The 2006 advertisement for the same brand conveys the freshness of morning dew. It shows a little girl waking up from a dream and comparing the sound of the wind chimes in her room to her mom’s diamond-studded 18 k earnings.

“There is empathy for 22 k tradition, but even in the old campaign we put the woman in the driver’s seat; so, in a sense, both the campaigns seek to expand the target base for Tanishq’s new range of 18 k pieces,” explains Vikram Satyanath, the vice-president of Lowe India (Bangalore office), the agency that handles the Tanishq advertising account.

This is quite in keeping with the market trend. Although our rapacious hunger for the yellow metal continues to rein—India imported more than 800 tonnes of the global gold mine production of 2,467 tonnes in 2006 (according to a report published by London-based precious metals consulting firm, GFMS Ltd)—the India Retail Report 2007 released recently by Images F&R Research indicates that the market for diamond-studded 18 k pieces and stone-studded 22 k jewellery is also growing significantly, across towns and classes.

The look this season is more contemporary, less ornate, clean and above all contemporary. In sum, the pendulum has swung from heavyweight purity to lightweight convenience. “The branded lightweight segment is growing at 20% and is valued at Rs 5,000 crore,” according to Amit Gupta, vice-chairman and managing director of Aerens Gold Souk International.

The shifting trend is also reflected in the communication. “While our earlier creative was set in a period, the new imaging is more contemporary,” explains Satyanath.

That goes well with the industry that was once patronised by customers who would die at the thought of going to anyone but the family jeweller. They have now started experimenting with lightweight pieces for daily wear. The result? brands are assuming centrestage and organised retail-currently pegged at Rs 1,680 crore, that is, almost 3% of the Rs 60,200-crore organised market-is growing at 2.8% according to the Images India Retail Report 2007.

Contributing to all this change is also the fact that overall retail experiences are getting more elaborate. The shops are large and well lit. The display areas big.

“However, one trend remains unchanged,” according to RS Roy, editorial director, Images India Retail Report 2007, “We expect the staff to attend to us, but we also expect them to be discreet.”

In sum, the more consumer habits change, the more they remain the same.

Rise and shine

The India Retail Report 2007 makes the following forecast for the Rs 60,200-crore Indian jewellery market, which includes branded, non-branded, precious and semi-precious segment: • Diamonds are going to be big. Brands and companies need to gear up in terms of design, sourcing and manufacturing capabilities, besides building sales staff capabilities; • Stone-studded 22 k jewellery will become more popular, especially among working women; • Purity, as always, will be a key issue even with the younger, more discerning set of customers; • With the demand for handcrafted, exclusive pieces on the rise, ergonomics (the weight of a necklace, the way it drapes around the neck, how smooth it is on the back etc) will come to play a major role in influencing customer decisions. In such a scenario, a switch to the new technology can lend a sustainable competitive advantage to the retailers; • Scale, even in a high-security jewellery retail set up, will be critical to making the business viable. Simultaneously, there will be demand to invest more in the development and retention of the sales staff at retail outlets; • Even in the era of multiple formats in multiple stores, the traditional way of managing customer loyalty with technological inputs (customer tracking) will prove rewarding over the long run.