Watch out for licensing

Licensing in the watch category broadly implies two things - either taking up the rights to market, distribute or manufacture a given brand’s collection of watches or acquiring the rights (licensee) to use characters, trademarks, logos or any other intellectual property to enhance the appeal of the merchandise. A wrist watches is one fashion accessory which is more of a necessity and is definitely here to stay. Thus, watch makers, prospective licensors and licensees are creating ripples in the market by taking up the licensing route.

Few recent collections

One such recent initiative has been taken up by Titan in order to engage young fans ahead of the release of Toy Story 3 in the theatres. The admired characters from Disney-Pixar’s Toy Story are set to adorn a limited edition of Zoop watches from the leader in the Indian watch industry. Zoop watches is the children’s watch brand from the house of Titan. The company’s watch division has a domestic market share of over 70 per cent of the organised market. Ms Shyamala Ramanan, Sr. Marketing Manager, Titan Watches comments, “Every Zoop watch has a story weaved in it and we are delighted to work with Disney, given their strong storytelling heritage and endearing characters. Nothing connects better with a kid than strong stories, themes and characters which they can relate to.”

“At Disney, we continue to bring alive, unique experiences to the Indian kids and families with engaging stories and characters which are at the heart of everything we do at Disney,” says Mr Vijay Subramaniam, Executive Director, Disney India Media Solutions and Alliances. “This unique opportunity with Titan Zoop sees Disney’s beloved characters applied in a new, innovative and compelling way,” he further adds.

“Watches contribute to a significant percentage to our overall business and have grown handsomely over the years,” affirms Mr Rahul Gambhir, Director-Licensing, Tommy Hilfiger. The licensing deal relieves the company from the hassle of manufacturing. For the Indian market these watches are sourced from Tommy Hilfiger International.

Ben10, too, offers around 10 types of watches including The Omnitrix, projection watches, and series of Ben10 character watches among others. The collection is popular among the children, looking at the character’s immense fan following on Cartoon Network. Good bets can be found at retail auction websites like eBay.com, Walmart, Amazon, etc.

Some of the other popular children’s character watches include Dora the Explorer, Super Heroes, Mickey Mouse, Scooby Doo, Disney Heroes and Princesses among others.

Many international lifestyle brands are also making entry in the country via various routes, one of them is licensing. Timex is one such licensee for hosts of lifestyle brands, such as Versace, Valentino, Salvatore Ferragamo, Guess, GC, Marc Ecko, Nautica and Opex among others, to market their watch collections.

Licensed merchandise and response      

Quality comes as an immediate concern when one is talking about licensed merchandise. Undoubtedly it is one crucial area which needs to be addressed. Mr Gambhir comments, “It is important to be involved, right from planning stage, with the distribution and marketing of watches in order to ensure high quality of execution. We have dedicated brand managers looking after all aspects involving brand imagery.”

Mr Gambhir says, “The response from the customers is best judged by the sale of the products.  We are currently the Number 1 international designer watch brand in India which amply demonstrates great customer response to our watches. Given its international design, high brand recall, top quality and attractive pricing, Tommy Hilfiger watches have always been pulling in new consumers for the brand.”

Promotional strategy

Marketing and promotional activities decide in a great way, the way a brand is perceived by the customers and how it will fare at the sales charts. At Titan, the creative and fun designs of the Zoop watches are the outcome of an extensive consumer research study. Zoop will undertake an extensive 360 degree marketing campaign to promote the Disney-Pixar’s Toy Story limited edition watches.

Mr Gambhir opines, “We deploy both ATL & BTL routes for promotions. Apart from print ads, hoardings, SOH, etc, we also screened a special Tommy Hilfiger watch commercial in cinemas with great success.” Our investments are both in terms of brand expertise and monetary resources. The model is a royalty based model.

International initiatives

Among many other initiatives, one is the Beatles’ brand licensing programme (taken care by Caroline Mickler Ltd on behalf of Apple Corps) in the recent times. Zeon, one of the largest watch companies in the UK, acquired the license by Caroline Mickler Ltd to design Beatles-branded watches. The range features designs inspired by famous logos and album covers.

Another interesting initiative in this category has been the third successive year for licensing by Texas based artist Linda Calvert Jacobson’s contemporary wildflower paintings to JK Henderson for a line of limited edition watches. Henderson Watches is one of the UK’s leading international watch wholesalers and retailers for licensed brand watches.

Elvis Presley licensed branded watch line received a boost in 2009 when it received a nomination in the “Best Licensed Product: Hard Goods” category at Licensing Awards. Bellagio Time, founded by Mike Cohen, specialises in top-end time pieces and boasts of a number of celebrities among its esteemed customers like Tom Jones and Rio Ferdinand.

Future 

Indian retail market is definitely headed to catch up with the diverse international trends and add credibility to the brands via licensing. As seen, character licensing is also set to play a significant role when it comes to watch licensing.

“We are bullish about the growth of ‘international watch’ category and within it the growth of Tommy Hilfiger watches. We have always grown faster than the category and are confident of the same for years to come,” sums up Mr Gambhir.