Hammer And Sohne Arm Plans Chain Of Zonal Offices  ( August '26,2003, FE)

European jewellery company Hammer and Sohne has set up two manufacturing units for making ‘Hammer Plus’ gold and diamond jewellery in Mumbai. The units called ‘Inter Carat’ will look into domestic and European production; ‘Lucky Star’ will cater to the US market. Prior to the move, Hammer and Sohne formed an Indian domestic distribution arm called Hammer Plus Jewellery India, Hammer Plus Jewellery India Ltd managing director Sucheta Khandwala told FE.

“Since Hammer and Sohne has made India an export hub for Hammer Plus jewellery, we are now eyeing countries such as Japan and Australia for exports. At present, Hammer and Sohne has its sales and marketing office in Germany and a factory outlet in Bangkok for promoting high-end jewellery,” Ms Khandwala said.

As for its Indian operations, Hammer Plus is planning to set up seven zonal offices in Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Coimbatore, Delhi and Kolkata within a year. For the purpose, Hammer and Sohne and Hammer Plus will jointly invest Rs 40 crore, of which Hammer Plus will contribute Rs 15 crore.

According to Ms Khandwala: “We are also planning to set up 50 exclusive Hammer Plus corners within 50 premium jewellery retailers across the country. The initiative includes jewellery showrooms such as ‘Danabhai’, ‘Chintamani’ and ‘TBZ’ among others. We will display our own packaging, point-of-sale materials, tent cards, posters, banners and danglers which will talk about our brand. We will also impart training to sales personnel at these premium retail outlets.”

As part of its CRM initiative, Hammer Plus is planning to launch two new direct consumer marketing programmes called B2C and B2 Corporates. With the move, the company will implement a ‘Corporate Sales Strategy initiative’ by way of talking to 15 big corporate houses across the country and get them into gifting through different incentive schemes. Hammer Plus has recently launched its B2B programme meant for dealers.

“We are also planning to implement a new network marketing programme in India soon. For the purpose, we are currently in talks with three network marketing companies to enter into a co-branded strategic tie-ups with them,” she added.

Hammer Plus has decided to foray into the platinum jewellery segment and is planning to get affiliation from Platinum Guild Intergold to launch platinum products under a new brand name in October this year. At present, Hammer Plus has two brands under its portfolio called ‘Karma’ and ‘Divya Vinayaka’. ‘Karma’ is targeted at the lower-end priced between Rs 2,500 and Rs 5,000 and ‘Divya Vinayaka’, targeted at the upper-end, is priced between Rs 6,000 and Rs 19,000.