Monday, June 15, 2009

Celebrity drives the crowd more than the mascot.















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Swati Goel, IIM Shillong

The success of many brands is solely based on their association with certain celebrities. Celebrity endorsement is increasingly becoming one of the easiest channels for brand building. It undoubtedly fetches an instant brand acceptance, adds credibility to the brand and ensures excellent brand recall, making it the perfect formula for enhancing brand image. Add to it a natural lifestyle fit between the celebrity and the brand, and you get a perfect tool to strongly influence the thought process of the target audience and create a positive perception of the brand.

Celebrity endorsements are especially effective in case of a new product where the approval by a celebrity builds a sense of trust leading to a “genuine” perception of the brand. The Shah Rukh – Santro campaign, for instance, successfully built exceptionally fast brand recognition for an unknown Korean Brand in India. All that Hyundai required to drive the masses was a celebrity like Shah Rukh Khan as its brand ambassador. Would it have been possible without his endorsement? How much of the Indian public would have bothered to pay attention to this unknown brand or put their money into it? This was clearly the fastest and perhaps, a cheaper way to build the kind of brand recognition that Hyundai did. The ad recall was so high that even the uninterested got interested.

The mass appeal of celebrities has been clearly demonstrated in numerous cases especially in India, where celebrities like actors and sportspersons are almost worshipped by the masses. The Parker pen brand used Amitabh Bachchan to revitalize the brand in India, after which its sales increased by about 30 percent. Celebrities have also proved instrumental in damage control to restore the consumer confidence for companies like Cadbury India, Coca – Cola and PepsiCo after the worms and pesticides controversies. Thus, celebrity endorsements not only break the clutter of advertisements, but can also drive the masses tremendously.

Counterview

Augustine John, NMIMS

Mascot is defined as ‘a person or animal or thing that is supposed to bring luck to its users.’ The utterly, butterly delicious Amul girl in polka dots born in 1967 is the best proof of mascot brand recall lasting years or even decades. The strength of mascots lies in its uniqueness and its power of effectively communicating the ethos of the brand like, Chintamani of ICICI Prudential who solves all our ‘chintas’ (worries) related to tax savings and the Air-India Maharaja who welcomes passengers all across the world, symbolizing a Maharaja like treatment to its travellers.

Brand mascots are loyal associative elements whereas celebrity brand endorsers are highly promiscuous and flit from brand to brand, often causing confusion just like the case of an Amitabh Bachchan Ad, where you are not too sure if he is a Parker, a Zandu or an ICICI persona! One billboard with the pug dog immediately communicates that it is a Hutch ad while in case of the celebrity, the person has to read the billboard through to find out. This becomes more pronounced in the case of the illiterate and semi literate population of India while in case of the mascot, it ensures the recognition of the brand even by illiterates.

The dependency of the brand popularity, on the popularity of the celebrity which is always a fluctuating factor is another put-off of celebrity endorsements. It is also seen that mascot campaigns are more cost effective than celebrity endorsements.

The strength of the fan communities of Zoozoos in social networking sites are more proof for the influence it had on the customers.

Hence we can conclude that a strong mascot is more successful than celebrities in creating media exposure and excitement, generating goodwill and providing brand recall at point-of-sale.

ICICI Bank: Innovation with Aggression makes a Market Leader



Mayank Arora | IIM Shillong

During the current time of recession, if B-School students are asked about their dream job, many will answer ICICI Bank. Since its inception in 1994, ICICI has grown to become India's largest private sector bank by market capitalization and second largest overall in terms of assets. The Bank boasts of some 24 million customers and presence in 18 countries with 1,449 branches and about 4,721 ATMs in India alone. ICICI Bank offers a wide range of banking products and financial services to corporate and retail customers through a variety of delivery channels and specialized subsidiaries and affiliates in the areas of investment banking, life and non-life insurance, venture capital and asset management. Also it has the largest international balance sheet among Indian banks. It is rightly described by the competitors and industry experts in one word- “Aggressive”.

ICICI has always been a pioneer in the Indian banking industry specifically retail banking. It had introduced concept of branding in the banking industry. For this, it had extensively used the internet.

ICICI had focussed on various areas of marketing for building its brand. For this, it targeted and acquired customers in different market segments. Though the concept of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is quite new, ICICI is following relationship management and database marketing since its inception. As stated above, ICICI has always believed in product innovation. It has also designed its channel strategy which aims at getting the common man’s “Share of wallet”.

