MAM
Omega ‘Moon to Mars’ watch in India
BANGALORE: Omega has unveiled its latest model Moon to Mars (MTM) in India during its Bangalore exhibition “Speedmaster Missions – Moon to Mars”.
Priced at a cool Rs 108,000, MTM is the 1957 hand wound Speedmaster Profesional (SP) model coming out with cosmetic changes, pictures of the Earth, Moon and Mars on the backgound of the three mini-dials. The SP is the only watch model in the world to travel to the Moon and back on various Apollo missions, claims an official release.
“Automatic watches don’t perform well in low gravity or zero gravity”, revealed Swatch Group-Omega brand manager P H Narayanan during the sidelines of a press conference. The highly acclaimed NASA ‘Snoopy Award’ by astronauts to thank personalities or companies for their contribution to space exploration was conferred on Omega in 1970 for saving the lives of the three astronauts aboard the Apollo 13 in 1970. James Lovell, John Swigert and Fred Haise had to manually fire the rockets for their return to earth, since the control computer had shut down. They used the Omega Speedmaster to time the critical 14 seconds needed and returned to earth safely”, added Narayanan.
“For product promotion in India, we have two strategies – we plan to open Omega mono-boutiques. The next launch is happening at Bangalore in September. We already have two mono-boutiques in Mumbai. We’re looking at Chennai and Delhi by the end of 2005. We are also planning another three boutiques in 2006, one each at Hyderabad, Kolkotta and an additional store in Delhi, which will bring the total to eight in India,” said Narayanan adding that the company spends around 7 per cent to 8 per cent of the revenues on advertisement and promotions.
Narayanan pointed out that, multi-brand outlets which generally showcase 10 to 12 brands, diluted the brand equity, be it in any country. “That is why we have taken the decision for mono-boutiques. We want to take the level of retailing in India to higher standards. We do have a network of fifty-two multi-brand stores selling Omega in India presently.”
Across all countries, Omega’s creatives comes from its Swiss headquarters. The media business is handled by JWT in India.
MAM
How beverage brands are rethinking marketing strategies for weather-led demand
SLMG Beverages Private Limited joint managing director Paritosh Ladhani.
MUMBAI: As Sun climbs up the hemisphere, summer has clearly arrived in India. On 7th March 2026 Delhi registered a maximum temperature of 35.7 degrees Celsius which is the highest reading logged for the first week of March in the last 50 years. Climate Change has been prolonging summers by causing earlier spring warming, delayed autumn cooling, and more frequent, intense heatwaves that persist for much longer periods.
In an endeavor to stay ahead of the curve, Beverage Brands are shifting from fixed seasonal marketing tactics to weather responsive strategies backed by data-driven insights, flexible campaigns, and diversified portfolios to capitalize on unruly temperature spike. In 2025, India’s beverage market experienced a massive, heat-triggered surge with carbonated drinks and ice cream volumes spiking 20–25 per cent in the March quarter itself on the back of hottest February in 125 years.
Clearly campaign timelines are being advanced to reap the seasonal shift in line with the jumping mercury. In the Indian context where Cricket is nothing short of religion, big ticket tournaments like T20 World Cup, Indian Premier League, ICC Champions Trophy provide plethora of opportunities to calibrate marketing campaign designs and associated business strategies to associate refreshment with community viewing both outdoor and indoors. A new trend that has taken the world by storm is that of booking the theatres for bonhomie viewing. It has also opened avenues for joint marketing initiatives by the Multiplex and Beverage Brands.
Price disrupting small potions and value packs tend to drive significantly higher volumes owing to volumetric flexibility and affordability to the consumers. Ramping up of cold supply chains for transit and at point of sales (POS) are strategic business imperatives that again define success of beverage brands.
In the era of AI and Big Data it is easy to track and calibrate messaging based on daily or weekly weather changes. Geo-targeted digital advertisement campaigns are also being run during heatwaves to make the business and marketing imperative very contextual. These pre-emptive strategies fueled by real time data and technology immensely help beverage brands to adjust supplies to the areas that are likely to generate more demand.
Novelty brings premium to the FMCG Sector and Beverage Brands are no exception. Newer SKUs build up excitement in consumers besides imparting the scope of frequent revitalization of brand marketing campaigns. Ensuring continuum of supply chain across material suppliers, logistics providers, distributors/wholesalers, and retailers become a strategic business strategy imperative for beverage brands during peak season.
Carbonated drinks among other beverages including packaged mineral water sell like hotcakes in summers, a period where holiday season gives big impetus to sales volumes. Tying up with air carriers railways, amusement parks, malls, convention centers for inclusion in the onboard beverage deck also holds a big window of opportunity for brands.
Limited period diversification into special summer categories entailing juices and functional beverages to capture the broader hydration market is also a business cum marketing imperative that beverage brands eye on. This also brings to fore the responsible side of the brand placing the compass on wellness of consumers.
Seasons are cyclic, hence summers are inevitable. Further, due to anthropogenic climate change, summers surely have been staging prolonged appearance that keep bringing beverage brands on to their drawing boards frequently for strategizing business and marketing campaigns that are agile, refreshment-focused, visually dominant in retail, affordable, and optimally promoted through seasonal campaigns in above and below the line media.
