Branded Gold Jewellery Market in India

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Oyzterbay Contd...

The initial focus of Oyzterbay was to give a lifestyle value to jewellery instead of the traditional investment value. In the second year of its launch, Oyzterbay emphasised on marketing and advertising strategies to give the necessary thrust for growth. In order to transform itself from a youth brand to a brand for all occasions, Oyzterbay launched media campaigns in August 2002 highlighting the new look. The new communication strategy focused on addressing the 18 to 34 age group instead of the earlier 18 to 24 age group. The new campaign focused on positioning Oyzterbay as jewellery for office wear, evening wear or even a fitness session. (Refer Exhibit V)

The broadening of focus to include an older segment was the result of market research which showed that the brand appealed to middle-aged working women and affluent housewives. The investment in the new campaign was Rs 50 million. Where Oyzterbay scored over others was its simple and refreshing designs and affordability, making it distinct from the usual gold jewellery stocked in standard jewellery showrooms and contemporary jewellery offered by traditional jewellery houses trying to cater to the trend. Priyadarshi Mohapatra, Marketing Manager, Oyzterbay, said "We began by selecting a completely different reach - everyday jewellery for the working woman and jewellery for the youth. We felt that jewellery should be brought out of the locker. So we positioned (it) to accessorize the dress of the young, college-going crowd, which otherwise sported junk jewellery.

The second segment was the working woman for whom we sought to build a wardrobe of jewellery by making it affordable, so that she could pick up pieces regularly."¹⁶ Oyzterbay later extended the same brand values to diamonds too, the idea being to target a niche market. Oyzterbay refurbished its collection every few months, keeping in mind international trends. By so doing, they were able to offer exclusive products to clients.

As part of the Oyzterbay Summer 2002 collection, it offered pendants, earrings, finger rings, bracelets, neckwear, and chains with natural gemstones set in white gold, as white gold was evolving as a fashion statement across the world. Although Ozyterbay was known for its jewellery in gold and sterling silver embellished with natural gemstones, it decided to launch 'Your First Diamond', a complete range of diamond jewellery set in white, pink, and yellow gold. The price of the collection started from Rs. 500 with the most expensive piece not exceeding Rs. 12,000.

Gili

Gili distributed its jewellery priced between Rs. 500 and Rs. 40,000 through lifestyle and department stores across the country to increase accessibility among its target segment, the 15 to 30 age group. The company's products were also made available through a mail-order catalogue. In 1997, Gili launched a collection of traditional Indian ornaments made of 18-carat gold. In 1999, the Gili Gold range was introduced.

This range included rings, pendants, earrings, necklaces and bangles made of 24-carat gold. All Gili products came with a guarantee of diamond and gold quality. When research conducted in February 2000 showed that there was a big gap between the Rs. 1000 and Rs. 10000 price segment and keeping in view the teenage population, and the kind of pocket money they had, Gili brought out a collection targeting teens.

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16] The Hindu, June 3, 2002.