ICICI’s STP

Basis of Segmentation

  • Occupation - Different products for different occupational segment identified.
  • Income - Minimum balance serves as an income segment barrier.
  • Geographical - Concentrated on Tier 1 & Tier 2 Cities trying to extend reach.
  • Age – Different products like student account.

Targeting

ICICI has a separate marketing strategy for different segments. It tailors its marketing campaigns to meet the needs of target prospects. It has long used technology to track and create differentiated product offering for different customer segments.

Positioning

ICICI’s core proposition is reflected in the line ‘Hum hain na’, which spells trust, credibility and reinforces its position as a total financial solution provider (brought about through its cross selling effort). ICICI has followed modernization by making technology as the backbone of all its operations. ICICI is one bank which uses and applies international practices to the local context. For identifying the need of the customers, it has a ‘Product development department’, which continuously studies the market and analyses the competitive landscape.

Despite heavy competition in BFSI industry ICICI has managed to have product differentiation. For e.g. they have variants in various basic products like savings bank account to suit different customer base and different customer needs. Also, ICICI is an avid practitioner of product augmentation i.e. redefinition of the banking products with extra benefits and features added to the products. Pricing is one area every bank has to be careful about. Some of the ICICI’s pricing strategies are:-

  • Penetrative pricing aimed at achieving large market share
  • Philosophy of profit through volume
  • Effort to drive out competition
  • Price leader in retail banking product
  • Aggressive pricing facilitated through low cost of fund acquisition

ICICI’s distribution strategy is one of the best in industry. It has achieved this by cross selling of products as a major area of focus. ICICI has always made an effort to reach the customer rather than waiting for them. For this, it created the concept of DSAs (Direct Selling Agents) and DSTs (Direct Selling Teams). Also, ICICI has used internet, mobile, ATM’s and other technological device to reach and serve the customers.
ICICI’s promotion strategy is divided into two areas – Corporate Branding and Product Branding. The promotion is mainly through print media. Also there are various point of purchase tools for different products to reach relevant customer segment.

  • Some of the promotion tools used are promotional material at channel partner outlets, billboards, signboards, kiosks at residential and commercial complexes and organising events at corporate campuses.
  • With Baghban ICICI entered into In-Film promotions.
  • Co-branding initiatives include alliance with Amway India for launch of international credit card.
  • Indian Railways Catering And Tourism Development Corporation, in conjunction with ICICI Bank, announced the launch of mobile payments and ticketing system, offering IRCTC customers to book railway tickets via SMS and make payments through their ICICI Bank accounts.
  • Other initiatives include Cross brand associations i.e. acquiring databases of high net worth clientele of lifestyle products: Tie-up with ‘Woven Hues’.
  • Young Stars account-Promotion through tie-up with Cartoon Network, and in-series promotion through Tom & Jerry.

ICICI faced tremendous criticism during the worldwide banking failure, owing to some toxic assets and also for the loan recovery methods. But it will always be recalled as the most innovative brand, pioneering the modern day Indian banking.

Pulsar: The birth and rise of an enigmatic brand


Sarvesh Chowdhury | IIM Shillong

"You can't make bikes. Even if you make bikes, you can only make 100cc bikes with the help of Kawasaki. That too with issues of quality. Then you need hundreds of Japanese to come and set it right".

In words of Rajiv Bajaj, this was what people used to tell him. It happened because Bajaj Auto had seen success only in the scooter manufacturing, and its reputation as a motorcycle manufacturer was not that positive. Its motorcycle manufacturing cost was high, the quality too low and its initial models failed to excite the consumer. The company needed drastic measures to survive the 21st century consumer demands.

With the beginning of new millennia, India saw a dramatic shift in the preference of consumers. The two wheeler market showed a clear shift towards bikes and with the launch of Hero Honda CBZ in 1999, the sales of motorcycles overtook scooter sales for the first time. Bike manufacturers, Hero Honda, Yamaha and TVS removed Bajaj from its no. 1 spot and moved it down to 4th.

The Birth Of Pulsar
Rajiv Bajaj and Sanjay Bajaj, two young and vibrant leaders, set to change the way things worked at Bajaj Auto. They created a team who were themselves crazy about bikes and loved biking, this new team had a clear vision of what exactly the customers needed.

The marketing team guided the basic concept of bike by providing crucial inputs. They found that the users looked at bikes not just as a mean of commuting but it was more of a style statement. They were thus looking for a bike having power as well as rugged style. These features later became the differentiating factor as well as the USP for the bike.

