Research Report

On
To study the marketing & advertising strategy & To identify the
innovative approaches in product offering of Denim brands

Submitted by
Sanjeet Singh, Mukesh dhurve, Dipraj Sinha

Under the supervision of

MS. Harleen Sahani

Submitted to

Department of Fashion Management Studies (FMS)

National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT)
(Ministry of Textiles, Govt. of India)
GH-0 Road, Behind Infocity
Gandhinagar 382007. Gujarat
http://www.nift.ac.in
August, 2015
INTRODUCTION

Jeans are trousers typically made from denim or dungaree cloth. Often the term "jeans"
refers to a particular style of pants, called "blue jeans," which were invented by Jacob
Davis in 1871 and patented by Davis and Levi Strauss on May 20, 1873. Originally
designed for cowboys and miners, jeans became popular in the 1950s among teenagers,
especially members of the greaser subculture. Jeans were a common fashion item in the
1960s Hippie subculture and they continued to be popular in the 1970s and 1980s youth
subcultures of punk rock and heavy metal. Historic brands include Levi's, Lee,
and Wrangler. In the 2010s, jeans remain a popular fashion item, and they come in various
fits, including skinny, tapered, slim, straight, boot cut, cigarette bottom, narrow bottom, low
waist, anti-fit, and flare. "Distressed" (visibly aged and worn, but still intact and functional)
jean trousers have become increasingly fashionable, making pre-sale "factory distressing" a
common feature in commercially sold jeans.
Jeans are now a very popular article of casual dress around the world. They come in many
styles and colours. However, blue jeans are particularly identified with American culture,
especially the Old West. As well, although jeans are mostly known as a fashion garment in
the 2010s, they are still worn as protective garments by some individuals, such as cattle
ranch workers and motorcycle riders, due to their high durability as compared to other
common fabrics.

Literature review
Indian denim industry
The Indian denim industry is showing continual growth trends over the years. With newer
territories, technologies and trends, the market is only going to see some exciting moments
ahead there is a buzz in the industry. Kishore Biyani has 35 fashion brands with a combined
turnover of over R7, 000 crore.
What India needs is more denim brands. Today, denim wear is going deeper into the rural
markets. Not only men, even teenage girls in rural areas are opting for denim wear. This
calls for more brands that can cater to the demand.
The denim market in India is set to nearly double to over Rs 13,000 crore in the next three
years (by 2017), owing primarily to youngsters obsession for the cult fabric. The boom will
be fuelled by not only an increasing demand from small cities and rural areas, but also
acceptance of the fabric at workplaces, the study adds. In terms of volumes, the denim
market is estimated at 300 million pairs of jeans, which is projected to grow to 550-600
million by 2015
We are the second-largest producers of denims after China. Of the total denims
manufactured in India, 700 million metres are used in the domestic market and the rest is
exported.

This is one fabric that will never completely go out of fashion. The denim market in India
is growing at a very fast pace, with the market for branded jeans constituting over R2, 000
crore in the country. India is growing at the rate of 10-15% per year

Market size and growth

Denim is of the most promising category in Indias apparel market. In 2014, the denim
market of India was worth `13,500 Cr. which accounts for 5 percent of the total apparel
market of the country. The market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 15 percent to become
27,200Cr.
markets
in
2018.
The denim market in India is skewed towards mens segments with 85 percent contribution
coming from it. Womens denim segment contributes 9 percent to the market and the kids
segment the rest 6 percent. The womens and kids denim segments are expected to witness
higher growth rates due to their lower base and increasing focus of brands and retailers on
those segments.

COMPARISON WITH DENIM CONSUMPTION OF SOME OTHER

COUNTRIES
In general the western lifestyle and western fashion has accelerated the trend of
casualisation across the globe. This trend has boosted the consumption of casual fashion
apparel like denims, dress shirts, tees, casual shirts among both men and women consumers
in all developing countries including India. The average number of denim items owned by
Indian consumer is much lower in comparison to consuming market of the United States,
Europe etc. The number is even lower than countries like Brazil and China. This difference
in the number demonstrates the huge potential that exists for denim in the domestic market.

CITY-WISE DISTRIBUTION OF DENIM MARKET

The value share of denim market is skewed in favour of mega metros and metros which
account for almost half of the total denim market at a share of 49 percent. Though the
markets of other urban areas and rural India contribute high in volume terms, their
combined share in market value is only 51 percent. As the penetration of denim category
and the awareness of denim quality increases in those cities and rural India, their share in
market value will start increasing with more number of consumers willing to pay premium
for the quality, design and fit.

PRESENCE OF BRANDS
In India unbranded denim products dominate the market with around 60 percent share of the
market. The share of brands in denim market stands at 40 percent. Most of the unbranded
players operate on the lower price segment of the market where awareness of quality of
fabric,
finishing
and
washes,
design
and
fit
are
relatively
low.
The emergence of semi-urban clusters, areas having less number of farming communities,
across the country has opened a plethora of opportunities for regional brands and retailers. A
typical denim consumer of the semi-urban cluster demonstrates a blend of the characteristics
of urban and rural consumers; like an urban consumer he or she shows awareness of brand
and product quality and like a rural consumer pricing and affordability plays a crucial role in
his or her purchase decisions. The regional brands have focusing to cater to these typical
requirements of the semi-urban consumers. However presence of lots of unbranded players
in such markets it a market of intense competition to many national level brands.

