Ensure exclusive distribution: To offer the best service and collection, open some stores that serve as home ground for your brand. We have six such stores at the best locations in India, just like in New York, London and Dubai. We could venture into other points of sales, but we don’t want to.

Make sure your strategy is coherent: It is important to not open outlets and close them six months down the line. If the customer wants service a little later and discovers that the store is gone, he is not going to think of the brand favourably. 

Pay attention when selling through MBOs: Our focus is on our franchisees and at securing the best possible presentation at shop-in-shop set-ups. We want to ensure that the brand has the best possible image. At each of our 50 multi-brand outlets, we are present in the best corners.

Invest locally: For MNCs, significant investment in processes, people and marketing in the target country is a must. We have been in India for 11 years and are the only watch company to have a 100%-owned subsidiary here. We even picked Bollywood actor Abhishek Bachchan to be our country ambassador in India, a tie-up we don’t have in other markets.  

Target NRIs: India may not be on the list of the top 10 markets in the world but Indians in the US, Dubai or Europe have considerable buying power. Their brand loyalty has to be taken into account as they are influential and wealthy customers.