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Journalism of Courage
MUMBAI, Nov 23: In one of the biggest marketing drive to sell branded gold in India, Dubai-based ARY Traders is offering 28 kg gold free to its customers and jewellers in the coming months. The sales promotion, in the form of a lucky draw, is targeted to make ARY Rainbow Hearts8217; a household name in the country, says M Salman Iqbal, director of ARY Traders.
quot;The idea is to penetrate the Indian bullion market which is one of the biggest markets in the world,quot; he said. At present, the bullion market is dominated by small jewellers which ARY Traders is targeting to stock their products. The ARY Bullionaire contest is being organised in association with the Indian Express Group of Newspapers.
quot;We are offering Rainbow Hearts8217; and gold bars of 10 gram to 1 kg to the customers. The current market drive is to popularise our brand name which stands for purity, clarity and quality,quot; he said.
The ARY Bullionaire contest 8211; Mumbai Jewellers Meet8217; was held on Friday. This contest is a four-month promotionwhich started on October 7, 1998 and will end on February 15, 1999. The first draw was held on November 7, 1998 in Dubai where the first 20 winners of 100 gm gold each were announced. The next draws to be held are on December 7, 1998, January 7, 1999 and February 15, 1999 where on each draw 20 winners of 100 gm gold will be announced. On the February 15, 1999 draw, along with 20 winners of 100 gm each, one grand draw of 20 kg gold will be held.
All the correct entries received will be eligible for the grand draw of 20 kg gold on February 15, 1999 including the winner entries of the preliminary draws.
ARY Traders already started selling its products through its own network in the metro cities and plans to get into the smaller cities in the coming months.
In fact, the World Gold Council WGC has recently said the Indian year-to-date demand for gold was 19 per cent higher than in the first three quarters of 1997. The demand in the third quarter of 1998, after two quarters of buoyant growth was, however,17.8 tonnes, lower than the record level reached in the third quarter of 1997.
However, a direct comparison between 1997 and 1998 was not appropriate because of liberalisation of imports and the consequent improved method of measuring demand, WGC clarified. quot;While in the past import data was based on estimates of imports from Dubai, it is now collected directly from gold importing banks and official bodies,quot; it said.