Answering the needs of the marketing team, the design department came up with various designs fulfilling the latent consumer requirements. These were carefully
studied by making prototypes and getting feedback on styling and comfort through market surveys. The team worked not only on design but also developed an engine specially fabricated to suit the Indian roads and driving habits. The entire process took over two years. Finally the Pulsar was launched in November 2001 with two engine options of 150 cc and 180 cc.

Success Factors
Pulsar was designed keeping in mind the age group of 20-30. But the concept soon became a hit and successful across the entire biking ages (20-45). The reason why even the older people enjoyed riding the Pulsar was attributed to the stance that riders took while driving the bike. The posture gave riders a feeling of energy thus making them feel younger. Perhaps in the same way the formally dressed executive in the US may drive a Range Rover SUV to create the image of a man who seeks adventure.

Pulsar was not immune to quality problems. There were few minor issues just like the critiques had predicted but it was the only bike which best satisfied the needs of the Indian Biker. It was powerful, cheaper and muscular looking than other bikes in its category. The only other bike which came close to the Pulsar was Hero Honda CBZ, which had its own list of issues. It was expensive, less economical in fuel consumption and had poor resale value. Pulsar was very cleverly positioned in a manner to answer these shortcomings of its (only) competitor.

Definitely Male
Pulsar’s performance, feel and looks were the main aspects that triggered its success. Moreover a major success factor for Pulsar was its innovative campaign conceptualized and designed by Ogilvy & Mather Advertising.

There is an interesting story behind the birth of “Definitely Male” campaign. The creative heads found the new product from Bajaj ‘distinctly different’. Pulsar would be the first bike that Bajaj would market without the Kawasaki label. It was an R&D and design marvel. O&M felt that the communication for this bike needs to be different. Working on a lot of ideas, they zeroed in on the Big Idea of India's He-Bike. Although lots of bike takes the persona of Macho bikes; it was more oriented towards being "sexy". The Big Idea was to position the bike as World's first bike endowed with a Sex (Gender).Thus born the classic campaign of all times "Definitely Male".

This innovative campaign along with the looks and performance catapulted the brand and made it a youth icon. It is the only bike in India after Bullet that has built a cult following.

Continuous Innovation
Bajaj did not rest after the success of Pulsar. They continuously innovated and improved the bike to cater to the changing needs of the consumers. They saw Pulsar as the key to regain the no. 1 spot and to control the entire bike market.

The first set of improvements took place in 2003 with the introduction of DTSi technology. DTSi stands for Digital Twin Spark Ignition which delivered more power and efficiency. It was the first two wheeler engine in the world with the twin spark ignition. The increased performance of the brand took Pulsar to greater heights.

2003 and 2005 saw some cosmetic changes in the brand which kept the design fresh and excited the customers.

Another major design change happened in 2006 in reply to growing competition in the 150CC bike market. With Honda entering the market and Hero Honda and TVS expanding the offerings, the new “Digital Look” Pulsar, left others far behind.

In 2007 Bajaj introduced the 200CC and 220CC variants of the Pulsar, and offered some features that were never seen by the Indian Consumers, which were used only in the sports bikes. Recently (April 2009) Bajaj released the UG IV (fourth upgrade) versions of the Pulsar 150 and Pulsar 180.

Everything’s perfect, Bajaj’s heavy reliance on Pulsor is also dampening its market share. With premium segment capturing only 6-7 % of the market, it cannot achieve its dream of being numero uno, unless develop some alternative strategy. Definitely Pulsor has played the most crucial role in not only reviving Bajaj’s brand equity but has also created new dimensions for Indian two wheeler industry.

