Bajaj Luminaires steps into niche market with Trilux

The Rs 98-crore Bajaj Luminaires has just stepped into the very niche market of high-end commercial and industrial lighting with a licensing arrangement with Trilux, a leading European Luminaires brand. Under this arrangement, Bajaj Luminaires will sell and promote the Trilux range of products in India.

The announcement was made at a press conference on Thursday by R Ramakrishnan, president and COO, Bajaj Electricals Limited. “With an exclusive licensing agreement with Trilux Lenze of Germany, the Bajaj Luminaires business unit will offer to the Indian customers state-of-the-art Trilux range of lighting products and services,” he said.

Speaking to agencyfaqs!, G P Satsangi, vice-president and business head, Bajaj Luminaires specified the audience for the high-end outdoor lighting products. “We are targeting the hospitality, hospitals and tourism industry and the commercial spaces, with discerning customers and where money is not a constraint,” he said. The estimated size of the market for the category is around Rs 25 crore at the moment.

“This is not a mass product,” he said. “So, we are not going to use mass media communication, but will rely on interactions with and recommendations from architects and consultants to create awareness.” However, innovative POP advertising is on the cards.

At the moment, the brand faces no competition in the segment, claims the company. “There are no Indian brands offering specialised outdoor lighting products. And Philips operates only in the personal/domestic lighting category. The only brand that operates in this category is Zumtobel, which is an Austrian company and which uses a rather sketchy distribution and marketing channel,” claimed Satsangi.

Bajaj aims to grow the market by indigenising the brand to suit customer needs. “In the next three years, we hope to achieve 30-35 per cent of the market as it is projected to stand at the time.”

Bajaj Luminaires also launched two new ranges of products Ambience and Le Magique, which are targeted towards the retail and the landscape segment of the market. Commenting on the idea behind launching the three brands, Ramakrishnan said, “We recognised a need gap in the market for a full spectrum of lighting products, and the three brands form a part of our strategy to dominate the lighting industry by focusing on multiple segments and applications.”

With a growth rate of 35 per cent, the company claims to be on an “aggressive mode”. “At the moment we are the number two player. But in the next few years, we will be the market leaders,” says Satsangi. The projected 2005 turnover for Bajaj Luminaires is more than Rs 120 crore.

© 2005 agencyfaqs!