An alumnus of IBS Calcutta, Somdeb, after starting his career with Bata, joined Reebok India nine years back as the Head of Key Account – Sales and moved onto becoming the brand director of the company. Today, he is leading the India based merchandising, brand marketing, sports and fitness & marketing operations teams with an integrated Go-To-Market focus for Reebok India. Collaborating closely with sales, retail, finance, product creation and operations, Somdeb serves as the key conduit between the Indian markets and Global Reebok team. Despite his busy schedule, Somdeb actively contributes to a widely popular food blog. 4Ps B&M got a chance to peep into what’s going on into the mind of this marketer who’s busy reshaping Reebok’s image as a fitness brand in the minds of its consumers. Here are the excerpts:
Reebok has been focusing on repositioning itself – from a sports shoe maker to fitness brand. Why the shift?
With fitness consciousness on the rise we are addressing our consumer needs by sharpening our focus towards fitness. It is our vision to be the most desirable premium fitness brand in the country and empower people to be ‘Fit for Life’. Reebok’s fitness position comes as a global move, and was replicated in India over the past year as a conscious decision. We understand our consumers and their fitness needs and have therefore created a special line of apparel and footwear for training, walking, running and in-studio coupled with the most appropriate accessories for each activity. Our objective is to provide all avenues to a consumer to fulfill their fitness needs and be a one stop shop for all things related to fitness.
How big is the fitness industry in India? What are Reebok’s plans to capture it?
Fitness is growing exponentially in India and as per a recent report by FICCI-PWC, the wellness and fitness industry is projected to reach Rs 100,000 crore by 2015. From wearable tech devices and apps that help consumers discover the path of fitness and makes the whole process more fun, to the new and varied forms of physical exercises such as Zumba, Aqua Yoga, CrossFit, and Marathon Running amongst others, the new-age fitness enthusiast has various options to choose from.
Taking a step forward in digitalizing fitness, Reebok is launching a mobile application designed to offer a more challenging and rewarding running experience to fitness enthusiasts.
In India, Reebok is the only brand to have affiliated with CrossFit boxes and is a pioneer in bringing the ragingly popular fitness program to the country. We are also active partners with the Airtel Delhi Half Marathon, and the more recent ‘Fastest Running & Living Half Marathon’ – the first ever at the F1 track in Delhi.
This sector is booming in India and poses a great potential for the future. We will continue to invest in great products and consumer marketing to ensure that we raise the awareness levels and get more and more people to embrace fitness as a part of their daily lives.
The idea behind launching the Reebok Running Squad concept?
Reebok is committed to fitness and through our initiatives we wish to engage the consumer at every touch point and encourage them to adopt fitness as an integral part of their lifestyle. That’s why we launched the Reebok Running Squad (RRS), a one-of-a-kind initiative aimed at providing professional training to consumers for long distance running and marathons.
The Reebok Running Squad has stemmed from the insight that most people take up running as an informal activity and do not feel the need to get formal training for it. We at Reebok understand the importance of training and urge people to take all necessary precautions to avoid injury during running and aim at maximizing the fitness benefits for them. The program is versatile and aims at training people at different fitness levels, ranging from new to advanced runners. In addition, the program also focuses on the runner’s diet for which Reebok has partnered with a team of certified nutritionists and dieticians who will work closely with these runners for a balanced fitness regime. Ms. Sunita Godara, former national level marathon runner and Arjuna award recipient is the head trainer for the RRS.
Running is something that Reebok off late is seen promoting. The company has also recently partnered with Running and Living for the first-ever half marathon on the F1 track in Delhi. Please share more on the idea.
Running is one of the simplest, yet most effective fitness activities. As little as 15 minutes of a good run on a daily basis can make a huge difference to a person’s overall health and fitness.
We recently partnered with the popular running community – Running and Living, for the first-ever half marathon on the F1 track at the Buddh International Circuit in Greater Noida. The event witnessed an overwhelming response from over 1400 runners across 15 states of the country. This included children as young as 9 years old, and veteran runners as old as 82 years. For running aspirants and enthusiasts, the F1 track served as a unique track which had never been run on before, and provided a fantastic race-day experience. We also organized special warm-up sessions for registered runners with Reebok expert trainers, prior to the half marathon. Moreover, the iconic F1 track served as the perfect platform for fitness enthusiasts to try out the exciting new entrant to the running shoes category – The Reebok ZQuick running shoes, which are inspired by the design on Z Rated tyres that are used in top-end sports cars.
Through our partnerships and collaborations with unique running events such as the first-ever marathon at the F1 track, and iconic events such as the Airtel Delhi Half Marathon, we hope to encourage more and more people to adopt the philosophy of ‘Fit for Life’ and participate in regular fitness activities, leading to a more active and healthy lifestyle.
After shutting almost half of your 900 stores in last couple of years across India, the company has come up with Fit Hub stores, with aims to open around 150-300 stores in coming years. Why this move? And how has been the consumer response to the new retail format?
Reebok has adopted a three-pronged strategy for growth in the Indian market – continuous innovation through products in the Running, Training and Studio category, a strong marketing campaign wedded to the ‘Live with Fire’ theme, and a whole new retail environment ‘Fit Hub’ where consumers get an experiential fulfillment to their fitness needs.
Our new Fit Hub concept stores are based on a global initiative by the brand to inspire people to move, train, get fit and have fun doing it. Like a gym, the environment in the Fit Hub stores is raw, creative and innovative immersing consumers into fitness as soon as they enter the store till the very end. Each store is divided into 3 key zones: The interactive storefront, a story floor, and fitting studio with cross-fit -inspired displays. Whether it is Running, Dance, CrossFit or Yoga, the primary aim of the Fit Hub retail concept is to bring people together to experience fitness in a way that is different, challenging and rewarding.
The Fit Hub concept stores draw on Reebok’s rich legacy of fitness. They focus the retail space on activity and community, and tell clear, inspiring stories about fitness and personal potential. The aim in this new format is to guide consumers on their fitness journey and provide a flexible and appealing retail space that helps people discover the right exercise apparel, footwear and equipment to meet their fitness goals.
Started in 2011, the Fit-Hub stores have become popular amongst the global consumer and have seen tremendous success across cities such as London, New York, Boston, Dubai, Seoul and Moscow among others. We have also received phenomenal response for our Fit-Hub stores in India. For us, the success of our retail strategy lies in the fact that we as a brand have empowered more and more people to adopt our philosophy to stay ‘Fit for Life’ whilst facilitating them with all necessary tools to achieve their fitness goals.
The company has picked up Nargis Fakhri, MS Dhoni as brand ambassadors. Why them?
Reebok aims to be the most desirable premium fitness brand in the country, and is constantly looking to diversify and expand its asset base to include key influencers and leaders in the fitness segment. Our main aim of creating a strong asset portfolio is to engage consumers at every touch point and encourage them to adopt the philosophy of ‘Fit for Life’, with our exceptional fitness offerings as enablers. Towards this endeavor, we signed fitness icons and Bollywood celebrities John Abraham and NargisFakhri as our fitness ambassadors and also continued our long-standing associations with fitness enthusiasts MS Dhoni, Gautam Gambhir and Irfan Pathan.
From CrossFit to Marathon Running, John Abraham is a fitness veteran and is a natural fit for Reebok. He has amazing passion for fitness!
Nargis Fakhri, also a fitness enthusiast, is the face of the brand for its ‘Studio’ category; a unique and innovative line of products focused on dance, aerobics and yoga, designed especially for the women consumers.
All our assets play an imperative role with Reebok to inspire the youth of our country to inculcate fitness as a part of their lifestyle.
