Suisse A La Mode

Like the soft snow flakes and streaks of clouds, there is a subtle curiosity in the streets of icy Munich. It’s about a face a Swiss watchmaker is promoting. Shelves in almost all major departmental stores, which barely a week ago were full of nude lifesize pictures of supermodel Naomi Campbell, are now piled high with expensive yellow-coloured brochures and glossy posters portraying a relatively unknown Third World woman. She’s clearly not a supermodel yet but India’s current beauty queen is now a classy brand ambassador for Swiss watchmaker Longines.

In the early stages of subcontinental business, for Lara Datta to share a pedestal reserved for legends like Audrey Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart is a little like Bengalis making it to the Brazilian national soccer team. Probably better, because the Indian odyssey for Swiss watchmakers has only begun recently, after the government slashed the steep tariff on import of Swiss watches into India. Though it wouldn’t seem so inside a 18th century teak-panelled hall which once held gala equestrian events and is now awash with bright lights gliding through huge clear panels and shining on the launch function for Longines’ latest, the Dolce Vita range. "It’s a completely new experience to launch an Indian model with a global brand," remarks Hemant Trivedi who is joined by celebrated fashion designers from Brazil and Germany for the rampshow.

Never mind that the series will be launched first in China and will travel to India only during the festival season. It’s India which Longines president Walter von Kanel’s farsighted business acumen terms as the market of the future. "Remember the song Old Turkey Buzzard in Mackenna’s Gold? We are hovering over the Indian market exactly like that... keeping a close eye on every movement that takes place," smiles Kanel as he flashes statistics which show Indians bought more than 65,000 expensive Swiss watches last year and may just end up buying more than 1,00,000 this year. A near 50 per cent jump, that is, even with prices straddling Rs 25,000 to Rs 1,50,000 per piece.

What then is Longines’ target segment? "The upper-middle-class segment which can afford the top-end products but needs to be convinced," quips Lara Datta. Surely that’s a tough job in a country where the bulk of consumers don’t see the need to spend more than Rs 300 to Rs 900 on a watch. Datta agrees but quickly points out that Indians have started buying a large number of Swiss watches ever since the market was freed from high duty. "Today, the West does not need any introduction to Swiss watches. Indians do. It started a few years ago and the mood has already caught on," she adds.

Facts do bear her out. The Rs 1,400-crore Indian watch market has three segments. While the top-end definitely belongs to the Swiss, the bottom-end (approximately 20 per cent) is ruled by cheap Taiwanese imports. In between lies the large middle segment accounting for nearly 60 per cent of the market and dominated by the Indian and Japanese watchmakers. That’s the most lucrative segment which the Swiss are trying to penetrate with what they call a three-pronged strategy. First, remove the myth from the Indian mind that Swiss watches are only for the super rich. Then introduce faces Indians can relate to and finally, market the product in the same category as jewellery. "We do not want to introduce prices that rattle Indians. The Longines gameplan is to make the Indian consumer understand that a watch is much more than a strap on the wrist... it’s a part of her life. It’s something which needs to be taken care of and not worn casually every day," says von Kanel.

Agrees vice-president Charles A. Villoz: "Promotions linked with fashion shows and designers from India are indicative of our focus and long-term commitment to India. We sold nearly 10,000 watches last year and the figure will surely double this year." Villoz’s claims are supplemented by Ashraf Patel, who runs an exclusive Swiss watch gallery in Mumbai: "The Indian market is important because it’s growing and the Swiss watchmakers have tactically pegged prices at a relatively low scale - between Rs 25,000 and Rs 50,000." Patel, who plans to open similar galleries in other Indian cities, feels that companies like Longines and Omega will be forced - sooner or later - to further slash prices to peg their products in a range comparable to Japanese watches like Seiko.

Says Patel: "The Swiss want to counter this Japanese focus on technical brilliance by pegging their product as a symbol of elegance." In fact, international watch experts are already earmarking India as a market with much more potential than neighbouring China, ostensibly because of what they call a typical awareness problem with the Communist regime and its priorities. "Indians are much more upwardly mobile and an easy target for any awareness campaign. Look at the diamond fever De Beers has created in your country. Earlier, many felt diamonds were only for the rich. Today, it’s becoming a part and parcel of teenage fashion in India. Similar will be the case with watches," remarks Joe Thompson, editor-in-chief of AmericanTime, the world’s most prestigious trade magazine on watches.

Globally, says Thompson, the Japanese are feeling the Swiss pressure of projecting watches as objets d’art, rather than as mere gizmos. "The customer’s mindset is changing worldwide. And if you notice, it’s happening with your people also. Earlier, a handful relied on smuggled Swiss watches but then there were worries about finding the right person for repairs. But the scene has changed today and will change much more within the next three years," adds Thompson. Does that indicate an increased globalisation for the new-generation Indian whose productline boasts of truly global brands, especially as an increasing number of international companies look to new markets to shore up their bottomlines? Perhaps yes.

And it’s not happening only in India but also with Indians abroad. Agrees Rakesh Mehta, who owns a popular leather garment store in Munich that supplies regularly to buyers from fashion-conscious French and Italian markets: "It’s a question of acceptability and works on a two-way system. More and more global brands reach India, while more and more Indians sell their varieties abroad. If Indian curry is on Britain’s official palate, Lara Dattas and Aishwarya Rais will not stay behind for long. Forget Indian, I never saw an Asian model on the news-stands of Munich ever since I came. But now it’s happening."

Mehta is joined by his friend Harish Nangia: "Western companies need to penetrate newer markets and frankly, there are just two options available: China and India. The first one is difficult to penetrate. The second one needs to be motivated to get into the mould of purchase." As the trend grows, success is well-nigh guaranteed. For global brands in India and for Indians, abroad.