Singer brings ‘Sisil World’ to Sri Lankan people

Singer (Sri Lanka) which brought to the Sri Lankan people Singer Plus and Singer Mega now brings for their benefit a new retail channel by way of ‘Sisil World’.

Singer Plus and Singer Mega – electrical and electronic goods stores which offer multiple brands, each to a different market category – have become household names in Sri Lanka since they were launched. Singer (Sri Lanka) saw potential for another multi-brand retail channel to serve the market and thus launched ‘Sisil World’.

Sisil is the pioneer heritage brand in local refrigerators which Singer acquired from Associated Electricals in 2001. Last December, Singer also acquired several retail outlets as well as the Philips and Kenwood brands from Hayleys. Consequently Singer saw market opportunity for a new chain of multi-brand retail stores that would be differentiated from Singer Plus.

Says Singer (Sri Lanka) Chairman Hemaka Amarasuriya: ‘At Singer, we never stop dreaming and seizing opportunities. Our dreams for the Sri Lankan people are big and when we saw opportunity for a new retail channel we decided to offer the market Sisil World. We plan to move Sisil World rapidly into the No. 2 slot in the appliance market behind Singer Plus with the same culture of customer care.’
A new brand name was necessitated since the ‘Sisil’ brand represented a renowned product range in Sri Lanka while the new retail chain would include the Sisil brand as well as other world marques. Thus was coined the brand ‘Sisil World which means Sisil and much more.

The Sisil product range which began with refrigerators now includes deep freezers, air conditioners, bottle coolers, water dispensers, home appliances and fans. The Sisil brand will open its doors to South India in May with the first batch of export shipments.

Sisil World which is pitched higher than Singer Plus will include the Sisil range as well as other brands in the Singer portfolio such as Hitachi, Kenwood, Philips and Panasonic and Unic. In time new brands will be acquired solely for this new retail channel.

Singer Marketing Director Asita Abayasekera says that Singer Plus and Singer Mega cover some 70-80% of the home appliance market. Thus Sisil World will fill the gap that exists at present.

In Sri Lanka, refrigerators are synonymous with Sisil, a brand in almost every Sri Lankan home since the 1940s, with a proud history of trusted reliability. Now Sisil World will offer 42 retails outlets country-wide with two new branches in Kandy and Badulla opened in early April. The majority of Hayleys outlets that Singer acquired have been integrated into Sisil World creating a new pulse in the market.

Says Abayasekera: ‘Previously the Sisil chain of retail stores was not differentiated from Singer Plus. Sisil World has a distinct personality and the customer can look forward to innovative marketing and promotions from Sisil World.’

Singer has been in Sri Lanka since 1877 when the first Singer sewing machine went on sale in a Colombo store. Today, Singer (Sri Lanka) is a large, diversified company with unmatched presence throughout Sri Lanka. It remains a member of the worldwide franchise of Singer.

Beginning with the sewing machine, Singer’s product portfolio has diversified to encompass a highly successful multi-brand strategy combining products of top world marques like Hitachi, Whirlpool, Panasonic, Samsung, Phillips, Prestige, Moulinex, Rowenta, TCL, Tefal, HP and Honda, with the company’s own products, across a range of household, industrial and financial categories.

What is unique about Singer (Sri Lanka) is that its customer base is not confined to the urban group, but that it has rather taken its products and services to every part of the island in a bid to make the life of the average Sri Lankan more comfortable.

Singer (Sri Lanka) received a fourth consecutive listing this year as Most Powerful Brand in the country by Brand Finance Lanka. Singer, Sisil and Singer Mega are rated as ‘superbrands’ by Superbrands Lanka. Further, Singer (Sri Lanka) has also won the SLIM/A C Nielsen Power of the People Awards for Most Popular Brand, the Most Popular Teen Brand and the Most Popular Consumer Durable Brand for the second consecutive year in 2007. LMD has voted Singer (Sri Lanka) as one of the top twenty companies in the country for over 10 years. In 2005 and 2006, the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce adjudged Singer (Sri Lanka) among the Ten Best Corporate Citizens.