In a world filled with heavily funded start-ups that create noise by throwing money, how a small, cash-strapped jewellery and watch brand grew through frugal marketing makes for an interesting study. 

Joker & Witch, founded by the husband-wife team of Satish Singh and Maya Varma in 2015, has managed to carve out for itself a unique brand identity and persona. So has their second brand, Teejh. Both brands have found gaps in the market and quickly filled them.

As for the Joker & Witch brand name, Singh explains that he sees himself as the joker in the pack — a fun, problem-solving alter ego — while Maya is akin to “a mystical, powerful being — a witch to his joker persona”. J&W also stands for jewellery and watches — though they now also make accessories like sunglasses and clutches.

Initially targeting Gen Z and millennials, they spotted a gap in affordable well-designed watches that brands like Titan and Fossil could not fill, and began offering those as well as modern daily-wear jewellery. Starting out with aspirationally designed watches priced ₹800-₹1,500, they have now expanded the range to ₹700-₹3,000.

Teejh was set up in 2019 when Varma saw a white space in affordable jewellery for daily wear. The name Teejh was inspired by childhood memories of Indian festivals, and its identity and persona is quite a contrast to that of Joker & Witch. From oxidised jewellery, it has expanded into sarees — both focus on wearable, non-ostentatious pieces. 

Brand strategy

Singh, a MICA alumnus, believes that a brand is an extension of how founders think. Since both he and his wife are old-school and driven by conventional values, they decided their brand would not be measured by how much money it raised. “Hence we kept it bootstrapped,” he says. The other thinking that shaped their product offering was their refusal to chase trends. At the time they launched, smart watches were getting to be popular but they contrarily chose to go with analogue watches, positioning them as fashionable.

They launched their website in 2016, focusing on content creation. Singh says three Cs — content, community and commerce — have shaped their brand strategy. “Simple communication done consistently can reap dividends over a long period of time,” he says.

In addition, three Is have helped growth — Instagram, innovation and influencers. “Instagram has been one large, strong canvas for lifestyle and fashion brands. In fact, I would say, don’t do heavy investments on Facebook and YouTube,” he advises. 

Innovating smartly has also propelled the brand. For instance, Joker & Witch began pairing watches with bracelets and that worked. Then they started a triad with rings added. “Also the presentation of the product did wonders for us,” says Singh.

Coping with competition

So far so good. But the branded affordable artificial jewellery space is suddenly getting crowded. How do they plan to navigate that? 

“By staying true to our core,” responds Varma. “Even today, 50 per cent of our sales on Teejh come from our oxidised jewellery. So we will stay focused on that,” she says.

“In the lifecycle of a brand, if your products are good, your after-sales service is top-notch, a customer tends to like you. Over time, likeability becomes lovable, and then becomes an obsession,” says Singh. 

“I think we are in the ‘likeability’ stage. We will do our best to get to the place where customers are obsessed with us,” he says.