DRIVING
some

of

FACTORS
the

key

driving

FOR
factors

for

DENIM
the

denim

market

MARKET
in

India

are:

An aspiration youth (15-29 year olds) with higher spending power than previous
generations, which make 26 percent of the consuming population
A wide range of consumer segment that consider denim as an apparel of choice owing to its
comfort and style. Favoured preference for denim amongst youth owing to its versatile
association. Increasing usage of denim products by women and youth in smaller cities and
rural India

DENIM VALUE CHAIN IN INDIA

India has an integrated value chain for denim products starting from fibre to retail. Denim is
primarily produced from cotton and India is expected to overcome China as the single
largest producer of cotton the world in 2014. The country is the second largest producer of
cotton yarn. The denim fabric production capacity of India is more than 1,000 million
meters per year, and India is still witnessing entrance of more denim fabric manufacturers in
the industry. Denim fabric production in India is concentrated in the western and northern
parts of the country with more than 45 percent contribution coming from Gujarat alone
where Ahmadabad is the production hub. Denim apparel production in India remains a
fragmented industry where only 20-30 percent of denim apparel is manufactured in the
organised units. The denim apparel production activities are concentrated in Delhi and NCR,
Mumbai, Bangalore and Ahmadabad.

Some of the key trends in denim market are:

In India most of the denim manufacturers focus on the domestic markets as the value
realisation remains higher in domestic market than in export markets
In the recent times the industry has witnessed entrance of new fabric manufacturers which is
expected to make the market for denim fabric more price competitive in the coming years
Cotton remains the fibre of choice in denim apparel. In blended denim fabrics polyester is
being used as weft threads
The demand for stretch denim is growing at a faster rate in India market due to its comfort
and fi t characteristics
The colour of denim jeans is no longer limited to traditional blue colours. Indian youth has
started accepting denim in different colours including green, red, yellow etc.

TECHNICAL ASPECTS

Process of Manufacture of denim garments is like any other garment except that these
garments require special care and finishes. The basic outline of the operations for denim
garments in general is given below. 1. Pattern design and pattern making. 2. Cloth cutting by
mechanical process. 3. Sewing by high-speed industrial sewing machine. 4. Trimming and
inspection. 5. Ironing and pressing as finishing process. Designers use five elements to
create a design that will stimulate the potential consumer to buy like colour, silhouette,
drape, texture and tone. Besides these the designer selects buttons, uppers, snaps, thread
lace, tapes, braids, medallions, sequins and a variety of ornaments and closures and
decorative devices to impart the desired design effect. Cutting involves three basic
operations, i.e. making the marker, spreading the fabric and chopping fabric into the marked
sections. There are six types of machines available to chop or cut a lay into the component
parts of the market like rotary blade machine, vertical reciprocal blade machines, band
knives, similar to band saws, die clickers systems with straight blades and automated
computerised laser beam cutting machines.
The sewing operation is performed to join the individual cut components in to desired shape
by using power operated sewing machine. Fusing and cementing are processes for stitching
or decorative seaming. In fusing, the seam bond on decoration is formed by melting some
fibre or finish content in the material in a manner that joins the sections or decorates in the
desired area. In cementing, the bond or decoration is made by an adhesive, such as cement,
glue on plastic which is applied to the materials during or immediately preceding the
cementing process. Fusing is either by direct heat, by hot head fusing presses, in which
pressure surface area is heated by electric heating grade or steam. Cementing processes use

mechanical pressure systems with inbuilt head application depending on the adhesive
materials used. Moulding is a process that changes the surface character to photography of a
garment of one of its stitch sections by application of heat, moisture or pressure. Pressing,
pleating, blocking mangling, steaming, creasing, curing and casting curing and casting are
trade terms for various moulding processes. Pressing has two major divisions.

Buck press is a machine for pressing a garment or section between two contoured, heated
pressure surfaces that may have steam vacuum systems in either or both surface. In the field
of casual fashion the fade look has significant value. Previously the faded effect used to
come after repeated washing of the garment. Now we can get the fade effects instantly by
latest washing technology and it plays a very important role in the saleability of the denim
garment. There are many types of washes. The prominently used are Hard Wash, Half
Bleach, Full Bleach, Marble Bleach, Acid Wash, Stone Wash, Chemical Wash, Ice Wash,
Moon Wash, Bright Wash, Gun Wash, Camel Wash, Ink Wash etc.

