C.K. VenkataramanTHE TANISHQ STORY

‘It is often said that the goldsmith does not spare even his mother in the obnoxious practice of his trade. Indians known for their love for gold jewellery, and the world’s largest consumers were always at the receiving end. But when it comes to ‘Tanishq- A TATA Product’, the customer is sure of the purity of gold, that he or she buys with the hard-earned money. The TATA brand is now a gold standard for integrity, corporate governance and business ethics.’ This was the first paragraph in my review on Amazon.in, of ‘The Tatas: How a Family Built a Business and a Nation’ by Girish Kuber.Great organizations that are now ubiquitous by their size, brand names and customer loyalty are often born from the winning aspiration of its great founders. Often, the vison is driven by a vague but powerful image of the future that is waiting to be embraced. In the case of Tanishq, it is Xerxes Desai’s ‘Tiffany of the East’ dream that fired his imagination of which Tanishq is now the world’s most valuable jewellery company.India continues to be the world’s largest consumer of gold, and we import about 750 tonnes of this yellow metal every year. We take pride in our exquisite ethnic designs, the skill of our craftsmen (karigars) and the joy of buying this auspicious metal, as a store of value and a statement of love. Yet, we lacked a trustworthy source where we could be sure of its quality, in terms of purity, weight and resale value. As rightly put by the famous Tanishq print advertisement, ‘Beware, there is a thief in the family’. Tanishq introduced the karatmeter that measured the purity of gold right in front of the customer. Transparency builds trust, trust builds brands and brands grow the business. The rest is Tanishq!This book is a fascinating story of building a great brand with extremely high customer centricity and best in class business processes. In fact, in my opinion, this book is an excellent case study in Business Excellence, that is the pinnacle of international standards in corporate excellence. This is a business that excels in all aspects, firing on all cylinders: Vision, Strategy, core processes and stakeholder results. People (employees, karigars, customers, franchisee staff) are at the foundation of its success, led by stellar leadership, guided by the Tata Values, integrity at its core.Many of the anecdotes in the book are very similar to my own experience with Tanishq since 2002. The brand and the store manager are an integral part of our family. Everyone at the store know us, our birthdays, anniversaries and also preferences.This book is a narrative of how a designer’s dream, incredible creativity, a compelling story gets transformed into reality at the karigars’ dextrous hands, flawless execution, into inimitable jewellery, that finally adorns customers Tan (body) with Isq (Love). Be it Colours, Arka, Kundan, Niloufer, Alehya, Rivaah or just the plain solitaires that say it all. Tiffany would now be looking to become the Tanishq of the west. This book tells us this inspiring story. Xerxes Desai, mission accomplished sir, RIP.Thank you, CK. This review is in sincere gratitude and abundant love to team Tanishq.

Tanishq is a well known brand and its success is well documented by business and trade media from time to time. Why should then one read The Tanishq story by C K Venkatraman ?Well there are several reasons; it’s an insider’s account from a leader who has been at the helm of the Jewellery division earlier and is the MD of Titan company. CKV as he is known is a people’s person and has acknowledged the contribution of his past and present team. He credits Tanishq’s success to great leaders, Xerxes Desai, Bhaskar Bhat and Jacob Kurien. He doesn’t even take credit for writing such a wonderful book and says that the writing of Tanishq story was Chiki Sarkar’s and Devangshu Datta’s idea. He wears the hat of a historian as well as an active participant who made Tanishq what it is today. Brand Tanishq interestingly, was born out of compulsion. Its purpose was to earn foreign exchange to finance the import of watch components for Titan. Titan’s jewellery brand was conceived as Tiffany of the East and was branded as Celeste… how it changed track and become successful makes fascinating reading. It’s a short, racy read of 244 pages and will surely become a best seller. What I loved reading most about was CKV’s vulnerable side… his reservation of reporting to Jacob, his decision to quit Titan and join Levi Strauss and changing it after a dressing down from Xerxes Desai.Don’t just buy a copy…. Buy several of them for gifting to your friends and associates

On page 110 ofThe Tanishq Story, CK Venkataraman points out the difference between stress and pressure. Stress, he says, crushes you, while pressure can turn you into a diamond. This is probably the best advice you can get on handling adversity.The book shows how a business was built from the ground up, navigating the regulatory framework and revitalizing tradition. It details how Tanishq surmounted crises like demonetisation and COVID-19, among others. Today, the brand is a stellar exemplar of an ideal corporate citizen with timeless values, not to mention a jewel in the Tata crown.It’s refreshing to see all claims of corporate achievement backed with data, making it a convincing business school case study. Moreover, it is heartening to see credit given to brand-building partners and the team from the advertising agency. And yes, it’s a relief to note the absence of words like venture capitalist, valuation, and unicorn.For anyone who wants to build a business that contributes to society while still seeking prosperity, this is recommended reading.It’s a candid memoir of a quiet leader—an account of the Rahul Dravid of the business world.

Tanishq is one of the most important brands of our time and its a treat to read how it was built through an inside, but objective eye. The book and author don't shy away from diving into the rocky start of the company and the many existential crises it overcame to lead the jewellery market in India. This is also a book about how the right culture creates resilience. Recommended for all brand-builders

there is no page animation or anything. cannot use most of kindle settings on it. looks like someone uploaded a cheap PDF file