Spark Mobiles announces launch in India

Spark Mobiles, a part of United Arab Emirates-based Spark Group of Companies, has announced its foray into the Indian market. The company has signed on actor, R Madhavan as the brand ambassador for its range of mobile handsets.
Elaine Ester Roach, chairperson, Spark Group of Companies, tells afaqs!, “We will zero in on the creative and media agencies to handle our communications in a month’s time. The pitch is currently on.”
Currently, the promotional activities are being handled by the company’s in-house creative department in Dubai.
Spark Mobiles has earmarked ad spends of over Rs 100 crore for its Indian business, says Roach. The campaign will kick off in December. The handsets will be launched before the end of 2009, Roach says.
The company stresses on the ‘toughness’ of the handsets and will build its positioning around phones that are “virtually indestructible under demanding conditions”, specifies Roach. The phones are waterproof, shockproof and have been tested by four-wheel drive over. Additionally, they will also offer high-end multimedia, Web access and advanced music features.
In a press statement, Roach says, “We have a strong base and a respectable market share in the UAE and are now eyeing India as an important potential for our growth strategy. We have a demonstrable past of challenging established brands and are confident our handsets would be a hit amongst Indian audiences.”
“The single most important factor that convinced me to endorse this product was the amount of research and development that has gone into the making of the phones,” says Madhavan.
The company plans to launch five phones by the year-end and add 15 more handsets in another year’s time. While the pricing of the phones is being decided on, the basic handset is priced at Rs 2,200.
The handsets will initially be manufactured in the UAE. The company will set up assembly units in India soon.