A CASE STUDY ON MARKETING

Raison d’etre

 The case of Madura entering women’s

wear is a case of New Market
Development - extending their
already successful men’s wear brand
to Indian working women

 Just as Indian men had taken to the

comfort of western clothing for work,
Indian women too can be expected to
do the same – only if the specific
tastes and preferences of Indian
women are take care of
 Situation Analysis

 Madura already has a strong brand in

the market – Allen Solly

 The little risk in being perceived as a

‘Unisex’ brand is not so big as it seems
and advertising can convert a bit of it
into advantage

 KSA-Technopack study reveals huge

potential for women’s wear market
driven by cultural and social changes in
India (macroenvironment)

 Threat: Competitive pressures are little

high as this is an emerging market with
a number of major players
 Segmentation, Targeting
and Positioning
 Challenge: Western wear is not a ‘one size
fit all’ like the Saree.

 Opportunity: Available women’s western

wear’s international styling was unsuitable
for Indian women as revealed by the
Madura commissioned IMRB study.

 Approach: IMRB research revealed 5 body

types thus allowing Madura to take care of
specific needs of Indian consumers.

 Catering for the 5 different body types

can mean strain on inventory, channel
and retail but worth the effort as it will
be a USP (Value Based Marketing)
 Problems

 There were no serious problems with

Madura, challenging one nevertheless

 One element of risk is being taken as a

‘Unisex’ brand and lose a part of male
patronage. Madura’s strategy was to tackle
this appropriate advertising (a male model
welcoming a female model)
 Solution and Implementation
 Madura hired one of the best designers
to create designs around the 5 body
types.

 Trouser sizes increased to

accommodate women on the heavier
side.

 Tops include woven and knitted and

cotton jackets. New fabrics.
Concentrated on Autumn and Winter
seasons when the traditional wear has a
weakness against western wear for
work.

 Exclusive outlets were planned in

Indian metros.

 This is a good move, otherwise

women would find it a bit out place
to go to a well-known men’s wear
store.
 Solution and Implementation
 INR 6 crore allocated for advertising

 INR 4 crore for background research, creative team, manufacturing and retailing

 Message – “Every body is perfect; you have just got to dress it right” – carried
home assurance to the concerned on “how does it fit me?” (which question does
not arise with Salwar-kameez, so it needed to be addressed)

 Brand: true reflection of women in 21st century Indian workplace

 Advertising on leading magazines and exclusive mailers

 Exclusively, carefully, tastefully designed showrooms

 Solution and Implementation

 Targets SEC A women with INR 8000

or more per month

 Apart from exclusive showrooms,

Madura also retailed the range
 Alternatives
 Madura concentrated only on non-traditional wear as did other competitors. The same
research on body types would hold for Salwar-Kameez as well. Indeed this will be a
more intelligent strategy than wait for all Indian women to convert to western clothing.

 Above mentioned strategy will give Madura (and other local players) unique advantage
over possible challenge from External (say US, European players) entering India
directly in catering for (at least) lower SEC categories.

 Even now the readymade players can create the readymade Salwar-Kameez segment
as there are only niche players in this categories and do not cater for the aspirations
of a broader audience.

 Exploiting the Salwar-Kameez market is a more mature strategy than try and kill it (as
it is evident from the statement of Vasant Kumar, VP Marketing of Madura)

 The above is in addition to Women’s Western Wear to deliver a key competitive

advantage because of a broader range