New Delhi: Titan has embarked upon a multi-pronged strategy to regain lost ground and revive brand image. This include a launch of 300 new designs (against 100-150 normally) later this year, revamping of136 exclusive retail outlets across India, a 10 per cent rise in ad spend from a stagnant Rs 26 crore in the past couple of years and fine-tuning of distribution strategy.

The big boy of the Indian watch industry in the past, is working hard to ensure top-of-the-mind customer recall.

For a couple of years now, foreign brands like Espirit and Swatch have been taking away the fashion-conscious customer away from Titan (in the over Rs 2,000 category).

At the bottom-end (sub-Rs 500), its Sonata range is seeing cheap Chinese imports, the grey market and local assembled pieces gobble up the pie. Somewhere in the middle, Timex is swaying the young, sporty types away from its Fastrak.

Where has that left Titan? Admits Bijou Kurien, COO (watches): "We earlier had an image of being a premium brand. That has got dulled now and the Titan image has got diffused." He feels the best way to retain a hold in the various segments is by strengthening the sub-brands and having clear brand images for them.

The Rs 700 crore company (2001-02 net profit Rs 23 crore) has decided to stick to Sonata (value for money, low-priced, aimed at first-time user and semi-urban/rural customer), Titan (with upmarket Raga, Regalia and Nebula being a part of it), Fastrak (trends, sporty watches for the young adult) and Dash (for children) as its four key brands. A management consultancy has been hired to give inputs.

A clear segmentation is needed as the watch industry has been growing in single digits for some time now. Kurien says while the watch industry is stagnant in parts, the two ends of the market are growing rapidly.

The top end, thanks to the international players, is growing fast in value and is put at Rs 250 crore. The bottom end, led by locally assembled watches and cheap smuggled pieces, is leapfrogging in volumes. To be a part of both, Titan will need clearly defined products here.