The world’s leading luggage maker Samsonite Corp today said it will invest over Rs 150 crore in India primarily on advertising and marketing, besides retail expansion for its ‘Samsonite’ brand as part of a global re-positioning exercise.
‘Samsonite’, which has launched shoes, wallets and belts, will be introducing eyewear range in sync with its strategy to make it a lifestyle brand instead of a mere luggage label.
“The total marketing and promotion budget for this year is Rs 100 crore,” Samsonite South Asia Pvt Ltd COO Subrata Dutta told PTI.
Retail expansion and marketing put together, the company will invest Rs 150 crore in the country this year, he added.
“In the next three months, we will invest Rs 20 crore on a new campaign across media platforms,” Dutta said, adding the firm has launched a new global campaign ‘StepOut’ in India for brand promotion.
On new product launches, he said: “We are working to launch eye wear range globally as a part of the plan to position Samsonite as a lifestyle brand rather than a luggage-only brand”.
He said the new range will also be introduced in the Indian market coinciding with the global launch but declined to give a timeline.
Currently, the non-luggage product range under the Samsonite brand such as shoes, belts and wallets contribute about 32 per cent to the company’s total sales in India which were estimated at Rs 400 crore in 2010, a growth of 48 per cent over the previous year.
“By the end of 2012, we are targetting about 50 per cent of sales to come from non-luggage products,” Dutta said.
On the overall sales front, he said: “Our target is to double sales every two years in India. The country currently contributes 6.7 per cent to Samsonite Corp’s global sales”.
The company that has three brands — Samsonite Black Label, Samsonite and American Tourister — in its portfolio.
In case of American Tourister, which is primarily an affordable luggage range, the firm is working on expanding its retail reach to smaller towns and cities.
The firm currently operates 260 company-owned and franchisee-owned stores in 550 cities and towns across the country.
“In 2011 we have plans to open 100 new stores for both brands with planned investment of Rs 50 crore by the company,” Dutta said.
He said the organised luggage market in India is currently estimated at Rs 1,800 crore and Samsonite enjoys about 40 per cent market share.
The company competes with the likes of VIP and Safari in India.
Source : Ecomomic Times
