Titan Eye Plus – brand identity under a new lens

As eyewear enters the lifestyle category, Titan Eye Plus dons a premium look and design outlook to narrate a fresh new brand story. VM&RD explores the various aspects of the revamped design ID.

Not so long ago, visiting an optical store was synonymous to the perfunctory visit to an eye clinic, which was followed by the purchase of a pair of lenses. Cut to current times, eyewear is more a style statement, elevating the whole category to the lifestyle realm of lifestyle. Titan Eye Plus, a young brand from the Tata Group stables, entered the eyewear market back in 2007 when the category was mostly dominated by unorganized players. Today, Titan Eye Plus has carved a distinct brand presence with 520 outlets all across the country, selling some noted international brands besides their in-house brands.

Late last year Titan Eye Plus adopted a fresh new look for their retail design in response to major changes in eyewear retailing as whole with the advent of Lenskart. Suddenly there was a blurring of all lines dividing multiple channels with record store rollouts and targeting a market share of 50%. As a result, some of the unorganized players too decided to focus on experiential retail.

In the midst of entered Titan Eye Plus with three major objectives for its retail design makeover:

A. Ease of browsing
B. Presence of several brands in an MBO format
C. Shopper comfort during eye testing

All of the above objectives were woven into the various aspects of the store design including display, lighting, in-store communications and tech enabled touchpoints.

Display: As part of the old ID, the brand had the conventional display system where the position of the eyewear during customer trial was not very convenient. The branding visible right at the point that covered the customer’s temple as he or she tried it, was particularly a challenge. Under the new design, the display system was changed to well-lit shelves. Also, backlit acrylic towers have been used for display to offer more clarity in the Sunglass Section, so it can demonstrate the actual gradation of lens colours. The luxury sections too has six cove displays of different sizes that accommodate various international brands. To highlight focal product range across house brands and international bestsellers, the central aisle comprises a number of nesting tables at different levels.

Lighting: White light uniformly lit up the stores earlier, which did almost nothing when it came to highlighting the merchandise. Switching to daylight (4000k) for product display and warm white ambient light (3000k) brought in more focus on the products, while shifting the attention to wall displays. A premium store proposition has also been created with the addition of chandeliers at strategic store locations.

In-store communications: An array of visual communication occupied the top section of product displays earlier with no respite in between. The new ID, however, eliminates the top visuals and instead features them between the categories.

Tech touchpoints: Interaction and education being the key objectives of many new retail design IDs, Titan Eye Plus brings three technological touchpoints to the store – video walls, endless aisle format and store tabs. The ‘Impact Wall’ showcases the know-how of frame manufacturing, while the ‘Promises Wall’ at the cash counter talks about customer benefits offered by the brand in a collage presentation.

Titan Eye has already earmarked 60-70 best performing stores which will receive the design makeover soon, while all future stores will be executed under this ID. The design elements of the new ID will be carried out in parts depending upon the market, location and shopfloor sizes of the stores. However, at least 75% of the ID will be present at all the revamped stores.

Store Credits

Tiles: Kajaria
Chandeliers: Aura Illumination
Fixtures: Kalatmak Spatial Systems
VM & Execution: Pro-Management
Display Elements & VM Props: Creative Branding Solutions
Lighting Fixtures: IQ Lighting