CASE PRESENTATION

ON

Abhinav Ankur
Sahil Sikander
 COMPANY IN BRIEF

Type Private

Industry Retail

Founded 1978

Headquarters Puducherry, India

Key People Dilip Kapoor, President

Kunal R Sachdev, CEO

Employees 3000
 HISTORY

• Founded in 1978
• Became a global company
• Started small business in selling in London and San
Francisco in 1970
• Expanded business to different departmental stores in
London, Australia, California
• Quality, distinctive design, aggressive marketing
strategies helped expand business in USA and UK
• Name Hidesign formed by merging the words “hide”
and “design”
 HISTORY
• Sold products to overseas markets via JVs
• Expanded business in India in 2000; opened first store in
Bangalore
• Announcement of franchised outlets in 2003
• Shifted to selling through organized retail chains to
increase volumes
• Brand was promoted worldwide in fashion magazines and
trade journals
• In 2006, hired 2300 people for tannery and leather goods
manufacturing units
• Target customers were higher income people in age group
of 20 to 50 years
DISTRIBUTION NETWORK IN 2000
 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN

• Open video
 SEGMENTATION
a) Psychographic segmentation:
• Based on the lifestyle of its consumers.
• People who value style and elegance and want
to make personal statement of their style
• Able to target young college students to
successful business professionals.
b) Gender Segmentation: Started out as a very strong
brand for men – more rational, rugged and product
feature oriented.
• When they first launched in India, 80 per cent of the
turnover came from the men’s products.
• Professionals and executives, both at work and
leisure.
• Over the years, it acquired a touch of femininity- a
quality of touch and feel with strong aesthetic
appeal.
• c) Income, Social Class Segmentation: The brand is
aimed at young upper class people. Education and
industry.
 TARGETTING
• Between 25 and 40 age group
• Is career focused, part of mid & senior level
management alike.
• Belongs to high income group
• Travels frequently (often abroad)
• Brand conscious Lifestyle.
• Buys quality products that have a lasting value
• Has a strong commitment to nature and
ecology
 POSITIONING
• Initially perceived as a boring one in the Indian market. Different campaigns
and advertising went into changing this notion.
• Core values are ecological and natural manufacturing process, and
believe in high craftsmanship in modern designing.
• Brand image is driven by luxury and exclusivity.
• Experimented with different kinds of colors in leather. Colors like red or
white symbolize class among women, unlike men’s accessories, where black
and brown still sells.
• They believe that their products possess a certain uniqueness that helps them
stand apart from the crowd and focussed on this aspect in their marketing
strategies.
• Even though Hidesign is a domestic brand, it has positioned itself in the
minds of Indian consumers as an international brand.
• They are viewed as the most expensive leather bags in the country.
 SWOT ANALYSIS

Strengths: Opportunities:
• Global presence • Retailing in sub-urban areas
• Quality • Younger section of
• First luxury retailing in consumers
India in leather products
Threats:
Weaknesses: • Local competitors
• High price • No brand personalities
• Targets only higher income • Perceived as boring rather
group than cool product in Indian
• Brand not very popular market
• Infrequent • High spending on advertising
schemes/discounts
 INTEGRATED MARKETING ACTIVITIES

• Using its stores and all the marketing mixes carefully

in promoting the brand
• Brand has been built over time
• Management has been careful in building the core
values of the brand
• Company has been spending the money wisely and
carefully
• Targeted segments rather than masses
• Overall marketing activities have been very rational
• Helped the company to create a world class brand
 CASE ANALYSIS

• 4Ps:
– Product
– Price
– Promotion
– Place
 PRODUCT
• Premium brand
• Work oriented
• Huge variety
• High quality
• Ecological values
• Personalized service
• Every product a limited edition
• Hand crafted exclusive design
• Emotional connect
 PRICING

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 PLACE
•Overseas business associates
• Mrs. Lowell
• John Lewis
•Over 60 exclusive retail in 20 countries
•Channel Partners
• UK - John Lewis, House of Fraser
• Australia - Myers, David Jane's
• South Africa - Stauttafards, Edgars
• South East Asia - Parkson, Robinson, Istaean
• India - Lifestyle, Shopper’s Stop
 PROMOTION
• International orientation
• Relatively lower budget
• Foreign models with international appeal
• Medium - Advertising and PR agencies
• Professional interior designing of stores
• ATL & BTL activities
‐ Print ad
‐ Attempt to get into Guinness Book of World Records
‐ Wide media coverage to press conference by company
‐ Merchandising and display in retail environment
‐ Bollywood parties and fashion shows
‐ Promotional activities and events
 INTERVIEW SESSION (with CNBC)
OVERVIEW ( by Marketing and Advertising
Leaders)

• Hidesign has a very premium offering and a good

perception about quality and design.
• Brand that also guarantees pride of ownerrship
• Brand that has strength of competing with some of the
very renowned international fashion Brands such as
HUGO BOSS.
 QUESTION-1 FROM PRESIDENT

Q.1. Hidesign is basically catering to English

Magazines particularly Fashion and News
Magazines. How can the brand expand its reach?
Answer
1. 30-35% Digital Media (Search engine
marketing and optimization)
2. Outdoor Advertisement on premium sites
3. Print media can also include Airline
Magazines etc.
 QUESTION-2 FROM PRESIDENT

Q.2. An earlier advertisement looked more like a

FMCG advertisement. But we are catering to a niche
market. What type of ads should we go for?

Answer
• Have a very clear picture about who are
your friends and who are competitors

• Position your product accordingly

 QUESTION-3 FROM PRESIDENT

Q.3. Earlier we just had our own exclusive stores and

it was easy to create exclusivity. But now with
Hidesign in multi brand outlets and on e-commerce,
how can it maintain exclusivity?

Answer
1. Create Imagery (Product is good but is not
surrounded in mind of consumers)
2. Show the story of evolution of Leather and
craftsmanship and involve consumer as a part
of the brand.
 KEY SUCCESS FACTORS
• Good quality , distinctive design and aggressive
marketing strategies
• Promotional activities
• Effective distribution channels:
– Local distributors
– Retail chains
• At that time, no branded companies for leather
products
• Create a main product and build accessories in the
name of the main product. eg. HUGO BOSS.