Sonata's symphony

Sonata’s “symphony” has now turned into a war cry of sorts. The watchmaker, one of the three units within Titan Industries (the others being Fast Track and Titan), is looking to make aggressive inroads into the vast unorganised market that accounts for 27 million of the more than 42 million watches sold in India every year. Its latest launch, Super Fibre is a step in this direction; with products all priced below Rs 550, it’s targeted at the booming youth segment in semi-urban and rural India. According to some estimates, watches priced below Rs 500 account for over 40 per cent of the overall watch market and is one of the fastest growing segments overall. With this aggressive price line, Sonata hopes to eat into this fast-growing but costconscious market.

Super Fibre will be available in 68 different styles across both analogue and digital offerings. Says Harish Bhat, COO, Watches, Titan Industries: “Sonata’s consumers are price conscious, but they increasingly want the latest styles and trends. Accordingly, we have made several innovations on materials (using ABS, a high-strength plastic, for instance) and design to try and appeal to this new fashion-conscious watch buyer.” The watchmaker has made other innovations for small towns; unlike the elaborate packaging used in the branded market, Super Fibre watches are packaged in clear plastic boxes. “We want consumers in the hinterland to make these watches (price range of Rs 275-Rs 550) an impulse purchase,” says Bhat, adding, “In small town India, Sonata competes with few national brands (with the exception of Maxima, perhaps), with most rivals focussed on specific states or towns.”

But Sonata may not find the going easy. Besides competing with another national label in Maxima, Bhat will have to compete with an assortment of watches from the likes of Time Well and Sona in this market. “These have strong brands associations built either over time or due to lower costs, and we will need to break those,” says Bhat. Already, he’s fired the first salvo, hiring Indian cricket captain M.S. Dhoni (and a product of Ranchi, a relatively small town) to be Sonata’s brand ambassador. Now, he wants to extend this edge by making Super Fibre Sonata’s first sub-brand. “We are already a Rs 300-crore, 5 millionunit brand and we want to become a Rs 800-crore, 10 millionunit outfit in three or four years,” says Bhat. Simultaneously, he wants to make Sonata more easily available in small towns and is prepared to look beyond conventional retail options to boost availability. “We successfully piloted watch sales in Tata Kissan Kendras owned by Tata Chemicals. Now we want to expand our 2,500-store retail presence multi-fold and will consider many of these offbeat options,” says Bhat.

Behind the scenes, the Sonata team is also working overtime to cut its moorings from the Titan brand. “We are a distinct entity from both Titan and Fast Track and we want to be identified by the Sonata brand,” says Bhat. There are clear signs of his intent; Sonata merchandise, for example, uses only the ‘Sonata from the Tatas’ as its logo, with little reference to its Titan heritage. But, for the moment, Bhat is reluctant to experiment with the brand’s strength and consider extending it into new segments such as sunglasses. “There is a long way to go in the watches market yet for us,” he argues. Making that extension, will perhaps be his toughest challenge yet.

—Rahul Sachitanand