Questions for discussion 1.

Examine the circumstances that prompted Madura to launch women's western wear in the Indian readymade women's wear industry. Why do you think companies primarily offered only men's wear in the branded readymade apparel segment in the country? What kind of cultural and social changes led to the launch of Allen Solly women's wear? 2. Critically analyze the product development, retailing and promotional strategies adopted for Allen Solly women's wear. What are the essential differences between marketing readymade apparel to men and marketing readymade apparel to women in a developing country? How would your answer differ if the target customer base belonged to a developed country? In men the main preference goes towards brand while in the female it goes to fitting. So there must be an essential difference marketing either. The former is generally marketed based on the image of the brand and the latter is marketed based on the comfort, colours and fitting. Allen solly did the same where their marketing strategies are directly targeted to the fitting and comforts provided by the apparels.

As the people there are already using the western apparels the company has no need to target on the customers who need a shift from their regular wear to any other. In developed countries there is a greater shadow of globalization so the western apparels are wide spread and doesnt need a campaigning or a public show to market the product. A general promotion which tells about the brands and ranges would be a better in such case 3. Madura has taken a major risk by extending a "pure men's brand" to the women's wear segment. Comment on this statement in light of observation that men might switch over to a pure male brand in the future. Do you think Madura's move could erode Allen Solly's brand equity? Madura has taken a moderate risk in the direction of extending the brand even in women western wear. The reason behind this opportunity is not only social and cultural driven but also market driven as the unorganized sector has grown much in the market.

In future one might switch over to another pure male brand only if the brand reaches change as allen solly is a better brand for women wear. In that case they may lose reasonable amount of male customer base. So we cant really tell that this move could erode Allen sollys brand equity as it already has a better reach in customers that its a good male brand.

 Instead we can tell that the brand equity may increase as they have diverged their brand producing apparels even for women. 4. With many players entering the women's western wear segment, do you think Allen Solly would be able to grow as planned? As part of a team responsible for managing the brand, help the company design a marketing strategy plan to attain leadership position in the women's western wear segment. Allen solly would be able to grow as planned as they have differentiating operations as compared to their competitors. Good product development, retailing and promotional strategies adopted by Allen solly have paved them a way to make their own market. They have got enough chance to penetrate the market with existing competitors as they have got a brand name in the reach of customers.

Develop good marketing stratergy Need not pay much interest on branding Create product differentiation They need to concentrate on the channels of distribution and should be careful not to increase the number of channels which may increase their cost. Increase the number of outlets

Reason for the success of Allen Solly: 2002 leading Indian apparels company, madura garments launched a line of ready made womens western wear under the brand allen slley women wear the launch was baked by advertisements in the national print and outdoor media. The move attracted attention for two reasons. First this was the first ever nationwide exercise by any company to offer readymade western wear for women in India on a large scale. Second , madura seemed to have In september taken a risk by trying to extend its hitherto exclusively for men brand allen solly to the womens. the segmentation of female western wear from madura garments under the brand name of allen solly women wear is based on 1 changing social habit 2 generations 3 income level 4 usage rate 5 personality

4.With many players entering the womens Western wear segment, do you think Allen Solly would be able to grow as planned ?As part of a team responsible for managing the brand ,help the company design a marketing strategy plan to attain leadership position in the womens western wear segment.

Allen Solly would grow as planned despite the competition from prominent brands. Market research said that ethnic wear among Indian women was unsuitable while working and western wear was a good alternative; by plunging into the segment Madura did the right thing. As a part of marketing strategy, the product should be of low price and it should know everyone, even middle class. Besides Marketing strategy would include Product, Price, Place and Promotion. The products had already been introduced to the Indian women. For the international styling a renowned UK based designer Stephen King had been recruited and the company was focusing on the comfort and styling that suited the Indian womens body needs. The price was in a wide range to mix and match. For example the knitted range was priced between 499 to 999 and trousers were priced between 799 and 1099. Madura had announced the launch of Allen Solly nationwide with six outlets in prominent metropolitan cities. As a part of strategy team I would attempt to increase the number based on customer response. Also these would be designed by well-known architects to attract customers as done to already built outlets. The target segment as of now was the young woman between 22 to 40 years and income of above 8000.Gradually an attempt would be made to extend the segment to kids and women above 40 (between 40 to 50) and also to target lower income groups. Advertising had already been allocated 60 million and research was on with an allocation of 40 million. Madura had planned to promote the brand by outdoor advertising and print campaigning. Leading magazines and other publications carried the print advertisements. Media coverage had given recognition to the comfort fit trousers.

Conclusion:

Indian women generally wear traditional ethnics. However with the Indian society becoming more and more liberal a need arose for attire that was more work friendly then saree. Salwar Kameez was an alternative but it had to tailor as per individuals requirements. Indian society was becoming westernized as per lifestyles, educations and vocation in urban areas. With the cultural changes in India, western wear for women had a potential. Women and kids market was yet to be explored fully. Indian League entered the womens wear market followed by Raymonds Madura garment followed by introducing Allen Solly into the Womens wear segment. This was introduced nationwide with aggressive campaigning and advertising. The response was positive but apprehensions whether the move of Madura to extend from men to women wear segment was the right one or not continue to remain.