The Hindu Business Line : Timex to introduce 2 new brands

TIMEX Watches will soon bring international fashion brands such as Timberland and Opex to Indian shores as part of its strategy to develop a multi-brand portfolio, besides increasing the exports of its watches from India to other subsidiaries, according to a senior official.

The company exports around 50,000 units of watches to markets such as Eastern Europe, the US, Mexico and the Philippines; it will soon rev up its exports on the back of design and manufacturing capabilities in its facility in Noida, said Mr Kapil Kapoor, Managing Director, Timex Watches India, and Vice-President (Asia), Timex Corp.

"We hope to touch a turnover of around Rs 120 crore by March 2005, and, in effect, plan to increase our exports by 25-30 per cent," said Mr Salil Sadanandan, Vice-President, Marketing, Timex Watches.

The total demand for watches in India is 25 million pieces every year, out of which the organised sector supplies around 11 million.

Although there is no organised tracking of market share in the industry, Timex does its own retail audit of shares through 600 multi-brand stores; it claims to have a 22 per cent market share in these stores.

Out of the total number of watches sold in India, 18-19 million are sold in the sub-category of Rs 1,000-3,000. Timex's share in this segment has grown steadily and the company is working towards further increasing it.

"As a part of our strategy, we plan to concentrate on this segment by launching new products and marketing initiatives, thus giving the customer international design and quality at Indian price; our customers have been very receptive to this," Mr Kapoor said.

One of the biggest concerns of Timex is that many consumers have continued to see Timex and Titan as being from the same company. "This is the legacy of the joint venture when both were marketed together and some of the brand initiatives are often appropriated by Titan by default since consumers have viewed them interchangeably," Mr Kapoor said.

However, over the last two years, Timex is now perceived as the "sporty, techy and fashionable young people's brand," which means our positioning effort has been successful, Mr Kapoor added.

Timex is also planning to increase its presence by setting up more of its concept stores — Club Timex. These branded stores are based on shop-in-shop concept, which focuses on components such as visual impact, customer experience and positive post-purchase association.

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