Tanishq: All that glitters is a 'gold'en deed

Exploring yet another facet of the modern woman's personality, Tanishq, the jewellery brand from Titan, is out with a new campaign for Glam Gold, a range of 22-karat gold jewellery. While the last commercial portrayed the brand's wedding jewellery as an important influencer, which brought about a change of heart about marriage in an independent woman; this time, gold jewellery has become a reflection of her personality.

Glam Gold was launched last year, and the brand used only print for the first campaign, titled 'Adventures in gold on the red carpet'. As the name suggests, the positioning was highly glamorous, but lacked warmth.

Conceptualised by Lowe Lintas, the film opens in a room full of guests attending a book launch. The author greets a friend (wearing Glam Gold jewellery) with a hug. Rather than paying attention to the author, more people get attracted to her friend and wish to interact with her. Seeing someone else as the centre of attention, the author feels lost at her own party. Observing this from a distance, her friend fakes a headache and makes a hasty exit from the party, along with her husband.

On the way back home, the husband asks her why she lied about the headache. She responds that it was a better option to ruining someone's evening. The man smiles in appreciation of his wife's magnanimity. The ad ends with the voiceover: 'Beautiful gold for beautiful people'.

The multimedia campaign, using television (GECs and niche channels), print (general interest magazines) and online, will continue for a month.

Glam Gold is targeted at women from SEC A and B in the age group of 25-35 years, who are bold, modern and wish to be noticed wherever they go. Priced at Rs 30,000 onwards and available at select Tanishq outlets across the country, the eclectic range includes earrings, necklaces, brooches, waist belts, back ornaments, arm bands and shoulder ornaments.

Iyer, national creative director, Lowe Lintas shares that Tanishq has always been a classy brand; and presently, the focus is to add warmth to it. "We are talking to beautiful women. Here, beauty is not only physical, but it's more about the beauty of her nature," he says.

According to industry estimates, the size of the Indian jewellery market is estimated to be Rs 100,000 crore, of which the wedding jewellery segment comprises 40-50 percent. Tanishq -- India's largest jewellery brand with Rs 3,500 crore in sales -- holds only 3-4 percent of the total market; while the maximum share remains with the unorganised sector.

One of the main reasons for people choosing local jewellers over organised players, is that the former offer lower jewellery-making charges (over and above the cost of gold). To this, the Tanishq spokesperson says, "In many cases, it has been found that unorganised players make up for the money lost in lower making charges by selling a piece originally weighing 20 karat as 22 karat. Making charges tend to be higher with organised players, as the designs are unique and techniques used to create such pieces of jewellery come at a steep price."

Sandhya Srinivasan, managing partner and chief strategy officer, Law & Kenneth feels that the ad gives a new twist to the Tanishq woman.

"The tone, as intended, was self-effacing, and surprisingly, not in celebration of the stereotypical achiever. And in continuation of the desire to romance gold jewellery, the traditional Indian woman -- with depth of character -- has been used to personify the brand, versus merely a beautiful face. So, she still stays the focus of attention, but with a nuance. That makes the communication refreshing," she says.

Strategy-wise, Srinivasan sees a quiet submission to the role of gold as an adornment, for women who respect and adore tradition. "I would have wished to see a more obvious love for Glam Gold particularly, by women who are comfortable provoking their femininity," she adds.

According to Naresh Gupta, director, strategy and planning, Dentsu Marcom, the film does two very interesting things - first, it brings gold jewellery back in fashion, in an age when diamonds are considered cool. Second, it builds on the confidence for the brand, by playing reverse jealousy in a very engaging way.

"What I also like is the portrayal of the man-woman relationship, which is very contemporary. Clearly, the woman is in command and her man is cool with it," he says.