Q] CaratLane’s ‘Wedding Proposal’ campaign explored the often overlooked emotional aspect of proposals. What was the thought behind it and how did the customers respond to it?
When we started working on this film with in-depth research where we spoke to a lot of people, we spoke to our consumers and there is this one insight that really came out — that men who actually go down on their knees to propose are the most vulnerable at that time, especially through the process of finding and selecting the ‘right ring’ for the ‘right moment’! There are numerous questions, anxieties, and distractions—not only within individuals themselves but also influenced by those around them, including friends, family, and colleagues—which we recognised as a powerful insight. This is also one aspect, especially in the jewellery space, that no one has really explored. No one has really looked at it from a man’s perspective. So, we thought that this is the insight that we would like to take forward. That’s how the campaign, which is about second thoughts on your proposal or ‘jitters’, came to life.
Q] CaratLane had also launched the Disney-inspired Lion King collection tied to the film’s release. What kind of demand did you see for it and how has the collaboration with Disney been?
We launched our Disney collection around Christmas and it had a great run. We had timed this with the launch of the movie Mufasa. The collection was available in all our stores. We also organised multiple invite-only events for the collection. It was unveiled by kids. We invited all our kid shoppers and their parents for in-store fashion shows and in-store activities. A standout moment was when we booked PVR theatres and held a special screening of Mufasa, exclusively for our customers, in four cities. That really worked very well for us. Because when we screen a Lion King film in a 300-seater theatre, cut a cake, invite our customers on stage to share their experiences, and celebrate together, it takes customer engagement to an entirely new level. These IPs have always worked well for us—especially The Lion King, which is one of the most beloved characters among children.
Q] How is CaratLane striking a balance between retail outlets and e-commerce? And how many stores do you plan to open in the next quarter?
We’re planning to open more stores in the next quarter and about 40 over the course of the year. Currently, we have approximately 322 stores and continue to grow steadily.
One of our key strengths is being a truly omnichannel brand. Customers can walk into any store and place an order from our full online inventory. Physical stores simply can’t hold as much variety, so this model creates a seamless, friction-free experience. While retail remains our primary focus, online plays a critical role—especially in how customers engage with us. Being a precious jewellery brand, our consumers love to browse and explore collections online. Many of them are collectors who pick pieces from every collection. Once they find something they like, they either visit a store or use our ‘Try at Home’ service. That said, the actual purchase mostly happens offline—around 90% of our business still comes from retail.
Q] What is the marketing mix of the brand, who takes the lion’s share?
If you had asked me this about 12 months ago, I would’ve said that 80% of our media spend was on digital, mostly programmatic. That’s because consumer behaviour showed us that people love to browse online before they actually shop in-store. But with 322 stores today we’ve had to rethink our media mix. Over the past year, we’ve reduced digital spends from 80% to around 60%, and shifted 40% to traditional media—TV, radio, print—so we can better support our growing offline presence.
Q] What was the strategy behind the ‘Wear Your Wins’ campaign with Nancy Tyagi and how did your customers react to it?
We decided to move from tactical marketing to brand marketing about 1.5 years ago. We’ve always been about beautiful designs — and we still are — but now, apart from talking about our stunning designs, we’ve also built a platform for women to recognise and celebrate their wins, even the small ones. Someone doesn’t need to win on an international platform to be acknowledged. In fact, when we partnered with Nancy, she was just going to Cannes — we didn’t know it would blow up in the media. The film we made, ‘Wear Your Wins’, had three protagonists. We’re very happy with how Nancy Tyagi was received and the kind of accolades she got, which also helped strengthen the campaign.
During that period, brand searches went up 100x, and we saw over a crore’s worth of organic PR — people picked it up and shared it widely. This is a long-term platform that’s very close to our heart. We’re for women, and we want them to recognise their wins. Every time, we’ll return with new insights under the Wear Your Wins umbrella. This isn’t a one-off — it’s something we’re committed to.
Q] Most companies today are betting big on influencer marketing, what is CaratLane’s stance here?
There are two kinds of influencer marketing that we do and we actually have an extremely high focus on influencer marketing. One is that we have realised that there are smaller markets where we are now opening our stores — we are present in 130 cities today. So, we look at the local trends, the local influencers, they actually play a large role in bringing those eyeballs for the brand, which national campaigns sometimes fail to do. Second, because the jewellery that CaratLane makes is stunning, transformative, a lot of times, we make things like dancing hoops or where the jewellery can be transformed. What influencers help us do is, they help us educate customers in the ways to style it or wear it, which sometimes gets very restricted if only my jewellery consultant at store can show it. It helps us in product styling, in reaching out to the right consumer in the right catchments. Also, we use influencers a lot to be relevant in certain markets. For example, the South is very different from the North or the West. Therefore, our brand campaigns can have a certain look and feel to it, but to be relevant in that market, we use a lot of influencers.
PROFILE
Shaifali Gautam is the Chief Marketing Officer at CaratLane – A Tata Product, where she spearheads marketing, growth, and customer engagement initiatives. With over two decades of experience across retail, startups, and global enterprises, she brings a strategic, customer-first lens to every challenge. An MBA graduate from IIM Ahmedabad, Shaifali has held leadership roles at BYJU’S, Reliance Retail, and Aditya Birla Group, and is widely recognized for driving transformative brand growth.
ABOUT THE BRAND
CaratLane – A Tata Product, founded in 2008 by Mithun Sacheti and Srinivasa Gopalan, is India’s first omni-channel jewellery brand. With a mission to make beautiful jewellery accessible, affordable, and wearable, CaratLane blends contemporary design with innovative tech features like ‘Try at Home’ and ‘CaratLane Live.’ Backed by the Tata Group’s legacy of trust, it offers a seamless shopping experience across 300+ stores and is India’s largest online jewellery platform, aiming to be an emotional and stylish companion in every modern woman’s journey.
FACTS
PR Agency: Adfactors PR
Media & Digital Agency: Madison PR
