Canon puts its lens on East India; cashes in on the festive season

by Neeta Nair
Published - September 20, 2012
3 minutes To Read
Canon puts its lens on East India; cashes in on the festive season

Canon India has announced plans of strengthening its presence in East India, starting with the festive season of Durga Puja. The aggressive expansion plans encompass new product launches, reduced prices of products, and retail expansion along with fresh marketing and communication initiatives. In terms of investment, Canon has set aside Rs 40 crore for the festive season, with an overall marketing budget of Rs 142 crore. To spur sales during the festive season in the Eastern part of the country, the company has decided a price drop in the range of Rs 500 to Rs 11,000 for 16 models, comprising 13 digital cameras and 3 digital SLRs. It has also launched two new offerings, Canon PowerShot SX500 IS and PowerShot SX160 IS at a price of Rs 19,995 and Rs 12,995 respectively. Canon India is targeting a market share of 27 per cent in East India by the end of this year, which would help it reach revenues of Rs 2,100 crore in 2012 and an overall market share of 25 per cent in cameras and 45 per cent in DSLR category. According to Dr Alok Bharadwaj, Senior Vice President, Canon India, East India is a crucial market for Canon and has been significantly contributing to the overall growth of the brand, especially its camera business division. “We are particularly bullish about West Bengal which registered 110 per cent unit growth for digital cameras and 200 per cent for Digital SLR in first eight months of 2012. In fact, with some luck and some efforts in lifting the buying sentiments during festival times, Canon expects to cross 100,000 digital cameras and 10,000 Digital SLR in West Bengal this year. This is more than 10 per cent of national sales just in one state. This has made Canon’s market share more than 30 per cent here,” he added. In an attempt to establish a deeper connect with its customers in the East; Canon is launching a new marketing campaign with its brand ambassador, Anushka Sharma, which is an extension of its ‘What makes us click’ campaign. It will follow a 360 degree approach, with the campaign seeing representation in radio, print, as well as BTL activities like placing GSBs and point of sale material at all Canon retail outlets in the region. “2012 has been most difficult year for digital Camera industry. Industry growth has generally been flat. However, Canon has grown over 60 per cent. We introduced 25 new products in 2012 and now offer 36 models. With 75 brand stores in 45 towns, we are attempting to make experience as a big differentiator. Canon is all set to achieve Rs 2,100 crore revenues in 2012 in India with 32 per cent growth over 2011, a step in line with $ 1 Billion revenues by 2015,”added Bharadwaj. Currently, Canon has stores in Kolkata, Siliguri, Durgapur, Patna, Guwahati and Jamshedpur. It is planning to increase its stores in the Eastern part of the country from 8 to 12 by the end of this year and its retail presence from 200 to 280. At a national level, it has targets of opening 25 more Canon Image Squares to touch 100 stores in 50 towns.

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