Section 37
How Tanishq won trust with the Karatmeter
How does a new brand win customers in a market run on family trust?
- case
- Turnaround
- years
- 1996-2002
- 1997
- Karatmeter introduced · 1997
- 2002
- Golden Harvest savings scheme launched · 2002
- 01
The situation
Titan entered jewellery with Tanishq into a largely unorganised market with limited pricing and quality transparency. Its early focus on 18-karat gold did not match Indian buyers' preference for 22-karat gold, and the brand ran losses in its first years.
- 02
The decision
Tanishq moved to the purity buyers wanted and made purity checkable. Titan's own timeline lists 1997 as the year Tanishq introduced the Karatmeter, a non-invasive way for customers to check gold purity in the store. In 1998 its 'Thief in the Family' campaign questioned blind trust in family jewellers, and in 2002 it launched the Golden Harvest scheme of monthly savings towards jewellery.
- 03
The outcome
The Karatmeter turned an abstract promise of purity into proof the customer could see, and is credited as the turning point that helped Tanishq gain market share. Tanishq went on to launch sub-brands such as Zoya (2009) and Mia (2011), and opened in the United States in 2023.