Pilkington to debut sunglasses in India

Pilkington Special Glass Ltd., the UK-based $ 2.9 bn company has come to India, albeit in a small way. The company has chosen India for the debut of its high performance designer sunglasses, to be launched by the end of the year.

The company, one of the biggest glass manufacturing companies having operations in more than 22 countries around the world, has its main interests in building and automotive glass. Optical glass is a small part of the company''s operations.

According to Brian J McDermott, business line manager worldwide, Pilkington chose India for its debut launch because glass spectacles are still preferred by Indians over plastic lenses, whereas in western countries the situation is the reverse.

Unveiling the company''s marketing plan, Mr McDermott said that Pilkington will price its sunglasses on par with Ray Ban sunglasses which is its main competitor in the Indian market. The company will thus target the premium, metro-specific segment.

Mr McDermott says that instead of going in for a big advertising campaign, the company will go in for a mass education programme and have regional conferences throughout the country to develop markets and educate wholesalers and retailers about the quality of the products. In addition to this, the company is also putting together a public relations package and a promotional campaign that will include point of purchase material at all retail outlets. The effort is to ensure that Pilkington becomes a recognized brand, synonymous with excellent quality glass. According to the company, there is a lack of awareness in India that the quality of glass makes a difference to the quality of spectacles. The company intends to try to create greater awareness of glass as a product, through its mass education programme as well.

Creating brand awareness, according to Mr McDermott, is crucial to the company''s expansion plans. The market size is difficult to estimate in India. In the western countries, says Mr McDermott, 40-50 per cent of the population wears spectacles, whereas in India the figure is lower given the lower literacy and awareness levels. However, the company expects that with an increase in the standard of living that comes with rising development levels, the Indian market will grow exponentially. When that happens Pilkington will be around to reap the benefits, is the hope.

Pilkington Special Glass is a division of the UK-headquartered Pilkington Plc, one of the biggest glass manufacturing companies of the world. Over the past year, the company has simplified its operations tremendously, the main areas comprising oof building products, automotive and technical glass divisions. The special glass division manufactures sunglasses, lenses and contact lenses comes within the purview of the technical glass division.