Imagine you are buying an expensive jewelery, and given two choices either to buy it from Tanishq or Reliance jewel..where would you buy it from ???
For most of them the answer would be Tanishq and not Reliance jewels.. the reason for this could be the imagery which Tanishq has created for itselves through years.Jewellery being a product where testing and the chances of being cheated and manipulated being the highest, people prefer going to the most famous vendor in the town and they don't mind spending an extra buck for that.
You can validate this just ask your family members where do they buy their jewelery from ? they might buy it from the person who has been in the jewelery business for long or the store which is the most popular in the town and tanishq if given a chance. Now the Brand Tanishq was positioned as a premium luxury jewelery brand, supported by the strong brand equity of TATA's and people associate TATA's with trust.. hence tanishq leveraged the name of TATA's to gain equity of Trust..now that was a smart move.where as reliance is also trying to do the same but the fact, that Reliance is not a brand which is high on trustworthiness could hurt the positioning of Reliance jewels..lets understand the history of the brand Reliance.
Reliance industries known for its huge size and varying interest from petrochemicals to retail has expanded its footprint into the retail sector. with many sub-brands under it Reliance fresh,Reliance time out,Reliance footwear, Reliance jewels and many more and is on an expansion spree..Reliance as a brand is not associated with trustworthiness, people associate it with value for money, but not as a brand that's sincere where as TATA's as a brand rates high on the sincerity level. In branding there is a principle of prominence which states that the relative prominence of the brand element or elements determine which element or elements become the primary one and which become the secondary ones.Reliance uses a Equal dominance strategy where in both the parents(Reliance) brand name and the individual entity under it(jewels) have equal importance where as TATA's promoted Tanishq as a single entity.
Hence in the Reliance retail its the brand reliance which is prominent and hence become prominent where as tanishq was more prominent hence brand TATA became the secondary one. It would make more sense for Reliance to use a single entity branding(creating a new name) rather than going for mixed dominance as the Reliance brand would dominate the other identity.
Naming the grocery store as Reliance fresh is a smart move but not Reliance jewels, as jewelery is an high involvement purchase and people don't want to take risk..where as the consumer in a Reliance fresh outlet looks for value and as mentioned earlier brand Reliance stands for money. Reliance to be successful should slowly shed the name Reliance and find out a new name that stands for luxury/sincerity...
Mukesh Amabani are you Listening ???
