Japan's digital imaging technology major Canon will soon roll out its global flagship brand stores in India. The company intends to set up nine such stores over the next one year which will be a mix of B2B and B2C formats. These stores will fit into the company`s plans to re-position Canon as a lifestyle brand in India. Canon has appointed Dentsu Communications for developing the brand name for these outlets. Of the nine stores, Canon will set up three B2B stores which will target institutional and corporate and the balance six outlets will showcase the consumer product range. The first store is slated to come up at Gurgaon in March, which will be the B2B one. The other locations for the stores include Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai and Kolkata. This apart, Canon India will enter two new product segments this year - digital colour press and large format printing products. On the distribution front, Canon is looking to bolster ties with retail chains. It has entered into commercial arrangements with players like Future Group`s Home Solution & Big Bazaar, Tata`s Croma, Reliance Digital and Metro Cash & Carry. The company is in advanced discussion with seven other chains including Aditya Birla group`s More, RPG Cellucom and Bharti-Wal-Mart. Canon India had clocked revenues of Rs 510 crore in 2007 and expects it to cross Rs 700 crore in 2008. The company has outlined a marketing budget of Rs 100 crore this year, the highest amongst all the global subsidiaries. The company`s headcount will also increase from 520 employees to 700 this year, with focus on the solution consulting segment.
