Lowe Bangalore picks up Future Retail worth Rs 25 crore

The creative duties for the Future Group’s retail brands, Central and Brand Factory, have been awarded to Lowe Bangalore. Both brands were up for a pitch a while ago. The incumbent agency was Percept H.

Confirming the news to agencyfaqs!, Rajesh Seth, vice-president, marketing, Central and Brand Factory, says, “We were looking for a Bangalore based agency, which could handle both retail brands for us. A marketing budget of Rs 25 crore has been chalked out for these two brands, and an extensive expansion is on the charts.”

Of the budgeted Rs 25 crore, Rs 15 crore will be devoted to Central and Rs 10 crore to Brand Factory. Print advertising will account for 30-35 per cent of the funds, outdoor, 20-25 per cent, and radio, 8-10 per cent. The remaining money will go into research and below the line activities.

Central is a showcase, seamless mall, based on a departmental store format. It houses more than 300 brands across categories such as apparel, footwear and accessories for women, men, children and infants, music, books, coffee shops, food courts, super markets (Food Bazaar), fine dining restaurants, pubs and discotheques. The mall has a separate section for services such as travel, finance, investment, insurance, concert/cinema tickets, bill payments and other miscellaneous services. In addition, Central houses Central Square, a dedicated space for product launches, impromptu events, daring displays, exciting shows and art exhibitions.

Brand Factory is a one-stop shop for Indian and international fashion brands, which are offered on discounted rates all through the year. Some of the brands that the store offers are Arrow, Esprit, Van Heusen, Louis Philippe, Levi’s, Titan, Lee, Pepe Jeans, Wrangler, Lee Cooper, Nike, Adidas, Biba, Liberty, Red Tape, Nike, Reebok, Adidas, Revlon and Maybelline.

The brief that was given for Central was that of a space for communities where people from various segments and societies could come together. Brand Factory needed to be communicated as a brand that offered an organised retail outlet to bring various brands together. The store targets the youth and derives strength both from the various brands it stores as well as the nature of its own brand.

Currently, Central has its stores in Bangalore, Hyderabad and Pune. Seth reveals that stores will be set up in Delhi and Mumbai towards the end of April. By the end of 2008, Ahmedabad, Vashi, Thane, Indore, Coimbatore, Kolkata and Chennai will also have Central stores.

Brand Factory stores can be found in Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Pune and Ghaziabad. Another store is to come up soon in Bangalore. The company plans to set up 55 stores in the next 10 years.