Valley of Death






KELLOGG’S and its not so crunchy Indian Story!
Ashutosh Dikshit | IIM Shillong

I remember the days when I was a kid and the only time I had tasted “branded” cornflakes was on the breakfast menu of the maiden International flight I had taken at that point in time. The brand name on the packaging was “Kellogg’s” with the distinct logo being prominently flashed.
In the late 1980s, the company had reached an all-time peak, commanding a staggering 40 per cent of the US ready-to-eat market from its cereal products alone. By that time, Kellogg’s had over 20 plants in 18 countries worldwide, with yearly sales reaching above US $6 billion.
However, in the 1990s, Kellogg’s began to struggle. Competition was getting tougher as its nearest rivals General Mills increased the pressure with its Cheerios brand. Kellogg’s management team was said to be ‘unimaginative’, and of ‘spoiling some of the world’s top brands’ in a 1997 article in Fortune magazine
In strong markets such as the United States and the UK, the cereal industry had been stagnant for over a decade, as there has been little room for growth. Therefore, from the beginning of the 1990s, Kellogg’s looked beyond its traditional markets of Europe, United States and India was as a suitable target for Kellogg’s products. It did not take the company a lot of time to decide that India with 250 million of middle class, showed the bright prospect of a potential untapped market.
In 1994, three years after the barriers to international trade had opened in India, Kellogg’s decided to invest US $65 million into launching its number one brand, Corn Flakes. The news was greeted optimistically by Indian economic experts such as Bhagirat B Merchant, who in 1994 was the director of the Bombay Stock Exchange. ‘Even if Kellogg’s has only a two percent market share, at 18 million consumers, they will have a larger market than in the US itself,’ he said at the time.
However, the Indian sub-continent found the whole concept of eating breakfast cereal a new one. Indeed, the most common way to start the day in India was with “chole bature” in North India and “Idly Sambar” in the South. While this meant that Kellogg’s had few direct competitors, it also meant that the company had to promote not only its product, but also the very idea of eating breakfast cereal in the first place.
The first sales figures were encouraging, and indicated that breakfast cereal consumption was on the rise. However, it soon became apparent that many people had bought Corn Flakes as a one-off, novelty purchase. Even if they liked the taste, the product was too expensive. A 500-gram box of Corn Flakes cost a third more than its nearest competitor. However, Kellogg’s remained unwilling to bow to price pressure and decided to launch other products in India, without doing any further research of the market. Over the next few years, Indian cereal buyers were introduced to Kellogg’s Wheat Flakes, Frosties, Rice Flakes, Honey Crunch, Special K and Chocos Chocolate Puffs – none of which have managed to replicate the success they have encountered in the West.
Furthermore, the company’s attempts to ‘Indianize’ its range have been disastrous. Its Mazza-branded series of fusion cereals, with flavors such as mango, coconut and rose, failed to make a lasting impression.
While Kellogg’ s has ushered in a shift in the Indian breakfast habits and adapted its line of cereal flavors to meet the Indian palate, the price of the product still restricts consumption to urban centers and affluent households causing the problem of lack of scalability in the market
As for Kellogg’s, it remains to be seen whether its move into other product categories, such as snack food, will be able to help strengthen its brand. ‘Kellogg’s is caught in a bind,’ is what remarked by one Indian brand analyst in Business Line newspaper. ‘It realises that cornflakes can make money only in the long haul, so it needs a product which will give it some accelerated growth in the interim. However, its area of strength worldwide lies in the breakfast cereal and not in the snack food category.’
Only time will tell whether Kellogg’s is able to sustain its brand identity or otherwise. However, there are some key Lessons from the Kellogg’s story
  • Lack of comprehensive Market Assessment. Why did Kellogg’s cereals have a tough ride in India? – They failed to assess and use to their advantage, every conceivable diversity in the Indian sub continent
  • Complimentary Product Variance: While the westerners consume cornflakes with cold milk, the product had little compatibility with hot milk that Indians are used to the first thing each morning. Hence product redesign was hardly given a thought. A case in point is that of Mc Donald’s that has come up with a plethora of customized menu options for the Indian foodie.
  • Local competitors are here to stay. Although Indian brands were worried that they would struggle against a new wave of foreign competition following the market opening of 1991, they were wrong. It was further promulgated by CK Prahalad, that ‘Multinational corporations must not start with the assumption that India is a barren field’.
  • Consumers will resist alienation from their core culture - ‘The rules are very clear,’ says Wahid Berenjian, the managing director for US Pizza (which has successfully launched a range of pizzas with Indian toppings) in an article for the newspaper, Business Line. ‘You can alienate me a bit from my culture, but you cannot make me a stranger to my culture. The society is much stronger than any company or product.’
The bottom line remains that Brands that want to succeed in India and other culturally distinct markets need to remember this parting comment which is of profound significance in the present scenario. But interestingly the world has turned a complete circle making markets unpredictable like never before.
…Jai Ho!





