Manyavar lights up the screen with new brand ambassadors

Ethnic wear brand, Manyavar has created a niche in the wedding apparel market. The brand is setting itself for better reach and awareness of the brand among consumers. It is considered as a one-stop destination for wedding wear and other festivals.

The space in which Manyavar operates is mostly an unorganised sector, there are a handful of companies such as BIBA and Fabindia, considered as competition to the brand. Manyavar's ethnic touch to apparel designs grabbed the market, and helped the brand evolve successfully within its segment.

The company has come a long away since Ravi Modi started it as a 150 sq. ft shop in Kolkata. The brand now has more than 570 stores across 180 cities in India and international markets such as UAE, US, Nepal and others.

Over the years, Manyavar has stood out from the competition is its approach towards celebrity marketing. The brand partnered with Virat Kholi for the first time in 2015, and launched various campaigns. Soon after gaining prominence in the men's traditional attire segment, the company extended its reach to female audience by launching ‘Mohey’ in 2016 and brought Anushka Sharma on board. The brand got the desired attention with the real life couple promoting the brand for various occasions.

After an extended association with Virushka, the brand announced Kartik Aaryan and Alia Bhatt, as the face of the brand this year. Since then, Kartik Aaryan has featured in the#GroomSquad and #TaiyaarHoKarAaiye campaigns. In fact the actor changed his Instagram name from Kartik Aaryan to Manyavar Kartik Aaryan whereas, Alia Bhatt was recently seen in an ad titled #DulhanWaliFeeling.

For the past three years, the brand has been coming up with special Diwali campaigns. This year too, the brand has launched a Diwali specific campaign but with a new celebrity — Ranveer Singh — as their brand ambassador. The actor, dressed in traditional Indian attire can be seen endorsing the brand on various platforms as he speaks about his #DiwaliWaliFeeling.

According to Sita Lakshmi Narayan Swamy, brand and consumer expert, (former Rediffusion Y&R, UTV Media, Zee, JWT), “Getting Alia, Ranveer Singh and Kartik Aryan on board seems to be a well thought through strategy. The first two are front-runners in the industry and the latter is immensely popular with the youth. In having a repertoire of these three brand ambassadors, the brand is clearly insuring its future reputation, as well as halo effect with consumers.”

“Having said that, they must cost the company a pretty packet and I do hope they have done the math to get their ROI in order,” she warns.

It must be noted that the brand has never opted for season sale so far, in comparison to other apparel brands who have been offering steep discounts to clear unsold stocks.

When we asked experts, why they think the brand is exploring a lot with the choice of ambassadors and is it a thoughtful strategy from an established brand or just experimentation?

Swamy feels, “Manyavar is positioning itself as a clothing brand that is not only endorsed by celebrities but adorns them. This is often a strategic route for brands to achieve accelerated salience in the minds of the target audience, as well as an enabler to charge a premium for its offerings.”

“This is definitely not an experimentation as no brand can afford one in the festive season, where 25 per cent upwards of their sales will be expected. Such a decision is a big one for any brand and more so for Manyavar because Virushka were identified deeply with the brand already. This space should be watched closely as there is a lessening demand and whether the new faces can do magic to Manyavar will only be told by figures they clock this Diwali,” says N. Chandramouli, chief executive officer, TRA Research.

“As long as a brand exuberates fresh energy, their charm in the market remains fresh. I think this brand ambassador ‘refresh’ is a good strategy to keep the audience engaged with the brand. As the consumption in the market is slowing down, this could well be the shot in the arm for Manyavar to keep sales going,” feels brand expert, Aman Abbas, co-founder, Commwiser Consultants.

“As a market watcher, I can only say that whether it’s an experiment or a strategy, this would position the brand on top of the game and would bring customers to the stores,” he signs off.