Indian outfits, jewellery are back with a vengeance in U.S.: Titan Company MD

Titan Company MD C.K. Venkataraman, talking about the unique aspects of the Tata Group company's international foray in 2022, said Indians today abroad, especially in the U.S., are different than more than a decade back.

He also explained why its international business failed to take off in 2006-2007. "We had an erroneous view in 2,006, that Indians in the U.S., will get assimilated into the American culture. That's 20 years back. The world was very different (then). The Indian ethnic community was not high-profile like today. Our feeling was Indians would want to be like Americans. Therefore the need for Indian clothes."

Venkat says in 2007, Tanishq was conceived for the American consumer. "Products were not what we have today. The store was very American. And the marketing campaigns...challenging from a brand-building point of view. So we had a challenge in building the business at the rate we wanted. Then the global financial crisis hit."

The Titan MD says the company at that time realised it would take two decades or one to break even. "So we shut it." In the intervening period, Indians (have become) the wealthiest community in the U.S., he says.

"Today we are influential. We are wearing Indianness on our shoulders with confidence. We are celebrating 60th birthdays or weddings. We are doing Diwali parades in New York City. So we are super proud to be Indians. The Indian outfits are back with a vengeance. Indian jewellery is back with a vengeance. Our strategy today is the diaspora, the Indian diaspora, not the American. So we had a double whammy in 2006, and a double benefit in 2020."

Venkat, named among the Fortune India's Best CEOs list for 2024, said the Tanishq brand was launched in 1,996 in India and 2,006 globally. There was a decade of brand-building. "Now we have launched in the U.S. in 2,022 again. 16 more years of Tanishq branding in India, and the scale has gone through the roof. So everybody in the U.S. who went after 2000, when they come to India, they buy Tanishq! It has become a much bigger and desirable brand."