Rs. 50 crore and it had accumulated losses of Rs. 14.09 crore.
Tableware crafted for the Rashtrapati Bhavan
Bhaskar Bhat, the MD at Tata group's Titan Company Ltd. was then appointed Chairman of TCL and was entrusted with the task of injecting some vigour to its marketing to revive it. Bhat, who oversaw Titan’s diversification from a watch maker to a jewellery and eyewear retailer, planned to effect a similar transformation in TCL.
With Bhat taking over, the focus will shift to the domestic market. “We are currently testing the market and exploring its potential. TCL’s competence is in manufacturing, so we want to take it a step ahead. Also, tableware in India is largely unorganised. We need to grow the market and make it organised. Many Indian middle-class households are now moving from steel tumblers to crockery,” he explains. Soon, Bhat expects domestic sales to equal export sales. “Exports too are a growing area and the company will continue its thrust while establishing its presence in the domestic markets,” he adds.
Two years after Bhaskar Bhat took over as Chairman of TCL, Nalini Veeraghanta - Marketing Manager, Tata Ceramics, speaks about Titan's intervention in the business.
What is the nature of Titan's engagement with Tata Ceramics? Is it a long-term partnership or just initial support till TCL becomes profitable / breaks even?
Titan's mandate is to turnaround the profitability for Tata Ceramics Ltd. Titan operating at arms-length in establishing the long and short term objectives of this turn-around while laying the path for a sustainable future.
In the short run, the year-on-year cash flow to turnover is being optimized through streamlining the production range, introduction of new products that are need-gap lead and have immense potential for offtake. Further measures are being taken for improving processes at the manufacturing back end, strengthening the existing HORECA and distributor accounts through well-planned replenishment, improved service standard and identifying new high-worth segments for the existing range of products (for instance, corporate gifting).
In the long run, leveraging Titan's expertise in new market entry, there is a very strong pitch for a retail-brand to be launched by Titan with Tata Ceramics given latent demand that exists for the category along with the competitive space that exists in India above the high-end glass-based brands like Corelle and below porcelain, ceramics luxury brands like Good Earth, Noritake.
What was the design process? How many people from Titan contributed their expertise to this project?
The design direction evolved from the understanding of the Indian consumer. Given the degree of exposure today's consumer has through travel, TV shows like Master Chef that bring emphasis to plating, ready access to gourmet (fine) dining, changing definition of entertaining guests at home , increased disposable income there is a great appetite for niche categories like dinnerware. The brand was the outcome to cater to this space, with the possibility of category extensions like cutlery, beverage etc.
The language was contemporary, need-gap led forms with designs that are a balance of modern and classical, inspired by global trends. Michael Foley, one of the leading names in product design, has been brought on-board for lending his expertise on the creation of a new range.
The teams from Titan anchoring the marketing and sales are focused on strengthening the product, pricing, packaging-led execution such a creating fresh designs that appeal to the evolving Indian consumer (e.g. a contemporary, rich peacock design or a peacock themed , cuboid form teapot ) , developing demand-led products to ensure need-gaps are successfully met in the Indian context (e.g. ceramic thali and roti holder ) , launching affordable decor items that are delightful in form and design for the festive season (e.g. hanging tea light holders).
Will the products be sold B2B or B2C as well? How will Titan help in distribution?
The nature of the material (fine bone china) and the global standards adhered to by Tata Ceramics, have resulted in a high-quality, high-cost product. While the quality is the leading in the industry it is not appealing for the price-responsive market segment. Moreover, with growing competition and increased ease of procurement of the category from Thailand, China and other Asian manufacturers and with B2B as a market being innately highly price sensitive, the way forward is to enter the B2C play. Therefore the brand strategy, segmentation, pricing, product design will be put in place for the consumer facing brand. While we explore and determine the go-to-market strategy for the B2C launch under the aegis of Titan, we will continue to build, grow and strategically expand the accounts of international retailers, global airline and HORECA.
Another key area that we will be exploring more actively is the gifting segment - especially corporate gifting - which holds tremendous promise and potential but tends to be low price outlay. Titan's experience of the in-house corporate sales teams with corporate clientele , festive gifting behavior from the World of Titan and Tanishq retail will be leveraged to the hilt. Effectively the brand , product and distribution architecture will be designed to build future potential while utilizing existing capabilities.
