(ICFAI conducts interactive webinar session on “ Nurturing Product Innovation in the Normal“)
“Consumers are our biggest inspiration and we keep changing our product designs based on their feedback” said Ms Suparna Mitra, CEO, Watches & Wearables, Titan Company Limited during her talk on the topic “Nurturing Product Innovation in the Normal” at the 17th WiseViews Interactive Webinar Series conducted on August 13, 2021 by ICFAI for the benefit of students and working professionals
She started her talk by explaining the process involved in the product design and how Titan approaches the same. “Meeting the aspirations of customers is the foremost goal for Titan she said and also mentioned that she keeps interacting with the customers at various stores to understand how they feel about the Titan products and what changes they are expecting”.
Ms. Suparna Mitra gave a real life example about the reasons as to how the consumers reject a product. In 2018, Titan came up with an economy range brand Sonata Act with a security feature embedded in it. They thought that the product would be a big hit with the lady customers. But, the product failed and in the review the officials unanimously felt that they were offering a Draupadi solution to a potential Durga.
Ms. Suparna Mitra elaborated how the wide range of Titan watches undergo frequent changes based on the changing needs. She mentioned about some of the famous products like Titan Edge (slimmest watch from Titan which won the prestigious Reddot award), Fastrack (based on new themes like animals and textures), Fastrack Reflex (with a dual tone design), Raga brand for women (which is promoted with a #flaunt your flaw), Titan Pay (India’s first digital payment watch powered by SBI-Yono) and many more. Ms. Suparna also stated that Titan amended their Raga and Fastrack brands based on collaborations with Masaba and with Coca Cola.
Answering to a query in the Q & A session, Ms. Suparna observed that the immediate challenge is to address the shrinking attention span of the promotion of various brands. “The theme of the product must be communicated in the first 6 seconds of the commercial otherwise the purpose would be lost”, she added.
The webinar was moderated by Prof. R Prasad, Director – Academic Wing, ICFAI Group and Prof. Sudhakar Rao, Director – Branding, ICFAI Group.
About 250 participants including entrepreneurs, Research Scholars, prospective students from various parts of the country registered for this event which was also streamed live on the facebook.
About the Speaker Ms Suparna Mitra :
Ms. Suparna is an Electrical Engineer from Jadavpur University and a MBA from IIM, Calcutta. She started her career as a Management Trainee in Hindustan Lever Limited. Subsequently she joined Titan where she worked on several roles in marketing, both International and Domestic. She worked for Talisma Corp. as a Director – Product Marketing. She was Business Head – Lee in Arvind Brands Ltd.
As the Global Marketing Head – Titan, she was responsible for all marketing in India and international markets. As Regional Business Head- South for Titan Company Ltd, she headed all businesses of Titan Company Ltd including watches, jewellery and eyewear for the South region. She also served as the Chief Sales and Marketing Officer for the Watches and Wearables division. She currently serves on the Board of Governors for IIM Kozhikode and has previously served on the Board of Tata Power Solar.
About ICFAI Foundation for Higher Education:
The ICFAI Foundation for Higher Education is Deemed-to-be University under section 3 of the UGC Act 1956. ICFAI Business School (IBS) is a constituent of ICFAI Foundation for Higher Education. About 5,800 students are pursuing various programs in the Faculty of Management (ICFAI Business School), Faculty of Science & Technology (IcfaiTech), Faculty of Law (ICFAI Law School) and ICFAI School of Architecture, NAAC, an autonomous institute of University Grants Commission has also accredited The University with ‘A+’ Grade with an impressive score (institutional CGPA) of 3.43 out of 4.