Process-flow Diagram

Design Sample

Fabric checking and layering

Card board Pattern

Cutting, segregation and bundling

Stitching (single tailor or chain system)

Trimming

Thread cutting and labelling

Quality control check

Washing, drying and pressing

Individual packing

Carton packing

Despatching Quality Control and Standards
In addition to various fabric defects

Lee History

Lee Mercantile Company was founded by Henry David Lee in 1889, when Lee opened his
first garment factory in Salina, Kansas, producing dungarees and jackets.
In 1913, the Union-All work jumpsuit was created, followed by the first-ever "Overall" in
1920 - laying the foundation for Lee's early growth. Also in 1920, the Buddy Lee doll was
launched for promotional use, but quickly became a popular play doll.
Through the '20s, Lee introduced many new innovations to manufactured denim, most
notably the zipper fly. Throughout the '30s and '40s Lee continued to build on their brand,
becoming the nation's #1 manufacturer of work clothes.
The decade of the '50s was a time of intense expansion for Lee as the company ventured
into casual wear. Lee expanded its presence throughout the '60s, spreading to 51 countries
and consolidating with VF Corporation in 1969.
The company continued to expand its fashion lines throughout the '70s, '80s and '90s,
launching Lee National Denim Day in 1996. Today's Lee is all about bringing more fits,
styles, finishes, features and choices than ever before to market.

Objective
To study the marketing & advertising strategy of denim brand Lee
To identify the innovative approaches in product offering to the customer across India

Research methodology
Research Type Exploratory research design was used as it relies on secondary research such
as reviewing available literature and/or data, and qualitative as well as quantitative research
approaches such as informal discussions and questionnaire containing qualitative based
techniques such as. Exploratory research is being used as problem has not been clearly
defined.
Primary research
Take interview of category head denim of Lee brand

Questionnaire
Name:- Nishank Ponappa
Age: 28
Profile: - category head Denim India(Lee)
Email IdCompany VF Brands India

1-Lee varies in its brand positioning across the world. How do you tackle this disparity?
Positioning and the development of category essence entails the association of the brand to
other objects that collectively represent a consumer goal. However, for category essence, the
connection is among objects that imply the goal in using the category rather than the
brand. To illustrate category essence, for example of the beer category for 18- to 34-year-old
men
Category essence uses insight about how the category fits with consumers' goals as a brand's
point of difference. The assumption is that if consumers perceive that a brand is positioned
in a manner that is sensitive to their concerns, the brand is viewed as the solution to those
concerns. For example, Lee jeans showed the difficulties women encountered when trying
to get into a pair of jeans. Consumers were urged to buy Lee jeans to remedy this problem,
though no rationale for this choice was provided.

2-Why did your tapered fit category fail to take off in India?
Because we are late in the market when we launch this fit it is almost out of fashion in the
Indian market.

3-Youve launched multiple fits in India over the years. Whats been purpose for that?
The main competitor of Lee is Levis. Levis come into Indian market after Lee to become a
market leader Levis started launched different variety of fits or fabric in to Indian market so
compete with them we launched more fit than Levis. Result of that our sales increases and
we become again no-1 in India market

4-As more and more of what Lees sells at affordable price your ability to manufacture
and source them at lower costs will determine more of your success. But with workers
across Asia rebelling against lower wages how long can you offer affordable prices?

Reply - We actually source fabric from Arvind and Raymond and after that we do
experiment with that fabric so do not cost much that is why we offer jeans at lowest cost but
levis develops new denim fabric
For example- we give instruction to our fabric producer company for different washes of
denim, then they send fabric of the different washes, it come up with different shades and
then producer send us the swatches of different shades and then we select from them and
develop garment from that.

5-Which type of innovation you did recently in product offering to customers

Denim refreshment series It is very innovative series we launched in India for spring
summer 2015. it has quality of in summer it keep cool and in winter its keeps you hot and
most important it is water repellent fabric .

6-What do you consider when you offer such type of innovation & design.

Ans - Actually we consider many things when we develop new things to offer to our
customers but we consider mainly three things We study the current market trend,
competitors analysis and we study the previous year style no sells on the basis of that we
develop such type of fabric and product.
7-What is the motto behind Ad campaign of Lee denim brand

Ad we design according to our product we are going to offer to our customers for example
we recently launched denim series called Denim refreshment according to that we design ad
or target customer promotions activities.

8-Which type of marketing strategy used by Lee

Road shows
Personal marketing
Social media marketing

9-Which type of innovation do in marketing by Lee Brand?

Yes actually we do innovation but not too much on advertisement on print media or
electronic media we focus on the store VM, layout of store, store ambiance, product display
and promotions inside or outside the stores
10-How can you achieve new growth by discovering unexpected consumer insights?
Very nice question ask by you people actually its require lots of data mining our data
research team do all the analysis on basis of style no, colour, fit and category wise this is the
back bone of our industries on that basis of that we forecast our sale and develop products .
this all Creat a new shopping system

LEARNING
The Indian denim industry is large, mature, and highly fragmented. In the India, denim sold
is produced both in domestic and foreign locations. Due to global economic downturn, the
apparel industry has been severely affected, but the condition of denim market is better as
compared to other apparel segments. Economic condition, demographic trends and pricing
are the factors driving the apparel sales.
The report analyzes the denim jeans industry in the Indian. Market trends like introduction
of new concepts, retail and apparel pricing and key drivers of denim market have been
included.