The company will launch Granito in January 2000, following its technicaltie-up with Leonardo 1502 Ceramica, part of the $300-million CooperativeCeramica D'Imola, Italy's fourth-largest ceramic group.

A niche product, the target market for Granito will be institutionalbuildings and housing complexes, where the product's characteristics ofhardness and ease of maintenance (since it has the look and feel of marble,but is non-staining and non-porous) will be an attractive proposition. SaysShreekant Somany, managing director, SPL Ltd: ``Granito will be positionedas a separate brand, with separate packaging and design to project anexclusive image. We will try to incorporate the Leonardo name in thepackaging.'' The price of the range has not been finalised as yet.

Explaining the tie-up with the Italian company, Somany says,``Vitrifiedhomogenous tiles, better known as porcelain tiles, is the fastest growingsegment in the ceramic tile industry, all over the world. This tie-up willgive us an edge over the competition by giving us access to the latesttechnology.'' With porcelain tiles accounting for just five per cent of thetotal 100 million square meters of installed capacity of ceramic tiles inIndia, this is considered a segment with vast growth potential.

SPL will convert part of its plant at Kassar in Haryana into a porcelainstoneware plant. It expects the project to contribute Rs 40 crore to thecompany's total turnover in the first year of operation.

With its entry into this segment, SPL will now span all three segments: lastyear it entered the economy segment with the launch of its Pokharan brand oflow-priced tiles, seeking to make a dent in the unorganised sector and thesemi-urban market. Pokharan is targeted at flats, tender-based orders fromsmall housing societies.

With metros becoming saturated, SPL is also focussing attention on theprice-driven rural market, dominated by the unorganised sector. Says Somany:``The surface has not even been scratched as yet in C-class towns andfarming areas where there exists a desire, aspiration and the money for suchproducts.'' The company is conducting surveys to gauge tastes in these areasand match them with products. Two teams are studying the Punjab andRajasthan markets currently.

Somany currently has a network of over 450 dealers and 20,000 sub-dealers.An organised network of dealers/sub-dealers will be worked out once itsmarketing plans for the rural areas are chalked out. An ISO 9002 certifiedcompany and the second largest player in the Indian tile industry, SPL holds20 per cent market share in the Rs 720 crore organised sector, which a partof the total Rs 1,200-crore tile industry. Sales in 1998-99 grew at 16.8 percent in terms of volume and 12 per cent in value.

Interactive tile-shopping
WITH the perception of tiles changing from a construction product to a homefurnishing product, Somany's marketing focus is also changing to greateremphasis on display, ambience, range and opportunities to mix and match. Asa first step, SPL opened three 1,600 square foot Tile Arcades this year, tooffer the consumer a buying experience and design combinations instead ofstand-alone products. It plans to increase such outlets to 22 by the end ofnext year.

In an extension of the same concept, it is working on developing simulationsoftware and setting up computer stations at the outlets. The idea: convertoutlets into proactive shops by providing an opportunity to the customer toget a feel of how the product actually looks. It is also advertising heavilyand has hiked its ad budget to Rs 4 crore this year as against Rs 2.5 crorelast year.