On the 30th of April 2006, a record 25,000 kgs of Gold was sold in Tamil Nadu alone. This is a record of sorts amidst soaring gold prices which has hit an all time high of over Rs. 900 per gm. The occasion, “Akshaya Tritiya”. This is a brilliant marketing strategy on the part of the Jewellers who in the past couple of years have sold the concept of ‘auspicious purchase of Gold’ just too well.
Even three years back when I was in Chennai, popularization of this idea was in full swing, and there were ads all around. Then, I was instructed by my parents to buy something in gold. Unaware of the rush I coolly went at 11 in the morning to GRT in T. Nagar only to find people queued up outside the shop and the line was longer than the street. It made me wonder whether someone was handing out free gold coins at that hour! I had to move with the queue and spend nearly 2 hours to buy a ring.
This year, I could see that the concept was growing bigger. The ads have brought in Platinum jewellery into the ‘auspicious fold’! With Platinum selling at over Rs.2000 per gm, at more than twice the price of Gold, this makes good business sense. This is a good case of innovative marketing, something akin to “Champagne for Special, Momentous Occasions”!
4 comments:
Yupppu.....Akshaya Thrithi.....or for that anything that matters now is how you market those things....Pongal, Diwali, sales have reached peaks..agreed...but this ADI KAZHIVU sale....has attained a new meaning courtesy the head honchos of marketing.....Originally ADI KAZHIVU was a sale, because ADI is a month when marriages or any auspicious functions will not take place and there will be lul in the sales of garments...and to stem this was the ADI KAZHIVU..when garments where given at a cheaper rate....this has become as though a festival with equal significance of the other established ones......Marketing...Marketing...TV Ads...CROWDS at T NAGAR....hmmmmm
@Jinnah - ha ha.. Dr. Electrochemist, I'd urge you to look at it from a common man's 'usage' point of view!! Moreover considering its historic price trend, it sure makes a good investment..
@Rajesh - Precisely.. a very good parallel.. had thot abt this 'Adi sale' when I wrote this post too..
good that you mentioned it..
This "25,000 kgs" of Gold figure looks very suspicious to me. Kind of building the hype to the next year, it seems. Here's why:
25,000 Kg = 25,000,000 grams = 2250,00,00,000 (2250 crores) Rupees worth of buying.
Population of TN = 7 crore.
Remove 30% people who are below poverty line. Rest 5 crore including kids, old retired people, housewives, street vendors everybody included must have spent Rs 450 each on buying Gold that day. Every family of 4 should have spent Rs 1800. Remove Christians and Muslims from that 5 crore and the average becomes higher. My family of 6 did not buy a single gram. There are scores of people who didn't care.
Considering all this, 25,000kg figure is a load of bull.
@Ashok.. Interesting analysis indeed! I had my own doubts when I saw this figure and before quoting it here. However, I saw a 'slight' credence in it..
Here's how, in your line of analysis..
I'm with you till the 5 crore figure. Slash it further by 20%, assuming that the other 80% just don't care or cannot..
That leaves us with 1 crore of buying populace.. They should have each spent Rs. 2250 on the average. This looks slightly realistic. There are people who buy .5 or 1g and others who buy 100g. My family of 6 bought more than 20g that day (our max spend for any Akshaya Tritiya, btb!).
Our analyses aside, you never know.. there could be double-counting in the figures like wholesale-to-dealer-to-retail etc... Or plainly, these figures could very well have been a publicity hype-up blitz as well..
Btb, welcome to the hub.. and once again, nice analysis
Ganes.
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