By TARO W
Indiantelevision.com Team

(23 May 2006 8:00 pm)

BANGALORE: Kitchen appliance maker TTK Prestige is planning an aggressive growth strategy for the next two years. The company plans to spend around Rs 500 million over the next 24 months towards above and below the line marketing activities and campaigns.

About 60 per cent of the marketing budget will go towards television commercials, while 30 per cent will move to below the line activities. Madura handles both the creative and media business for TTKP. Indian telly stars Archana Pooran Singh and Parmeet Sethi will drive the promotional campaigns for TTK Prestige.

TTK group of companies chairman T T Jaganathan is confident of a growth of at least 30 per cent for the next fiscal on the back of diversified kitchen appliances. TTKP has added a number of diversified kitchen appliances to their portfolio over the last three years. Many other new products launches, including OTG and Microwave ovens are planned over the next few months.

Pressure cookers contributed around Rs 1.5 billion last fiscal (April 2005-Mar 2006) to the TTKP overall turnover of about Rs 2.3 billion. The overall pressure cooker market is estimated to be around Rs 5 billion annually in India and has been growing at about 5 per cent per year according to TTKP EVP marketing Chandru Kalro. Exports (under brand name Manttra) contribute around 10 per cent of the sales.

"We are presumed to be strong in the southern and western part of the country, this campaign and product -PN, a cooker with an inner fitting lid has been designed keeping especially the northern an eastern customer in mind," explains Kalro while speaking to indiantelevision.com during the press conference to announce their winning of the Superbrand-2006 sorbiquet. The 2006 Superbrand edition is based on an AC Neilsen survey of over 14000 people in different parts of the country and then judged by an expert committee, as opposed to the earlier method of the committee alone judging the awards.

On the outlet front TTKP has ambitious plans to increase the number for growing their share of the Kitchen Appliances market. TTKP has 90 franchisee 'Smart Kitchen' outlets all over India. Over all TTKP claims a market network of around 14,000 outlets which include multi-brand stores and large format stores such as Big Bazar and Central. Another 100 Smart Kitchen outlets are planned over the next year around the country, with a higher concentration in North and East of India.

TTKP also plans to launch two new store formats - the first being a Lifestyle Kitchen solution store for its modular kitchens and high end appliances - three company owned outlets in Bangalore and S India. Based on how the concept evolves, TTKP could go the franchise way for this format. The second format would be rural stores, of which 1500 are planned over the next three years. Each lifestyle store would entail investments of around Rs 3 million and the rural store would require spends of around Rs 200,00, both investments exclude the cost of real estate.

The rural market opportunity is huge according to Kalro, since the market penetration is only 22 per cent as against 90 per cent in the case of urban households with a monthly income of Rs 3,000 and more.