A Time Industries-owned Maxima Watches has embarked on a Rs 10-crore expansion plan. The company hopes to set up about 100 franchisee outlets across the country in the next 18 months, add 250 new models to the existing 1,300, besides launching a couple of new brands on the way. For a company that started out in 1996 with the stated intent of "serving the economically weak segments," the company certainly seems to have changed its mind. It plans to cater to the well-off by introducing new watches in the middle (Rs 1,400 - Rs 4,500) and the high-end (Rs 4,500 - Rs 10,000) value segments. The company wants to add two new manufacturing units to its current seven by the end of 2004-05. It is looking to export to Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Africa and in South America. If it can pull through all of this in the next year and a half, the Dharampur (Himachal Pradesh) - based company believes it will be ready to give market leader Titan "a run for some wrists."

Earlier this year, Maxima shifted its Rs 7 crore advertising account from Advertising Avenues to Everest Integrated Communications. The agency has the brief to "upgrade" the image of Maxima from a mass-market brand to one that offers "an enviable range and international styling at prices that are pleasantly surprising." ... more