'Don’t want to be a small client in a very large agency': Timex Group MD

Timex Group India is gearing up for another aggressive growth phase after closing FY25 with a 30% revenue jump and doubling its business over the last three years. As it sets its sights on further expansion, doubling growth of its premium portfolio, the brand is significantly increasing its advertising investments, particularly in digital and consumer marketing.

Deepak Chhabra, Managing Director of Timex Group India, outlines the company’s blueprint for FY26 — from exclusive retail expansion to quick commerce and a sharper focus on premium watch categories. He also sheds light on the marketing strategy that includes celebrity endorsements, regional influencer campaigns, and a deeper push into Tier 2 and Tier 3 markets.

The executive talks about how AI has helped optimise marketing costs for the company, and why it prefers to partner with mid-size ad and media agencies.

Edited excerpts:

Timex Group India saw strong revenue growth in FY25. What are your key plans for FY26 and beyond, and how do you see revenues shaping up?

FY25 was a landmark year for us with nearly 30% revenue growth and EBITDA margins doubling to about 9%. Over the last three years, we’ve doubled our revenues from Rs 263 crore to Rs 540 crore and quadrupled profitability. Going forward, our focus remains on maintaining this momentum. Timex — which contributes about two-thirds of our revenue — will continue to drive growth, while our fashion and luxury brands like Guess and Versace are also scaling steadily. India is spending more on watches than ever before, and both our mid-range and premium segments stand to benefit. We expect to double revenue in the next three years.

We believe our licensed fashion and premium brand portfolio, which includes 17 brands — can double in three years. Guess is already delivering impressive numbers and Versace continues to grow well in the luxury segment. There's significant headroom for expansion here, especially as consumer preferences shift towards premiumisation.

What role will retail expansion play in this growth journey?

We divide retail into three channels: Mom-and-pop stores, serviced via 80 distributors, contribute to over 4,000 points of sale — almost on par with the category leader. Organised retail, such as department and regional watch chains, add another 1,000 key account stores. Exclusive retail, where we see huge potential, includes Timex World (value format) and Just Watches (premium multi-brand). We currently operate 43 exclusive franchise stores and plan to scale this to 400 over the next three years — around 250 Timex World stores and 150 Just Watches stores.

This push will focus on deeper penetration in Tier 2 and 3 markets while maintaining strong visibility in metros.

Timex recently ventured into quick commerce. How has that worked so far, and what’s the future outlook?

We were among the first in our category to partner with quick commerce players. It’s still a young channel — only 6–8 months into serious expansion — but as players add more dark stores (5 per day across platforms), the potential will grow exponentially. We expect q-commerce to eventually contribute around 20% of our total online business. While luxury watches remain largely offline-driven (85%), our sub- Rs 10,000 SKUs will see more traction through q-commerce as it starts to eat into traditional e-commerce.

You mentioned advertising spends are rising. How are you allocating your FY26 marketing budget?

We invest 8–10% of our revenue in marketing. In FY25, this translated to around Rs 55 crore, and with revenues growing, our FY26 budget will exceed that. About 80% of our spends are consumer-focused and heavily digital-led — spanning influencer activations, collaborations, social media, CRM, and e-commerce marketing. The remaining 20% is channel marketing, including brand campaigns with celebrities. We recently partnered with Ananya Pandey and participated in IPL and fashion events. Our aim is targeted reach with minimal spillover, especially as Timex has broad appeal across diverse consumer segments. The company is very strong on influencer activation and partnerships.

Influencer marketing is under increasing scrutiny. How do you ensure the credibility of partnerships?

We’re highly selective in choosing influencers. It’s not just about follower count — engagement and past brand associations matter more. We have an internal team that works alongside agencies to vet potential collaborators. When we run celebrity-led campaigns, they’re supported by curated regional and macro influencers to drive amplification and relevance. The celebrity provides halo and reach, while influencers deliver purchase intent through contextual content.

We currently have about 10 consistent partners across various functions—PR, social media, creative, e-commerce, etc. These partnerships have been in place for a long time, and there's no intention to change them. Since Timex India handles a portfolio of brands, we allocate agencies depending on the brand.

With increasing consolidation among global ad agencies—do you see that impacting client-agency relationships? Would you reconsider your agency partner if such consolidation affects you?

Absolutely. We spend about Rs 55–60 crore on marketing—not hundreds of crores. So we prefer mid-sized agencies over top-tier ones because we want our business to matter to them. If a consolidation happens and we notice a drop in mindshare, we will act fast. We don’t want to be a small client in a very large agency where we’re not a priority. We’re very mindful of that.

So you believe mid-sized agencies are more stable or creatively agile compared to larger networks?

Yes, I strongly feel that mid-level agencies are more innovative. The creative freedom they enjoy and their agility in execution is often far superior. Plus, because our ad spends are not massive, it's critical that we work with partners who value our business. The moment we feel we’re no longer important to an agency, the relationship doesn’t work for us.

How have you been integrating AI/ML into your marketing and ad strategies so far?

AI is a huge enabler for all businesses. For us, its most impactful application so far has been in our digital and e-commerce campaigns. With over 1,000 SKUs and 15–16 brands in play, managing complexity manually is not feasible. We've moved to AI-powered auto campaigns that require minimal manual intervention. This has been rolled out over the last year and is working really well.

AI-led auto campaigns led to significantly measurable improvements in marketing performance. Our ROAS (Return on Ad Spend) has jumped from around 6–6.5 to 8.5, which is a 25% improvement in productivity. On our own .com spends, this shift to automated campaigns has made a huge difference. We still need manual updates for new product additions, but otherwise, it's largely automated now.

Walk us through Timex India’s manufacturing capabilities and expansion strategy?

Manufacturing is one of our biggest strengths. Our plant in Baddi, near Chandigarh, has been operational for 18 years and currently produces 3 million watches annually in a single shift. The beauty is that we can scale to 6 million or even 9 million units just by moving to two or three shifts—without any capex.

We also do OEM manufacturing for other brands like Van Heusen, Allen Solly, Peter England, Woodland, and Lavi—about 1 million watches annually, contributing nearly 15% to our revenue. This model helps us absorb overheads and improve profitability without incremental marketing or sales investments. While our main focus remains on Timex and our licensed brands, OEM contributes positively to the bottom line.

Do you export from India as well? How do you see India's role in Timex’s global operations evolving?

India is already becoming a strategic manufacturing base. We’re currently producing around 200,000 watches for our global operations. With global supply chains moving away from China and tariffs becoming a challenge, India could very well emerge as a global hub for us. And even if we cross 9 million units, expanding capacity further is quite cost-effective—it can get us an additional assembly line for half a million more units annually.

India is the second-largest market (for Timex Group) after the US and also the fastest-growing one. We account for roughly 10–11% of Timex’s global revenue. So it’s a very important market for our global leadership.

How are you approaching the tech wearables/smartwatch segment?

Smartwatches are a great add-on opportunity—not cannibalising analog watches. We have two sub-brands in this space: IConnect by Timex (value-focused) and Timex iQ+ Smart (feature-driven). We sell around 200,000 smartwatches annually. However, the smartwatch industry has seen a 25–27% drop after rapid growth over six quarters. We’re approaching it cautiously. We won’t enter a price war where everyone loses money. We’re growing the category slowly and responsibly.