Tommy Hilfiger: The Power of the Logo Anjan Kumar Ash | IIM Shillong

If you see a rectangle logo that comes with the colors of blue, red, and white, then you are surely looking at the official logo of the fashion mogul known as Tommy Hilfiger. It was actually during the 90s when Tommy Hilfiger started making the rounds in the urban fashion scene. However, it was in the late 60s when Hilfiger ventured into the fashion arena.
Tommy Hilfiger is one of the world’s most-loved designer clothing brands. Initially it was a small, niche brand targeting upper class US consumers. During the 1990s Tommy Hilfiger moved to becoming a global powerhouse with broad youth appeal.
The Power Logo
Tommy Hilfiger, more than any other brand in the fashion industry, is a brand based on a logo. Everything about the logo, from the primary colours to the capital letters shouting TOMMY HILFIGER, suggested a bold, brash and 100 per cent US identity. Indeed, some of the company’s most successful products have been T-shirts with the red-white-and-blue logo emblazoned across them. When you wore a Tommy Hilfiger T-shirt everybody knew exactly what you were wearing, so long as they could read.
Problem Started
But then, the brand was suddenly dropping in 2000. Sales slowed down. To follow the trends, they tried to do the coolest, most advanced clothes. They didn’t just do denim embroidery. They jeweled it, studded it. But the customer did not respond in a big way as they expected, and the business – men’s, women’s, junior’s – suffered as a result. Tommy Hilfiger’s share price fell from a high of US $40 per share in May 1999, to US $22.62 on New Year’ s Day 2000, and was cut in half again by the end of that year. Flagship stores in London and Beverly Hills closed down. Various runway shows at fashion events worldwide were also cancelled.
‘Pushing the envelope’
The logo-centric US brand values had been present in other fashion labels – most obviously Calvin Klein and Ralph Lauren. But Tommy Hilfiger had taken it a step further. And by 1999, Hilfiger was starting to feel it might have been a step too far. The brand had in many senses become credible in high fashion circles but this credibility arrived, in part at least, by the brand’ s urban appeal. Hilfiger forged a formula that has since been imitated by Polo, Nautica, Munsingwear and several other clothing companies looking for a short cut to making it at the suburban mall with inner-city attitude.
‘Pushing the envelope’ strategy involved reworking the brand’s famous imagery – the logo. In other words, Tommy Hilfiger abandoned the values that had built the brand. They thought the customer didn’t want or like the Tommy logo anymore and they had to be much more in line with the Euro houses like Gucci and Prada. They felt very insecure about being a red-white-and-blue logo brand. So they removed a lot of stuff. They made it small.
Wrong Decision Continued
They wanted to target the high end consumers. Hilfiger launched a ‘Red Label’ sub-brand aimed at the very top of the market. This was a logo-less range of products including such garments as US $7,000 patchwork, python-skin trousers. Clearly these items were out of the reach of the average Tommy Hilfiger customer.
From 2001 they have been trying to go back to their own roots: classic with a twist. As a result of this, they are again able to attract customers and investors who were comfortable with Hilfiger brand. But till today it has not been able to go back to its glorious past: hot, sexy, flashy, zippy, preppy.




iPhone’s unsuccessful race in India Santosh K Mohanty | IIM Shillong
iPhone, the fastest and the most powerful phone from Apple has taken the world market by storm. According to Apple, iPhone is not just a phone; it’s a combination of revolutionary mobile phone, a widescreen ipod, and a breakthrough internet device which makes it special. Apple iPhone was rated as the Time magazine’s “Invention of the Year” in the year 2007. Despite all the accolades, iPhone 3G didn’t succeed in India. The product failed to cash on the hype that surrounded it.
On the launch of iPhone 3G, Apple’s CEO Steve Jobs mentioned that the phone will be launched at a price of $199 in all markets. But the promise was not kept in the Indian market. It was launched at a price of $700.The high price gave the initial setback to iPhone as Indian consumers were aware of its price in the US market. But apart from the wrong pricing strategy, iPhone had other problems which added to its woes.
iPhone also failed in its marketing, sales and distribution strategy. The product failed to connect with Indian consumers. iPhone was made available only through service providers Airtel and Vodafone. The product was not offered through the large retail chain in India, which accounts for the maximum sale of handsets in India. The availability of the product also affected its sales. The product lacked a marketing push. Even the two service providers Airtel and Vodafone didn’t push the product which also had adverse impact on its sales significantly.
Currently 3G services have been launched in India only by BSNL and MTNL, the two state owned telecom service providers. Private players are yet to get the license to launch 3G services. 3G services are not widely available across India, so consumers were not ready to pay for a service which was not widely available. Airtel and Vodafone were selling iPhone 3G handsets but did not provide 3G services. So even if the handset was compatible to offer 3Gservices it was of no use to the consumers who did not have access to 3G services.
Many analysts believe Apple is to be blamed for the debacle of iPhone in India. They downplayed the capacity of the Indian market, world’s fastest growing mobile market. Last year Apple made only 50000 iPhone sets available for the Indian market. Apple in its strategy to promote iPhone, completely missed out the two large mobile markets. It is struggling in India and is yet to enter the Chinese market.
There lies a chance ahead for Apple to revive the future of iPhone in India. 3G spectrum will be auctioned to private players soon. In few months time the 3G services will be available across the country, this gives Apple a new opportunity to relaunch iPhone in India. Its priced should be reduced; it should be made available through retailers and need to start an aggressive product campaign. It still has a chance to leave a mark in India, most lucrative mobile market in the world.
Mobile number portability will also be made available in metros in few months time. This can also boost the sales of iPhone where high end consumers who were reluctant to change their cellphone numbers can switch over to Airtel and Vodafone and can try iPhone. The need of the hour for iPhone is a revived pricing strategy along with a proper distribution and aggressive marketing pitch to strike a chord with the Indian consumers.

