MUMBAI: Titan Industries has launched its international watch collection symbolically titled "The New World Watch" with a fashion show by ace designer Prasad Bidappa at The Taj Mahal Hotel in Mumbai. The Mumbai event-cum-press conference was simulcast via satellite to Delhi and Bangalore.

Titan Industries Watch division COO Bijou Kurien has confirmed that the company will spend Rs 85-90 million on a multimedia advertising campaign during the next quarter. The AOR (agency of record) for Titan is Rediffusion DYR's media independent outfit The Media Edge.
"This is the largest-ever quarterly spend in Titan's 16-year old history and the entire campaign will involve 15 TV commercial films - including the teaser campaign that started on 8 September 2003 and will continue till December 2003," Kurien says even as O&M India group president and national creative director Piyush Pandey and The Media Edge director Divya Radhakrishnan watches the proceedings.

The new Titan World watch will have 60 designs and will be priced in the Rs 2,600 to Rs 6,000 bracket. The collections will be in steel with leather straps, all steel as well as gold.

Titan forayed into the international markets in 1991-92. Kurien mentioned that the brand Titan is now available in 29 countries across 2,500 outlets in South Asia, the Pacific, Middle East and Europe. In India, Titan has 160 exclusive outlets in which 150 franchisee outlets are included (plus 60 more for Tanishq jewellery products).

Kurien envisaged that the watch division of Titan would grow by 20 per cent (in value terms) in this financial year. "The turnover of the company is Rs 8 billion and exports are around Rs 550 million," he added. The proportion of watch contribution to jewellery contribution in the turnover is 55:45.

The total size of the Indian horological market is 31 million pieces valued at Rs 18 million in the last financial year. The organised players sell 12 million pieces and Titan a volume share of 20 per cent overall and 50 per cent in the organised market stakes.

"We are rapidly growing in the international markets and we are gearing up for forays into Latin America, Japan and Korea. The advertising budget for global markets inclusive of franchisee-distributor spends is in the region of $4 million," adds Kurien.

It looks as if the "Made in India" brand is striving hard to become a truly global brand.