How did you enter the world of marketing? The challenges you faced?
Jaichandra Subramaniam : My wife Akshaya and I were formally introduced to the world of marketing during our MBA days. We majored in marketing and three years later launched Desically Ethnic in March 2015. The initial phase was the most challenging as we tried to establish ourselves and win the trust of our customers.
What are the unique aspects of your marketing and branding strategy?
For us, the quality of our products and customer service forms the core of our brand. We rely heavily on word of mouth marketing and we always strive to delight our customers, as we firmly believe what goes around, comes around.
One of our biggest differentiating factors is that we do not mass-produce any of our products. All our products are made in very limited numbers. Very rarely will you see two people walking on the street sporting the same Desically Ethnic product. Our collections are unique and limited.
We sell modern ethnic wear without a designer price tag. A subtle layer of marketing goes in with our packaging too. Our packaging is ergonomic and lies true to our brand. We also send handwritten notes and a small handmade gift with every package. We really love surprising our customers and are delighted when they come back to us for more.
Our brand also believes in sustainability.
We try and recycle a lot of our waste material. We are launching a new product line called “Recycle” in March 2017. All the products in this line will be completely made out of the waste cloth that is generated in our manufacturing unit.
We are excited about it and look forward to doing our bit towards an eco-friendly future.
Every aspect of our marketing strategy tries to imbibe the above-mentioned aspects of our brand. We also believe in gentle and subtle promotion methodologies.
Flooding the inboxes of our customers is a strict no no!
What are the characteristics of a strong brand? Your advice on how to build a strong brand?
The top 5 characteristics of a strong brand are
Credibility:• When a customer buys a product he/she needs to be completely sure that what they are getting is worth their money. At Desically Ethnic we always ensure that there is transparency in everything, which has helped us build our credibility and at the same time build good relations with our customers.
Quality and consistency: • Quality over quantity –that is the crux of our business. We do thorough quality checks before our products are sent out to our customers. Because of our consistent quality we have a huge repeat customer base.
Differentiation:• A brand should stand for something unique in the customers mind. One of the key differentiators for Desically Ethnic is Uniqueness and Assortment. We do not replicate our products in the same size.
Customer Centricity:• Every big brand that has been in the market for decades has only been able to do so by being customer centric and by changing itself according to the changing needs and expectations of its consumers.
Sustainability: • We at Desically Ethnic strongly believe in the Reuse Reduce Recycle mantra. This helps us reduce wastage and increase creativity in our offerings. A sales only oriented business could make quick money but may fall short on intellectual and all round growth.
Has the age of the Internet changed the way we build brands?
The Internet has provided businesses with a brand new platform for selling, giving them the opportunity to reach out to customers across geographies. While the Internet has made shopping very convenient it has also given a lot of power to the consumer. He/She is now much more aware which has made it necessary for brands to constantly step up to stay in their good books.
Has the Internet changed consumers? Made them more price sensitive, less loyal, more demanding?
We couldn’t have even dreamt of starting Desically Ethnic without the Internet. It has made people more connected and informed and companies more ethical and transparent. Personally we don’t feel the internet has made the consumer more price sensitive towards unique offerings. For mass produced brands selling in multiple outlets, yes, the consumer has an opportunity to compare prices in minutes. Loyalty on the other hand has nothing to do with the internet. That has always been a coefficient of quality and service, online or offline.
How challenging is it to build a brand in the very diverse Indian market place?
It is extremely challenging to build an ethnic brand in India, as there is a lot of diversity in our ethnicity itself. Some art form that is popular in the South may not have any demand in the North and vice versa. Add to that the attention deficit disorder brought on by too much choice. Above all this comes the pricing factor and the Indian consumer will always want value for money. As a brand it is our duty to fulfill all the needs of the consumer and delight them at the same time, which can be quite a challenge.
Brands you admire and why?
Being such a publicity and marketing shy company, Zara has built a huge brand for itself. It is fascinating how their supply chain works and it is something every brand has to learn from.
Urban Ladder: I think this is a brand where Innovation is key. Their products speak for themselves and that has helped them create the brand that they are. Their customer service is excellent. We can say that as we have experienced it first hand.
Complete the sentence “The future belongs to ……………”
Big Data. It is here to stay.