Titan is helping build the distribution by improving pricing in the B2B market, taking steps to ensure the back end is optimized for.
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Bhaskar Bhat, the MD at Tata group's Titan Company Ltd. was then appointed Chairman of TCL and was entrusted with the task of injecting some vigour to its marketing to revive it. Bhat, who oversaw Titan’s diversification from a watch maker to a jewellery and eyewear retailer, planned to effect a similar transformation in TCL.
With Bhat taking over, the focus will shift to the domestic market. “We are currently testing the market and exploring its potential. TCL’s competence is in manufacturing, so we want to take it a step ahead. Also, tableware in India is largely unorganised. We need to grow the market and make it organised. Many Indian middle-class households are now moving from steel tumblers to crockery,” he explains. Soon, Bhat expects domestic sales to equal export sales. “Exports too are a growing area and the company will continue its thrust while establishing its presence in the domestic markets,” he adds.
Two years after Bhaskar Bhat took over as Chairman of TCL, Nalini Veeraghanta - Marketing Manager, Tata Ceramics, speaks about Titan's intervention in the business.
What is the nature of Titan's engagement with Tata Ceramics? Is it a long-term partnership or just initial support till TCL becomes profitable / breaks even?
Titan's mandate is to turnaround the profitability for Tata Ceramics Ltd. Titan operating at arms-length in establishing the long and short term objectives of this turn-around while laying the path for a sustainable future.
In the short run, the year-on-year cash flow to turnover is being optimized through streamlining the production range, introduction of new products that are need-gap lead and have immense potential for offtake. Further measures are being taken for improving processes at the manufacturing back end, strengthening the existing HORECA and distributor accounts through well-planned replenishment, improved service standard and identifying new high-worth segments for the existing range of products (for instance, corporate gifting).
In the long run, leveraging Titan's expertise in new market entry, there is a very strong pitch for a retail-brand to be launched by Titan with Tata Ceramics given latent demand that exists for the category along with the competitive space that exists in India above the high-end glass-based brands like Corelle and below porcelain, ceramics luxury brands like Good Earth, Noritake.
What was the design process? How many people from Titan contributed their expertise to this project?
The design direction evolved from the understanding of the Indian consumer. Given the degree of exposure today's consumer has through travel, TV shows like Master Chef that bring emphasis to plating, ready access to gourmet (fine) dining, changing definition of entertaining guests at home , increased disposable income there is a great appetite for niche categories like dinnerware. The brand was the outcome to cater to this space, with the possibility of category extensions like cutlery, beverage etc.
The language was contemporary, need-gap led forms with designs that are a balance of modern and classical, inspired by global trends. Michael Foley, one of the leading names in product design, has been brought on-board for lending his expertise on the creation of a new range.
The teams from Titan anchoring the marketing and sales are focused on strengthening the product, pricing, packaging-led execution such a creating fresh designs that appeal to the evolving Indian consumer (e.g. a contemporary, rich peacock design or a peacock themed , cuboid form teapot ) , developing demand-led products to ensure need-gaps are successfully met in the Indian context (e.g. ceramic thali and roti holder ) , launching affordable decor items that are delightful in form and design for the festive season (e.g. hanging tea light holders).
Will the products be sold B2B or B2C as well? How will Titan help in distribution?
The nature of the material (fine bone china) and the global standards adhered to by Tata Ceramics, have resulted in a high-quality, high-cost product. While the quality is the leading in the industry it is not appealing for the price-responsive market segment. Moreover, with growing competition and increased ease of procurement of the category from Thailand, China and other Asian manufacturers and with B2B as a market being innately highly price sensitive, the way forward is to enter the B2C play. Therefore the brand strategy, segmentation, pricing, product design will be put in place for the consumer facing brand. While we explore and determine the go-to-market strategy for the B2C launch under the aegis of Titan, we will continue to build, grow and strategically expand the accounts of international retailers, global airline and HORECA.
Another key area that we will be exploring more actively is the gifting segment - especially corporate gifting - which holds tremendous promise and potential but tends to be low price outlay. Titan's experience of the in-house corporate sales teams with corporate clientele , festive gifting behavior from the World of Titan and Tanishq retail will be leveraged to the hilt. Effectively the brand , product and distribution architecture will be designed to build future potential while utilizing existing capabilities.
Titan is helping build the distribution by improving pricing in the B2B market, taking steps to ensure the back end is optimized for.
