Aabhas Sharma caught up with Kapil Kapoor to know about the company's growth plans

From Timex Watches to Timex Group. What is the idea behind undergoing a corporate identity change?

We wanted to streamline our business operations. As Timex Watches, we were being perceived as a watch brand only, whereas we do have other offerings in the luxury space and would soon be entering the jewellery segment.

The latter two would be the company's focal points in the future, especially the luxury market.

We already have global licenses of luxury brands such as Versace, Valentino, Guess and Nautica among others. We also plan to make our presence felt in the jewellery segment. Thus, to have more clarity about the brand as well as its operations, we thought we should be called Timex Group.

The luxury segment is probably getting overcrowded, as more and more brands are targeting it. Do you see a problem of plenty in that space?

To be honest, the problem of plenty should not occur in the foreseeable future. The market is growing at breakneck speed and there are too many brands but that is because there is a huge demand for luxury products.

While other segments in the watch industry grew by 10 per cent, the luxury segment saw a whopping growth rate of 32 per cent.

You were probably one of the first brands to have a foreign cricketer as brand ambassador. Now with so much talk about the luxury market, are you looking to have someone else on the board as well?

When we signed Brett Lee, he suited the brand's image and values to perfection. And whenever people think of Brett Lee as a brand ambassador, the first brand that comes to their mind is Timex. This doesn't hold true for any Indian cricketer's endorsements. We plan to sign someone else for our luxury brands and might do it in the near future.

How do you see the watch industry growing in the years to come?

There was a time when there was single digit growth in the watch industry but over the last few years the market has been growing at 12-15 per cent annually. A lot of this is due to growth in the luxury segment.

Even though Timex contributed 88 per cent to our total turnover last year, we are expecting that to change in the future. Timex will remain our flagship brand but our luxury brands would contribute much more in the future.

What about the communication strategy. Timex as a brand has always had a youthful and sporty approach. With the change in its corporate identity, do we see that changing?

For the Timex brand, the strategy will remain same. However, our other bands will be treated in a manner that suits the target audience. It doesn't matter whether people know that Timex is marketing Valentino or Versace.

What matters most is how the brands are received by the customers and how well they fair in the market.