New Delhi : In its new avtaar as an acquired brand by Luxxotica Group, Ray-Ban will move up the value chain and be positioned as an upscale premium brand. The company has earmarked a marketing and advertising budget of Rs 2.5 crore (600,000 Euros) for adopting the new change in the year 2001.To align itself with the new positioning, Ray-Ban has decided to do away with price-based classifications of its products; discontinue to be in the institutional sales segment; and upgrade its production facilities for the brand. At the same time, it will also opt for a selective distribution strategy.To start with, the company plans to withdraw its low-end sub-brand SunTamers from the marketplace. SunTamers, incidentally was launched only in the India market as a low-priced alternative to Ray-Ban and to target the price conscious Indian consumer. ``The brand was in any case present only in India and so we have decided to withdraw it,'' said Mr Marco Pirani, regional manager, Luxottica Group, at the launch of 160 Ray-Ban models, today.
The company now plans to cater to the low-end segment by cutting prices of its Classic range which comprises of traditional Ray-Ban models. ``Though we don't want to underprice the Ray-Ban brand we are taking a 5 to 25 per cent cut in the prices of the Classic range.''
The company is also investing in improving the quality of its products. ``Since sunglasses in India is a high involvement purchase, we're laying emphasis on quality,'' Mr Pirani said. To that effect, the company will invest in the unscrewing and corrosion-currently two technical weak areas of the company. The company has invested Rs 1 crore so far in technical improvement of its plant at Bhiwadi.
Copyright © 2001 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
