The medium as the message

Timex uses design as a crucial part of its new two-tier retail strategy.

Retail is the best medium today to get your message across to the target audience," says Salil Sadanandan, vice-president, marketing, Timex Watches Ltd.

Standing in Time Factory, Timex's new exclusive store in Delhi's posh Vasant Vihar, Sadanandan explains the company's two-tier retail network.

Timex now has two kinds of stores: one, Time Factory for the image conscious; and two, Timex stores for the price conscious.

While Time Factory is what Timex stores in the US are called, the concept for the Indian market is different, according to Sadanandan.

There's a market-oriented reason for that. With multiple ownership the upper-end norm in India now, a watch is fast becoming an impulse purchase, and this spells its own retail design dynamics.

For one, the store is spacious, almost stark bare compared to other watch shops. "There was a temptation to fill the space with more watches, but we want our consumers to have the space to look around and make the purchase decision," Sadanandan explains.

For another, the display differs. There are display cases embedded in the wall, for example, reminiscent of the early Titan showrooms. And watches don't get mixed up. Perpetual Calendars stand apart from Expedition watches and chronographs.

And, oh, the women's section... it's in a class of its own, with the shopper's attention drawn not just to Timex's international portfolio, but also the highly stylized options of India Opex and FCUK watches.

Equally unmissable are the brand legacy endorsements, not to mention the banners, that adorn the interiors. As a 150-year-old brand, Timex has long sold watches on the platform of rugged durability (exemplified by its classic "Takes a lickin' and keeps on tickin'" adline), rather like a jeans brand, and US presidents are to be seen wearing Timex to signal such personality traits as endurance under tough conditions.

Part of the stores' objective is to reclaim this legacy in the Indian consumer's mind by highlighting such defining aspects of its brand folklore.

As Timex increasingly becomes part of Indian cultural life, Sadanandan hopes to have local anecdotal tales of watch durability decorating the walls of the stores as well.

For now, the game is to reach out. Timex plans to add 130 exclusive showrooms to its existing retail network of 20 showrooms by 2008, 25 of these being Time Factory, which would be located in places frequented by the SEC A consumer in the 18-35 age bracket. Regular Timex stores, on the other hand, would be situated in malls and other midmarket areas.

Ideally, over the long run (and it's a 150 year old brand, remember), Timex's dual format should give way to a unified brand approach. But there's much marketing work to be done in the interim.