Brand Watches

Timex watches, which has gone for a facelift with a new tagline saying, ‘New age Indian’, is aiming at a 10 per cent growth in market share in the current Rs 20 billion watch industry.

Says Timex Group MD and senior VP Asia Pacific Kapil Kapoor, “Currently Timex has a market share of 20 per cent in the relevant target segment. Having said this we are planning to increase our number of brand shops from 60 to 100 by the end of the year as 19 per cent of our revenues comes from stand alone shops.”

Moreover, its brand ambassador, Australian cricketer Brett Lee, unveiled its new collection ‘Conversation starters’. This collection consists of 21 new styles of watches for men and has price ranging from Rs 3,000 to Rs 10,000.

Furthermore, the company today also unveiled its latest campaign, ‘Conversation starters’. The new campaign is based on the concept that a great looking watch can often act as an ice-breaker between two unknown people even in the most uncommon situation.

“We have invested Rs 150 million in our marketing initiatives,” adds Kapoor.

While the television commercial is already on air, the watch company is also using various other mediums like print, online and outdoor to further promote its newly launched collection. The campaign has been created by its advertising agency JWT.

Apart from all this, the company has plans to unveil new watches under the brand Ferragamo in the luxury watch segment by the end of this month.

In the year 2154, no one will want to wear wristwatches anymore. They’ll probably be out of fashion or too bulky for our hands. The in thing will be the nail watch, known as the TX54. Well, that’s what Timex and design site Core77 think will be the future, according to the global design competition Timex 2154: The Future of Time.” The two held the contest to mark the watch maker’s 150th anniversary.

TX54, the runner-up in the event, is a concept watch by three Americans designers: Napoleon Merana, Steffen Schubert, and David Takacs. The nail watch is designed to be hooked to the thumbnail. The user should be able to view the time in the dark just by pressing the tip of the nail. Wearers can also switch between available colors. It is also disposable. One hopes it’s waterproof as well, just in case you forget to take it off while you’re in the shower.

Although the TX54 is a good concept, I can’t imagine how small the numbers are going to be, probably putting a strain on your eyes.

Timex, the country’s second largest watch brand, is focusing on selling watches only in the top end of the market. The company has already phased out all the products below Rs 1,000 price point to boost its bottom line.

The company is also bullish on tapping the new media for products promotion amongst the youngsters. Salil Sadanandan, senior vice-president, sales and marketing, Timex said, “By the year-end or early next year, the company would cut down on products below Rs 1,000 price points.

Initially, the company saw a dent in volumes but it has managed to increase the average price points, for better realisations.” Analysts estimate that the company’s focus on the mid and premium segment would enable it to improve average realisations, increase sales and expand margins.

During the first quarter of this financial year, Timex registered a net profit of Rs 3.8 crore compared with Rs 8.9 lakh for the corresponding period last year. Sadanandan mentioned that Timex is stimulating impulse buying by strategically locating the products in the retail space.

For instance, the company does not display watches below Rs 1000 in the Time Factory. In the long run, the company expects the core business to come from price points between Rs 2,500 and Rs 5000. He said, “There is a need to have control over retail as it has emerged as the biggest marketing medium.”

It plans to open about 150 Time Factory stores by the next year. Similarly, Timex has identified new media as one of the effective communicating mediums with the customers. Sadanandan said, “The increasing cost and fragmentation of the conventional communication tools has made new media a lucrative option.

From the consumer’s perspective companies have to adopt to the emerging mediums as they are the deciding factor in the brand connect.”

Sports watches are a great training aid, but what about getting them to do something else, like controlling your iPod? We get out on the track with the new iControl from Timex. Should you tune-in or change the channel? Read on to find out.

Based on the company’s Ironman watch, the iControl adds, with the help of a dongle, Play, Pause, Track skip and volume controls to your watch so you can control your iPod even if it’s out of sight.

Two new dedicated buttons add the iPod control features, but Timex has made sure that the watch features have remained untouched.

There is still a plethora of stopwatches, spilt times, and features such as a 50-lap memory recall chronograph, the ability to store training logs, two interval timers for speed and endurance training, three alarms and 100m water resistance alongside its INDIGLO night light included for sports fans.

Connection is achieved using a Timex branded Belkin wireless dongle and the unit plugs into your dock connector on your iPod, and then allows you to control the MP3 player wireless via your watch.

Aside from the shuffle (it lacks the dock connector), the dongle will work with all the current iPod models including the newly announced nano, classic, touch and the even the iPhone when in flight mode. We tested our unit on an iPod 5th Gen video and a nano.

In practice and the system is incredibly easy to use, turning the unit on instantly pairs the two units and from there away you go saving you messing around with the iPod mid-run.

The results also mean you can lose it in a pocket, shoulder strap, or backpack.

Pressing the dedicated keys on the watch give you the required response and the only things you can’t do is access menu screens, or see the name of the track on the watch screen.

Managing Director at Timex Watches, Kapil Kapoor informs that the company will launch 120 stores based on a franchise model and that they are putting up a multi brand concept with international brands and showcasing international watch experience, which is novel to the Indian market.

Elaborating on the brands that they intend to showcase in their retail exclusive stores, he states, “We hope to build a portfolio of brands and we have currently showcased five of our brands - our flagship brand Timex and others in our portfolio namely Nautica, FCUK and Opex Paris.”

He further adds, “We have got a strategic alliance going with couple of other brands in the Egana Gold Field Group, namely Pierre Cardin and Esprit. So overall, we have got about six brands in our portfolio in the store and we hope to expand that by another 2 or 3 brands in the next few months.”

The company expects to see 20-25% growth in the coming months. He mentions, “We seem to evolve so far on a year-to-date basis around 24-25%. I expect that our sales should continue to evolve at the rate of about 20-25% into the foreseeable future.”

Speaking about the company’s market share, he states, “Looking at the organised market, we have a share of 11%. But in that, we seem to operate in a segment, which is between Rs 1,000 and Rs 5,000 and that is our core business segment and in that segment, our tracks are showing a share of about 22%.”

Timex and Casio are creating technical watches designed for athletes, because sometimes it’s just not convenient to carry a cell phone. Timex’s Ironman line includes watches that measure calories burned, heart rate, speed and distance using GPS technology. The data stored on the watch can even be downloaded onto a computer.

“People are jumping on the bandwagon of technology but baby boomers still love their watches,” said Finhert. Indeed, many people of the older generations are proficient with cell phones but still wear a watch every day. Finhert said his customers still purchase watches as gifts, often as keepsakes to be passed down.

Hayes said there will probably be changes within the watch industry in the next five to 10 years, but he believes the watch will never be obsolete.

“The wristwatch has become ingrained in the identity of time,” he said.

Read the whole article here.