SV - Royal Enfield

Winner: Shiffy, SIMC Pune






Honorary Mention:




with Mr. Sridharan Ramprasad, CEO, LERROS Fashions India

Fashion in India goes back to the ancient Indus valley civilization with rapid advancement taking place in the7th century. Each region of India boasts a unique culture and tradition, translating India into one of the most fashionable country in the world. But the current situation is not that exciting with fashion industry falling behind other industries in meeting consumer expectations. We interacted with Mr. Sridharan Ramprasad, CEO, LERROS Fashions India and had a healthy discussion on a wider aspect of issues related to industry and Lerros as a whole. A graduate of IIM Ahmedabad (‘96-’98 batch), Mr Sridharan was the Director of Sales and Retail at Reebok India prior to the current assignment.


What do you think about the potential of the Indian fashion market as a whole and the premium wear market in particular?
The Indian fashion market is at a very early stage of its evolution. Considering that I believe that the potential is immense. The premium wear market is particularly underdeveloped with only a handful of the international brands present in the market. This I believe would be one of the fastest growing segments of the fashion industry. The key for the players would be to make the consumer believe that they are getting in the stores in India the same product at the same price at the same time as time is of essence in the fashion market. Every fashion article has a use by date.


How do you suffice your entry in India in the heights of recession?
Business cycles are imminent and unavoidable. Recession will be followed by a period of growth. While recession has affected our growth plans, we are setting up a solid base to take advantage of the growth period that will follow. One of the advantages of the recession has been that the real estate rentals have fallen to more reasonable levels and will stand us in good stead in time to come.

Lerros is a new player and how does it feel the heat of competition, with large number of brands playing around viz a viz designer brand?
Differentiation is the key for success in a competitive market. The differentiation has to be relevant to the consumer. One of the key target segments for LERROS is the 25 to 40 year old men and women. We feel that especially in the women’s category there is very little choice for the consumer as far as western casual wear is concerned.

Does the current way of marketing practiced in the Indian fashion industry need to be course corrected with respect to their low penetration in the garment industry?
One of the key’s to fashion is that you cannot please everyone. Every brand has a core target consumer segment and has to market itself to this consumer in media and touch points relevant to the consumer base. Hence for a brand like ours that does not have a wide reach yet, in store Retail Marketing and direct contact with consumers will provide the key. Activations and creation of consumer experiences at various touch points will also be critical in reaching out to the target audience. To answer your question every brand will have to look at its consumer segment and plan its marketing activities accordingly.

Can you elaborate on the role of fashion events in showcasing products and enhancing the brand equity?
Fashion events set the trend for the season. They also educate and inform the consumer about the trends and possibilities.
What in your view is the solution to plagiarism in the Indian fashion industry?
As the industry evolves and matures we will see this issue affecting us less and less. Over a period of time Indian fashion will establish its own distinct footprint. Finally, we would like to hear from you the opportunities for management graduates in the Indian fashion industry and also the skill sets required for making big. Fashion and fashion retail is one of the fastest growing industries in the country. For management graduates it offers a unique opportunity of working across segments. In this industry one can move across the streams of Sales, Marketing, Product Management, and Retail Operations. This horizontal mobility in the sector offers a huge learning and growth opportunity