Carbon Lines Up Marketing Blitz In September

City-based Peakok Jewellery Private Ltd, makers of 18-carat branded gold jewellery `Carbon', is set to create a splash in the domestic gold market and across premier retail chains with the launch a major marketing blitz from September on.

"We're looking at changing some very fundamental concepts. Clearly, we're not selling Carbon as an investment, we're selling an attitude and elevating style. Carbon is not something that will stay in vaults but will be an intrinsic part of our customer's wardrobe," Mahesh S Rao, director, Peakok Jewellery, said.

Carbon, in keeping with its positioning as an 18K fashion accessory, is staying out of traditional jewellery stores and will focus purely on the shop-in-shop concept across major retail chains in India.

 

The company already has 29 shop-in-shop outlets across 11 cities including Shoppers' Stop, Globus, Lifestyle and other top multi-brand destinations. Eventually, Carbon plans to move towards creating exclusive boutiques and expanding the number of shop-in-shop outlets in the country, Rao said. "People are accepting new concepts and our first real challenge is to ensure increased usage and the desire to buy," Rao said.

With a series of classy ads, created by Contract Advertising, Carbon is being positioned as an aspirational product for the young-set, rich and footloose, not too stuck up about the intrinsic value of the product.

"I'm not doing what a jeweller in supposed to do. All I'm saying that I'm a good brand," Rao said. With an average priceline of Rs 5,500, Rao said, Carbon is priced on perceived value and not on the intrinsic value of gold content, something close to the Japanese method of price fixing.

The company is also getting ready to up the noise levels with its sun sign collection created by in-house designer, Rajeshwari Ayyar.

"We've always been exporting with a `Made in India' tag but with Carbon, we hope to create a niche with a `Designed in India' tag," Rao said. The company is also moving into men's accessories, which will include cufflinks, tietacks, moneyclips, keychains, rings, a titanium collection and also tabletop accessories.

Carbon is looking at adornment and non-adornment as two basic divisions of production and is also mulling the introduction of new combinations like titanium and gold and steel and gold, and leather cords for bracelets. The company expects the adspend to grow two fold from the present level of Rs 70 lakh. Carbon finds major buyers in the US and UK and posted a turnover of Rs 4 crore last year.