Among well-known Indian brands, Raymond is one of the oldest, having been in the game since 1925. The young Indian consumer has been moving steadily to ready-to-wear garments over the past two decades. As a company, Raymond is well armed with ready-to-wear names of its own such as Color Plus, Park Avenue and Parx, among others. But what of a fabric brand like Raymond? Where does the swirl in consumer taste leave it?
afaqs! spoke with Mrinmoy Mukherjee, director, marketing and business development, Raymond Ltd, about the fabric brand and recent changes in its communication. Excerpts:
Edited Excerpts
Raymond has been a leader in branded fabrics for ages. How has the Indian dressing sense in recent times?
There is a combination of two kinds of consumers. One is evolved and has finer tastes and this lot would wish to have a wardrobe made specifically for them. That is where our offerings like Bespoke and Made to Measure come in. The consumers who would buy a fabric and get it stitched for themselves cut across societies, SECs and professions. Forty per cent of these consumers' wardrobe will consist of stitched clothing.
There is also the other set of consumers who are attracted to readymade because of convenience. Almost 75 to 80 per cent of garments consumed in India are ready-to-wear.
Having said that, Indian bodies are not really made for readymade clothing. It is difficult for ready-to-wear brands to strike a balance because Indian bodies are built differently in different parts of the country. For example, a South Indian body is very different from a North Indian's. If the shoulder-line of a shirt or jacket matches, then the size of the arms won't match or vice versa. The same goes with trousers: the waistline and the length don't match. Tailors can give a better fit than that provided by a ready-to-wear brand.
The young clearly prefer ready-to-wear. So where and how does Raymond come in?
Raymond enters the lives of our consumer very early in his lifecycle. Typically, Raymond happens to be the suit that a father gives to his son for his first interview or when he is going abroad or when he is going to get married. As a country, more than 65 per cent of our population is below 35 years. So we have a fairly large audience of consumers who get into the brand Raymond fold at an early age.
Who are you targeting with your new offering, Made to Measure?
We have a very distinct set of core consumers. With Raymond Made to Measure, we are targeting the one who wants to stand out and has a very refined taste in garmenting. Typically he would be a 33-40 years old, doing well in his career and prefers style over fashion. Made to Measure, with the opportunities it provides in terms of customisation, is just the right offering for them.
We are primarily into formal and western wear but we have a large audience in the marriage space. People who buy a Raymond understand the essence of the brand and want to experience the lifestyle of the complete man. With more exposure to what is happening globally, Indian consumers are more certain of what they want to wear. As a brand, we need to deliver what he needs and thus we have a big range of possibilities.
The market for many product categories is growing rapidly in small-town India. Is the demand from these places very different from that in the metros?
Very early in the history of our brand we opened retail stores just to be present all over. Because of that we currently have 750 stores in 350 locations.
We have prices ranging from Rs 300-400 a metre going all the way up to Rs 10 lakh for a suit length. Now, since we have mainly franchise stores in different geographies, the owners of these stores choose pieces with the price point relevant to their audience.
Raymond has recently tweaked its campaign around 'The Complete Man'. Do you see the brand continuing with this line in the coming years?
Definitely. A brand is lucky to have a property that manifests what they stand for. We value the complete man image immensely and that is not something that we would like to change. What we would like to do is make the complete man contemporary and relevant for today's audience. That is the challenge.
Both an 18-year-old as well as a 50-year-old have an image in their mind of what a complete man stands for - and that imagery may be very different. We have never had a brand ambassador because we don't want to define what a complete man is.
The values of the complete man is what we have built in the last decade - be it the principal who is retiring from his position; be it the proud father whose son has got a good job or be it the current autumn-winter campaign where we have delved into the personal traits of a complete man. We are now talking about his passion to drive, his joy in walking and about all his personal traits which have made him a complete man. So basically we target all those who want to wear a nice piece of suit without defining exactly what a suit-wearer needs to look like.
How has your media mix changed over the years and which way is it heading?
Twenty years ago, we depended largely on print advertising. Then, with the advent of TV, the values of 'the complete man' were better communicated emotionally through video. That is why television took centrestage for us. If we spent 60 per cent on TV, we would spend 40 per cent on print.
However, in the latest campaign we have focused primarily on print and digital. Digital is very critical to connect with the audience of tomorrow and we will be spending extensively on it.
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